diff --git "a/Astronomy/a_compendium_of_astronomy_1830.md" "b/Astronomy/a_compendium_of_astronomy_1830.md" new file mode 100644--- /dev/null +++ "b/Astronomy/a_compendium_of_astronomy_1830.md" @@ -0,0 +1,20857 @@ +Small black triangle pointing to the right with a small white dot on top. + +THE +DOMESTIC AND FINANCIAL CONDITION +OF +GREAT BRITAIN; +PRECEDED BY +A BRIEF SKETCH OF HER FOREIGN POLICY, +AND OF THE +STATISTICS AND POLITICS +OF +FRANCE, RUSSIA, AUSTRIA, AND +PRUSSIA. +BY +G. BROWNING. +Of states, of empire, princely crowns, and altars, +Our written moral trusts ---and never falter--- +To give to praise her triumph. +LONDON: +PRINTED FOR +LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMAN, +PATERSON-ROW. +1834. +416 + +A circular stamp with text "PRINTED IN ENGLAND BY THE CHURCHILL PRESS LTD." and "LONDON" around the edge. +PRINTER PRINTED IN ENGLAND BY THE CHURCHILL PRESS LTD. +LONDON + +PREFACE. + +Few subjects present a higher interest than inquiry into the political and domestic condition of our own country. The practical operation of our foreign and internal policy affects in so large a degree the happiness of the community, that whatever tends to awaken that spirit of useful inquiry, which leads to improvement in the management of the national resources, is in the highest sense useful and interesting. + +As preliminary to the general subject of the following pages, we have appropriated a short chapter to the review of the foreign policy of the British government, in which its relative position to the leading European powers is briefly considered. The political, domestic, and financial condition of Great Britain is so essentially influenced by that of other European nations, that we have deemed it necessary, in *fina*me, to give a brief outline of the resources and politics of the four continental powers which, in common with ourselves, are concerned in the destinies of Europe. It is impossible to predict from what quarter may originate the impulse which may give a different course to the current of affairs; and every work which purposes freely to investigate the condition of any leading European nation, ought, in some degree, to comprehend the + +a 2 + +iv +PREFACE. + +state of Europe. The question of war or peace is, in modern times, so interwoven with the internal and financial condition of nations, that in judging of the probable future policy of European governments, we must necessarily look to their power, revenue, and resources. How far the plan which, from such considerations, we have adopted, has detracted from that unity of design which ought to form the basis of all great features of national historical and political work, remains for the reader to determine; but, if harmony of purpose is wanting in the succeeding pages, the deep interest which is felt by the public in the politics of Europe will frequently lead them to treat national affairs which of necessity occur in the elucidation of the more material subjects here treated of, will, in some degree, justify the plan adopted. The facts advanced have been carefully collected from the most authentic sources, and whatever has been considered to bear upon the general system of European politics has been duly noticed. Many of the particulars contained in this portion of the work, have been deduced from personal observation, during a residence on the continent. + +At the commencement of the second part of our work, we have investigated, at some length, the operation of our numerical advantages; and our conclusions respecting its review; facts, are, we trust, calculated not only to dispel the luggubrious anticipation of those who view with alarm the expansion of our population, but to inspire confidence in the prospective effects of its increase. In this portion of our work, the buoyancy of the state revenues is clearly shown to spring from the increase of people. + +Few subjects have excited a greater share of public interest than the condition of the working classes, and the practical operation of poor laws: these form the thesis of the succeeding chapter. + +PREFACE. +V + +The necessity for remedial measures in this part of our domestic policy is fully demonstrated, and the probable effect of the means adopted by parliament to eradicate the abuses which have crept into the administration of our ecclesiastical laws discussed. The state of British agriculture, and the question as to the policy of the present restrictions to a free trade in corn, form the succeeding topics of this work. The summaries on these important subjects, are founded on a careful research into the operation of past enactments. The removal of present impediments to a free trade in grain, are not advocated without duly appreciating the claims of vested interests, and the policy of a return to a more liberal course of commercial legislation, is only recommended on the principle of reconciling a variety of private interests with public advantage. + +The intricate topics of money, coin, and exchange next succeed. Few subjects demand a greater share of attention on the part of our rulers than the state of the currency. The evils which arise in the discussion, are full of vital importance. The national losses by the late defective plans of pecuniary legislation, cannot fail to impress the reader with the necessity of new ramparts of security; nor can he fail to see the danger to which the best interests of the state are exposed by the repe- ration of the present system. The expediency and novelty of those reforms, which we have, perhaps with too much confidence, suggested, are submitted to his judgment. Our chief aim in this part of the work has been clearness and perspicuity, and we have industriously avoided those mysteries of language in which the subject is too frequently enveloped. + +In the investigation of our financial condition, we have entered on a rigid scrutiny of the British plan of taxation. The sweeping reforms we have + +vi +PREFACE. + +suggested under this head, may appear to our readers far too bold, too extensive, and too dangerous for adoption; yet the encouragement afforded by recent financial changes, is well calculated to inspire ministers with confidence in the prospective result of enlarged operations, and to induce an extended application of those principles on which their financial policy has of late years been founded. The success of the measures of 1832, when a remission of duties to the amount of 1,600,000l. was concurrent with an actual increase of revenue exceeding 200,000l. To the advantages which would result from the remission of such duties as those now charged on foreign timber, or on such articles as tea, sugar, manufactures, glass, paper, &c., none can be insensible; and if our estimates of the disposable means of abolishing that portion of taxes which impedes the progress of the nation in wealth and power, are deemed too sanguine, and our anticipation of the progressive advance of the national resources of Great Britain too favourable, we trust that they will not be attributed to deficient industry in the investigation of the springs of British power, but to that confidence in the buoyancy of the state resources which must, in the course of their researches, grow in the minds of all who have any interest in the domestic and financial condition of Great Britain. + +In discussing these subjects, we have ventured on questions of great difficulty and vital importance; in the review of which, any attachment to party politics would be unsuitable. Happily, the nation and country, a rigid scrutiny into the public actions of public men permitted us to see we have thus felt free to commend and animadvert on measures in proportion as they appear well or ill adapted to our condition, without regard to the political principles of men in office, or of their opponents. + +PREFACE. vii + +Convinced that in works wherein the leading design is utility, clearness and simplicity are especially desirable, perspicuity, rather than elegance of style has been our aim. We are far from being insensible to the imperfections which our work presents to the ingenious and intelligent critic; but, conscious that our pages bear the stamp of good intention, laborious investigation, and careful revision, we confidently claim the indulgence of the attentive reader. + +Several changes have occurred since the beginning of the present session of parliament, when our manuscript was sent to press; during the progress of the printing, we have found opportunity to notice still more of the most important measures of the legislature; with these exceptions, which will be remarked on perusal of the work, the manuscript must be considered to be made up to April 1834. In our observations connected with the science of political economy, we have taken for our guide the doctrines laid down by Bolueau, * a writer of great dissembling and untruthfulness. To Mr. Mc Culloch a special acknowledgment is due, for the use he made of his able and profound work; nor can we close our preface without expressing our thanks for the assistance we have received from the gentlemen of the House of Commons' Library, and from those at the British Museum. We have also derived great assistance from the writings of other authors, to which we have referred in various parts of the future pages. + +* Introduction to the science of Political Economy. +† Dictionary of Commerce and Navigation. + +London, +August, 1834. + +In page 14, the annuity payable on the Russian-Dutch Loan is stated to be 250,000. The original loan was 50,000,000 florins at five percent.; but by the treaty of 1837, the Dutch Government agreed to pay interest on 25,000,000 florins at five per cent., and redeem the capital at one per cent., or at three per cent. per annum, if required. This amount exceeds the original loan by 25,000,000 florins. Supposing the Sinking Fund to be regularly applied at one per cent., until the whole of the original loan is paid off, the amount due will be 25,125,000 florins. Supposing the exchange of twelve florins one silver, which is now about correct, the sum due will be £7,299,079. To which if we add the sum already applied ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...... £7,299,079 + +The total sum paid, and to be paid, by Great Britain to Russia in sterling money ... + +ERRATUM. + +Page 136, lines 13, 24, and 34, for Rundjuk-Sing, read Rundjuk-Sing. +— 141. note for families, read females. +— 146. the word "and" preceding paragraph. +— 216. — 12. for 273,429,000 read 238,980,000. +— 261. — 16. for 156 read 157. For Fontenoi, read Fontenoi. +— 406. — 16. for 156 read 157. line 31. for 3100. read 31,000. + +CONTENTS. + +PART I.—CHAPTER I. +REVIEW OF THE FOREIGN POLICY OF GREAT BRITAIN. + +Introductory remarks, page 1—Change of policy at the revolution of 1688, 3—Causes of this change, Ibid.—The war of the revolution of 1793, 5—The war of the Spanish war, 1789, and the war of the Austrian succession, 7—The seven years' war, 9—The American war, 1775, and the French war, 1793, 10—The war of 1792 and 1803, 11—Table of the wars, 12—Conduct of the allies towards France at the peace of Paris (1815), 13—Remarks on the policy of Napoleon Bonaparte after the congress of Vienna, 14—Protocol issued by the allies at the congress of Aix la Chapelle (1819), 16—Foreign policy of the Liverpool and Canning administrations, 17—Policy of Lord Castlereagh's government, 20—The Duke of Wellington's administration, 21—Lord Grey's policy, 23—Dutch negotiations, 25—Probable future course of policy + +CHAPTER II. +REVIEW OF THE STATISTICS AND POLITICS OF FRANCE. + +SECTION I.—FRENCH STATISTICS. + +Territorial extent, 40—Population, 41—Causes of the slow progress of population in France investigated, 42—Dupin's tables of the comparative productive power of Great Britain and France compared with those of other countries (1829), 43—Military force, 54—Naval force, 60—Revenue, 62—Public debt, 64—Expenditure + +65 + +X CONTENTS. + +SECTION II. —FRENCH POLITICS. +Brief review of the political state of France, 66—Progress of disaffection, which led to the revolution of July, 68—State of parties at the revolution, 73—Pindaric and Philistine, 74—Le Juge de la Révolution's policy, 76—Lafitte's administra- +tion, 80—Casimir Perier's policy, 81—Coalition in the chamber concerning the constitution, 85—Subsequent state of affairs, 96—L'état de siège, arrest of Le Duc de Fitzjames and others, 99—Ministerial negotiations subsequent to the death of Perrier, 91—Pacification of the country by the new ministry, 93—Remarks on the late prosecutions against the press, 97—Prospective changes—Political views of the French, &c. 98 + +CHAPTER III. +STATISTICAL AND POLITICAL REVIEW OF RUSSIA. +SECTION I.—RUSSIAN STATISTICS. +Progressive extension of territory, 101—Tables showing the progressive increase of Russia, 103—Population, 104—Revenue, +106—Public debt, 109—Expenditure, 110—Military force, 115—Naval force, 116—Army and navy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +. 115 +SECTION II.—RUSSIAN POLITICS. +Military means of Russia, 116—Foreign policy of her cabinet, 120—Reasons for the Russian system of policy towards Tur- +key, 121—Probability of an attack against British India dis- +cussed, 127—Tables of the population, power, and resources +of British India. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . +. . + +CHAPTER IV. +STATISTICAL AND POLITICAL REVIEW OF AUSTRALIA. +SECTION I.—AUSTRALIAN STATISTICS. +Frequent changes in extent of territory, 142—Population, 144—Blumenbach's tables of the distribution of Austrian territory +and population, 146—Revenue, ibid—National debt, 148—Military force, ibid—Marine force. +SECTION II.—AUSTRALIAN POLITICS. +Absence of national unity, 153—Policy with regard to Spanish +affairs, 154—The growth of Austrian influence in Germany, 160—The growth of Austrian power in Italy, 162—The insecurity +of her eastern dominions. +164 + +CONTENTS. +xi + +CHAPTER V. + +STATISTICAL AND POLITICAL REVIEW OF PRUSSIA. + +SECTION I.—PRUSSIAN STATISTICS. +Origin and growth of the Prussian monarchy, 166—Population, 168—Revenue, 170—Public debt, 173—State expenditure, 174—Military force, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 + +SECTION II.—PRUSSIAN POLITICS. +Reforms in the social condition of Prussia, 180—The royal pledge to grant a representative constitution, 184—Foreign policy of Prussia, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 + +TABLES. +Of the mean temperatures in various parts of Europe, 190—Of the navy of Europe, 192—A general statistical table of Europe, 193 + +PART II. + +THE DOMESTIC AND FINANCIAL CONDITION OF GREAT BRITAIN. + +CHAPTER I. + +POPULATION. +SECTION I.—EXPANSION OF NUMBERS, AND POWER OF MAINTENANCE. +Theories as to the effects of increasing population, 193—Pro- +gressive increase of numbers, 196—Improvement in the con- +dition of the people, 200—Decrease in the ratio of mortality, 203—Increase in the number of marriages, 204—In the towns, 204—Has population increased from advancement in the ratio of marriages? 206—Effect of the poor laws on the increase of population, 207—Effects of the extension of education considered, in connection with the expanding term of human life, 208—Effects of the improvement in medical science, 210—Comparative statistics respecting the increase of population, 211—Increase of productive power, 212—Enlarged use of machinery, 214—Extension of tillage, since 1780, 220— + +xii + +CONTENTS. + +Increase of town population, 229—Advantages of concen- +trated population, 230—Question as to the effect of machinery +discussed, 236—Evidence of the increase of the earnings and +expenditure of the labouring classes, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 + +SECTION II.—PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF THE INCREASE OF +POPULATION. +Question as to the natural limit of population, 241—Estimate +of the quantity of land in England, 245—Probability +of supplies of food from continental Europe, 246—Probability +of supplies from the colonies, 250—Table of the British colo- +nies, 250—Difference in the ratio of the increase of popula- +tion, 257—The probable number of inhabitants on the old +continent before the Christian era, and its subsequent small +increase, 262s—Reflections on the revolutions of society, 273 +—Prospects of the future increase of population, 274—Estimate +power, 276—Inequality in the distribution of property, 278 +—Emigration, 279—Table of mortality, 280—Table of the ages +of 10,559,071 inhabitants of England and Wales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 + +CHAPTER II. + +POOR LAWS, AND THE CONDITION OF THE WORKING CLASSES. + +SECTION I.—HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE POOR LAWS, THEIR +CHARGE AND EFFECT ON LABOUR AND CAPITAL. + +Low condition of British society in the middle ages, 288— +Gradual rise in the price of provisions during the duration of poor laws, 291—Causes which led to the total abolition of +the feudal system in England, 292—Effect of the act of Richard +II., and Statute of Westminster, 1360, on the condition of de- +pendents, 294—The Aired Elizabeth, 297—The policy of the Act of 43rd Elizabeth discussed, 298—Annual charge for the support (1697) and relief (1700), 300—End of the cen- +tury, 300—Increase of charge after 1750, 501—Vast increase +of charge during the late wars, 302—Gradual diminution of +charge from the end of the war with America until about half +the amount of the assess from the year 1825 to 1832, 307—The +relative increase and decrease of pauperism in accordance with +population, 308—Comparative pressure of the charge on the +payers of income tax, 311—the effect on wages and upon the +condition of the labouring classes, 312—the state of education among the labouring classes, its effect and the importance of improvement, 321—the operation of poor laws on the value +of landed property. + +CONTENTS. +xiii + +SECTION II.—REMEDIAL MEASURES PROPOSED BY THE POOR LAW COMMISSIONERS. + +Question as to the total abolition of the poor law, 330—Reme- +dial measures, 331—Institution of a central board of commis- +sioners at Westminster, 332—The employment of the poor in large or small collective bodies, 338—Question as to the existence of a surplus of agricultural labourers, and the effect of this on the state of industry, and population, discussed, 340—Question as to the policy of employing the redundant body of agricultural labourers in the cultivation of waste lands, 347—Estimate of the number of unutilized acres of England and Wales, 349—Effect of the present system, 351—Estimate of the increase of the growth of agricultural produce consequent on the employment of the poor in agriculture, 354—Probable advantages from employing the poor in agriculture, 357 + +SECTION III.—THE POLICY OF INTRODUCING POOR LAWS INTO IRELAND. + +The civil of Ireland, 359—Parliamentary committee reports on the state of Ireland, 360—Poor laws for Ireland advocated, 366—Estimate of the probable amount of the charge on landed rental by a poor law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 + +CHAPTER III. +AGRICULTURE, AND THE PRACTICAL OPERATION OF THE CORN LAWS. + +SECTION I.—HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CORN TRADE. + +Early statutes relative to commerce in grain, 374—Laws against encroaching corn, 377—The Bounty Act of 1689, 380—Table of the importation of corn into England during the years 1764, 1765, 1766, and 1767, 382—Rate of prices and corn export subsequent to 1758, 383 —Corn law of 1773, 385—State of the corn trade at the com- +memoration of the last war, 1792—Corn law of 1785, 387—Fluctuations in the price of corn, from 1790 to 1800, 388—Bounty Act of 1801, 390—Fall of prices at the peace of Amiens, and Act of 1804, ibid.—Effect of the peace on prices in England and Ireland during the year 1805, 392—Extre- +me prices in 1815 and 1813, 392—Transition from war to peace, 395—Parliamentary resolutions and committee reports on the corn trade in England and Ireland during the latter year, ibid.—Effect of the Corn Bill of 1815, 396—Re-assertion of prices after 1822, 397—Corn Bill of 1828 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...... + +xiv +CONTENTS. + +SECTION II.--PRACTICAL OPERATION OF OUR CORN LAWS. +Question as to the efficacy of corn laws discussed, 401--Effect of the Corn Bill of 1828, 403--Estimate of the annual production and consumption of grain in Great Britain, 404--Superiority of the climate and soil of Great Britain in relation to the continent, 407--Policy of restrictions to a free trade in corn discussed, 410--The landlord benefited by corn laws, 411--In the corn law both landlord and farmer or husbandman? 417--Estimate of the expense of cultivating 100 acres of land, 615--Advantages of a free trade in corn to the manufacturer, 616--Advantages of a free trade to the measures of government to freedom of trade, 424--Suitableness of the present time for a change in the corn laws, 425--The reform of the corn laws will be attended with considerable mischief of the landed interest, and the means of meeting them suggested, 428--Tables relative to the corn trade, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432-3 + +CHAPTER IV. +CURRENCY, COIN, AND OUR MONETARY SYSTEM. + +SECTION I.--HISTORICAL SEARCH OF THE EXCHANGES. +State of the exchanges at the commencement of the late war, 434--Fall in the exchanges during the latter months of 1795, 435--Financial difficulties of 1797, and suspension of cash payments, 436--Recovery of the exchanges after the peace of Amiens, 437--Recovery of the exchanges, after the peace of Amiens, 438--Slight depression of exchanges in 1800, 440--Orders in council, 441--The exchange continued depressed until the end of the exchanges after 1808, 444--Opinions of the bullion committee, and continued depression, 445--Recovery of the exchanges after the re-establishment of peace, and rise in the value of bank paper, at the re-commencement of hostilities in 1815, ibid.--Remittances on account of subsidies during the war, 450--The effect upon foreign commerce and measures for the prospective resumption of cash payments, 452--Vacciating financial policy of the government, 454--Measures adopted by the government for restoring confidence in commercial banks, 457--Influence of the French and Helige revolutions on the foreign exchanges, 459--The effect of the political dissidents in 1826 on our currency system, 460 + +SECTION II.--EFFECT OF THE BANK RESTRICTION ACT. +Remarks on the issue of paper money, 462--Estimate of the loss to the public, by the Exemption Act, 463--Addition of public burden consequent on depreciation of the currency, and that no new Irish loans were contracted during the war, 467--Some advantages resulting from the non-convertibility of bank paper + +469 + +CONTENTS. +XV + +SECTION III.—OUR MONETARY SYSTEM. + +The advantages of the banking system, 470—Does the bank possess any monopoly on the issue of paper money, 471—The bank official balance sheet, 473—Insecurity of the financial position of the bank, 475 + +SECTION IV.—POLICY OF A CHANGE IN THE STANDARD OF VALUE. + +Fluctuations in the relative value of gold and silver, 479—Dange arising from the present depreciation of silver money, 481—Estimate of the amount of the precious metals received by Great Britain during the last century, 482—The proportion of silver to gold, 484—How far is this estimate warranted by the quantity produced? 485—Objections to the adoption of a double standard of value, 486—The gold standard, 487—Policy of fixing the standard in a metal, compared with that of silver and gold, 492—Question of changing a seigniorage discussed, 494—The amount of gold and silver coin in circulation at different times, 495—The danger to which our finances are exposed in case of war, 496—The Currency Bill of 1811, and its effects, 497—The amount removed from the mint, 497—Tables of the amount of gold and silver coined at the mint from 1793 to 1831—also Mr. Horley Palmer's estimate of the amount of gold currency in circulation in 1832, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499 + +CHAPTER V. +REVENUE, DEBT, TAXES, AND FINANCE. + +SECTION I.—HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE BRITISH REVENUE, +DEBT, AND SINKING FUND. + +Revenue of Henry VIII., 500—Henry VII., 500—Edward VI., ibid—Elizabeth, 505—James I., 506—Charles I., ibid—the Commonsweath, 505—Charles II., 506—James II., 507—Reformations under Charles II., 508—James III., ibid—the Monarchy, ibid—Anne, 510—George I., ibid—the George II., ibid—the George III., previous to the late wars, 511—Origin and progress of the national debt since the restoration of revenue, expenditure and debt during the late wars, 515—Cost of the war, 516—Origin and progress of the sinking fund, 519—Financial state of England at the commencement of the war, 520—Total reduction of the capital and interest of the national debt from 1811 to 1839, 526—Amounts of debt as it stood on the 5th of January, 1839, 527—Amounts of revenue and expenses in current years from 1817 to 1839, 528—Tables of the fluctuations in the amount of public debt from its commencement to the present time,. .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .........................................................................................................................................................330 + +xvi CONTENTS. + +SECTION II.—TAXATION. +Pressure of our public burdens, 531—Principles of taxation, 533 +——Taxation of raw materials—Duties on cotton, sheep's wool, hides, skins, flax, hemp, and other manures, 536—Alkalis, 547—Excise duties: Malt, ibid.—British spirits, 548—Tea duties, 550—Duties on glass, 556—Duties on paper, 569—Duties on books and prints, 570—Duties on sugar, ibid.—Duty on starch, 571—Customs' duties on articles of luxury : Sugar duties, ibid.—Duties on tobacco, 573—Duties on foreign wines and spirits, 574—Customs' duties on articles of luxury, Taxes on deeds and law instruments, 580—Fire insurances, +582—Assessed taxes: House and window taxes, 583—Pro- +tecting duties, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585 + +SECTION III.—PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF FINANCIAL REFORM. +The abolition of bounties, 589—Bounties for the encouragement of the Scotch fisheries and the growth of hemp, 590—Sugar bounties, 591—Abolition of the duty on tea, 592—Redu- +ction of charges in the collection of the revenue, 600—Dimi- +nution of charge for the public debt, 610—Probable reduction of charges in the collection of the revenue, 611—Expenditure for Ordnance expenditure, 619—Colonial expenditure, ibid.—Expenditure on account of the civil government, 622—Items of saving collected by the revenue department, 623—Costs of national resources, 629—Probability of continued peace, 630 +—Concluding remarks, 632—Table of the revenue and expen- +diture for the year ending 31st January, 1831. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.•. 633 + +PART I. +FOREIGN POLITICS OF GREAT BRITAIN, +AND +STATISTICS AND POLITICS OF FRANCE, RUSSIA, AUSTRIA +AND PRUSSIA. + +CHAPTER I. +REVIEW OF THE FOREIGN POLICY OF GREAT BRITAIN. + +Introductory Remarks.—The love of power has, in every age, been the distinguishing characteristic of mankind. Honours, principalities, and empire, have ever been the subjects of strife and everlasting contention. Jealousy between nations, rivalry in imagination and ambition, have been the innate incentives to wars, which have caused the human race to pollute the genial sources of their happiness, and urged them to fight for their misery. It is this continual grasping for power, this envenomed malevolence disseminated throughout the several national branches of the human family, interminable strife between nations, which is the parent of the severest woes ; which propagates opinions at variance with the laws of heaven and of earth, militates against the happiness of states, and erects, as it were, political deities, delighting in cruelty and blood. National prosperity enlarged by commerce and industry is a word, every substantial enjoyment is the offspring of peace. War is the mortiferous engine which destroys these essentials, raising on their ruins + +N + +2 + +FOREIGN POLICY + +civil discord, national poverty, and devastating famine. +A war of defence is the only justifiable appeal to arms. It is also a necessary and lawful means of preserving internal peace, restraining ambition and injustice, and inflicting upon treason against the social harmony of states, its merited penal retribution. But of all duties of a government, the knowledge of the ways of peace is the most useful, paramount, and indispensable. + +Britain is justly styled "the protector of Nature for herself;" +Against infection and the hand of war; +A precious stone set in the silver sea, +Which serves it in the office of a wall, +Or as a shield to protect it from +Against the envy of less happier lands." + +Thus protected against the encroachments of foreign nations, she finds, in an especial degree, her interest in a pacific line of policy. Since the era of the fanatic attempt of Philip II. of Spain, to subjugate our country, and abolish our religion, no unprovoked attack against Britain has been meditated by any foreign prince. It was fortunate that happy had the wise foreign policy of Burleigh, who, with forces and revenue little surpassing those of the new kingdom of Greece, baffled every attempt of the then colossal power of Spain against our independence, formed the prototype for succeeding statesmen; and though no great one on behalf of the national security, but vigorously did repel attack or menace against our institutions, were the principles which guided the councils of the maiden queen; and it is the departure alone from such principles, which has involved us in that international embarrassment and turmoil, which have grown up with the officiousness of our foreign diplomacy. + +So deeply rooted in the English councils was the political system of Burleigh, that it continued + +OF GREAT BRITAIN. +3 + +to influence them during the whole period of the reigns of the high prerogative Stuarts, down to the revolution of 1688-9; the proportion of years of peace, to those of war, being greater at no prior or subsequent period. + +Change in our foreign policy at the Revolution of 1688.--It was the revolution which, along with foreign councils and fears of French aggression, first imported the dreary, absurd doctrine, that Britain must combat to preserve the balance of power on continental Europe. It was the war frenzy of William III., and his military followers, that, by their unexampled, filled with blood and sorrow but deep instincts which generally separate us from the European continent, and placed us in the van of every hostile coalition against France; characterizing us, in the unchristian language of anti-philosophical statemen, as the "natural enemies" of that nation. It was this that has sacrificed the altar of the devoting deity of war, millions of the human race, dissipated countless millions of treasure, and made Europe groan with the pangs of contest. + +Causes of this change.--This change of policy, and the active part we have since taken in the wars of the continent, arose, in the first instance, from the growing preponderance of France, and the thirst for dominion which characterized Louis XIV. This monarch may be styled the hero of good as well as of bad actions. The steady and liberal administration under his father had been the peaceful patron of those who formed that galaxy of literary talent which shone so brilliantly through his long and august reign. Yet he was ambitious, tyrannical, bigoted, and insincere. His revocation of the Edict of Nantes, followed by the virulent persecution and massacre of his subjects, + +2 + +4 + +FOREIGN POLICY + +rendered his name odious to the protestants of Europe; while his unjust attack on Holland, and the devastation of the Palatinate, from motives purely ambitious, awoke neighbouring nations to a sense of fear for the maintenance of their political independence. + +The War of the Revolution. (1689.)—It was during the French invasion of Holland in 1672, that William of Nassau, by force of public feeling, and in spite of the faction of De Witte, became Stadtholder. This prince, who, at that period, figured as the modern Leonidas in defence of his country, had, from early youth, imbued a deeply rooted jealousy of French power; and a feeling of personal hostility to the French people. On his accession to the British throne, his first object was to retaliate on his powerful aggressor, for the injuries and indignities offered to his country in the late war; and under the specious, but (to Britain) false doctrine of the necessity of preserving the balance of power, engaged us in a conflict calculated to benefit France. + +The encouragement afforded by Louis to the dethroned British monarch in his attempt on Ireland, implied a desire on the part of the French king to establish, in our country, a dominion at variance with the will of the people; which, coupled with the great influx into the territories of Westphalia, Osnabruck, Munster, and the Pyrenees, was the ostensible subject of complaint advanced by the members of the league of Augsburg against France. The first of these points, and indeed the only one which called for defence and retaliation on our part, was an invasion it seems by British troops to inflict a wholesome chastisement on the French monarch, and to impress him with a proper respect for British power. The other subjects of complaint were + +OF GREAT BRITAIN. 