The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-09-21 00:00:00

41. • ••.at
Prom COBBRID4 roLtrie4t ftsonritit,

•!' :timid inallode ger,lnitU sitlypeculiftr eernestoevil
etkir
ly 'that Rev tiLtit no the loi eresr, teivbeltd •
5,e, a N LTION•I. BArinaorrcar."--PUMISUISI Of LITZ..
hAIUKE.

PAPER AGAINST GOLD:

sp.isGr AN EX 4MINATION OF THE RESORT OF TIM BEL-
-I.ItIN COMMITTEE: IN A SERIES OF LETTERS TO rue
TaAnisusx AND FARMERS IN AND NEAR SALISBURY.

LETTER V.

Digression respecting the use of bank-antes as a potilical sup-
pdrt In the government—Mt. Addilgton's notion of couriac-
lug Bonaparte hythe means of 'a ter— e wswer of the
Jtoni-
teyr—ddi giucn to Mr. ifilitiagton in thr Blister in
ida-;-- Passage gaoled front a goventment nt3cs-paper ds-
scrfbing bank-notes se necessary to' the e.s:isteace of the gs-
iertussent.—ansis doctrine pconsulgaled by Mr. Paine in his
Rights of Mew—Mu different is this from what the oca..'d
- hhs been told-44W of;:it to encourage the en:lmp—Rent no
the subject of the Sinking Fund2--2!44, interest taker off its
108—'4*n:ton's .eict of .Bose qaoLd to-p, ode
that if etas clearly held forth to the natinn that taxes trosthl•bo
repeatedin consequence tithe Sinking Fuittl—P. S. sir Join
Sinetair'i Patupttlet. • t
Gawmasita,—Before we remind) the discussion, •
relating:to Pitt'S Grand Sinking Kind, which want •
of room obliged us to break off, at the close of the
last letter, 1.. think it may be useful to submit to
'yolk lierofri ebtervatiOn,or two, calculated to ob. .
viatettey totretindeditppehensioas that might other.
wite.be, excited by 'the apPareutly inevitable 'tato
of 'the paper-rnonet.,; this I deo n the inure
necessary, in,publicificiplare,tlaill appearing, from
the pens of. igoorent a; interested patinas, the evi.
dept• teodency, auJ., iti4eed, objeCts. of which is,
to .persuado the public, 'that the eatstence of the
government ;'that the etistence•ad; la* and order ;
that,,,the 'safety to personsaed property; nay, that •
.thO•continuttuee of. the sery breath in.
depend upon the:credit at. the ftank.notus.
'lke author, -from .whpse writings.l have taken
my motto to this present Number of my work;
.WV/,' you see,, of a very different opinion ; and, I
hkPX:l:lll.oted his sentiment upon .the subject, because
idayterk is well known to be of what is called the
ANTI-JhcaniN kind, that is to say, a work, the
tendency of which is, to prevent men like you from
having•aoy thing to say or. to do, any more than
your homes, in the affairs of government. This
writer,_ who, however, might mean well, and who
is certainly ,a very clever .man, so far from suit.
posing that the existence of the government de.
pended upon the credit of bank-notes, is, you see,
fixed in • his opinion, an opinion that he wishes " to
iututcate with a peculiar earnestness," that a REVO•
toxion, thereby meaning a change in the form of
government, it not the necessary cunQeiltiencc, even
of a National,. Bankruptcy ; that is to say, nut
only a total discredit of all the paper.tooeey, an 4
especially the Bank of Etia!and Notes ; but also
an utter inability to pay, in any way whatever, the
interest upon the National Debt, or any part of it.
•This is my opinion also, as it always has been
Onto I turned my attention to the subject. At
I the beginning of the preSent war, Mr. Alarm sta.
I ton, whet was then the Priete Minister, told the
House of Commons, that quo of his principal oa.
jects in laying on the Property Tax and other War
