The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-10-31
? 70 .'f-l'' fsss. .--Al. 4
bT1rfsH FINAEcEst

man that was unacquainted with the arts
and tricka OF hnanceerng, were told. that in ma.
uon' the most commercial of any in the world,
| and which owes by far the greater part of her
| Richest to commerce, the annual exbences were
greater than her imports and exports put toeetl-
er-her annual loans equal to I-lOth Of the reve.
nue. OF the peoPle-her mass public debt more
than all her land. was worth at its prrsen price
such man would be filled with establishment,
| He would be sure to pronounce, that no nation
whatever could stand under such a pressure
and that she must be the very eve and verge of
bankruptcy Yet, such is the situation of Great
Britain, at this moment lf-
From official tables, which have been lately
published, we learn that the expenditure OF Great
Britain for the last year. was e rs. 65o, Gal 81:
2l.4 Sterling just s $50, sos. 5l3 87y.
That the imports at England, for the same
time, were 6 %. ISIS, 101. and Exports E a. $50,
o42, amounting to s 2Ss. 2S5,03O.
That the Interest the unrcdeemed funded
DEBT was & 2O,70i, 252: o: NJ, besides charges
gifts management & 296,757 10 IA. and inter
est on excheq,lcr bills E1,574 1861 i8 s..
That the loan for that year was & 15,257,211
9:3-and for the present year, scarcely less
than 20 millions
And that, ere this at least, the public debt of
England is not lass than zoo millions of pounds
Sterling.
Count this sum in our own current coin. and
1t will make, upwards Of 3ll3 millions of dol.
lars. rD ~
Lay it off in line of guineas close to each O.
the, and. we ar told that it will stretch upwards
Of Il, 900 miles
Change it into shi'lings and place them in
similar mann =. and il will be long enough to
encircle the globe eleven times :,
Reduce 1t to silver, and we told, it will
weigh 2l0,00c,000 lbs.-wh,ch at tons Der
Wagon, will occupy 10, 500 Wagons, and with
!OOO lbs TO each horse, require 2lO,00e horses to
draw it.
Divide it ,mong the whole population of the
British Empire-and it viii draw 1876 dollars,
from eoeyy man, and child, TO discharge it,
N IT be asked, how such gigantic system, of
public debt and annual waste Is supported and
how men with capital can be persuaded to loan
millions, every year, tn the government-the an
swer is to he sought for in their system of finan-
ceering. Such as grant the loan, are not compel.
led to retain the debt in their hands, with the
privilege only of drawing the annual Interest
but the debt is made transferrable--t passes frem
one to another-those who vend the loan to the
Exchequer to-day, may go into the market next
morning to dispose of it to others-tlius while in
their hands, it is representative of as much mo.
ney, AS may be had for it in the market
it's not like Bart Note, which may at any
time be presented to the Bank to be commuted
into money-it rather resembles Bank Stock
which is made transferable from one hand To an.
other, without the privilege Of being presented to
the bank for payment in coin. Something is re-
ceived by the holders of both--at stated periods
What is paid on one is called dipidend-the o.
Their, Interest. There is this difference Divi.
dends fuctuate according to the business done
IN Bank Whereas Interest is always station
AIRY and fixed
The comparison holds good in another respect
So long as there are Dividends paid by the
Bank. its Stock retains Value. 1t is a subject
OF traffic and trade-In the same way, so long as
the government discharges the interest on the
public debt, that debt retains value. and uey
loans can be effected
1t is therefore maxim in the British Exche.
quer, that, so long the Government is in sit
uatlon To pay OH the Interest of the public debt
new loans can be made, and new resour-
ces can be had for the most extravagant of its
proJects.-Every man sees, how these debts OPP
crate as an incumbrance upon an limo poster.
ity-as a permanent rent imposed by the prod
igaiIty OF an incumbent, operates as an incum-
brance on all future heirs-how every sum of mo
ney. which is drawn by Mr.. Canning from the
pockets OF Stock Jobbers for all his wild and
wastefu projects, for his idle expeditions to Zea-
land and to Spain. WILL so long the presen, con-
st'tuto ION OF .. continues, entail anew tax up
on successive generations, and take so much
bread, and ale, so many comforts and convenien.
ces from the people Of England-how these
unfortunate people ara now ground down BY the
payment OF 25 millions in taxes for the interest
OF the debt, exclusive OF the other disbursements
OF annual extravagance-and how these taxes
blend themselves with the prices of every article
IN England, and lend new burthen upon the
prosperity of the arts the trade and the manufac.
lures of the nation.
1t is strange, how any man should have main
tanned, that Public Debt sDas a Public Blesstnp. |
Even in the hight in winch it " as viewed Nv the |
statesmen OF England at the period of their reyo
luton when there was no public debt, " as a Sc
curity of a new prince not firmly settled OIL the
throne"-as means of I" concerning a certain set
OF people mererly to preserve that government, |
which they had trusted with their money" even
in this light, the public debt of England has now
grown to such an enormous size, as to 70 near to |
destroy the benefit ofthe maxim For, perhaps,
there are more persons, interested in shaking off
the public burdens by revolution of the govern |
ment, than there creditors disposed to perpe-
tuate its corruptions.
Should Bonaparte ever effect landing in En- |
gland-then, we shall sets; whether the public |
debt, with all the colossus of taxation interest
and bank paper, which support it, will ever form
one OF the efficient means OF her resistance
SwIrr's =" Conduct ofthe Ailies"
Within few days two persons have been |
found guilty, in the city OF N York, of" nuering
counterfeit bark uotes, knowing them to be
such" The fact offoygixs not made out.
The evidehce adduced these trials, proves, that
an ingenious and general plan has been laid,
perhaps throughout the u. S. for circulating
the counterfeit Notes Indifferent banks.