5 + +purely Continental ; and in no degree connected with the security of the British empire. By the victory of La Hogue, 1692, which, by destroying the finest fleet that the French nation has at any time sent to sea, secured us the dominion of the ocean, the objects of the war, as regarded Great Britain, were attained ; but as regarded her allies, a long and expensive contest was yet to be vigorously prosecuted. + +The treasure we expended in this war, amounted to about 36,000,000/, a sum far surpassing the ordinary revenues of the state ; and the sacrifice of human life on the plains of Flanders, was scarcely exceeded by that of our own country. + +The decline of commerce and the increase of pauperism, marked the effects of eight long years of contest ; and as a memento of our sacrifices, we adopted the ingenious Italian scheme of borrowing on the security of our future resources, and thus laid the foundation for that debt, which has since pressed so heavily on the shoulders of millions of the people. The national recompense, accorded at the peace of Ryswick, was the acknowledgment, or pretended acknowledgment, by Louis XIV. that William III. was our king ; a title already secured to him by an Act of the British senate, and dis-puted by all other powerful monarchs except France ;-an admission of but little importance to the people of England ; and which, with the habitual inconsistency of Louis, was revoked on the demise of the ci-devant British monarch, by the title of royalty accorded to his son, the Pretender.* + +* Voltaire relates that the recognition by Louis, of the son of James II. as king, under the title of James III., was directly in opposition to the advice of his council ; and that he was over- persuaded by Madame de Maintenon (queens dowager of England), and Madame de Maintenon. He thus describes the scene :—" Le Marquis de Tocq, appuyé par des principes de politique, ce que le Duc de Beauvilliers avait dit + +A historical illustration depicting a scene from a war. + +6 +FOREIGN POLICY + +The War of the Spanish Succession (1702).—The political expediency of England's figuring as a principal in continental disputes once admitted, every succeeding change in the established political equilibrium, became an open subject for British interference. The disputed succession to the Spanish crown was viewed as a matter of deep concern by our government, and the memorable words of Louis XIV to Louis II de la Tour d'Auvergne, when the crown of Spain devolved to his grandson le Duc d'Anjou, again roused the jealousy of the British court, and engaged us as principals in the Anti-Gallican confederacy of 1702. The history of this war is a curious narrative; but that of Rambles, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, and Blenheim, are amply recorded. It terminated with the abandonment of the original object of contention, leaving to England the melancholy retrospect of an expenditure of 63 millions of money, a vast increase of public debt, and a prodigal sacrifice of her bravest men. While all of her conquests she only retained Gibraltar, Minorca, and some desert wilds on the shores of Africa. + +Comme croyen. Il représente qu'il ne convient pas d'irriter la nation Anglaise par des démonstrations publiques. Louis XV rendit à l'acte anonyme de son conseil, et il fut remis de ce point reconnaître le fils de Jacques II, pour roi. + +Le jour même, Marie de Modène, veuve du Dauphin, vient porter à Louis XV une lettre de sa sœur Madame de Maintenon. Elle le conjure en langues de non point faire à son fils, à Élisabeth, la Mémoire d'un roi qu'il protégé, l'offrager de refuser un simple titre, seul qui lui serait accordé. Et elle lui demande que son fils les honnêtes d'un Prince de Galles; on le dit, donc traiter en roi, après la mort de son père. Ces représentations et ces harangues sont sans effet sur le souverain. Le roi revint à son premier sentiment. Enfin, Jacques III fut reconnu, le même jour qu'il avait été arrêté dans le conseil, qu'on ne le reconnaissait pas comme prince légitime. Le Dauphin en exil, says in his Memoirs, that Louis promised James II. to acknowledge his son as king of England. Lord Bolingbroke remarks it was "by the importunities of women." See also Macpherson's History of England. + +A historical illustration showing a scene from the War of the Spanish Succession. + +GREAT BRITAIN. +7 + +The Spanish War of 1739—the War of the Austrian Succession, 1741.—These wars arose out of a complication of circumstances. The ener- +vated and imbecile government of Spain, exercising but a feeble influence over the remote portions of its unwieldy empire, had, by the treaty of Utrecht, according to the British the privilege of sending, annually, two trading ships into India and by a subsequent convention of 800 tons, to the Spanish Main. This privilege, viewed with great jealousy by the French and Spanish interests, opened a wide field for the illicit introduction of British merchandise into the Spanish America. +An extensive system of smuggling was carried on from the British West Indies which naturally led to the confiscation of the property, and, in some instances, to cruelty towards British subjects. This offered fair ground for remonstrance to the Spanish government; and the Tory party, with their high propensities for war, were strenuous in urging such popular salutary measures. If the rights of British subjects demanded indemnities for undue confiscation of property, it was the undoubted duty of the government to support them; and if pacific negotiation proved inadequate, nothing was easier, from our great superiority of naval force, than to have made reprisals on Spanish property. Such a plan was however, unsatisfactory to the Tory war-faction in the British senate, who expected to share in the emollients and power, which a state of war could not fail to produce. To excite popular sympathy, Jenkins's ear was seized off the coast of the Spanish Main, was brought into the House of Commons, and affirmed "that the Spaniards had split his nose and cut off his ears." "Gentlemen," said he, "when they had thus mutilated me, they threatened to put me + +8 FOREIGN POLICY + +to death—I expected it—I looked to God for pardon, and to my country for revenge." This was sufficient to stir up public indignation against the Spaniards. The Tories gained their point; Walpole, yielding to popular clamour, consented, against his better judgment, to plunge the nation into a war which he had so repeatedly avowed himself opposed. Walpole, by his corrupt plan of bribing members of Parliament with money, places, and pensions, obtained, through the funding system, the means of enlarging the operations of the war. Unfortunately, Hanover was connected by the " golden link of sovereignty" with the British nation, and the facility of France, growing out of our contest with Spain, rendered our course uneasy with respect to that kingdom. + +On the death of Charles VI., emperor of Germany, the question whether the queen of Hungary should wear the Austrian, and her husband, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the Imperial crown ; or whether Charles Albert, the elector of Bavaria, should be allowed to enter into a confederation with Europe in a general conjunction, and crimsoned the plains of Germany with the blood of hundreds of thousands of the human race ignorant of the cause for which they were contending. In a war, so purely continental, natural reasoning would decide against any interference on our part. But that eagerness for interference in the affairs of the continent, which, during the latter 150 years, has characterised the British people, led them to enter heartily into the contest, and to declare themselves the champions of Maximilian I., who was in urgent need of foreign forces commanded by the king in person, aided by the counsel of Lord Stair, was dispatched to Germany. The Russians, Poles, Saxons, and Sardinians, were paid by Britain to play their horrid part in the tragic drama; the duchies on the Rhine + +OF GREAT BRITAIN. 9 + +and the Moselle were subsidized to figure in the conflict;* and in 1747, England joined 40,000 troops to the allied forces, and voted 500,000 guineas as a subsidy to the Austrian empress. + +These alliances cost the British nation a large portion of the 54,000,000l. dissipated during this glorious war; which added nothing to British power or influence in Europe, and which was undertaken to enforce an indemnity of a few thousand pounds. + +The Seven Years' War.—The next appeal to arms, in 1765, called the Seven Years' War, arose from some quibble about the limits of our possessions in New Brunswick, which, either from carelessness on our part, or from a clause being clearly defined in the treaty of Utrecht.† The primary cause of this war was, however, soon coupled with other matters, which led us to take part in the hostilities waging on the continent. " Hanover must be protected," was the language of the court. Troops were furnished at our expense provided, and troops sent thither for that object ; and, notwithstanding the denunciations of many distinguished statesmen against the system pursued in our continental connexions, the injustice and erroneous policy of sacrificing British blood and treasure in wars in which the people of England had no solid interest, the king's interests alone, the king prevailed; and the government, under the immediate influence of the court, became as fervent in the support of the king of Prussia against + +* The subsidies were, 200,000 guineas to the king of Saxonia; 150,000 to the king of Poland, as Elector of Saxony; to the Electors of Cleves, Mayence, and Cologne, about 22,000 each; and a large sum to Russia. +† By a clause in the treaty of Utrecht France ceded to Great Britain Acadia (New Brunswick), with all its ancient limits; but these limits were not specified. + +10 +FOREIGN POLICY + +Austria and her allies, as it had been in the former wars in support of Austria against the king of Prus- +sia and his allies. The question to be decided was, +whether Silesia, an imperfectly cultivated province, +should be governed by the king of Prussia or the +empress of Austria. In the late war, we contended for continuing Austria in the possession of it ; in +this war, we contended for continuing it to the +possessors of Prussian Silesia, with the prevailing +policy of the government, and such the real +point at issue : but, to give a colouring to the part +taken by the British court, the necessity of protect- +ing the Protestant religion against the catholic +legions of France, and the great character of +Prussia was also portrayed as the great champion +and defender of the protestants of Europe, although +he was about as much a protestant as his protégé +Voltaire ; and no hero of persecution, not except- +ing Louis XIV. or Charles IX., ever sacrificed so +many as his Prussian majesty, especially in his +invasion of Silesia. The expense was enormous at +an unparalleled expense : besides maintaining a large military force in Germany, the king of Prus- +sia received 700,000L. per annum from the British +treasury. The annual rate of expenditure was +about 16,000,000L. per annum, being 112,000,000L. +for the whole period of the war. The submission to such sacrifices, in a cause foreign to British interests, was ridiculed even by the Great Freder- +ick himself.* + +The American War, 1775, and the French War +of 1778.—The American war was one of unmixed oppression and injustice, kindled by the narrow + +* The Count Gavotti says :—"The people of England talked of nothing but the king of Prussia's victories ; his birth-day was usually celebrated by a public procession ; his public rejoicings for his triumph at Rossbach, were as great as though by that victory he had saved England from invasion." + +OF GREAT BRITAIN. 11 + +policy of one of the most incapable administrations that ever disgraced the British senate. The war it provoked with European powers was but a consequence of the misgovernment of the country at home, arising from an attempt on the part of the English ministry to act in direct violation of the leading principles of the British constitution, by imposing taxes without representation, first gave rise to the maritime confederacy of Europe against us; exposed our almost defenceless attacks of hostile nations ; inflicted 360,000,000l. in indirect ranking wounds of humbled pride; curtailed our dominion, dilapidated our resources, and added upwards of 100,000,000l. sterling to our national debt. + +**The War of the French Revolution, 1793, and the War of 1803.—The war of the French revolution, of which the contest of 1803 was but a consequence, was entered into to check the spread of opinions injurious to the right divine and high prerogative of kings, and to allay the growing call for reform in the administration of church and state affairs. Napoleon Bonaparte, "the new Minister," and drew forth the utterance of those sublime passages, as to the sanctity of " thrones and altars," which so eminently characterised his oratorical displays. The war, as regards this country, was both unjust and unnecessary; and the cause of its renewal after the peace of Amiens, no less than that of its continuance after the war with America, in 1812, grew out of our mighty efforts against France, towards the close of the unparalleled contest; during which, our expenditure exceeded 1,600,000,000l., and our sacrifice of human life 500,000 of the elite of the nation. As an alloy to the vain distinction of military triumph, it further increased our wealth at the expense of the contest, while our allies reaped the spoils of victory. + +12 +FOREIGN POLICY + +A Table of the wars since the revolution of 1688; shewing our opponents and allies in each contest: annual average, and total cost of the wars; and the progress of our taxes and national debt. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +**STATISTICS.** 147 + +is collected on such various plans, that, in the absence of official returns, an approach to accuracy could scarcely be made. Hungary, Bohemia, the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, and the Illyrian States, have all their separate exchequers and different plans of taxation. The German dominions furnished at the peace of Paris about 110,000,000 of florins;* which, calculating the florin in twelve pence, is equal to 8,333,333,000L.; Bohemia contributes about 25,000,000 florins;† and the Italian States 24,000,000; together about 4,080,000L. Balbi in 1826 carries his estimate of the revenues of the empire to 440,000,000 francs, about 17,600,000L.; from the improving condition of the States of Austria, it may be fairly presumed that he has not greatly exceeded this sum under 18,500,000L. In Hungary, where the possession of even a small landed estate enables the proprietor, the lords of the soil pay no taxes. The peasants are the *misera contribuens plebs*, who, although they pay all the taxes, enjoy no political advantages from the imposts tax. The income of the royal demesnes, min. xc., are here the principal sources of revenue. The well-meant endeavours of Joseph II. to equalize the imposts on land, were strenuously resisted by the over-bearing Hungarian aristocracy; and hence the emperor was obliged to revoke his decrees. In his reform he found himself in despair. Besides the payment of the taxes, the peasants are also obliged to lodge and subsist the troops, and furnish forage and provisions to the army without payment. In other parts of the empire the principal heads of revenue are custom-house duties, a duty of 20c. per cent. on sales of taxes, stamps, and post,—a tax on offices, places, and pensions, lottery, mines, and mint, commercial monopolies, and the produce of the royal demesnes. + +* Ockhart. +† Male-Brun. +L 2 + +148 +AUSTRIAN + +National debt.