The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1803-06-14 00:00:00

' IT' . ~--~-- I let in the world, in spite of all the efforts .f our enemies to prevent it, I should he without excuse, if 1 did not avail myself of that expeaation, in order to derive froni the manufactures a considerable sup ply. 1 propose on all exports an additional one per centend volo,-em, to Europe, and thi ee per cent. to all other parts . , which I estimate will produce the cum 460,0001. When the duty on exports was originally proposed, an application was made by the cotton manufaaurers, the: manufaauied cotton should be exempted, and the tax substituted on the raw mate rieha dutywas.,laid upon the. taw: material, of some thing more than 1 d. per lb. I should propose to fol- ' low up that plea, by exempting manufactured couorn and increasing the duty one -penny per pound, which. would be something less than the duty pro posed in •1795 ; the produce of this I should esti mate at 150,Qe0 I. Th ere is another article which,dur. iug the continuance of war,- I conceive may be charged with a very considerable augmentation, I meats the tonnage of ships; that is the last tax I have to propose under the head of Customs. The tonnage duty, equal to the consolidated duty, will be 1 30,0f10 1. making in the whole a sum ( 2,160,0001. There wed probably be an increase of dralvbacks, I shOuld therefore wish' to dedua J 60,0001. and estimate the net produce at 2,000,0001. • The next brinch of revenue on which I shall pro posi to the Conimittee to derive a considerable por tion of supply is the Excise. For this purpose, it is not my intention to propose, as ohjefts of increased taxation, any of the smaller articles on which duties of Excise are payable. I have sole atal four objeas en which the expediency of deriving a large reve nue must he obvious; the first is the article of Tea ; and here permit me to observe, that except under the circuritstances of a war, accompanied by those mimes which must enal.le us to intercept that indirect trade, by which the ftir trader suffers, I should not • think it my duty to propose any ad ditional duty on Tea ; but as I am convinced thole frauds onef he prevented, I may alsume, that if the mischief of aeeuggiiiig can be put an end to, there cannot he a tale.: object of taxation than Tea. I propose then a du'seof le per cent. ad voiorem, on coarse teas, and 45 per cent. on the finer sorts ; the ereet will he the. of raiehrg the prices of the finer ter somewhat higher than they were, at the period of the commutation tax, and to leave the coarser teas considerably lower; the produceol this tax, I estimate at 1000,0001. The next article which I shall propose to charge with an additional duty, is 'Wine, which, I collect ire, under the present circum stances, there can be no i.,j,aion to;..lxing. In the year I;nrs, a duty of lel. per ton was cliarged upon that article, the consumption did not dirainiLh in consequence of that duty - , on the contrary, the pro duce of the duty' on wine has been augmented in a greater proportion ; I recommend to the com mittee to charge 10L per ton, which would he equal to the duty laid on in 179 5 ; the sum at which I esti mate tl:e produce cf this tax is, 500,0001. Some of the same considerations which have led me to recom mend to the Committee an additional tax on wine, have induced me to consider that foreign spirit; may be a fair object of taxation ; for that reason, I sled! propose - a similar addition on Foreign Spirits, as well as theme-made Spirits. I shall submit to the Cern niittee an addition of SO. per gallon on all Foreign and Home-made Spirits. It is my intention to pro pose a duty equal to half the present duty, winch will yield a su.n 1 estin.ate at 1,530,0511. The other article on which I have to propose an tional duty,, is one which I race:ion with extreme reluctance ; but, I feel I should not be doi - ng my Olio. if I shrunk front the olnigetion imposed on me at this most grave and critical period ; the same I entertain of that duty tells me that I ought not to hesitate as to the propriety of recommending to the House the adoption of a mode of increasing the public revenue, which must be prodnaism of incon venience in quarters where I am most unwilling it ehould be; but where the burthen is cf indispensable rseeessity, I feel a perfect confidence in the sen timents entertained by the great muse of the community ; I am sensible they feel th..t the . ceuee in w Lich the country is engaged, is one which calls for all their exertions, and that they arc all prepared to make greet sacrifices. mean sacrifices which may be eactual to the accom plishment of the important objeas soinnlit to be at teintel ; the netted, to which I advert is Malt It would be a great satisfaCtion to me, if 1 could