The Sun.
London, England, 1849-06-29 00:00:00

WAR. AND ITS EFFECTS.

TO THE EDITOR OFTHE SUN.
//tin,—At a time when the whole continent of Europe
is in a state of confusion, when nations seem awakening
from the lethargy and supineness of centuries, when
" the right divine of kings to govern wrong" is unani-
mously denied—it is a source of congratulation that
England has not, in some way, been drawn into the con-
vulsion that is shaking the thrones of the un-Holy
Alliance of 1815.

To those who would urge the Govfrnrnent to aid in
the cause of Lygitiincy tr;::air-t 'h,- isii( Sof the natii;i s.
of the earth, the folluainv wails (11 the Rise and
Progress of ihe National Debt—thg offspring of Queen
Anne's wars in 1700, and the fruits of wars ever since—
may afford instruction and caution, as well as statistical
information.

In 1760 (ninety-one years ago) George the Second
departed this life, leaving what was considered a heavy
debt of 50 000,0004 His grandson, George the Third,
ascended the throne on the 25th of October, 1760, in the
midst of an expt:riffte war, which, however, he promised
in his first address to his l'araient, " to bring to an
honourable. and lastieg p,:-ace, in conc. re with his allie,"
In 1763 that p- arc took place; the British arms
triumphed, an adeittion was u.ade to the British t' rritory
by the annexation of No'th Aicarica; an arlditi(r) was
made to the national honour-Bu.t to the ',tutorial debt,
which in the budget of that year is put do vu at some-
thing like 100,000,000/.
Ilete, then, we perceive the result of one war to be
the entailem nt of an additional debt of 50,000,0001. in
six years, on a population of about six millions, whole
whole rev( rue was under 12.000,0001. annually, with a
circulating specie of only 15,0(30,000/.
Although in a time of peace, the war establishment
was continued for ten years after this time, ceding daily
the sum of 2,000/. to the fast-increasing debt; toe militia
was still kept on, adding 500,000/. to the expenditure;
the civil list rose from 800,0001. to 1,000,000/.; and
general dissatisfaction prevailed.
The national debt having increased to 136.000,0001, in
the year 1774, the people became loud in their demands
for its reduction. The Government received many sug•
gestions on the subject, among which the following,
having something plausible about it, I shall endeavour
to describe; the mere so, as this plan, or something simi-
lar, was actually under trial, and 9,000,000/. funded stock
purchased and paid off, when the American war occurred,
putting at once a stop to the reduction of the army,navy,
and ordnance departments, &C.
Proposed plan for paying eff the National Debt in forty-
years—namely 1814. -Ti me 1774, debt, 136,000,0001.
The yearly surplus of revenue over expen-
diture was
'"' ••• ... £500,000
Continuing the land-tax of 4s. in the pound
(the war tax) ...
Withdrawing troops trout the colonies (war
establishment) ••. •• • ••• •• •
Reducing army and navy to peace establish-

500,000

200,000

ment ..•
Continuing the lotteries ...

700,000
150,000

£2,050,000
This surplus of 2,050,000/. would in four years pay of
the life and long annuities granted in the reign of Wil-
liam and Anne, which amounted to the sun of 9,000,000 Z,
and be thus a saving in forty years interest and capital
of above 20,000,0001. These items being altogether in-
dependent of the annual revenue would have been avail-
able after this purchase, for further reducing the debt
annually about 3,000,0001., which, with the interest
saved in proportion, would have placed this country
above all its difficulties and out of debt, before the year
1814.

But the year 1775 W 45 not destined to be thus blessed.
The Ministers were active in pursuing measures which
increased the burdens of the country.

It is particularly necessary to make a sparing use of
power in order to preserve that power; but the British
Government thought otherwise. They had been too
much accustomed to look across the Atlantic, as at pre-
sent in India, &c., to view increasing millions whom w•
had a right to command, whose property was at our
disposal. whose law was our will, and to call them our
subjects, willingly to forego that privilege; consequently
the American war took place, the army and navy became
alarmingly increased, the national debt nearly doubled,
the national honour suffered in the estimation of fo-
reigners, and after much blood spilt, the burning of a few
towns, dockyards, and ships, America declared its inde-
pendence in 1783, and ;he revenue of England sustained
a loss of nearly a million annually on American produce.
here again is the result of another war—a war, the
plea for which was that our honour was engaged, and
that we could not now recede from it without humilia-
tion. This is what Republican France apologises for its
aggressions on Republican Rome. Be this as it may.
the Parliamentary returns show that the American war
added 100,000,0001. to the national debt, I viz.,
236.000,000/. in 1783.
For the next ten years England was comparatively at
peace. The French revolution began in 1789, and the
year 1793 had not expired when this country was once
more engaged in war, along with other European Powers
against France.
From this period there seems to have been no limit—
no check to the expenditure, and the only matter of
astonishment now is, where it came from, and whither it
went. In the following list it will be seen that the
addition to the debt in some years was more than
1,000,000/. a week, and in tho year 1814 (the year in
which the debt was to have been paid off) there was an
addition to the debt of 93,536,3671. or about ten thousand
pounds per hour.
Year Total amount of debt. Addition to debt.
1794
1795
1796
1797
1798
1799
1800
1801 ... • . 480.703,290 29,045,000
1801
1803
1804 . 583.008,978
1805
1806
1807 . 669,652,847
1808
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813 ...... 812,013,135
1814 ...... 905,549,502
1815
1816
/817
1818
This brings us down to the end of the public life of
George 111., and to the close of the war; a war that
extended over 25 years, and added 862,278,3671. to the
national debt. Thirty-three millions a year !
This was the result of the last war, and closed a reign,
the longest and most disastrous to this :country—a reign
of sixty years—a king whose family took a million annu-
ally from the country—and who, at his death left
his people a debt of 860,000,0001. sterling, which may be
thus divided over the, sixty years:-
13,000,0001. a year; 1,000,000/. a month; 250.000/. per
week; 35,0001. per day; 1,6401. per hour.
Since 1820 there has been expended on our war estab-
lishments, 400,000,000/., and this too, in times of peace.
The annual revenue of the country averages about
53,000,0001.—0ver a million a week. One-half of this
sum is applied to the interest of the debt; then comes a
demand of 16,462,0001. for our naval and military estab-
lishments, which leaves us in this position. 'rake the
present year, the most favourable for the Government:—
The revenue is thus disposed of—
To national debt
To army, navy, ordnance, &c.

Leaving for the whole civil management