—Before the French war of 1792-3, the states which, at the present day, form the Austrian empire, were free from the burden of public debt. The arrears of the national debt was just sacrifice of national property, and the free use of the credit of the government by the issues of paper currency, rendered extensive loans necessary, as soon as peace opened the possibility of effecting them. The operation of these claims on the re- +sources of the Austrian empire, on the Austrian debt, in 1826, to 1,700,000,000 francs, or about 66,000,000l. sterling (Balbi). In the seven years elapsed since that time, the new obligations con- +tracted have amounted to about 12,000,000l., making the total debt 78,000,000l.; but the sum since made up by the Austrian Fund being nearly 4,000,000l., the present debt of the Austrian empire may be computed, in round numbers, at +74,000,000l., annually demanding nearly 3,800,- +000l. for the payment of its interest and ma- +nagement. + +This deduction from the means of the govern- +ment leaves a disposable revenue of only 14,700,- +000l., of which the army, although more economi- +cally maintained than any in Europe (except that of Russia), must, supported at its present comple- +ment, absorb at least a moiety. We shall not presume to furnish a detailed estimate of the state +expenses of Austria; though having no official nor +official documents on the subject, from which we could hope to arrive at a fair approximation to +accuracy. + +Military force.—The vast territorial extent of +the Austrian dominions, and the deficient means of +communication between her widely spread pro- +vinces, render the military movements of Austria +slow, and her defective concert in military opera- +tions especially remarkable. The time thus re- + +STATISTICS. +149 + +quired for the development of her force, gives her enemies a great advantage in attack, while her power seems to expand with the prolongation of the conflict. The French army, which, during the war of 1741, when, forced to the very brink of subjugation by the impetuosity of the first onset, she was enabled before the termination of the struggle to maintain, with the assistance of British subsidies, an army of 200,000 men, to overawe Germany, carry that into the heart of France, and secure the chief objects of which she conceived in 1788, the forces of Joseph II. numbered 364,000 men, which, if directed by experienced generals, would have been quite equal to protect Austria against the attacks of the French republicans in 1783-4. Yet even at this time the Netherlands scarcely at any time exceeded 25,000 men; and it was not until the peace of 1795, when her enemies had immensely increased their forces (see page 57), and the opportunity of triumph had passed, that she assumed an imposing military attitude. + +In the campaign of 1806 she had upwards of 400,000 men under General Mack; but Frederick Charles led an army of 95,000 into Italy, with which he achieved some brilliant exploits; and General Mack was sent with an army of 80,000 men to await the junction of the Russian forces on the Iller; but Napoleon, with an army of 220,000 strong, poured in torrents through Franconia and Bavaria; and Mack and his Austrian general and his legions to capitulate as prisoners of war.† The defeat of her arms at + +* Edinburgh Encyclopaedia. +† In vain did General Mack represent to his government the insecurity of his military position, and press for the orders of the minister (without which he dared not move), for permission to fall back upon Vienna; but as a disjuncture of his re-monstrances was the precursor to the disastrous retreat which followed: he was amused by accounts of the rapid progress of + +150 +AUSTRIAN + +Austerlitz deprived her of the means of resistance, and obliged her to yield to the forces of the French emperor. After the peace of Presburg in 1805, Austria made strenuous exertions to improve the numerically inferior state of her army; and encouraged by the successive defeats of the French in the Spanish peninsula, she was induced, in 1809, to renew her coalition with Great Britain, and again to measure her strength against France. At this time her forces numbered about 470,000 men. At Aspern, the improvement in the effect of the Austrian troops was fully apparent; but they were unable to withstand the impetuosity of the French at Wagram, or to save Vienna from the grasp of the Corsican. Towards the close of 1813 the Austrian forces numbered upwards of 500,000 men, and the actual force in the field under Saxe amounted to nearly half that number. Since the peace, the menacing attitude of the Hungarians and the Gallicians, and the avowed aversion of the Italians to the power which governs them, have been subjects of great uneasiness to the court of Vienna, and induced the government to make preparations for the full peace establishment; or 271,404 men; * but since the revolution of July measures of precaution, against the effects of French propaganda, and the plans recommended by the republican party (see pp. 77-78), have induced the Austrians to recruit largely, and her military forces at the + +the Muscovites, the impossibility of the French army reaching him before the concentration of the allied forces, and assured that the powerful diversion to be made by Great Britain on the coast of Portugal would be sufficient to prevent Napoleon's invasion. Napoleon, however, knew too well the advantage of rapid operations, and captured the whole of the general's forces ere he reached the junction of the allies, although the Russians arrived on the very day promised. + +* Balli.* + +A historical illustration showing a battle scene. + +**STATISTICS.** 151 + +commencement of the year 1833 numbered 341,537 men. + +The military regulations of Austria are in a great measure similar to those of France, Prussia, and the German States; but in some parts of the empire special contingents of troops are furnished. Hungary supplies a force of 63,000 men; 17,000 of which are infantry, and 46,000 cavalry.* In order to keep alive a spirit of military intelligence and familiarity with active service, to which a long period of peace is so unfavourable, it is the practice, that in the time of the German governments, to have yearly assemblies of large bodies of troops, which, during an entire month, perform a kind of mock campaign under the most experienced generals, and go through those various marches and counter-marches which occur in regular warfare. These annual military reviews are usually conducted in Austrian Italy, where large assemblies of troops are supposed to be usefully employed in overawing the disaffected. The Austrian force in Lombardy is usually about 50,000 men, 10,000 of which form a kind of reserve. + +* It has been said with truth that the Hungarian troops form the flower of the Austrian army; they have played a prominent part in all the battle-fields of Germany and Italy. Their cavalry is scarcely inferior to that of any other nation; they are not only as brave as his rider, but, like the centaurs of old, the two appear to be but one and the same creature. The general features of their countenance are those of a people whose country which borders upon rashness, a singular skill and obstinacy in excelling the orders given him, however hard or difficult of performance so often are his instructions; he is always obeyed by officers. The appearance of the Hungarian troops is acceptable to the eye; their steadiness of manner, their lowering melancholy look, their dark eyes full of sorrow and tears, and their teeth, in conjunction with the fine contour of an expressive set of features, give them a right martial appearance.—United Service Journal. + +A page from a book with text on it. + +152 +AUSTRIAN STATISTICS. + +**Marine force**—Austria has heretofore been considered as a purely military power. At the peace of 1815, her navy was merely nominal, and she resigned the guardianship of the Ionian Islands to Great Britain, for want of a marine force to protect them. Since that period, she has established a kind of admiralty board at Venice, and extensive establishments at Trieste and Porto, with minor establishments in the coastal districts for the construction of ships. From these ports she has launched, since 1815, three ships of 50 guns and upwards; eight frigates, of from 38 to 60 guns; and sixty-one armed vessels of inferior force.* + +The increasing importance of the maritime states, the rising states of Greece and Egypt, and the formidable marine supported by the Porte, impose upon Austria the policy of maintaining a navy, to protect her political and commercial interests in the Mediterranean; and she seems to neglect no opportunity of adding to her marine force. + +From this imperfect view of Austrian statistics, we proceed to notice the political character of Austria, and the policy of her government. + +* Balbi. + +153 + +SECTION II.—AUSTRIAN POLITICS. + +Absence of national unity.—There is no connect- +ing link of nationality between the various sec- +tions of the Austrian empire. It is an heterogene- +neous mass of nations and people, separate in +character, language, habit, religion, and we may +add, even in manners, habits, and a minimum +of a common fealty, and of submission to the same +sceptre. The Dalmatians and the Hungarians— +which latter boast descent from the Romans, and +retain in some degree their language, but who are +more properly descendants of the Gothic and Fin- +nic tribes—have no connexion with the Germans +and Styrians, as the Venetians and Tyrolese are from +the Bohemians and Gallicans. Each of these has +its peculiar dialect—Latin, modern Greek, Sclavo- +nian, Italian, and German ; while they number +four principal divisions in religion—Roman catho- +lics, Protestants, the members of the Greek church, +and Jews. The Jews, probably number 100,000. +Greeks, Armenians, Albanians, and various other +petty tribes, are also to be found in various other +parts of the empire. + +The absence of union is as remarkable in the +social, as in the political condition of the Austrian +empire. There is no regular progression of +property and intelligence, no middle class of +people, or connecting links between the extremes +of the wealth and rank of the nobility, and the +poverty and degradation of the peasantry: the +whole empire consists of the vast domains of the +aristocracy, which have been accumulated by the +labourers. This is in a great degree attributable to +the almost entire absence of foreign com- +merce, and the delay in the total abolition of the + +154 +AUSTRIAN + +feudal system.* It is easy to imagine, how greatly these fundamental causes of disunion must weaken the power and political stability of Austria, and how difficult a task it is to reconcile the conflicting interests of the various sections of the empire. In Hungary and Gallicia, the progress of disaffection is evident, while the avowed aversion of the Italians to the Austrians who rule them, contrasted with the attachment of the Germans to the established government, offers another illustration of a want of sympathy between the integral portions of the state. The government, however, has long shown a desire to reconcile these various interests by means of gratuitous education to the humbler classes, especially in the German territories; yet is by no means disposed to the establishment of a representative assembly, where the varied demands of the different states might meet due investigation and necessary concession. Indeed, the establishment of a general national legislature at Vienna, Vienna, composed of deputies from the various states, seems incompatible with the political position of the empire, and by no means well calculated to reconcile discordant interests; but to the institution of constitutional assemblies in Bohemia, Gallicia, the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, and ducal Austria, the movement of events seems slowly, but regularly progressing. + +Policy with regard to Spain.—From the 14th century to the treaty of Versailles in 1756, the Austrian and Spanish realms were incessantly engaged as rivals for dominion. The long and sanguinary wars between the Austrian emperor, + +*It was not until 1743, that Maria Theresa issued her decree, abolishing vassalage, and granting the rank of farmers to all who cultivate six acres of land.* + +and France have been productive of great injury to both kingdoms. The former has suffered more than any other nation from this cause; for though it has been able to maintain its independence against all its enemies, it has never been able to recover its former greatness. The French people have been too much accustomed to enjoy their privileges under a despotic government; they have become too fond of luxury and ease; and they have lost all sense of duty towards their country. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of privileged class, entitled to all advantages which fortune may bestow on them; and they have been taught also to consider themselves as superior to all others. This state of mind has led them into many errors and mistakes; but it has also led them into one great error—the error of regarding their own interests as paramount over those of their fellow-citizens. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. + +The French people have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. + +The French people have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. + +The French people have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. + +The French people have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. + +The French people have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. + +The French people have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. + +The French people have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. + +The French people have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. + +The French people have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. + +The French people have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. + +The French people have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. + +The French people have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon their subjects as mere instruments for their own purposes. They have been taught to look upon themselves as a sort of sovereigns in their own dominions; and they have looked upon他们的subjects + +POLITICS. +155 + +Charles V., and his contemporary, Francis I., mark the mutual jealousy of the dynasties of Bourbon and Hapsburg. Spain and the Netherlands were the real objects of contention; and these unfortunate countries were for a long period the theatre of contest, serving as the great cemeteries for the multitudes of human beings sacrificed to the ambition of Charles V. At the death of Charles V. the crown of Spain and the Indies devolved to his second son, Philip; which event, although effecting a political division of the vast dominions of the late emperor, yet retained to Austria her predominating influence in the affairs of the Spanish monarchy. The Spanish princes were excluded from Spain, her Gallic neighbour waged the most cruel wars against her: Catalonia was ruined by the protracted contest; while, under Louis XIII., and in the early years of his bigoted successor, France made great acquisitions in the Low Countries. In 1650, Philip IV. proposed his power to be extended into Italy; but he concluded the Pyrenean treaty, by which the Spanish king agreed to the matrimonial alliance of his eldest daughter, the Infanta Maria Theresia, with the youthful and amorous Louis. This union of the French and Austro-Spanish families was viewed with great suspicion not only by all European maritime powers, but by the Spaniards themselves; and considered by all parties, as the prelude to the union of the Spanish and French crowns. To satisfy the discontented Spaniards, and to soothe the suspicions of the Austrian and other governments, the marriage articles embraced + +* This intermarriage was an old project of the French, who were always considered the principal instruments in defeating the one contracted with our Charles I., who, when Prince of Wales, made a romantic excursion into Spain, to fetch the Infanta. + +A historical illustration showing a scene from a battle. + +156 +AUSTRIAN + +the formal renunciation of the Infanta, of her pre- +tensions to the Spanish crown ; for which sacrifice +she received a large pecuniary dowry, as compen- +sation. While Louis XV., by his marriage with the +heir to the throne of Spain, the prospect of a +French succession, through the female line, was +only viewed as a possible occurrence, which was still +further provided against, by the formal renuncia- +tion made by the Gallic queen. But when the failure +of the marriage between the Infanta and the disappre- +tizing spirit of Louis excited lively fears, not only +with Austria,-to whom, as a purely continental +state, the preservation of the balance of power +was of the highest importance,-but also with +Great Britain, which, from its geographical and +political position, was less cause to dread the pre- +ponderance of France. + +At the accession of the Orange family to the +British throne, the jealousy of the English at the +aggrandising policy of the French king, which had +slumbered during the reigns of Charles and James +II., was roused into action, and Great Britain bound herself to oppose any attempt on the part of France to re- +session of the Spanish monarchy, whenever, by the +death of the Spanish king without heirs male, the +Bourbons should attempt to enforce their preten- +* In March, 1795, the English Commons addressed Charles +IL, representing " that the minds of your majesty's people are +much disquieted with the manifest danger arising to your +majesty's kingdoms, by the growth and power of the French +king, especially in consequence of his recent conquests, +progress likely to be made by him, in the Spanish Netherlands; +in the preservation and security wherewith, we humbly conceive, +the interests of this kingdom are most deeply concerned; and therefore we most humbly beseech your majesty to take the same into your royal care, and to strengthen +yourself with all means necessary for preserving your Majesty's +kingdoms, and preserve and secure the said Netherlands, and thereby quiet the minds of your majesty's people."