The Sun.
London, England, 1810-05-17 00:00:00

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P,ll i-
fOIIOWS 7 to COtTiWt•, 010 gra;:t for 1803, 3550,1g1;4
'the grant .for; 8(19,. 4;0,09,0001. ;. and towards.-the "'
Ttitip4r, 18i 6, 2,66 i ,602 I. ; being: the sum already
voted for the service of the current yedr. The uro-,
duce ot the Customs appropriated to, the Consoli-
dated Fund of the year, ending April 5, 1810, con-
siderably exceeded these:of the preceding pear ; the
former amounting to 5,251,4491. while the latter
had only been 3,719,21.81. He would nothowever
estimate that of the current year at the same rate as
the last, as the excess of • the last year might in a -
great degree arise from the smallness of the im- -
ports of the preceding year. He 'should therefore'
take the Average of the two last years. ,Nheir joint
produce was 8,970,6671. so that the averege would
be 45,3331. which was the sum that he Would •take
for the Consolidated- Customs for the present year.
In taking the average of the two last years in erefer-
ence to the three last, he by no means favoured his
calculation, which would have been higher had the
yearendieg the sth April,lBoB, been ii chided. With-
respect to, the Excise, •the produce last year was
16,880.,6251. He bed no reason to think that the pro- •
duce of the present year old be less, and 'he should '
therefore. estimate it at the same; for though the
accounts might not at present seem to Present so
fair a prospect, he had tic) doubf, from a t iew of all
the circumstances„ that this estimate would be jos,
tied by the event,.. The total amount. of the pro
duce of. theCensolidated Customs and Excise, of the
last- year, was...upwards. of 22 millions. He' had
Much satisfaEtion in stating, that the produce. of the
quarter ending sth April, 181'0, watt ‘'i64,7001.
greater than that of the corresponding qoerter of ,
preceding year. Thus there was reason to exe, ;I. it
.it went prm aseit had begun that the produce would
exceed rather.than fall shot of that of last yen-, 'the
malt duties having recovered themselves very much;
and having increased tretween 4Q and 50,0001. to the:
last 'quarter. He repeated, therefore, that. he would
estimate the Ekcise at the same sum as that which it
had produced last year. The:assessed taxes produced
in the last year 6;459,5371. from which trust be de
ducted the receipt beyond the asst.ssthent, being -ar-T
rears, and which was-no less a sum than 600,001.
And here he would obserte, that the arrears
outstanding dismounted poly to 300,0001. so that
whatever might be said of the mode in. which the
taxes were colleCled, at least negligence could, not
be imputed to the colleEtors of that part of the reve-.
nue. It should be'remembered, that it, was the duty
of the officer; as it was for the gadd of the Pul-)lie,
that those arrears should be kept as low as possible.
It was unjust to_those who did pay to permit these
arrears to accumulate, as their peculiar bisrthens
must in consequence increase; nor was it kind et en
to those whe did not pay to allow their arrears to
amount to a; sum, the dscharge of which, whee they
were called upon to discharge it, must - necessarily
occasion
.considerable inconvenience and distress,
which a just enforcement of. the law would pre-
clude: He would only take Credit, therefore; for
5,860;0001. for the assessed taxes of the current
year. The S:amps. in .the. l<st year produced
5,1.93,0001.. • he would take them at the same sum.
The Post-Office, which had been-agrowing.reve
sue -for the last three years; had last year producedi
1,194,0001. ; he would, however, take it at. the
same suiri. The Hawkers and Pedlars, and sundry
small branches of revenue, he would 'estimate .at
84,0001..4 personal estates and pensions at 164,0001.;
laud-tax at 1, i 70,0-001. ; surplus of Exchequer
fees at 53,0001. ; Tontine at 24,00.01. ; Crown
Lands at 50,0001.; Ituprest, Monies at 200,0001.-;
making' a total of
.35,357,0001.---,To this must
be added the War Taxes of 2,240,0001. mak-
ing,
a grand total of produce of the Consoli-
dated Fund of 37,597,0001. . The charge (in.
eluding. 100,0001. for any occasional expence) was
a 1,960,0001, ; there was therefore a surplus of
5,637.,0001.—1t might naturally be asked why then
he took. of sum only 4;400,0001. for:the ser-
vices of the current year? This he would now un-
dertake to explain to_the Committee. The produce,
of the Stamp Duties for the year ending the sth of
April, 1810, was,. 5,193,6971. Of this sum
1,236,9071. (a surplus applicable to meet the charge
of 18081, had, in a great degree, arisen out of the
regulation proposed by himself in 1808, and adopted
by the House for the consolidation of the Stamp Due
ties. -'The chatge on these duties for 1808 was
729,4411. This charge was to be 'partially met by
short annuities, falling in to the amount of 375,0001.
65,0001. and 182,6631. making altogether 622,6631.
—The difference between this sum and the charge
(729,4411.) namely, 106,7781. was to be provided
for by the produce of the consolidation of the Stamp
Duties. Instead of producing 106,0001. the conso-
lidation had produced 1;236,9071. leaving a balance
of above 1,130.0001. arising out of the_ consolidation
of the Stamp Duties in 1808. He was aware that
in making this sratement, he subjected himself to
the severe animadversion of the House for his mis-
calculation, which he attributed to causes of which
he was nor at that time aware. He had now a pro-
position to make, whiCh he wished might be seri-
ously considered;
.well weighed, and severe:y criti-
cised. 'it was that,the smut of 970,8391. 12s. ihi. -
required to meet the charges for the loan of the cur-
rent year, should be taken out of ibis excess of the
The Committee woul
he was
uu,aspeartSieu.s t r -1
add, I)BaovBe.entertained no objedion to
such an approeriation in 1808, had it been re-
euired. Had they foreseen, the amount, they would
unqaestionatily have devoted the whole to the,wants
of the year. Ile considered :his excess as not alto-
gether arising from time new regulation,
_but as the
produce of the whole reventie. In his apprehens'oo,
not only would the Committee be justified in -making
the application of the sum which he recommended,
but ho would go still 'further, and declare, chat in
his opinion they would .not be justified if they did
not do so. He would withhold 150,0001, to -meet
the charge which he had just "mentioned of i 06,0001.
there- would then. remain the.sum Of 1,086,9071.
which would furnish the means of meeting. the
.eharge 01970,8391. 12s. ti-d. and leave a balance of
:112,0781. as thee-surplus produce of the- Stamp Du-
ties ; which surplus produce would be applicable to
the purpose of the consolidated. This plan might
be objected to ; but, in his estimation, the, disad-
vantages to be apprehended from it -were nothing to
,the advantages that would be derived from it. It
certainly •mightbtecallect a new- mode of defraying
the. expences of the public:seririce. Undoubtedly'.
Mr. Addington, under similar circumstances, -had
not aaed in..a similar manner. Having a very large
surplus from taxation, he -did not so apply that sure