The Press. — London, England, 1855-08-18 00:00:00

AUG. 18, 1855. five millions between them our war expeadi a tune would be increased by two millions an a half; and supposing our army and milit'•• bad been raised to the full numbers voted by Parliament, as assuredly they should have been, the war expenditure of the year would have fallen little, if any, below that of the average expenditure during the last war. Then, if we take the additions to the public debt, we find that in the twenty-two years of the last war the debt rose from 227,000,0001. to 840,000,0001., or at the rate of upwards of 27,000,0001. yearly. The addition made during the current year is 16,000,000/. Loan and 7,000,0001. Exchequer Bills, together 23,000,0001.., which, if a portion of the Turkish Loan be added, would show that we are adding to our debt at a rate not much short of that which prevailed during the last war ; and, judging by experience, there appears little probability of the additions we now make ever being cleared off. Our author observes : As every fresh war adds to the debt and increases the interest, a larger revenue is of necessity required after each ; and, as the nation cannot bear to be taxed to an unlimited extent, a time must come when it will not be able to pay both the current expenses and the public s editor. Sueh an evil would, however, be avoided, if the debt in• curred during a war were paid off in the following peace. But a review of the National Debt since it commencement, will show that all the endeavours hitherto made to effect this object, have failed. Borrowing, as a regular system, has existed in England for about 164 years ; and during this time we have had seven periods of war, occupying sixty-six years. In consequence of these wars, we contracted debts amount ing altogether to 879 millions, of which 770 millions 'amain unpaid. The experience of 164 years may be taken as conclusive of the tendency of our debt to largely and rapidly increase. If in that period we have borrowed 879,000,0001., and only paid off 109,000,0001., we must conclude that whatever additions we now make to the total amount will, in the main, be permanently added to the burden of the country. The fol lowing table showing the increase of debt at the end of each war since 1697, and the amount paid off during peace, is curious : m bo .... ... •0 4 F.! 8 o '2 • 6O •-• • "sat ID 0 0 r 5,, 2 iz 18 23 % li ? EI : Efj g-h' . 4 , p. , 6 q 4 g•^1:14 ,:?. c• . 01 Iv E% eu .15 11 to '''' ct ' O 6 41 ' .1 . 5 1 it, -a "I 46 ny o o A 8 .1697 21,615,772 4 5,121,071 3.895,205 16,894,701 1714 55,282,978 26 7,328,355 6.511,128 47,954,623 1743 79,199,313 8 5,903,640 7,500,000 73,289,673 1 1768 113,959,270 12 10,814,7711 9,612,694 123,644,500 1788 238,291,248 10 10,942,100 16,833,384 127.989,148 1816 840,850,491 88 69,927,490 52,360,953 770,913,001 From other tables it appears that the per centage of revenue applied to the reduction of debt has been less after each successive peace. Sinking funds have never answered their purpose. At the close of the last war the machinery of the sinking fund could only be maintained by borrowing with one hand and paying with another. In 1819 it was arranged that 5,000,0001. should be paid yearly for the re duction of the debt. In practice this arrange ment could not be kept up, and in 1828 a select committee recommended that 3,000,0001. yearly should be set apart for that purpose ; but in the following twenty-four years there were only thirteen in which revenue exceeded expenditure. It appears, indeed, that there is something dangerous in the very nature of a sinking fund, as it affords a promise for the redemp tion of debt which is never fulfilled, and thus, like other delusive hopes, encourages the evil it was intended to abate. We are in formed : It is not in England alone that these arrangements have failed ; a sinking fund was established in Holland in 1655, yet it has not prevented her from having the largest debt, in proportion to her population, of any country in Europe. One was likewise introduced into the French system of finance in 1749, and an ordonnance issued directing "the levy of a twentieth to constitute it ;" but, nothwithstand. ing this, the national incumbrances increased at a fearful rate, and thereby hastened that dreadful convulsion—the Revolution. Austria bag a sinking fund, yet she has a heavy debt, which is rapidly increasing. Spain has also a sinking fund, but it must be useless towards relieving the country, as she cannot pay the interest upon the loans, much less any portion of the principal. rorWeil Rpm Wii iu the same condition. THE PRESS. Belgium has a sinking fund in operation, but she is constantly adding to her debt. The author, from a review of the facts, comes to the conclusions— That at the commencement of each war the debt re maining unpaid has in relation to the revenue been larger that it was at the beginning of the previous one. That with a single exception, which is satisfactorily explained, in every succeeding peace a less proportion of the debt, with reference to the revenue, has been paid off yearly, and a less per-centage of the national income applied to its liquidation. That different Administrations have en deavoured to provide means for redeeming the debt ; they have, however, failed to effect any considerable reduction, and this failure is to be attributed, not to the inability of the nation to raise the money, but to the desire on it■ part to confine taxation to that which was necessary, rather that extend it to that which was desirable. The conclusion of Adam Smith that after national debts have once risen to a certain point there is no instance of their having been fully paid off, is confirmed by experience since he wrote, and many instances are given in this pamphlet of nations having sunk beneath the pressure of the burdens they accumulated. Our author is favorable to the plan of raising money by terminable annuities ; but he does not seem to have sufficiently considered the objections to such a principle. The researches and arguments of Mr. Newmarch have gone far to show that, when money has to be raised, the best mode of obtaining it is by issuing that security which is most readily negotiable, because such security will proportionally bear a lower rate of interest than any other. Were very considerable sums to be raised in termi nable annuities, it is probable that the interest would become so burdensome as to necessitate the raising new loans to defray it. In fact, we should probably return to the old fallacy of a sinking fund under another name, and borrow with one hand that we might pay with another. It would be curious, however, to ascertain at what point, or number of years, a ter minable and perpetual