find it possible ter propose an augmentation shell of that which I shell submit to the consideration of the Committee ; I shall endeavour to propose the aug mentaton in such a way as to avoid too great a pressure on those concerned in the brewing trade. f tits r resent profits of the brewer must be allowed to be very considcrable, but I am ready to adn.it that t:!e situation of the public brewer was, for a long period, far from being one of advantage, I shall therefore propose to the Committee sues an aug mentation as will give the public its whole amount, leaving to the brewer the possession of those advan tages which he now enjoys, and which, I am satis fied, it investigated, would be admitted to afford a liberal and large profit ; the addition I should propose is 2s. per bushel,. which I calculate will afford an increase of revenue of 2,700,00 , )1. the amount of the addition last year has been 2400,0001. There will be a sum of thir teen pence per barrel, which will be the allowance • ' that will be divided between the brewer, the mal ster, and the private brewer. Right-pence pee barrel would not be a compensation to the brewer for the advance of his capital, was it art for the considera ble crops of which he is in possession. I am aware .1 could not justify prOposing etch a tax as this is, on the common beverage of the country, without pro posing a tax on spirits, on the beverage of the higher orders. Let it be recollesfed, that for the last forty years, the duties on beer, including the present duty, if the Committee should agree to adopt it, have not exceeded forty-five per cent. In the year 1763 a tax was laid on, that had the ef . • feet of adding an halfpenny upon the pot of porter, and from that period to the present, the whale additional duties on the common beverage of the people, has been no more than 45 per cent while the amount of the additional &idea on the beverage of the higher orders bar been in a proportion in finitely higher. The duties on wine for the same poi ied have amounted to 200 per cent. ; under these circumsnusces, when - the consumption of the =tide is iarreasing, I treat it will not be imputed to Par- Damen.. that in levying taxes they sire actuated by a diepuaition either to spare themselves or the higher . orders of soeletv. The whole amount of the duties • . yrafer tie head of Excise, will stand thus i Tea..l.3 , )%ntirql. Wine, 34' r;),0001. Spirits, 1 ,fiti;),..:!oo 1. 70:114 ; waking in ate *bole 6,04),j,1.A:N:J. which added to the sum of 2,160,0001. to be raised by ditties on Customs, amounts to 8,160,0001. In addition to these increased duties, I have to vbmit to tip committee a measure very extensive m its opestation; it is founded in the principle, of the tax on incente, a. tax which, however, condemned and re probated by some persons, I shall ever contend was the great instrument of supporting . public credit, and the principal means of carrying the country through the arduous contest in which it was engaged ; this is not a matter of opi nion, but. is capahle of positive and indisputable proof. No one, who supported that measure, was answerable for the objettlions which were justly 'or eed against some parts of it, anti let it not be con sidered that any mode can possibly he adopted which is not, liable to some objection or other. If you ,look at any of the propositions I have snisniitte.l, with a supposition that they are not liable to ohjec tion,l fear that the hopes I have entertained, of sug nesting a plan that should meet the approval of the Committee, must be completely handed. The prin cipal objection to the measure. arises from the disclo sure of the circumstances of individuals, an incon venience which it is impossible to avoid, but which it must be the wish of every person to contra& within as narrow limits as possible. The outline of the measure which with reference to this suhjeit I shall submit to the Committee, is this, to make a ciistintlion between that species of property, the value of which, to the proprietor, does in no de gree depend on skill, talents, or industry, and that species of property which wholly depends on per sonal ability and industrious exertion. Under the first head include land, and the interest of money in the funds, or belonging to corporations, and various other descriptions of property which it is unnecessary to particularize. Proprietors of pro perty of this description must, J AM satisfied, be re lieved from the necessity of discicsiegtheamount of it; but all personse freeing on tt Ade, peceons in professions or deriving their incomesfroni their personalexertions, must He brought under the inspection of commis sioners, and as` far as pereons of this description are concerned, the objection cannot be got rid of. '1 he powers which were given to the