—Con. Jour- +nal, vol. ix. p. 306. +* + +POLITICS. +157 + +sions to the crown of Spain.* The wars of 1689, which followed, produced the treaty of partition, by which France compromised all claims to the Spanish succession; but Charles XI., who died in 1701, bequeathing his crown to the Duc d'Asjou, grandson of Louis XIV., the French king, regardless of the treaty of partition, developed his ambitious projects, and placed his grandson, Philip V., on the Spanish throne. This precipitated a general indignation in Europe, and led to the grand alliance of 1701, by which Great Britain engaged to assist Austria in enforcing the claims of the Archduke Charles to the Spanish crown. + +The emperor, Ferdinand III., giving without issue, the imperial crown devolved upon his brother, who succeeded him under the title Charles VI., an event which made it less desirable that he should succeed in his claims on Spain; hence by the treaty of Utrecht, 1713, Philip V. was confirmed in his title as king of Spain, on a formal renunciation of his claims to the crown of France; and as a consequence of this, the attempt to prevent the union of the Gallic and Spanish crowns, a union which the Spanish nation would by no means permit, a new law of succession was effected, which purposed to prevent the regal authority from devolving to a foreign prince, by excluding females, under certain exceptions, from inheriting the throne.† Thus in every successive generation, + +* The princes and states who had neglected or favoured the growth of the power of France, which all of them had done in their turn during the reigns of Louis XIV. and Louis XV., saw that unless they could check France by uniting a power superior to her's, it would be impossible to hinder her from succeeding in her claim to the throne on the Spanish succession. —Excerpt from Bélingrèbre's Letters. + +† The law of 1713 establishes a preference of males to females in all possible cases; namely, that where any male heir could be had, a female was to inherit; and in case neither descending from the original stock could be found, the crown was to pass + +158 +AUSTRIAN + +the family connexion between the reigning dynas- +ties of France and Spain became less intimate; and +while Philip V.'s law of succession remained in +force, the European continent, and especially Aus- +tria, had no cause for jealousy on that point; but +the late abrogation of this law (May 1830) seems to +sway away all these principles, for which the +allies of 1701 made such enormous sacrifices, and +to strike at the very root of the treaty of Utrecht, +the provisions of which were considered so essen- +tial to the preservation of the balance of power. + +The importance which Mr. Pitt, afterwards lord +Chatham, attached to the preservation of Philip +V.'s law, is evidenced by his correspondence with +Sir James Gray, the British ambassador at Naples in +1788. Frederick VI was then in his last illness, +and a strong party was formed in Madrid to defeat +the law of 1713, by transferring the crown to Philip +of Parma. So anxious was George II., to prevent +the violation of Philip V.'s law, that he directed +Mr. Pitt to inform the British minister at Naples +of the intention of the king of Spain to abdicate. +On the 26th of December 1788, he wrote to con- +fideate December 1, 1758, and the fact was made +known to king Charles of Naples and his queen.* + +to the house of Savoy. The law for regulating the succession is to be found in the Novissima Recopilatione.—National Code. +* The court of France seeing it could no longer count upon the re-establishment of the king's health, has renounced the designs held during the reign of Louis XVI., and has now abandoned even those of the throne of Spain. To these has succeeded another design; it has been in agitation three weeks, or a month preceding the 14th November, 1789, when it was resolved to en- +gage the king of Spain to abdicate, and remit the crown in favour of Don Philipp. However, this project prevents not France from employing the nearest management towards the court of Naples, in order to restore Don Ferdinand to his throne; for it is evident that he should mount the throne of Spain. In a word, the affairs of that kingdom make the chief object of the attention of the court of Versailles; and it is probable that they may bring a great change in Spain. — Mr. Pitt's confidential letter to Sir James Gray. — Extracted from Mr. Walton's pamphlet. + +POLITICS. +159 + +The preservation of the law is of no less importance in 1833 than in 1758, and we feel convinced that the question "who is the rightful successor to the Spanish throne?" must shortly engage the attention of the leading European governments, and that they must soon recommence protocolling on the subject. The question is of infinitely more importance to Austria than to any other nation. The preservation of the European or rather continental equilibrium, would scarcely furnish, to the British nation, a popular cause for war—the British people have too much good sense to sacrifice their blood and treasure in a cause which is not national—but with Austria it is a question of national existence. Aware of the feeble tenure by which she maintains her authority over the eastern portions of her empire, she would direct her efforts in opposition to changes in the fundamental law of Spain, which abolished the agnatic or male lineal succession ; she would suffer no renewed family compacts to which she has hitherto been bound, and which would threaten her dominions in the west. Austria withholds her recognition of Donna Isabella, and seems to feel the necessity of caution against the recurrence of a Pyrenean treaty; the Aulic council of Vienna evidently doubts the justice of the views entertained by Lord Grey respecting the arrangement for the queen to inherit is founded upon the ancient constitution of the country, and that she is now sovereign de facto and de jure." + +The new law of succession, if it is understood to abolish the *Asto accordo* of Philip V., might possibly lead to a change of dynasty from the Hapsburg dynasty to the Spanish crown, and hence deeply sow the seeds of a renewal of such grievous wars as during the 17th, and early years of the 18th centuries, crimsoned the soils of Spain and + +\* Speech of Lord Grey, 4th February, 1834. + +160 +AUSTRIAN + +Flanders with human gore.* Austria views with mistrust the consolidation of French interests in Belgium; and although she reluctantly permitted, what some consider, the implanting of the Orleans' dynasty in that country, she would decidedly resist the accomplishment of a similar project beyond the Pyrenees;---we have been disposed to connect the question of the Spanish succession with Austrian policy; but, apart from this, in the absence of a vigilant policy, the most unhappy consequences may arise, especially as regards the European continent. + +Decline of Austrian influence in Germany.---The influence of Austria on the affairs of Germany, seems to date its decline from the period when Prussia first merged into monarchy. By the rebellion of the latter against her political parent, in 1741, Austria lost a part of her Silesian provinces, and sunk in her patrimonial influence over that immense part of the Germanic empire. In 1756 she formed the "military alliance" with France, conducted under the auspices of Baron Kaunitz, and the Abbé de Bernis; the + +* The present Austrian empire is the grandson of Maria Theresa's daughter of Charles VI., who was acknowledged as King Charles III. of Spain, by Great Britain, Holland, and other states, and addressed by the title of "majesty," by pope Clement XI.; 1683. The Austrian empire was then at peace with Spain, in Madrid, in the autumn of the following year, when after the battle of Almanza; 21st July, 1710, the allies entered the capital. The title of "majesty" was afterwards withdrawn. But though the female line has been thus acknowledged as sovereign, Austria's claim have no clause; but if eugenic, and the pragmatic sanction of Ferdinand VII. is considered as abolishing the law of Philip V., and as establishing that of Charles III.,--the present archduke Charles of Austria, are equal to those of Donna Isabella; the only circumstance which impairs his claim is, that Austria being a republic, does not exercise a legal power in renunciation of Philip V., and acknowledges the Bourbon dynasty as heirs to the Spanish crown. + +Austria flag + +POLITICS. +161 + +object of which was to obtain, by an overpowering force, the restitution of Silesia; subsequently the Czarina Katharine joined the coalition—when, in strict accordance with the Russian system, the partition of European Turkey formed the ambitious object of these aspiring dames; but the combined exertions of the Grand Duchy of Austria defeated the scheme, and the Great Lion was confirmed in the possession of the contested ground. From this period Austria disclaimed French alliance, and the memorable words of Joseph II., “Il n'y a plus de Silesie,” announced to Europe that the possession of that province should be no longer an object of contention. In 1783, Austria but feebly defended her Flemish provinces, and seemed more disposed to concentrate her power, and maintain her authority in Italy. Napoleon thrice dictated terms of peace to the cabinet of Vienna ; but although he claimed some of the restorations promised him by his victories, and curtailed the influence of Austria in Germany, he saw the impolicy of impairing her resources, and by indemnities in Italy for her loss of territory in the west, maintained her as a strong barrier against the encroachments of Russia. + +As the treaty of 1783 expired, Russia renewed her claims to the Flemish provinces, and readily assented to the formation of the new kingdom of the Netherlands. The Austrian policy at the general peace, was to exclude France from the influence she had assumed over the Germanic states during the war; with which view she consented to the incorporation of the provinces between the Rhine and the Meuse with Prussia, which was thus advanced to the confines of the French and Belgic territories, forming a barrier against French encroachments in that quarter; while the newly organized Germanic confederation, which comprises 14,000,000 of people, and + +162 +AUSTRIAN + +furnishes a combined force of 120,000 soldiers, was destined to strengthen the same object. At the peace of 1815, the course of the Inn, was made the north western boundary of the Austrian empire, giving her an accession of territory which had long been an object of her ambition, and as forming a national defence against invasion from the west. This being ac- +quired, Francis II. renounced the antiquated title of the emperor of Germany, which had formerly involved Austria in the most grievous wars, and sharing with Prussia the old family influence of the house of Hapsburg in the affairs of the Ger- +manic states, Austria has thus removed every impediment to the maintenance of the peace of Europe. Since the late French revolution, Austria has enlarged the exercise of her authority in re- +pressing that eagerness for the establishment of liberal government, which has of late so especially characterized the German states, by forming a con- +federacy. Here she treads on dangerous ground; no part of the European continent marches so rapidly in the course of intellectual improvement, or requires so large a share of real reform in the plans of government. The Krudner system of rule is not only condemned by the growing intelligence of the Germans, and the courts of Vienna and Berlin may as well attempt to dam up the sources of the Rhine and the Danube, as to stifle the springs of public opinion, which must unerringly effect a liberal change in the political institutions of the Germanic states. + +The growth of Austrian power in Italy.—But while we view the progressive decadence of the + +* The name of the hypocritical old woman who is said to have suggested the idea of the holy alliance (in 1815). George IV. +declined the invitation of the allies, to become a member of the +holy league, as being incompatible with the liberty of the subject. + +A map showing a confederation between Austria and other Germanic states. + +POLITICS. +163 + +Austrian regime in Germany, we find its nucleus gradually expanding over the various states of Italy. The Italian peninsula, in fact, has become what Germany formerly was, a kingdom of the House of Austria. The Venetian States, the Milanese, and Tyrol, are integral parts of the empire; Modena, Parma, and Tuscany, are governed by the princes of the Hapsburg family; while the courts of Vienna assume a directing influence over the diminished Papal States, a Neapolitan dominion. The sovereignty of Italy seems to be a main point with Austria; and any foreign interference tending to impair her influence over the Italian governments, seems to touch the very nerve of her jealousy. Lombardy is the most precious gem in the imperial diadem; and the danger which endangered Austrian authority in that quarter, following the insurrectionary movements which broke out in Modena and Parma after the late French revolution, and subsequently at Bologna, and other parts of the papal states, excited the most lively fears in the Vienna cabinet. The passage of Austrian troops into central Italy in 1832, was a grievous offence to the French liberals, and Louis Philippe's ministers were obliged to insist upon their recall, by threatening that, in case of refusal, a French army should cross the Alps. The subsequent expedition to Ancona was merely intended to explain to Austria how far she could not understand that France had an equal right of interference in the affairs of Italy. Such measures, viewed by the Aulic Council as "acts of aggression," are calculated to excite resistance; but while Austria is left to pursue her own plans in the Italian interior, and to fortify her frontier against hostile invasion, her efforts will be strongly directed to the preservation of the peace of Europe. + +M 2 + +164 +AUSTRIAN + +The insecurity of her Eastern dominions.—It is towards the east that the Austrian dominions pre- +sent the most vulnerable points. The independent and menacing spirit of the Hungarians ; the indif- +ference of her Polish subjects to her authority ; and the claims of the cabinet of St. Petersburghur to Eastern Gallicia, which the Austrians are well aware is their own, are all matters of great uneasiness with the imperial court. + +In Hungary, the great bulk of the people are retained (in spite of the edicts of Maria Theresa and Joseph II.) in the most abject servility, by an overbearing aristocracy. The nobles are divided into two classes, those who cultivate the vineyards and those who cultivate the farms. The nobles may possess land in any part of the kingdom, while the burgesses can only acquire hereditary property within the jurisdiction of a burg.