annuity so nearly approached each other in value as practically to leave little difference in the rate of interest. It certainly does appear, that when it is a nation which borrows, and individuals which lend, some advantage may be taken of the superior longevity of the former, to arrange terms greatly in its favour. It is on such a principle that great families, looking beyond their immediate generation, and that of their successors, have been able to enormously in crease their rent-rolls in the end, by granting leases for long terms of years. Perhaps the most serious consideration con nected with that law—as we may almost consider of it—of the certain in crease of national debts is, that while their amount may be unlimited so long as public credit remains, there must be some limit to the resources of the wealthiest nation. If we give the conditions of an unlimited debt, and a limited soil and popu lation, we see that the burden of the former must sooner or later outweigh the capabilities of the latter. Probably we have not yet reached the point at which the scale must turn against us, or at which the balance is equally poised. If our resources increase faster than our burdens, the balance may he in o r favour, though the amount of debt is actually increasing. Up to a certain point, it is probable that such an action was really in progress. But for the last ten years our population has stood still. While it was increasing, the amount of debt per head since the last war was de creasing, and the amount of taxation de creasing in a proportionate ratio ; but, practi cally, the limit of population in these islands seems to have been reached, the drain from emigration at the present time being quite equal to our increase by births. The addition made to debt and taxes at the present time will therefore result in an increase of so much per head to the population ; and it seems not unreasonable to suppose that the tide of emigration will flow stronger as taxation in this country becomes more burdensome. Our foreign possessions are undoubtedly sources of wealth ; but it appears like an ano maly in our state that, though they all share the advantages of British rule, they are exempted from bearing any burden of our debt. Theo retically, there appears no good reason why Australia, and Canada, and India should not contribute to the expenses of the present war fLP well as Wales or Scotland. ferliaps India 789 is more threatened by Russian aggression than any part of these islands. But the American revolt has settled that question once for all. It is the limited soil and industry of the British islands alone which must bear the weight of the mortgage of the whole 800,000,000/. debt, and which must provide for punctual payment of the interest ; and hence life in England, so far as taxation is concerned, is placed at a great disadvantage compared to life in the colonies The fact of our debt in creasing while our population stands still or recedes, and while no considerable expansion of our industry is reasonably to be expected, is calculated to make a great impression on the minds of those reflecting persons who look beyond the present, and who consider that a wise Legislature should conduct the affairs of the country on the same principle that a pru dent man manages his private estate. The Island Empire. By the Author of " Bios- delle." London : Bosworth. THERE are many spots ripe with historic asso ciation, possessing in themselves pleasant resources, with a fine climate and industrious inhabitants, yet neglected by their governments, seldom visited by tourists, or remembered by travellers. One such spot in Europe is the little island of Elba, celebrated in the time of the Romans for the excellence of its weapons and for its manufacture of agricultural tools ; noted in the middle ages for its gallant defences against the Turks under Barbarossa and Solyman, and for the terrible sufferings it ex perienced at the hands of those ruthless invaders ; and, lastly, famous in modern times for having been chosen by the greatest warrior of the age as his sole appanage in days of defeat and humiliation. Lying just off the Tuscan shore, it presents but an uninviting aspect, yet when reached the most beautiful scenery is beheld ; the soil is fertile and the climate genial; fruits and shrubs, vines, corn, olives, and aromatic plants, grow in abundance; the coast swarms with choice fish ; game and wild fowl are plentiful inland ; while in the interior inexhaustible mines of iron and quarries of the finest marbles and granite, with mountains of loads tone, are to be found. Such, with a population honest, industrious, and hospitable, is Elba ; but every advantage of soil and climate, every historic association of past ages, sinks before the one great feature of modern Elba—that it was once the " Island Empire " of the great military genius of the age. No visitor to the spot can be free from the fascination which the name of Napoleon confers upon everything in which he was personally connected ; and the author, though in search of health, appears to have sought more for every authentic record of the Emperor's actions during his residence on the island than for his own cure. As the result, he has produced a book extremely entertaining, full of interest, and detailing many facts connected with the Emperor's return to France which are not generally known. It is remarkable how every expression, act, and sentiment of that singular man yet rivets the attention of mankind ; his know ledge was so extensive, his experience of the policy of Europe so comprehensive, he so thoroughly understood the characters of all his contemporaries, he was in reality a man of such vast grasp of mind, and foretold the future with such great sagacity, that every word which fell from his lips in moments of open expression of sentiment is earnestly sought after. Full justice will never be done to Napoleon until his despatches and State papers are published to the world. But to go back to Elba. The whole details of /Napoleon's leaving France, and his voyage and conversa tions on board the Undaunted, are too well known to need repetition. Upon his arrival, the moment he had formally taken possession of his new empire, he set out with charac teristic activity to inspect it in detail, ar ranged its laws, settled its finances, and imposed a tax which created some little dis turbance at first : On the arrival of the Emperor at Porto Ferrajo, the people of Capoliven were somewhat aghast at • tat which he imposed upon the island in general. Heretofore the municipal councils of the island had been allowed to deter• mine the manner in which they should raise the tribute to be paid to their bovereigu at riosibino, aii4 the *position