commissioners under the income Bill went to weaken the, operation of the bill by the. objections they created in tile minds of those who went before them ; but the powers intended to be given to the commission...re will, I trust, have the circa of narrowing those obj eStions. The tax I would propose on the rent a lend would be on the net rent, as far as it can be ascertained, suggesting at the same time a anode by which I trust the net rent of land may be ascertained without any difficulty or possibility cf evasien. I should po pose a tax cf One Shu ling is the pound, chargeable on the proprie tor; and I should propose a tax of Ninepence in the pound chargeable on the tenant; hut as some of the tenants in Croat Britain pay poor? rates, and others do not, I should propose that Ninepence in the pound should be paid to the tenant who pays to the pours' rates; and that those who do not pay it, as well as the tceants in Scotland, where there are no pours' rates, should be charged seMI a duty of Six pence in the pound only. I have endeavoured to obtain, from various sources, the best means of form ing en estimate of the amount of that part of the an nual capital in this country, the imprevement of which does not depend on personal industry ; any estimate must be cenjeetund; hut the operation of the Income Tax has enahled me to form a pretty accurate judgment. I believe I shall not he fsir udde in estimetiog the annual revenue tfthis description of capital. at 30,00,0001. and T shall assume, that that part which would be assessed under the opera tion of this measure, would be from sixty to seventy millions. I estimate the amount of the revenue of that species of'capital, consisting of lands and taxes, at about twenty-eight millions ; of houses and buildings, not agriculture', about ten millions sterling. Probably not more .than three-fifths are charged, and I should therefore make the esti mate of 6,000, 0 e001. in England, and in Scotland, ensno,Olol. The Governor of the Bank, the East- India Company, and Chartered Corporations, I esti mate at 18,'.L)0,0001. 'Foreign possessions and debts bearing interest at 4,500,01) 1. ; canal navigations, mines, tolls. Sic. from 5, to 7,000,0001. I deem my self warranted in stating that the whole of the an nual revenue of this capital, may be taken ar 67010,0101. ; this, at ore shilling in the pound, is 3,3750001. ; this is the amount it they are assessed at one twentieth ; to these I conceive that an addition may be made of full t:0,000,0001.1 by tenants faits ; these, therefore, if assessed in the manner I have stated, that is, 9d. for England, and 6d. for ticetland, would yield atolls: 500,0001. It is diffi cult to conjecture what may be the amount of sala ries and professions ; it hai been estimated at 4000,0001. ; of this one-twentieth would yield 200,0031. With regard to the income on trade, it is more difficult to form a conjecture; much must depend on the success of the regulations for ascer taining it ; but allowing for the deductions, which I should recommend in all cases of this description of property, the value of which depen.is on personal skill and industry, I should eniatate the produce, with the exception of persons holding less than 601. a-year, at 4,700,01 n I. The Income Tax was eight millions; it is proposed to include a large proportion of property, which was exceeded foam the Income Tax, i mean that property; which in no degree depends upon the skill of the proptietor. In that will be included the interest money invested en Gevernrns nt Securities. I know the-delicacy of this House with reference to that species of' pro perty ; but I am sure it cannot be contended at a time when it was thought expedient to derive a re venue from every species of property, that this which is so considerable should be exempt. The only difficulty is, how the principle shall be carried into eilea, in order thet this species of •property may he cie - g-ed with its doe proportion, The commissioners, as they were under the Income Tax Bill, were resiaent in London ; Inn it is intended to give the same power to commissioners residing in different parts cf the country, that was before given to the Commercial Commissioners residing in the metropolis. It is proper that all persons should be at liberty to carry their statement of income before such cenimissioners. No person possessing property in the fends can be charged hi any ogee manner than by such commissioners, except from his own choice. I shall proceed, that if after a given period persons shottlei not have made their returns to the commissioners; it should he understood they have nia,le their ekilion, and that the portion for which they axe lie Ula to be assessed should be col lefted at the .I.lani: ; this, however, can only take place by their own