Taxes, was, ie to convince Bonaparte, ti,.it it wad
hopeless fur him-to c'ohteeti with our finances. To
Which the Moniteur, a French Government
paper, replied, 66 Pay your bank-notes in gal 4
and Piker, and then we will belied lota, withusi
yotir going to war*.'l
Whether the Minister made good his promise;
whither he has convinced Bonaparte, it was "hope:
6,6 less. fur him to contend with our finances,"
you,. Gentlemen, arft as likely to be aisle to Pities
as any' body theta know! ; L for my part' blame 4
the Minister for holding out such a motive 1:or hitt
taxing measuree.• X said to bide ; The truss telly of
convincing your- enemy, that this war upon Tout
fitiatteet will be widest,. is to state explicitly to the
World, that you are not at all afraid of the • come/
'quences of what is called a national banheeptcy
for, while you endeavour to maka people believe,
that such its •event cannot possibly happen, they
Will certaifilyAllisils that you regard at, if it Ghoul*,
happen,. as . irretrievable ruin . and destruction
and,. thereforo,'; as youaerasx• bap quite overcome!:
their apprehensions, the 'hest way 'is to he silent:
epon.. tacit) bj tte t kat the •-te bug-1 car
at defianee. • . ,Bouaparth'is :extiltatioo at Out •'
approviiing.b.ankroptcy thtateeeretis always reedy ;
Frauce bas•been a bankrupt.; Etance hail not Paid'
ntier spaper.Money ittspocie;• yet. France: is tiot • •
-Weaker for that ; rranceis,- in. spite of her •ruine4
fitjancea,:aa spite Of the long, pamphlets of Slit. F.
Erivernoia and Mv.:Rate, in spite' of the lonia',
'Weeeltett_aif. Lind
•Mornington,'' Lord 4:ut !dandy
spite of ,the.. innumerable Columns ,
ot• fitlicstw hick these noblemen mid gentlemen hare
' dratvt.op.io_lt'attle, arfaragidost hey's; in spite 4
ois...Feance. is -yet is/medals. resi'clr *worm.
• wcrfsohao,ohe Was hccOra she Clkinitieqeil what
'.117 national ..hankrapAcy: -What oceanic
' therefore,'•kaye We Lirenchao rejoite at our 4nattret
bang 101.0149. It h!rrg/ .44,113044- •
. A
• Stic. b r intjtoktittaenkkap4 my reisforiog 'epos '
/hi" sobitct, atiocia years- ago ;..1 Moe Olen to 'pro-
Witting *AKA depneciidien, as app!bel 'to `banks.
afteit4atais 'ore; to expose . a man tta charges stele -
;,iitae shtset, of freers*, viiich•cliergeVitere.mide.by
Abpse• very;:,perspuli who,:have•nasie •declared -the
greater half of owe hank.tiotec Wise " detteradieo
ostigooes,”..ind who hate called the n vde anti
dirty refs.". Mjt oploionbavas, anal it-still is, that
• the 'total destruction' of the patier.money would n 4
cause any•ehange injurious tot this -kingdom ; •ands
indeed, I should have.a most heerty-,contetrspt flit
•the Coottituti4n and for the whole form find comp.
sitioe of, our Gotertruenr, if 1 thetaght that 0*
existence depended uosidthe credit of isank.ootelf.
There are, howeeer,•etotie Who: think lust the re:.
versa; and these are, %Oa, writers, who appear to
be entirely devoted tipitheeGuvereipent, one of
whom guest far as to say, that the Goveremeot
bits no piker trust-worthy topper: than that .414*
at.,clerittis front the baikk.notes. The
Jar the
64. minit,•! says he, 44 fr.Propiblepnly of the pre,o44
‘4.,geod, or evil,: and has too little tlrought ft,
ciliateealeons
personaleqoeneerslianniedrei_fstil
0.„
lair
atf
s‘gti
laitsiatrf.Borebtese,d,ratparrtqlonfogthfe, caonnitinistignpiin.o. tuirkit,se4,46 •
66 640 V 11614tEfill COMA) AVE 4*,) L.
.66 IKENCN, etxtieliske insulated the pure boo
- - •

kcgteicr:Vi;l.