—Joseph II., in 1798, decreed that every Hungarian should possess the right of acquiring hereditary property, and that this right should be enjoyed by the peasants, should he be equalized; but the Diet peremptorily refused its sanction to the decree, and it was necessarily revoked.* + +*These differences, said the members of the Diet in their remonstrance, constitute our privi- +leges ; they have been taken from any of us for a capital crime, but what crime have we committed ? +The kingdom of Hungary is as independent of Austria, as Hanover is of England ; we obey no emperor; Joseph II. is not our king; he has not taken the oath, he has not been crowned, he is an usurper.* Such language to an absolute + +*Such consequences followed the proclamations of Napoleon to the Prussians, when he invaded their country in 1806.— +Sokolovski's History of Russia, vol. ii. p. 358. +† Captain Sherer gives an interesting account of the Hunga- +rian Diet, and speaks of the independent and bold character of + +POLITICS. +165 + +monarch must convince Austria of the insecurity of her tenure in Hungary; and she cannot but feel the danger to which her territories are ex- +posed by their contiguity to the states of the +aggrandizing Russians. It is strongly affirmed, +that Russia has been, and still is, in fa- +menting the resistance of Hungary, to Austrian +authority; and when we reflect on the low state of +civilization in this kingdom, the wrongs which the +numerical force of the nation endure through bad +government, and the inflexible character of its +governing plan, surprise would scarcely be excised +were they not daily felt. The people, alarmed at an +invader, who allured them with even vain pro- +mises of immediate emancipation. + +The political state of Austria presents to the +contemplative reader every feature of insecurity. +Foreign attack and internal discord are both to +be dreaded. The existing system of policy, +and the continuance of amicable relations with +her ancient ally (Great Britain), in opposing the +designs of Russia against Turkey, appear to be +the course best adapted to her present position. + +the speeches of the members. The president, who exercises great control over the assembly, is appointed by the court of Vienna. +Captain B., a man of high rank, a high-spiritedancing horse, and the president to its rider, who, holding the animal with a sharp bit, checks him at will. The restful animal, if not well managed may, however, some day throw his rider. + +A black-and-white illustration showing a man riding a horse. The man is dressed in formal attire and holds a whip in his right hand. The horse is also dressed in formal attire and appears to be moving forward. The background is blurred. + +166 + +CHAPTER V. + +--- + +STATISTICAL AND POLITICAL REVIEW OF PRUSSIA. + +--- + +SECTION I.—PRUSSIAN STATISTICS. + +Origin and growth of the Prussian monarchy.— + +The Prussians are supposed to spring from a branch of the Slavonian race, known by the Romans, as Venedes, or Wends, mixed Gothic tribes, who inhabited the countries watered by the Vistula and the Nieman; they were denominated Prucksi, or Prutsi, and were afterwards called by the Borussen, a more eastern tribe, or with the Po-Russians, a Slavonic people whose name signifies the neighbour of the Russians. + +These tribes supported, during a long period, their independence, and in the middle ages seem to have attained to some degree of civilization. But in the 13th century they were subdued by Wildermar, king of Denmark, who unfurled dunabrog (the red and white banner of the holy cross),* and desolated the greater part of Prussia and Lithuania. The Polish princes, under whom their incursions increased, the assistance of the Teutonic knights, a religious and military order, which originated during the mania of the crusades, the chief duty of which, was to subdue the infidels who refused to be converted by the miracles and + +*Presented by the pope to the Danish king. + +PRUSSIAN STATISTICS. 167 + +sermons of the missionaries : for nearly two centu- +ries this order continued to rule Prussia, which +was held as a fief of Poland. The authority of the +Teutonic knights began to decline after the battle of +Tannenberg, 1410 ; and by the peace of Cracow, +in 1525, was completely annihilated, by which the +constitution of the country was radically changed. +Prince Albert of Brandenburg, the great master +of the Teutonic Order, became grand duke of Prussia, +and did homage to the Polish monarch for his petty states in the north. The elector Albert, in 1618, added the duchy of +Prussia to the states of the electoral house of +Brandenburg, which had since that time kept pos- +session of it. By the treaty of Westphalia, 1657, +the duchy of Prussia was raised to an independent +sovereignty by the elector Frederick William. In +1700 his son and successor assumed, of his own accord, +the title of king, and the following year +the emperor Leopold, with his own hands, placed +the royal diadem on the head of the Prussian +monarch. The troubles following the death of +the emperor Charles VI., 1740, provided Frederick II. +an opportunity of enforcing his claims on Silesia. +By the peace of Breslau, Berlin, and subsequent +treaties, the crown of Bohemia had renounced not +only possession, but all its right to that duchy, and +hence it came into the hands of Frederick II., who had become sovereign dukes of the country, and not subject to the emperor. The weakness of the +Austrian government enabled the king of Prussia, +in a great degree, to realize his claims, and hence he greatly increased his power over Prussia. The seven years' war desolated the country, and added but little territory to the Prussian dominions. By successive treaties and partitions, Prussia has ob- +tained, or assumed a kind of sovereignty over various German duchies, which have elevated the monarchy to rank, in the present age, among the + +168 +PRUSSIAN + +leading European powers. Here, however, as in the dominions of the house of Austria, the want of national identity is particularly striking. Without natural boundaries, the geographical figure of the kingdom of Prussia is extremely irregular; and being composed of various detached portions of territory such as Saxe-Wurtemberg, Saxony, Neuchatel, &c., it is rendered particularly open to attack. + +In breadth, the Prussian dominions vary from 70 to 360 English miles. The rectilinear distance from Dantzig, at the mouth of the Vistula, to Ra- +tishow on the Elbe would be about 360 miles, being the maximum breadth.—A right line drawn from the walls of Thionville to Tilitz on the Nie- +meu, would describe a distance of about 1200 miles, being the extreme length. The superficial area of the entire dominions of Prussia, is 104,656 British square miles. + +Population.—Little is known of the population of Prussia previous to the commencement of the 18th century, when it is said to have numbered about 700,000; but by the pestilence which raged on the European Continent in 1713–14, almost more than one-sixth of her inhabitants;* her num- +bers were, however, augmented by the settle- +ment of large bodies of Saltzburgers, protestants who took refuge in Prussia from the persecutions of the fanatic bishop; and these emigrations were followed by others from Switzerland, Alsace, and the Palatinate. + +By the addition of a part of Silesia in 1741, about 500,000 people were added to the population of the Prussian dominions; but the progress of increasing numbers was retarded by the seven years' war*, and in 1772, Eastern Prussia num- +* Sammlch (Gattliche Ordning) says that twice this proportion fell by the plague. + +STATISTICS. +169 + +bered only 750,000 souls. Since this period a great change has taken place. By the partition of Poland, the Prussian monarchy obtained what was formerly Polish Prussia, and the territory of Netz, which contained a population of about 416,000 souls. By these additions her population was rapidly increased, and attained, in 1795, to about 4,005,000 souls---there being in + +Eastern Ditto : : : : : : : 3,885,000 +New Ditto (Poland) : : : : : : 817,000 +Western Ditto : : : : : : : 1,387,000 +Southern Ditto : : : : : : : 837,000 + +4,005,000 + +Napoleon, however, in 1807, overturned the frail edifice erected by Frederick the Great. Prussia renounced almost all her Polish territories, and found herself reduced to nearly her ancient limits. By the treaty of Vienna, however, she obtained the restitution of nearly the whole of her Polish provinces, and extended her dominions and influence over a vast expanse of country towards the west. By the census of 1827, the population of the ten provinces numbered 10,537,278 souls; by the official return made in 1827, had increased to 12,552,278. + +The following is an estimate of the population of the ten provinces in 1833, founded upon the official returns of 1827; also the superficial area of each province, according to Haseel: + +
Name of the Wars.Ours Oppo- nents.Ours Allies.War's commen- tals.Number of Years of War.War's cost.Rate of Increase by the Power of Millions being raised by Taxes.Rise in Revenue by the Power of Taxes.Total Revenue to be raised by Taxes.Average Value of War's Cost per Year.Total National Debt.
The War of the Mon- 1689 + tionThe FrenchThe Dutch, Austrians, Prussians, Germans, and Spaniards.16891697Ryewick1636420
The War of the Span- 1705 + ish Suc- cessionFrench, Spanishs, Dutch, Austrians, Prussians, and Portuguese.17051713Utrecht3031j62j5j52
The Spanish War of 1739,Spaniards, Dutch, Prussians, and Bavarians.Austrians, Sardinians, Russians, and Dutch.17391748Aix-la-Chapelle252954678
The War of the Austrian Suc- cession 1741.
The Seven Years' War 1756-1763French, Spaniards, Austrians, Prussians, Swedes, Americans, Dutch, and French War 1778.Praussian17561763Paris526011216140
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
InhabitedArea in square miles
Silesia966,30614,961
Brandenburg1,756,50014,939
Saxony244,4923,492
Westphalia1,319,2097,565
Lower Rhine1,154,6066,482
Jülich, Cleves, and Berg1,653,3063,388
Eastern Prussia115,11615,115
Posen1,110,10612,253
Pomerania992,40012,833
Western Prussia798,50610,610
Total13,377,100104,656
+ +A table showing population estimates for various regions of Prussia. + +170 +**PRUSSIAN** + +The average density of the population of Prussia was, in 1833, about 128 to the square mile; but in this, as in every other political feature of the monarchy, the irregularity is very considerable. In the provinces of Jüllers, Cleves, and Berg, which border the French and Belgium frontiers, and which were for several years an integral part of the empire, the density of inhabitants is equal to 338 to the square mile. In Eastern Prussia, it is 69, and in Western Prussia and Pomerania, only 57. + +**Revenue.**—Until a late date, the Prussian financial system was so incongruous and irregular, that the sources from which the revenue was derived were scarcely known to those most interested in the affairs of the state. Every province had its separate tariff; and in many of the provinces, the communes, or districts, were subject to peculiar fiscal regulations. In Saxonia, alone, there were five different modes of taxation; and throughout the whole of the Prussian dominions, the number amounted to no less than sixty. + +The provinces wrested from France were governed by the same financial laws to which they had been subject under the French regime; and Saxony preserved the same tariff. In some of the provinces direct taxation was scarcely known, and the revenue was almost entirely raised by taxes on consumable commodities; while in others nearly the whole revenue was raised by direct imposts on lands and buildings, and by duties on foreign goods. The increase to incessant smuggling, great impediments to interior commerce, and necessitated an undue and vast expense in the collection and protection of the revenue. This system continued until the close of the year 1817, at which period the net revenue contributed by the several provinces was as under: + + + + + + +
+ +STATISTICS. +171 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
SilesiaGuilder13,500,000
Saxony10,417,000
Brandenburg8,670,000
Jüllern, Cleves, and Berg8,670,000
Westphalia8,413,000
East Prussia7,000,000
Lower Rhine7,000,000
West Prussia3,750,000
Posen3,500,000
Pomerania3,500,000
Total74,950,000*
+ +The value of the guider is about two shillings English, hence the total amount of the Prussian revenue, for the year 1817, was $7,499,800l. sterl.-† From this point began the era of Prussian finance: the laws of 1818 and 1820 abolished all local tariffs, and established a fixed ratio of taxation throughout the entire monarchy, calculated to produce a small but growing excess over the revenues collected under the old system, and very considerably to economize the charge for public works. The abolition of every system joined to the progressive expansion of resources, carried the revenue of the year 1826 to about $8,250,25l. sterling.‡ In 1829 there was a partial reduction of taxation; but the actual amount of revenue received, so far from diminishing, continued to progress with rapidly increasing attainings in 1832 about $8,250,25l. + +The absolute governments of Europe publish but few financial statements, and hence the estimates of various statistical authorities are deficient in that accuracy which is necessary for the study of the documents of the representative states. Malte-Brun, Hasel, Balbi, and other writers have however furnished some estimates of the various + +* The contribution of each province in English currency is immediately found by striking out the cipher. +† Edinburgh Encyclopaedia. +‡ Balbi. + +172 +PRUSSIAN + +heads of the Prussian revenue, from which we are enabled to subjoin a statement, offering a fair approximation to accuracy. + +Since the late financial reforms, which are intended to strengthen the union of the Prussian Federal States, the custom-house duties form the largest item in the Prussian revenues. The ground steuer, or land-tax, is laid by Malte-Brun to amount at 30 per cent. of the estimated rents, and is exclusively charged on proprietors.* Hassel estimates its produce, in 1827, at 265,000l. for three provinces. A distillery is considered an indispensable adjunct to every well managed farm. The quantity of spirits produced on potatoes and grain is very large; it is their duty, about sixpence per gallon on spirituous, containing about 80 per cent. of alcohol, yields a considerable revenue.† The national domains and public forests are said to produce about one-third of the total revenue; but we find no confirmation of this estimate. Malte-Brun estimates the amount arising from the national domains and forests in 1821, at 8,407,000 florins, and the amount arising from the sale of domains at 1,500,000 florins; being together rather under one-eighth of the total revenue. The state monopolies of salt, porcelaine, earthenware, posting, lotteries, &c., figure as important items of revenue, yielding collectively about 101,000,000 florins. The crown taxes, which are chiefly held by persons whose ancestral possessions stem from the crown, are exempt from the ground steuer (land-tax); but according to the new laws, not only these estates, but those of the nobles are subject to it. + +† It is considered that two bushels of potatoes yield as much spirits as one of barley; the residue is supposed to be equal to two-thirds of a bushel of barley; and this extract is extracted from it, and is usually consumed by the draught bullocks raised and employed on the farm. Nine bushels of potatoes to one of malt give as much material from which the spirits are extracted.—Jacob's Reports. +‡ Edinburgh Encyclopaedia. + +* Malte-Brun's "Reise durch die Provinzen der preussischen Staaten," vol. ii. p. 349. +† See Jacob's Reports on Prussia. + +STATISTICS. 173 + +**gewel steuer,** or duties on licenses to trade, pro- +duce about 4,000,000 of florins; besides these +various items of taxation, there is also a consider- +able sum raised expressly for disabled soldiers, +and the maintenance of the army while in battle, +and for roads, bridges, schools and the support of the poor; these taxes are not levied on any particular class, but are collected as well in the towns as in the country. We proceed to col- +late, in a tabular form, the various items of revenue: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Custom-house duties, and other indirect taxes,Guilders.