choice. The Ccumaittre, I .0,4 •, with , o m t f e o r re m i g y n s t e , s f, wil e ch th c a a t in ts l a s p a pi nl y e t a li cu re the operation a etiT ee t f lo n not • ag ents. The Committee' must l'.el that such residing nut of the kingdo m, or their persons cannot be comprehended in a tax of this ne- • tare; 1. therefore reoposeto exempt them. he Corn. mirtee must he aware, that if they should he deter mined to raise so large a sum by additional duties, theta considerable portion of it cannot be raised within the year. I should suppose that the whole amount that could possibly be raised within the year would be. 4,500,0001 ; this will render it necessary to pro vide 10,00f),0001. to meet the amount of the charge; and I have this day entered into an agreement with some considerable merchants of this cap ital, to raise,. by way of loan, the sum which will be recnured, the sum raised is 1€2,000,000 14 bat the sum for the service of Great Britain, is ten millions only, the remainder being for Ireland; the ternee'of the con tract are for every hundred pound advanced,-there shall be given eighty three per cent. Consols, which taken at fifty-eight and a half, leaves forty-six pounds fourteen shillinga. Eighty three per cent. Reduced, taken at fifty-eight and a half, also leaves forty-six pounds fourteen shillings, referring to the price on Saturday last. The bidding was on the Long Annuities, and the parties who offered to take the least aureola in value of Long Annuities became the contractors at Gs. sd. which, at seventeen years and a half, will amount to 51. 12s. To this is to be added the value of the discount ; the bonus to the enntredots is 11. 6s. (id. I have to congratulate this House and the Committee, that, under such circumstances as the present, so favourable a loan has been contracted ; I should not feel tile satisfac tion T do, if I did not entertain a sanguine hope that the advantages of the loan would be eventually as much in favour of the contras ors as of the public, for I feel with every Member, that it is a subject of deep regret, when those who have come for ward to assist the c ountry, have, in consequence of their pa triotism experienced any serious loss. I do congratu late the Ilonse on this bargain, for there are few instances of a bargain more tavonrahle for the pub lic, with reference to the price of stocks) there have been, however, two periods when bargains more fa vourable for the public have been made; they were in the years 1;O:t and 1800, and in these years there was an actual premium to Government against the contractors, of cis. id., and the bonus was ten shil lings ; these are the only instances during the late war in which bargains for loans were contracted upon such advantageous. terms as the present one ; but it is necessary the committee should advert to the circumstances under which those bargains were contracted t the first was under the operation of an act, by which an attempt was made to raise the sup plies within the year, and the second was under the operation of the income tax, aft peribd when there was a pressure, arising from an increased price of provisions. I.et it be recollected by the committee, that in the year 1790, the produce of all those taxes, which constitute the criteria of the wealth and rea sources of the country, was most abundant. What is the inferenc .4 The inference is, that the measures of Government had such an effect upon public credit, that men were disposed to embark their pmperty upon the security of Government ; it was this principle which lead to the advantageous bar gains I have been speaking of, and the circum stance ought to hold nut a lesson to us, encourag ing us to have recourse to that same system which was then adopted with so much success. I have now stated the ways and means of providing for the in terest of the 1:',000,(X)01. to be raised by way of loan, the annual interest on the .16,030.0001. will be 1.30p00 1. the duties by which I propose to rake the increased revenue I have stated, are those which arise from the Excise and Customs, and pro perty ; in general the mode by which I should pro pose to make up the remaining part of the charge necessary to be provided for, would be by suggest ing an alteration in the mode of collecting a tax on receipts. I should pro;:ose, that in all instances where money is to be paid, it Should he competent for the person by whom the money is paid, to re quire a stamped receipt, and I should propose, that the amount of the stamp should in no instance be lower than twopence, nor higher than ss. This augmsntation, which would not be attended with serious consequences to any individual, but rather a:Ford facilities to their mutual , transadions, I should estimate at 220,0001. which, with what I have calculated upon, would yield a sum appli cable to the whole service' of the present year.