91S, JuskelBil3.

.v'' -~

... ~' ^G

sis of duty, and remote national and respective
4.' good. The conduct of Sweden, America, Ire-
" land, and the Jacobins of England, in their par-
" !Wily for France, exemplify a want of sense to
gg execute the maxims of Ericttaus. he paper
" currency of Bank Notes (there should lie no
'' Co!mtry Banks) oilers to Government a tnovt
" indeNtrueti7-e support, because 1 NI A K
" THE DAILY BREAD OF EVERY IN-
"DI VIDIJA DEPEND SUB-;TANTIA
" ON THE SAFETY OF GOVERNMENT,
" whereas money, which may be hoarded, scpa.
" rates the individual from the public safety. In
" the present revolutionary state of the world, I
" think our paper currency a most miracalouv
" mean of scdvation, and the 111,111 who would
64 propose the payment of Bank A otes in specie at
64 wry period, to separate individual property from
" public satety, might as well propose the burn-
" in; of the Nai.ly to protect the commerce of the
‘• worle."

Gentlemen, do you remember the writings of
PAINL l) you remember the nights of Man ;
fit the ritiog of ts hicti t:)e anther was prosecuted
L)' the then Attorney-General who is now the
Lord Chancellor ? Do you remember the Bights
of Man, the author of winch was prosecuted, and,
bt itv; absent, aas outlawed: the puLlishers of which
were prosecuted all over the kingdom ; the eircu.
1.1604 of a!iicia was forbidden by Proclamation ;
and, to counteract the principles of which Asset-
Cl A vtoss ware formed of the rich and the power-
ful ? %Veit, it was in this v,,ry work, that the
doctrine hoe down, by this government wri.
ter, was hest sty; tech PAINE said, that the exist.
ence of the government depended upon the exist-
ence of the bank. nctcs ; and that, the question
IClii nut, how Ion; the Brilikh Government would
s.'and! but, hoz@ long the Funding .System would
last. PAINes tootle of reasoning was, if I am
correct in my recollection, as nearly as possible
like that of this govesament writer. He laid it
down as an admitted fict, that the people (owing
to causes that he stated) must be wholly indfferent
crsout the fate of the government; bid, that, as
so many of them were, either by holding Storks or
bank.notes, interested in the fate of the :govern.
intent, they would, while the Stocks and ban/c.
notes lasted, continue to support the government,
whatever might be their feelings towards it. But,
that, when, from whatever cause, the Funding
System should fail, not a soul would be found to
lift a finger, or, even to express a wish in favour
of the existence of the government.
Just the same, or rather more, is now "said by
this government writer ; a writer one-half of whose
pages are filled with invectives against those whom
he calls the friends of the Emperor of France.—
But, how is it possible for any thing to be written
snore agreeable to the Emperor Napoleon than
what this writer has put forth ! Until now the
world has been told that we entertaiued a real love
for our government ; that we were attached to our
constitution, because it afforded such fineprotection
to our persons and our property; that we loved
the constitution, because it insured to us tho en-
joyment of liberty, and defended us against every
species of oppression ; that we had made nume-
rous sacrifices, and that we Were ready to make
as many more, nay, even " to spend oar last Ail.
" ling and shed the last drop of our blood," fur
the sake of these liberties and in defence of a king,
whom we so dearly loved, and in gratitude fur the
blessings enjoyed during whose reign, we held a
Jubilee. Until NOW, this is what the world has
been told. But NOW it is told, by this loyalty.
professing writer, that the only motive whence we
support the government at all, is, to reserve the
value of the Bank-notes that we hold ; that, if it
was not for the immediate personal interest of so
many people in the National Debt, and for patron-
age and paper currency, the Government could
have no existence; that we support thu government
because without its existence, the bank.notes would
fall, and because, by the number of bank-tiotes,
we are thus made to depend upon the safety of Go-
vernment for our daily bread; and that, there.
fore, the man who would propose the payment of
bank-notes in gold and silver at any period, might
as well propose the burning of the Navy, or, in
other words, the giving up of the country to France.
What, Gentlemen ! are we never, then, to see
gold and silver again ? Every Minister ; every
Alember of Parliament; every one of those, who
endeavoured to pal!iatc the measure of protecting
the Bank Company from paying their notes in cold
and silver ; every one of them " lamented the ne-
cessity," as they called it, of the measure. But,
NOW, behold, we are told that it was a good
tiring; and not only a good thing, but that the go-
vernment could not exist without it! Gentlemen,
we call ourselves a "thinking people;" but, be.
!"sere me, that this is what would not have been said
to any other civilized people upon earth.
We might here easily show how encouraging a
prospect doctrines of this sort hold out to our ene-
my, and how strong an inducement to use all these
',leans, whir they in the way of attack or of menace,
which are likely to destroy the credit of the paper-
money, that being, if these doctrines he sound,
the sure and certain way of destroying our govern-
nient. But, another opportunity will offer for ob.
serrations upon these matters; and, it is now time
th a we return to our inquiry into the SINKING
FUND.