including the spirit duties,42,000,000
Directives, including the land tax, capitation tax, &c.,15,000,000
Domains and forests—9,000,000 sale of do- + mains, 1,800,000,10,500,000
Mines of copper and silver,850,000
State monopolies—porcelain and earthenware, + 366,000; salt monopoly 6,300,000; game + 295,000;
Stamps, including the gewel steuer, or licenses + to trade,7,000,000
Post-office and posting,1,500,000
Lotteries,898,000
Extraordinary receipts,3,388,000
Guilders.85,030,000
+ +**Public debt.—The public debt of Prussia at the close of the war is 1815, amounted to about +26,000,000l. sterling; besides a considerable debt in paper money which is estimated at about one-seventh of the total currency of the state.* The loans contracted from this date to the year +1826, and applied partly in liquidating the arrears of the war, and partly in the redemption of the treasury notes, carried the funded debt in the latter year to about 26 million sterling. The loans contracted by the Prussian government since 1826, +chiefly since 1830, in consequence of the increased + +* Edinburgh Encyclopedia. + +174 +PRUSSIAN + +military expenditure, occasioned by the turbulent state of Europe, following the revolution of July, amount to about 8,000,000L., carrying the total debt of Prussia to somewhat more than 37,000,000L.; but the operation of the sinking fund of one per cent. having effected a reduction of about 2,500,000L., the total amount of debt, in 1833, did not exceed 34,500,000L., demanding for interest, management, &c., the annual sum of 1,900,000L. + +**State expenditure.—We now proceed to notice the general heads of public disbursement. The army during the year 1833, cost 3,989,600L.* The navy can scarcely be admitted into the scale of charge, the whole marine force of Prussia consisting of but two or three revenue cutters. The annual charge for the support of public worship is about 525,000L. per annum. Malte-Brun calls it 300,000L. per annum; but this is exclusive of church establishment; the ministers of every order of sects whatever be their denomination, receive their fair proportion of the funds allotted for the maintenance of religious institutions, and in no European state is christian harmony, liberality, and benevolence more general. In this respect she offers a gratuitous example to our imitators. The administration of the twenty-eight governments figures as a large item in the Prussian budget. The interior police costs annually 345,000L., and the administration of justice 258,000L.* + +The expenses of the courts of Berlin and Potsdam, on account of the royal family's expenditure, although supported with scrupulous economy, constitute an important item in the Prussia budget. The expenses of the royal household were estimated in 1817, at 200,000L. per annum.† In the estimate of Prussian disbursement before us, this item of charge is not distinguished from those for the + +* German Papers. +† Edinburgh Encyclopedia. + +**STATISTICS.** 175 + +home department, foreign affairs, and pensions: the first amounts to 375,000L.; the second, which includes the charge for the corps diplomatique, 90,000L.; and the third (pensions), no less than 405,000L. The expenses of public works are very considerable: within a few years, upwards of 2500 miles of main road have been formed, an extensive line of canal cut, and Berlin, Dantzig, and other cities, embellished. These, with the miscellaneous items, will account for the total disbursement of the state revenue. + +We can state the several heads of state expenditure as under: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Interest, management, and sinking fund of the public debt.Gulden19,000,000
War department (army)$9,900,000
Religious departments6,800,000
Justice, 2,880,000; interior police, 3,450,000;6,350,000
Home department3,750,000
Commerce and trade, foreign affairs, 960,000;960,000
Treasury, 1,749,000; finance, 469,000;2,148,000
Pensions4,559,000
Various other items, public works,&c.3,265,000
+ +Gulden * $86,599,000 + +**Military force.**—The reverses sustained by the Prussian arms in the early part of the late war, and especially during the campaigns of 1762 and 1767, closed the military system which so especially characterized the forces of Prussia in the reign of Frederick the Great. The trophies won at Rosbach and Schwednitz, were sullied by the events of Jena and Pultusk, evidencing the decay of that system. The loss of many German soldiers, and the decline of the military power of the state. At Jena, while the effective army num- bered 230,000 men, and 700 pieces of artillery, + +* $8.699.oooL. British currency. +† Edinburgh Encyclopaedia. + +176 +PRUSSIAN + +Prussia was scarcely able to interrupt the rapid progress of the French forces ; and at Tilait, she was obliged to purchase peace, by the surrender of half her territory, and submission to the most humiliating conditions. + +By this treaty, she consented that her standing army should never exceed 40,000 men, a condition imposed upon her conqueror, as a guarantee against the renewal of any attempt on the part of Prussia, to recover her lost possessions ; but which proved the very means by which she was subsequently enabled to re-establish her former dominion. It was, in fact, this condition which led to that popular enthusiasm for military exercises in Prussia, which is so generally eulogised. Stein, who became minister after the peace of Tilait, conceived the idea of evading the obvious clause by a plan of organization, which, while it complied with the letter of the treaty, actually trained the whole male-bodied male population of the state to the exercise of arms. And it was this military genius of Scharnhorst,—a name which will always fill an honourable place in Prussian history,—Stein proceeded in the execution of his plan. The standing army, composed chiefly of young men under twenty-two years of age, was maintained at its full complement of 40,000 men. Those under the direction of experienced officers, were trained to military duties during a certain period, then dismissed, and a like complement called to the ranks. Thus, during the six years of peace which succeeded the treaty of Tilait, a large proportion of the adult male population—twenty-two to thirty-two or thirty-three years—was regularly disciplined, and trained to the exercise of arms. A spirit of patriotism diffusing itself throughout the country, and the latent flame of intellectual light growing into power, and spreading its genial warmth throughout the various ranks of Prussian + +STATISTICS. +177 + +society, the moral condition of the people was improved; and, in 1812, they eagerly leagued against the power, whose laws they had been obliged to obey during the previous twenty years. After the disastrous Russian expedition, Prussia, although ill provided with money or military means, rose en masse, and formed an army of 110,000 disciplined combatants. Bran- +denburg readily furnished its contingent; and the inhabitants of Berlin resolutely determined to re- +sist a new invasion. The French army had +marched against the capital. A lively military +ardour pervaded the whole country, and an army +of 200,000 men was, as it were, simultaneously +brought into active operations against the enemy. +The peace of 1814 offered a new opportunity of +perfecting the system existing at the time, which +from its commencement had promised, and sub- +sequently proved, to be so effective and economi- +cal; and in September of that year, a royal ordi- +nance enacted the general principle, upon which +the Prussian military force was to be henceforth +regulated. + +There are three principal divisions in the mili- +tary forces of Prussia,—1st, the standing army; +2d, the Landwehr (militia) of the 1st and 2d banns, +or levies; and 3d, the Landsturm. Every born +subject of Prussia is obliged, at the age of twenty +years, to enter on military duty; when he becomes attached to his regiment he is called a landwehr. +The 1st levy of the landwehr consists of young +men of ages from twenty to twenty-five years, who +act in concert with the standing army during war, +and are trained to military exercise on stated days +in every month. The 2d levy of the landwehr, +consisting of men less than twenty-five, or more +than thirty-nine years of age, is usually em- +* The staff of this division receives pay during peace. +N + +178 +PRUSSIAN + +ployed as garrison or district guards—a sort of garde nationale—and is exercised during certain days in the year. These divisions form a kind of reserved force, from which les cadres of the standing army are recruited, if necessary. The land-sturm consists of veterans, between the ages of thirty and fifty, who are reserved for cases of extreme peril or difficulty. + +Every soldier in the standing army is required to serve three years; after which, he has the option of retiring, and becoming attached to the landwehr: but, should he decide on continuing his military career, he will be appointed to a field-officer's rank, and will be allowed to obtain his congé for an undefined time—liable, of course, to recall; but, in this case, he neither receives pay, nor obtains promotion.* The grand annual reviews of the Prussian armies are conducted with much ceremony. They generally continue a whole month, during which time the troops undergo a rigid inspection; and, in order to keep alive an active spirit of military enthusiasm, go through a kind of mock campaign. These reviews are attended by members of the Prus- sian monarchy, the princes of the royal family, and the most celebrated generals in Europe. + +The numerical force of the Prussian army is usually maintained on the same nominal complement during peace; but the numbers in active service are, according to circumstances, many less than those stated above. In 1836 Maltzahn returns the total force of the army at 164,000 men. In June, 1838, the United Service Gazette furnished + +* It is a general rule in Germany, France, and we believe, with the exception of Great Britain, throughout the greater part of Europe, that an officer or private soldier, on obtaining his fur- lough, whether it may be for a few days, weeks, or months, re- ceives no pay from the day he quits, until the day he rejoins the ranks. + +STATISTICS. 179 + +a statement of the Prussian military force, which agrees with Maitre Brun's estimate, except in the gens d'armerie, in which it makes a diminution of about 5,300 men. * The total number of effective men ; of these, however, 37,000 men are en congé, reducing the total number of effective men receiving pay to 122,000. The following is a statement of the force : + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Infantry.Number of men.Total force.
6 Regiments of the royal guards17,908
40 Dîtes of infantry of the line154,715
Total infantry122,630
40 RegimentsCavalry.19,132
9 BrigadesArsillery.15,718
9 DetachmentsGens d'armerie.1,729
Total nominal effective army159,190
Deduct on furlough37,190
Total really effective army122,000
Militia.
