The Sun.
London, England, 1827-01-17 00:00:00

1883 .

732,570,990 19 9i
1834

723,413,853 12 04
.. 9,001,006 10 01

1833

714,412,847 1 04
1836 -

705,482,686 9 3
1837 -

£696,664,632 17 8
and to continue till the debt is reduced to that of 1790.
' Your Lordship will observe the deduction is made from the ,
capital, and not from the dividends. Any deduction from the
latter would not only affect the eirculatinc, medium, but it woud
he severely felt by a numerous class of th:fu fundholders, and would
he particularly hard in the case of minors andn(
be obliged to live on the dividends. Besideas,nya any
od:eFettiloan wouldt from
the the dividends, that would do the country
sacrifice too great to be expected ; whereas, taking it from the
capital, I trust to make it appear, that, taken in conjunction with
'my former suggestions, the deduction would never be felt at all.
111 proposing this reduction, I am conscious similar language will
he used bv"some fundholders, that I have attributed to those af-
fected by propositions second and third ; and that they may say,
that part of their iiir4portjt is taken from them that was guaran-
teed by acts of Parliament. But, by taking a comprehensive
view of the matter, their property-is not taken from them; nei-
ther is the national faith compromised. It is true there is a
change of figures ; but front the changes that are made by the
two preceding propositions,
,the reduced sums of funded capital
' will be of as much comparative value, and go as far in purchasing
all other descriptions of property, as the original nominal sum ;
and, as-the-price of corn, and, colsequently, of every thing else,
will he reduced in the saMe period in a much less proportion, they
will go asduring , far that period, and, after it, much farther than
they do at present. . .
But let us take another view of the subject, and suppose that
Governm b
ent—ad tint borrowed the money, or that, by some mi-
raeulotts .eveeoer4 do tt'4?
nrt.t ~liey were.,. instantly enabled to repay it, what
could the . li ,80,0,000,0001. of money ? Had it
been pOssible.to have
time ago, the half Of-thePlatied produce of any kind a short
it been lent on foreign was gone in the speculation.—
Hadworse situation. Had it }men t—ititi.es, it would have been in a
the hands of many- hundred b'''atiCrts Only twelve months ago in
at home, what would the
800;000,000/...- be reduced to now? ll
these: investnimits, had the possessors -oof t; instead of any of
wished to lend it on mortgage, where is the this immense sum
adequate extent in value ?' In fact, my Lord,
orldand to be found of
it will be found,
but by lockiug
that there is no way of keeping such a sum safe,T
it ,ip,—.say, in the Bank of England, or the
where are the dividends? Or, where is and, in
;the eight
that cam)
hundred millions of coin to lock up ?—and, I presume,iS nobe y
would 16ck up paper. But suppose the fundholders were d-
the sum in sovereigns, I admit it would be safe, if locked to get
buried ; bat it would not be safer than in the British funds ;pi, o.r
ther would it be s 6 well invested ; because, if the regular dividends
were added, 'the capital would contirnie to increase, notwithstand-'
Mg:of the annual deduction of one and a quarter per cent. every
let of .ranuai-y. In short, my Lord, this 800.000,000/. of nomi-
nal capital could be trusted no where but in the British funds.--
1 And, although an act of the legislature were passed, and in force

