The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1806-07-15

GREAT-BRITAIN.
e7be EngLi6 SyRem of Finance eviN long re.
main monument efevoader, NOT 70 much on ae-
count oftbe extent to evkieb it bas been carried,
as eftbe folly ofbeiieving in it,"
Paine on the Decline and Fall of the EngliGh syaem
of Finance
The national debt of Great Britain, has reach
ed fuch ttate of accumulation and completely,
as almot like in6nity itfelf, to defy the ordina-
ry powers of calculation. When an climate is
made of the continually encreaiug debt of
Great-Britain, the interett of this debt and
charges of the Sinking Fund, the annual excei5
of expenditure, the annual loans obtained to
make up the deficit of revenue, the millions
which are facriticed to filpport the fpIendor of
royal magn6cence, and the extraordinary ex-
pences caufed by the continual wars in which
Great-Britain is engaged with the nations of
Europe; it cannot be concealed that fhe is fat
approaching that awful fate Of Bankruptcy, to
which all her meafures inevitably tend. The
Engiiih Syfem of Finance betrays e, MANY
fymptoms of decay, that it is impoi1ible not to
believe the nation on the eve of bankruptcy :;
it has already reached fate Of decrepitude,
which is the harhinger of approaching difInluti-
on. But 1t is difficult to augSr the death of
an individual, and much more 70, the dinoluti-
on of government, with any degree Of certain
ty. AS even under the mott dreadful fymptoms
of difeafe, man may fupport life beyond the
expectations of the mott fkiIful phyfician 70
may a government, which daily tends to ruin,
endure far beyond the calculations of its enc
mics, far beyond the hopes of its friends.
On the prettnt complicated and important
fubjeet, feel myfelf compelled in fome mea-
fure 10 exceed, the limits which at 6rft pro.
Pofed, for this efiay. The fituation of G.. Bri-
"a RI tprs and r..
Portant and $50 blended with its Syftem of FL
nance, that am contrained to make fomc few
obfervations on if. The fubiee. is 70 intcrefine
to every mind, that need make no apolo-
gy for the digreiiion. For the fake of prefcrv-
ing fome degree of method, ] will firft enquire,
what is the iituaton of Great-Britain as TO agri-
culture! next as to commerce, and laftly as to
her Finance
Agriculture in Great-Brtain is but little at.
tended to. The poor, honef, induftrious pea.
fAnt is efteemed amongf the mott infigniGcant
of his majehy's fuhje6ts. The number of acres
contained in Great-Britain, is ettimated at a.
bout 40, 1000, Of which about one fourth is
in cultivation, and the RET in woods, parks,
p'eafnre-grounds, &c. &c. The total net pro-
duce oflands in Great-Britan is about + TO-
100000, of which the landlord takes { AZ, ooo,-
600 the government in taxes and tythes.
( 100000, and the INDECENT, hard-labouring
peaiantry, & 100000 only. Thus the far
mer gets about one fourth of the produce of
the land he cultivates, and thus Great Britain
yearly imports provifons, though three-fourths
of the kingdom remain uncu!tivated.
Next as TO commerce. The fatement which
was laid before the Britifh Houfe of Commons
by theiChancellor ofthe Exchequer, July gath,
1904, contains the following information. The
official value of Brih@ manufactures exported
from Great-Britan, was on an average of
e
S34,42o. The official value of FOREIGN nercbau-
die exported from Great-Britan, was on an
average of fix years, ending 5th January 1904,
K 1898, 800. The fun to be RATED in c. Bri-
tain, to anfwer the current expences of the
year 1904, amounted to < 7l,4es,431, almoft
double the value OF BritiG manufactures and fo-
reign merchandise, exported from that king
dom in the fame year. I make this imperfect
ttatement of the agricultural asd commercial
ftuation of Great-Britain, becaufe it is in ma
ny rstpects the mott intereting nation in the
world, and becauie fnch flatement will throw
fome light on the fubjef of this eGay.
will now, agreeably to the method which
] propoted, take fhort view of the Englih
Syttt of Finance. From the itatemsnt laid be-
fore the Britiih Houfe of Commons by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, July cath, 1904,
which was before alluded to, il appears that
the total amount of the public funded debt, on
the 1T February 1904, was & 58S,oo8,97s {;
that the fun annually applicable to the reduc-
ton of the debt of Great. Britain, in purfaance
OF the feyeral acts relating thereto, is about
K 6.a5l,lo2, about 1-7Srd part of the unre-
deemed debt, exiting in 1904. That the in
tereft ofthe public debt aad charges of the Sink
ing Fund, &c. on the 5th of January, 1904
amounted to L 24,110,475, more than three
times the amount of the fun annually applied to
the reduction of the debt that the current ex-
prnces OF ths year 1904, amounted rs before
Rated, to & 7l,49s ,43l, fun more than three
times the amount of all the exports from G. 4.
Britain, of her own manufacture, which we
iaw under the head of commerce, was eftimat-
ed at 4 23,s39,42o. That the total net pro-
duce of the permanent taxes, in the year end
ing 9th Jan. 1904, was E 3o,754,724, about
half the fun to be RATED for the year. In order
10 make up the deficit of revenue, and raife the
aforementioned fun, for the current expences
ofthe year, loan was obtained of T. Ia, 500, 900
and vote Of credit for Great-Britan to the
amount Of L 100000, &c.
In addition to this official ftatement, made
IN the year 1894, by the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, | will mention fome remarks which
MIR. Paine makes, when he tpeaks of the finan.
ctal Syitem OF G.. h. Ills treatifc was written
IN the year '96. The author ftates, that at that
time taxes amounted to confderabIy more than
the gold and FLYER which was the current
coin of the country. There Is a certain ratio
which exits between the power of levying tax
es, and the quantity of gold and filver current