In the last Letter, having stated tho provisions,
made in the ACTS -of 1786 and 1792, for the nation's
ceasing to pay interest upon the Stock that should
be redeemed, or bought up by the Commissioners,
after the year 1808'; or in other words, the na.
ti ceasing to pay taxes on account of the Stock,
or part of the Debt, which should be bought up
after that time having stated these provisions, we
were pt oceeditrg to inquire: What was done in the
tun;-exported year• 1808 ? What was done when
the year of promise came?
Why, my neighbours, nothing at all :cas done:
just nothing at all in the way provided for. The
tuition ceased to pay no dividends of interest ; and,
of course, this work of redeutptioo caused none of
itv taxes to be taken off. 44 Well," say you,
" but, is it possible, that, after such a solemn
g 4 proceeding ; after the express and positive de.
66 riaidtiou in two Acts of Parliament, that the

" dividends of interest should cease to be paid
64 in
.1808 ; is it possible, that, after that, all
C 6 the dividends did continue to' be paid, just
" the stone as if those Acts had. never been
" passed ?" 0, yes ! It is not only possible to
be 51, hut it is so. All the dividends have cont.'.
lined to be paid ; and are pa.id to this day. The
ah•,v►•_unentioned provisions, in 'the Acts of 1786
and 1792 were repealed. The Parliament undid
%hat it had before done. It did away the provi.
sions, ►which it had made in 1786 and 1792. It
passed .on'►ther Act, which said that those provi-
sions should not he carried into effect; or, in other
words, teat wt►ich was law b:•forc was no longer
tau:.

This new Act was passed indite month of June,
18.12, A noINGTON, the successor and the friend of
Prr-r, being then Minister. This Act (which is
71 of the 42d year of the reign of George
III.) is entitled " An Act to amend and RENDER
'• MORE EFFECTUAL two Acts passed in the
" twenty-sixth and thirty.second years of the reign
44 of his present Majesty, fur the reduction of the
4 4 National Debt." Thls Act which was to render
those two Acts more effeottud)-seti out by stating,
that the said two Acts had been by-experience found
" to be attended with must beneficial consequences
41 to the public credit of the country ;" and hay-
ing made that. declaration, it sets to • Work, and
repeals the two provisions above.mentioned ; and,
of course, when the year of 1808 came, when the
year of expectation arrived, no dividends ceased to
be paid, and interest upon the whole of the Debt
was still paid, and is still paid to this day.
Gentlemen, it is hardly to be believed, that any
men, who, like PITT and his associates and sup.
porters, bad invented and caused to be passed, the
two first-mentioned Acts, could propose the last.
mentioned Act, that is to say,. the Act of 1802.
Nut only, however, did they propose it, but the
Avcri.JaeoniN writers laughed in our faces and call-
ed us fools, if not levellers and jacobins, if we
ventured to express any doubt at allot the wisdom
and justice of any of these succusive measures;
and, these writers stoutly denied, that it ever was
intended to take off any of the taxes in 1808 ; and,
of course, they maintained, that we, who felt dis.
appointment, in this respect, were fools for our
pains, and, indeed, they expressed themselves thus,
that we, " were nature's fools," and not (be fools
of the Minister.