rio-morrow, along with those to be founded on the principles of
i the other three propositions, the capitalist would consider it a
I good investment. For what is one and a quarter per cent. annually,
for guaranteeing this immense sum ? Who would guarantee a
mercantile debt for one and a quarter per cent., even for 6 months ?
Who would guarantee an adventure of this magnitude, or insure, or
underwrite for a vessel with 800,000,0001. on board, for one and a
quarter per cent. ? What insurance or premium would have
been offered, and most cheerfully paid, to insure this very
800,000,0001. at the time the fleet mutinied with Parker at the
Nore, When the British three per cents. fell to 47 ? The British
Government alone can undertake an insurance of this magnitude ;
and the premium of one and a quarter per cent. is too little fur the
risk. In fact it is but little, in comparison to what is at present
actually expended to protect our funded property.
What I have said is a sufficient answer to any objections
that I anticipate from the fundholders, as a body interested
in the welfare of the state ; but, as an illustration of their situa-
tion, in comparison with the other classes in society, who may
be more particularly affected by the changes suggested, I would
put the case. Supposing three brothers, A, B, and C, receiv-
ing one thousand pounds each, and, during the war,. A purchases
a commission with his 1,000/. ; B purchases land with his, and
C, put chases stock with his 1000/. ; and, in consequence of the
long and expensive war, the country gets into difficulty and dis-
tress, and it becomes a matter of necessity, that, in ten years, one-
fourth of the pay, or 25' per cent., is taken from A, and a greater
proportion of his rental is taken from B, upon what principal can
C, complain of the trifle that is taken from his funded capital ? No
doubt the funds will suffer as much in one hundred years as the land,
butthe present fundholders cannot suffer as much as the present land-
holders; because their interest in the funds will have ceased long be-
fore this trifling scale can reduce the national debt to what it was
in 1 ob. Let it be asked, which of the brothers would have the
most reason to complain ? Surely the stockholder would have the
least. , For your Lordship will not fail to keep in view, that you
will be told by the landed interest, that, by the estimate of Col-
quhoun and the free-trade party, they will suffer a loss of
25,000,000/. annually, by the abolition of the corn laws ; and
that they would suffer this very unjustly, unless the fundholders
were also to contribute, in a fair proportion, to the necessities of
the state : and that you will be told, by the class who are affected
by my second proposition, that they cannot suffer the 8,000,0001.
of proposed reduction, unless the corn laws are repealed, and the
national debt reduced.
With regard to foreign fundholders, they, must be treated in
the same way as British subjects. And, in answer to their com-
plaints, let them, in the first place, be told, that they cannot
complain of the payment of one and a quarter per cent. for se-
curing their property, while they contribute, in no other form,
for Its protection : and, let theta look around them, and discover
where they can place their property with half the .security. In
the next place, let them reflect on the hundreds of millions that
Great Britain expended in the cause of the established Govern-
ments of Europe within the last thirty years, and that in defence
of their property ; and, if they still consider their case hard, let
them apply to their own government for redress. They must be
told, and that firmly, that we have no intention of reducing our
debt lower than it was before the French Revolution.

In cutting down the debt, I am presuming, that no future loans
will be required ; as, from the impetus which would be instantly
given to trade of all descriptions, and the increasing prosperity of
the country at large, the ways and means could easily be raised
within the year. And, should it unfortunately happen, that
future wars should arise, and that we are under the necessity of
having recourse to loans, I am not apprehensive of the result, as
the money could not only be obtained at the price of the funds at
the time, although the lenders are made aware that the one and a
quarter per cent. is deducted from the capital annually, but the
fund of credit is created to enable ministry to borrow the same.
I originally intended to make a fifth proposition,—to cut down
the Revenue on a scale of so many per cents. till all the duties
were assimilated to those of the year 1790 ; but, as so many taxes
have been totally repealed, and as many partially reduced since
the peace, I should suppose such a scale of reduction were better
in the hands of the ministry. And, as the taxes already repealed,
wholly and partially, from 1821 to 1825, amount to 10,160,0001.,
and that, independent of the 14,000,0001. of Property Tax, ter-
minating in 1816, I should suppose a reduction from 1827 to
1837 may be estimated at 10,000,0001.