— The Right Flnn. Geetleman here recapitulated the heads of the Ways and Means, after which he thus rroceeded : the Committee will perceive that the great objet to which I recommend them to dired their attention, is that of raising a large proportion of supplies within the course of the year. The extent to which I would wish to carry this principle is, that during the war there should he no accumula tion whatever of the public debt; that we should in the first instance estimate the whole charges of the war, and that we should mike such efforts as will enaale us to sustain a vigorous and protraded con test accretion of debt. Unless there should he de mands arising from the intervention of other powers who may wish to make a common cause with Great -Britain, die utmost exertions of the country will not r :quire an annual expence of more than `6 Lbeg Cie House to understand, that I consider this as a great and enormous suns, but I am desirous of stating what I hope will be the utmost extent of ex penditure necessary for carrying on the. war. If I should succeed in inducing the House to adOpt the principles of the measure, it will appear, if I am • ight in my estimate, that out of the general pro duce of the consolidated fund, 10,000,0001. would be applicable to the service of the public ; if the taxes I have mentioned should tall short of the es timated produce, even as much as two millions, there would then be no necessity for making a greater provision than the one I have stated. Wall the growing produce of tile conselidated fund, which is likely to he increased, unless a visita tion of Heaven should take place, similar to that which happened a few years ago, and with the produce of taxes C,500,0001. beyond what they were originally stated at, we may easily be enabled to provide a sum of 25,000,0001. without the slightest addition to the public debt ; that this is a great ob jed, no one can doubt. If Gentlemen will consider arithmetically the effects of recurring to the funding system, I will venture to say, that the conclusion they must come to, would be in favour of what 1 proposed; they would find that the difference be tween :.he whole amount of the taxes to be levied only during the war, and on the other hand, during peace, supposieg it should continue for I fierty pare, would, by the adoption of one s y s tem ol preference to the (sew-, not he worth coe.i leritig in a pecuniary point of view. If you were to raise six teen millions by the funding system in preference to the proposed, it wool be found to i)(21 mo s st Y : th r t a e tionrconsidering the means and resources of the country for raising k within the year. We find the etred of the system of raising the supplies within the year, in the increase of public credit and . confidence in Government ; the mere pecuniary ef fects are not the only ones that result from such a system; the effects are much larger and more exten sive in their operation ; the adoption of temporary taxes instead of permanent ones, will have the effett of convincing the enemy that it is out of his power to contend with the finances of this country, and that it is out of his power to exhaust them ; it will con vince the Powers of Europe they may safely asse ss ciate with us. I will not fatigue the Committee, by stating all the advantages of such a system. The Right Hon. Gentleman here referred to the Loene formerly made in this country, and the system of taxation adopted in cases of national emergency; he abserved,that not even servants'salar ies were exempt ed, and that in the reigns of King William and Queen Anne, not only had a land-tax of 4s. in the pound been carried into etred, but that stipends of every desctiption lead been taxed: he inferred that these hurthens had been patiently submitted to, at a pe riod when the country was under circumstances of far less difficulty. lie likewise adverted to the in creased produce of the permanent taxes. He stated, that, from the year 17 t 0.1803 a period of eleven years, there had been an increase in the permanent taxes to the amonne of 1,700,0001. The taxes, said he, imposed during the war, have greatly exceeded the charges for which they were to provide. The taxes during the war were laid to provide for 3,200,0001. but at the end of the present year, those taxes will have produced 5,00010001. which is an increase of 1,800,0001. ; you have every other indica tion of internal strength; your manufactures and your commerce have been increasing from year to year. The sinking fund, which is the sheet anchor of the country, seems to derive additional rigour from the apparent difficulties of the country; it will continue to increase during the war, and the debt, to the li quitfittion of