Never, surely, were any portion of mankind
treated with such barefaced contempt as the people
of England were, at the time referred to, by the
venal writers of news-papers, pamphlets, maga-
tines, and reviews, who, seeing the people terrified
out of their senses, by alternate alarms from with-
' in and without, seemed to think that he was the best
man, who could show the greatest degree of scorn
fur their understanding an.l character. Had net
this been their persuasion, would they have dared
to tell us, that none but fools ever expected the
Sinking Fund•to produce a repeal of Taxes, when
it must still remain in the memory of every man,
who was then at all conversant in political matters,
that the repeal of taxes; the lessening of the
tuxes; the making of their burthens less, was the
promise held feria to the people by the supporteis
of PITT ; nay, when it is notorious, that PITT.
owed the establishment or his tremendous power to
the opinion which the people entertained, that he
had discovered, and would put in practice, the
means of reducing the load of their Taxes? This,
as the great end of his schemes, was so much talked
of ; it k so well known, that this was so distinctly
stated in the speeches in Parliament, and so many
times repeated, that I am almost ashamed to trou.
ble you with any proof of the fact ; yet consi-
dering that the point is of great importance, I will
put the matter beyond all dispute by a reference
to a work on the increase of the Resources of the
kingdoM, published in 1799, under the name of
Gsoace Rosa, who was thee a Secretary of the
Treasury, and who is now Treasurer of the Navy
and a Privy Councillor, and who, in the execution
of the work about to be cited, was, doubtless, as-
sisted by PITT himself. Indeed, this must have been
the case ; or, at least, it must be believed, that no.
thing, upon such a subject, and under the name of
his official Secretary, would be published without
Pmt.'s previous approbttion. In this work, which
is entitled, " A Brief Examination into the Increase
" of the Revenue, Commerce, and Manufactures
" of Great Britain, from 1702 to 1799 ;" in this
work the hopeful effects of the Sinking Funds of
1786 and 1792 are pointed out, and the writer
says-: " By the operation of these Sinking Funds,
" without any further intervention of Parliament,
the one txisting before the war will attain its
6t marimiro (4,000,0001. a year) most probably,
in 1808, in tio case later than February 1811.
As the dividends due on such parts of the old
'4 debt as shall be paid off after the sinking fund
'‘ shall have attained iti maximum, ael the annul.
6' ties which shall afterwards fall in, will be at the
"6 disposal of Parliament, the period of RE.
" PEALING 7'AXES annually, to an amount
" equal thereto, cannot be delayed more than nine,
" ten, or eleven years."
Need I'ask you, Gentlemen,' whether you have
heard of any repealing of taxes? ‘Vliether you
have felt your load of taxation lightened P Whe-
, ther.you pay less taxes, than you paid when this
.plscenian wrote his beak in 1799 ? No.: These
questions I need not put to you ; nor need I ask
you what are your feelings towards those, who fed'
you with hopes of a diminution of your burdens;
nor need I, perhaps, say one more word upon the
l subject 'of the Sinking Fund, not to have seen
through which by this time"would argue a much
greater want of discernment than I am disposed to
attribute to any part of my countrymen,p and es-
pecially to you, u hige di-seeming faculties have,
as to matters of this sort, been, of late, pretty
well sharpened-try experience. Nevertheless, with
the hope of leaving no
,possibility of bewildering
any body in future, er.its regard to the, nature or
effect of the Sinking Fund, I shall add kurteaddi.
tional remarks ; but, as these remarks Wilt open
to es qUite new views of the matter, and will ex-
tend to some length, I shall postpone them to my
next; and I remain, in the meanwhile,
Yubr faithful friend,
WM. COBBECT.
Skate Prison, Neiognir„ Monday,
Sryloishr ••