Before leaving off, I trust I may be pardoned for pointing out
a few of the many grievances of the present systeth, as felt by the
generality of his Majesty's subjects. I began with the four mil-
lions of Assessed Taxes ; they are still paid, but they are not, and
never were, cheerfully paid ; and, after twelve year's peace, they
are paid with increased dissatisfaction. Many poor families are
much straitened; many pawn their furniture ; and-some families
are rouped out of doors to pay them. Direct taxes are bad in
principle, as they raise little money and much strife, and they
never should be resorted to except in time of war. But, suppos-
ing they were easily paid, it appears to be had policy to keep
them up; for what advantage are they to Government? The
moment they are realized, the whole amount, and other four mil-
lions, are paid away by the Government, in extra pay to the army
and navy, to the judges of the land, crown-servants, and others;
so that the money raised from the subjects do the Government
no good. In using the words extra pay, I wish to be distinctly
understood, that I have no distant intention of insinuating that
the gallant defenders of our country, the judges of the land,
or others receiving the government money, are overpaid. No,
the extra pay became indispensably necessary, in consequence
of the extra price of provisions, and the change in the currency.
But let us proceed to inquire what good this eight millions of
extra pay does them. The raising of the money makes the poor,
poor indeed, and it does no good to those who get it. In fact
they would be better without it . for, whenever they receive it, it
is paid away to the landed interest for dear bread, and other agri-
cultural produce. Let us then proceed to inquire what good it
does the proprietors of the soil. It does them no good—they
would be better without it ; for, whenever they receive the
25,000,0001. for the bread tax, it is paid away indirectly to the
fundholders. Then one would suppose the happy fundholders
would be well off with their 33,000,000/. of annual dividends;
but this is not the case, for, when they receive them, they are,
with the exception of what is accumulated and added to the capi-
tal for private purposes, swallowed up in high duties, dear bread,
extra salaries, and high rents ; so that if the government duties,
the corn, and the &cs. were reduced to the scale of the year 1790,
they would he better off. Now, if no one of these three great classes,
who are so deeply interested in the country, are one fraction the
better of all this extra money being raised from the subjects and
paid to them, it must follow that it is bad policy to keep up war
taxes in time of peace ; and it must also thence be apparent, that
it is a thing much to be desired to assimilate our Revenue and
Expenditure to the scale of 1790, before the war commenced.
I may estimate the number of the above three classes at about
three millions of individuals. These three millions, if not bene-
fitted, will not at least be injured by the adoption of the propo-
sitions I have had the'honour of subMitting to your Lordship;
and the remaining twelve millions of his Majesty's subjecns will
be essentially benefitted. It is not necessary for me to explain the
condition of these twelve millions of individuals ; but I may ob-
serve, that after twelve years profound peace, our commerce is
nearly at a stand, our manufactures entirely so, our individual
credit impaired, our revenue decreasing, and our debt overwhelm-
ing. Under these circumstances it is no wonder that a great
proportion of these twelve millions are at this moment in misery.
and distress, and that thousands are fast following to the same
situation; or that the kingdom should be covered with beggars
and paupers, from Cornwall to Kirkwall, besides the starved,
' distressed, and otherwise alarming situation of Ireland.
This is a picture of the present state of matters. Now the
result of my propositions, by which the burdens of the people
will he lightened, will be better shown and illustrated by stating
the same in the abstract, in figures, viz.:-
1. A total repeal of Assessed Taxes will lighten the burdens
of the country annually L 5,000,000
2. A reduction of one-fourth of all pay, pensions, salaries, &c
' as per Proposition 2, including the savings by those falling
by deaths
3. A repeal of the Corn Laws will lighten the burdens of the
country, as estimated by Dr. Colquhoun and the free-trade
party, at
4. gradual reduction of the national debt will lighten the
' burdens of the people, besides reducing the debt itself in
ten years one hundred millions
5. As, from past experience, we see, that between the years
1821 to 1825, a reduction of taxes, amounting to 10,160,000/.
took place, and that independent of the 14,000,0004 of
property in 1816, we may fairly calculate on a reduction
of taxes, from 1827 to 1837;-Of

Total £52,000,000
In stating that the proposed system would lighten the burdens
of the country, I may add, that from the increase that may arise
from the second and fifth prepositions, mad that must arise from
the fourth, the savings will soon he sixty millions ; and, before
the debt is reduced to the amount of 1790, the burdens of the
country will be lightened 70,000,000/.annually.
It may he observed, that there are various classes in the country
that are not directly taken notice of in these propositions. It
would be difficult, if not impossible, to include all; but when I
cast my eyes at the export and the shipping interests, the great
mercantile and colonial interests abroad, and the great banking and
manufacturing interests at home, and reflect on the dreadful cala-
mities that have affected them, and other classes, within the last
twelve months, they appear to have suffered too much already.
I would earnestly solicit those receiving Government money,
who may take another view of the matter, seriously to reflect,
that the best ship, with the bravest commander and skilful crew,
guided by the most able and experienced pilot, has gone a-ground ; '

and, in that case, to think on the risk they run of not being em-
ployed, and what rate of pay may be allotted they. I would also
have the landed interest, on giving up the corn-bill, to reflect, that,
if that case occur, (which God forbid, although the lands would
still be where they are), the risk the owners run of their changing
proprietors. And, above all, I entreat the fundholders seriously,
very seriously, to reflect, that little, very little, saves a vessel ; and,
if they refuse to lighten her this trifle, and it unfortunately happen,
that the greatest and the best state-vessel in the world get over-
loaded, and founder—the stock that is worth 800,000,0001. to-
day, will not be worth 800 fractions to-morrow.
Edinburgh, Oct. 27, 1826.