which it is applicable, instead of in creasing, must greatly diminish. In the support of such a system as the one I . have recommended, all descriptions of the community must be interested. I have. therefore, thought it incumbent on me to propose such modes as were likely to be effec cual„ though I perfectly well knew that the effect Of part of that system would bear hard on those wham I would most wish to spare ; but I am con vinced I should do injustice to the poorest peasant in the land, if I did not believe that the cause in which this country is engaged came home to his boson'. lam persuaded that he will with pleasure contribute a portion of his pittance rather than see. his Country trampled upon and become the subject of derision to an insolent foe—for that is really the question. The question is, whether Great Britain is to maintain her rank among the nations of Europe, or whether she is to add to the catalogue cf those Powers whose rights have been violated, and whose liberties have been destroyed. If we mean to res cue the country, and carry it through its present ar duous contest with honour and glory,' we must shew the enemy that we ate not only able to main tain a vigorous contest, but that we also have the means of supporting a protraded one. I recollect a Gentleman, a distinguished Member of this House, making a memorable reply to an Hon. Gentleman who asked, weal interest a poor peasant, who sit reading a newspaper in his !tumble cottage, by the help of a rush-light, could possibly have in the pre serVation of the balance of power in Europe? He remarked, that the circumstance of his having the pi ivilege to read the paper without the controul elf any one, was that privilege which identified him with the independence of the government and the country.' I will . 'not .underrate British feelings so much as to suppose that the poorer classes of society are not actuated by a sentiment of resentment against the common molly. They were men of that description, who fought under the ban, ners of Abercrombie. They are men who, though in an indigent state, are entitled to veneration and respect. It is on the sentiments by which they are influenced, I rely, when I, recommend the adoption of measures that must bear so extremely hard upon .them. lam sure, that as far as the system I have proposed goes, it does indicate a disposition on my part to devise taxes which shall hear equally on every ciass of the public. I have endeavoured to arrange the system in such a manner as to. avoid all possible ground of complaint. Perhaps it will be ex. pected, that when such an appeal as this is made to the public that something should be said with regard to the conduct Government mean to pursue. feel the duty of exertion on the part of his Majesty's Government, and 1 trust that be found that every possible exertion has and will be made; it is the wish of his Majesty's Ministers to avoid com promising the honor and dignity cf the country, and to avoid entering upon a war which they fell must be a war of extermination. They have gone to war with reluctance, and I ask Parliament to sanction great public burthens for the support of the contest, from a'conyiction that we are at war because we cannot be at peace, and that we can entertain no prospcd of•peace, but from the vigour of our arms. Government is desirous of acting upon that principle, which will shew that they wish to manifest firmness and dignity, and a mode of conduit equally devoid of arrogance and pusillanimity. I know the unjust insinuations that hive been thrown out against those who have avowed the sentiments which at present adeete his Majesty's Government; but I will avow those sentiments in spite of every species of clamour that may be raised against me ; let it be seen, when toe day of trial comes, whether those who have anted upon the system I have mentioned, will sheitee from any charge that may be brought against then'. Let it be recoil ected that lastyear,when there werehopee of peace, that the provisions made for the year were greater than those which had been adopted at any former period, during a state of 4aual warfare. His Majesty s Ministers have been charged with riot hissing had recourse to measures sufficiently strong and energetic. It is not to avoid such an imputa tion that they bring forward this measure now. I of raising g whent e supplies acoris iLi had the satisfat.ctionof expressieg my approbation of the th elsays'etra: r v a i within dye egr ee year. o f p r l e r • i judice existed with regard to that measure, I stated my opinion in favour of it, and' intimated, that in the event of the renewal of .war, a principle of the same nature would be resorted to. Let it not then be Ow we were so vesek 555 to 4 e courti • ng pope r rf•III --. hilliiiiis F • i MIII F:.~ I