Landwehr of the first bann280,000
Ditto2d ditto180,000
Total militia410,000
Total military force532,000
+ +* We think the United Service Gazette must be in error—it is not probable that the gens d'armerie has been reduced from 7000 to 1700. + +w2 + +180 +PRUSSIAN + +SECTION II.--PRUSSIAN POLITICS. + +Reforms in the social condition of Prussia.--If the wars of Napoleon proved for a season disastrous to Germany, they were more than any other political circumstance instrumental to her subsequent improvement. For five centuries very little assimilation into which they plunged her, has sprung up a spirit of independence, industry, and intelligence, which had long been buried under the weight of a government essentially aristocratic in its nature. In few modern states, has the progress of civilization been made with so great a speed and rapid and substantial than in Prussia. Previous to the memorable campaign of 1806-7, the old Slavonic, or rather Teutonic laws, which gave the whole property of the country to the nobles, and debased the great bulk of the people to the condition of serfs, had been such that no noble could possess property in land, nor could landed property be transferred to any but a noble. +The bauers, or peasants attached to the estate of their lord, served him without recompense; they could not change their place of residence; or absent themselves from his service without injury; without his especial permission ;-they were incapable of holding property; their children could follow no other occupation than that to which their parent was doomed; nor could their daughters marry without the consent of their superiors; in fact, due to these and similar restrictions, which indeed constitute nearly the entire population of Prussia, were little removed from a state of slavery. In a nation thus constituted, but little respect for the institutions of the state could exist among the people, and still less could it be expected that the nation would energetically resist the invasion of a foreign potentate, who offered + +POLITICS. +181 + +emancipation and civil liberty to all who would join his standard. This was fully proved by the events of Napoleon's Prussian campaign in 1806-7. No sooner had the French emperor passed the Prussian frontier, and advanced to the plains of Jena, than thousands of the Prussian peasantry, and hiring troops in the pay of Prussia, flocked to his standard, demanding that he should weaken the power of defence, and enabling the invader to make a rapid conquest of the entire Prussian monarchy. The danger, injustice, and wretched policy of these restrictions on personal liberty, was thus fatally demonstrated, and the necessity of their speedy removal, and the speedy removal of the civil disabilities which separated the community into distinct classes, was freely admitted by the government. + +Stein, who became minister after the fatal treaty of Tilsit, determined promptly and effectually to carry these measures into execution; to rally round the throne the affection of the people, to give the peasantry a political existence, and to interest them in the maintenance of the national institutions and privileges. Hence article 6 of the law of the 9th of October, 1807, enacted "that from henceforth the condition of birth shall no longer be contracted, either by birth, marriage, or contract." By article 7 of the same law, the provisions of article 6 were extended to all those then in hereditary village ; and by article 8, it was declared that, after Martimmas day, 1810, "the state of village" should cease for ever throughout the Prussian dominions." + +Concurrent with this substantial and fundamental change in the social condition of the peasantry, ameliorations were introduced affecting the condition of the farmers, by new regulations respecting the interchange of lands, and by a general and liberal revision of the laws concerning + +182 +PRUSSIAN + +landlord and tenant.* The object of this revision, +which will be better understood on perusal of the +subjoined note, was in a high degree liberal and +worthy; its tendency was to create that which had +never before existed in the Prussian domin- +ions, "a general community united in one social +system," and consequently to link together the +several gradations of society—a free peasantry, +small freholders, farmers, and ascending ranks +to the wealthy landed proprietor." These reforms +naturally suggested the necessity of widely diffus- +ing the means of elementary education, and dis- +seminating among all classes of society that +systematic education which, in earlier days, had +been considered as only adapted for those who +were dependent on their labour for a maintenance. +In 1809, a period of great pecuniary difficulty +with the Prussian court, the King, at a vast personal +sacrifice, founded the university of Berlin. After +the peace of 1815, in 1823, the University of Bonn +was established for the Rhenish provinces, and the + +* By the old law, none but a noble could purchase the estate of nobles; and no noble could purchase any habi- +tated lands in the possession of the aristocracy, and prevented capital directing itself to agriculture. +The estates of nobles were divided into two classes: "tenants on hereditary leases, and tenants for life or for terms of +years." In the former case, the landlord was bound, on the death of the tenant, to give him his place in his own vacant +possession. In the second case, the landlord, at the expiration of the lease, could not himself take possession of the estate, as pro- +prietor, but was obliged to pay to the tenant a rent equal to his income; and whatever might be the improvement in the value of the lands, +he had no power to increase the rent. +By decree of 1826, all future purchases of land was made free ; and by the law of 27th July, 1808, the tenants who held hereditary leases were at once converted into proprietors, to the extent of one-third, on giving up the remaining third to the landlord; and by another decree of 1826, above a certain limit, acquired proprietary rights on giving up one-half to the landlord.---See Blackwood's Magazine, July Number, 1832. + +POLITICS. +183 + +academical system established by Frederick the Great, received a vast extension. Throughout the Prussian dominions, every town or village is bound, by law, to have a school of primary instruc- +tion (elementaire schule) furnished with efficient teachers and other resources for imparting ele- +mentary education. In districts where the popu- +lation is both catholic and protestant, a school for the children of each religion is maintained. The total number of these schools in the towns, +amounted, in 1832, to 16402, of which 1696 were protestant, and 14705 catholick; in the vil- +lages, the number was 17,626, of which 12,800 were protestant, and 4,814 Roman catholic, making the +total number 20,085 ; which, according to Dupin, +were attended, in 1826, by about 670,000 scholars; +at the present day the number cannot be less than +800,000. It would be foreign to our subject to enlarge these statistics; but we may mention that of education followed in the Prussian primary schools; +the luminous " rapport sur l'état de l'instruction publique en allemande", made by M. V. Cousin, +published in 1833, contains matters of great interest on the subject of education; and it appears some +necessary to its perusal: that these extensive and important reforms are the basis of a better system, +none will dispute; but we must not suppose that it is in the power of any human institution to effect a simultaneous change in the political condition of a state, or to root out confirmed habits and natural prejudices; and therefore it is evident that time is necessary to the expansion of real national reform; for although the spring may issue from + +* In Prussia, the moral duty of sending children to school is enforced by law. By article forty-three of the general code, it is provided, " that no parent who does not send his child to school at home shall be allowed to take him away from school, except for special reasons, and with the consent of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities." + +184 +PRUSSIAN + +the higher orders of the state, the current must receive the tribute of many sinuous and minor streams, ere it swells its column, expands its surface, and dispenses its many blessings to the lower classes. We must not suppose that political, or rather national, changes are so easily effected in Germany as in Great Britain or England; it is the people who reform the government; but in Prussia it is the government who reform the people. In the first case, reform virtually precedes legislation ; and in the second, follows it. Thus in Prussia, even at the present day, various opinions are entertained as to the soundness of the views which guide the policy of its enlightened head-man; and even among the peasantry, many are found who prefer their ancient mode of servitude to present liberty.* + +We have adverted in the foregoing remarks to the social improvements in Prussia, though not immediately within the limit of the subject before us, for the purpose of shewing, that "irresponsible power," which Canning calls "tyranny," and which forms the chief feature in the Prussian government, has, during late years, been so wisely tempered with moderation and liberality, that his Prussian subjects have no reason to fear, or to exploit the crime of which he stands convicted, for having refused or indefinitely deferred the promised organization of a representative government. + +The royal pledge to grant a representative constitution. It is asserted, and the assertion has never been officially denied, that, on Prussia renewing the contest with France in 1813, the king, to encourage his people to vigorous efforts, promised that on the restoration of peace a free constitution should be organized, and an elective legislative assembly chosen; this promise was confirmed by * Jacob's Reports. + +* + +POLITICS. +185 + +the edict of the 22d of May, 1815, when by the restoration of Napoleon to the Gallic throne, Prussia was again roused to new exertions. By this edict it is decreed, "that there shall be a representation of the people in all the provinces and principal estates, where they already exist, shall be remodelled, and arranged according to the wants of the time; and where they do not already exist, they shall be re-organized." Art. 3,—enacted, "that out of the provincial estates a general representative body shall be constituted, which shall be similar to that at Berlin." Art. 4,—"that this representative body shall have a deliberative voice on all matters of legislation, which concern the personal rights and property of the subject." Such was the published law of May, 1815; a law which may fairly be styled "a political opera," on the part of the allies and the total overthrow of Napoleon's throne in the succeeding month, all intention of carrying it into execution was abandoned, and uncontrolled power maintained in its ordinary absolute character. + +Prussia possesses petty representative assemblies called Estates (Ständen), elected by the landed proprietors, the cities, and the rural communes, which exercised a deliberative voice in the legislation of the provinces in which they were assembled; but these assemblies have long ceased to meet, and their representatives are few in number where they have been lately established, with power little differing from that of our local vestries. These assemblies being thus politically defunct, no medium of communication exists between the government and the governed. The voice of complaint is hence silenced, and the collective talent of the nation rejected by the arbitrary forms of the government. + +That the present enlarging sphere of human intelligence, and the progressive improvement of the + +186 +PRUSSIAN + +Prussian social compact will tend, and is, in fact, rapidly tending, to the establishment of free institutions, none, who are not wilfully blind to the course of events, can doubt. The prudence and foresight, which is so peculiarly the attribute of the cabinet of Berlin, cannot fail to determine the moment when the demands of public demands can no longer be attempted with success, and the time cannot be very far distant when his Prussian majesty must discharge, with interest, the obligation he contracted by the edict of the 22d of May, 1815. The popular meetings at Hambach, the attempted revolt at Frankfort, and the quivering of the Silesian States have been intended to retard the development of the constitutional views of the Prussian government, and been instrumental in causing that arbitrary act of authority, by which the Diet have suspended the functions of the representative assemblies of the free Germanic States. + +Foreign policy.—Nothing is more suitable, to consolidate the improvements which Prussia has lately introduced into her social system, than the preservation of peace, and there is no reason to doubt that this is one of her immediate objects in her political plans. The treaty of Vienna left her in full sovereignty over the Silesian provinces, so long as the subject of contention with Austria, while towards the French frontier it extended her dominion over indefensible territories, which can only be preserved by a continuous war on its course towards France; this desire for the duration of peace has, indeed, descended into a crouching timidity in reference to her more powerful neighbours. The acquiescence of Prussia in the views of Russia and Austria, in abolishing the Polish constitution in defiance of the sanctity of treaties, and her accordance of a renewed right of dominion, + +A historical document page. + +POLITICS. +187 + +founded on the reconquest of the Duchy of Warsaw, +the sovereignty of which Nicholas had always +affected to maintain, were proofs of an intimate +but dangerous alliance with the Muscovite em- +peror. When the kings of Poland fled before +the fear of Russian power, lest the uncivilized +hordes of the Scythian regions should be let loose +against the independence of Prussia, unless she +passively submitted to be a tool of Russian oppres- +sion ; whether she contemplates a share in the +future conquests of the Czar, towards the west; +or whether, having been convinced that she +stands convicted as a robber of Polish indepen- +dence, she anticipated the force of that contribution +which the very nature of things provides, to punish +oppression, and hence joined her co-brigands +against the attempt of the Poles to recover their +lost rights, we shall remain secret in the councils of +the cabinets of Berlin. + +The part acted by Prussia in the Belgian and +Dutch negotiations—subjects, full of importance +to her interests—was vacillating, insincere, and +unworthy. To Holland, she was neither friend +nor foe; but she was a neutral and impartial +arbitrator. She concurred with England in the +resolve to guarantee the execution of the twenty- +four articles, but withdrew, and refused to fulfil +the guarantee when its accomplishment was de- +manded by the Belgians; and finally suffered her +ally to be expelled by force of arms from the disa- +graved ground upon which she claimed her territory. + +In this case the independence of Prussian policy +appeared paralyzed by the conflicting views of the cabinets of Paris and St. Petersburg. In the +Belgian affairs, Prussia dreaded to act in defiance +of the dictates of the Russian sovereign (the initi- +ate, for all alike—the Dutch king); and equally in +dread of the march of a French army against her western frontier. and the blockade of + +188 +PRUSSIAN + +her Baltic ports by a British fleet—she was thus obliged to declare her neutrality. +Prussia, unaided by co-operating allies, is quite unequal to maintain a prolonged contest against any of the leading European powers. Physical force she possesses, which consists in her numerous and well-distributed militia, but is very limited pecuniarily, and this handicaps her from maintaining a large effective army in the field. Since the war of 1740-1, when, with the vast treasures amassed by the second Prussian monarch, Frederick the Great possessed himself of Silesia, Prussia has never been able to maintain two successive campaigns in Germany. In 1756, the great Frederick received 700,000l. per annum from the British treasury : throughout the late wars, during the chief part of which she remained neutral, the expenses of her campaigns were mainly paid by Great Britain, and the limited expenses she incurred from time to time were inscribed on the great book as national debt ; although, by the way, nine-tenths of the whole are in the hands of British capitalists. After the battle of Pultusk (campaign of 1767), her resources were so completely annihilated, that the British government, from its own motives of compassion for fallen greatness, granted his Prussian majesty a stipend of 80,000l. for the support of his family and household. At the present day, a season of peace, when her budget annually exemplifies a deficit of ways and means to meet the claims of creditors, and when difficulties would involve her in inextricable difficulties. Her public credit, pre-eminent among the continental nations in time of peace, would sink rapidly under the pressure of war expenditure, rendering loans quite out of the question. Joined to these securities for the continuance of a pacific course, we may also notice the defenceless position of her frontiers, and + +POLITICS. +189 + +the defect of her national identity: a defect, which keeps her continually on the qui vive against hostile irruptions. It is almost impossible to imagine a country less protected by natural barriers, or more open to invasion and occupation, than Prussia ; her fertile provinces on the Rhine and the Moselle, immediately under the cannon of the French fortresses, may be said to belong to France, but by sufferance of France. The province of Saxe, however strengthened by art, could afford but a feeble defence against invasion. The inhabitants of these provinces are essentially French, descendants of the persecuted protestants, who fled to escape persecution, and were received into that inhospitable land by that infernal fiend Charles IX. (1572), and by Louis XIV., on the revocation of the edict of Nantes (1685), and who retain their ancient language, manners, and inclinations. These, with the inhabitants of Posen, West Prussia, and Saxony, the former poles, the latter Saxons, retaining their deeply rooted German character, and which has deprived them of their nationality, can feel little attachment to Prussian institutions. With such elements of discord, Prussia, unaided by Great Britain, would be but a weak opponent to France; nothing could be so adverse to the best interests of Great Britain as to have either the British or French nation ; and there is fair reason to presume, that her cabinet will steadily pursue that pacific course, which has tended so much to the prosperity of the country during the last eighteen years. + +190 +PRUSSIAN + +**Table of Mean Temperatures in various parts of Europe, according to the centigrade thermometer.** + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August2nd August
MonthsUplandLowlandFalls.Cause.Zoosis.Baths.Rumors.
January-5.68-1.44+1.02+3.09-1.17-0.09+7.16
February-2.98-1.57+2.27+4.11-2.64+1.55+8.58
March-1.44-1.43+7.00+7.50-0.74+3.08+8.58
April-1.43-1.43+7.00+7.50-0.74+3.08+8.58
May-1.43-1.43+7.00+7.50-0.74+3.08+8.58
June-1.43-1.43+7.00+7.50-0.74+3.08+8.58
July-1.43-1.43+7.00+7.50-0.74+3.08+8.58
August-1.43-1.43+7.00
+ +The most remarkable feature in this table, is the inequality of climate in different parts of Europe, and the latitude of the island of Ireland. + +The British Isles, wholly exposed to the climate of the ocean, are liable in a less degree to the sudden effects of the great con- +flicts between the seasons, than any other part of Europe; they are never subject to excessive heat or extreme cold ; while the Continent, exposed to the chilling blasts of mountainous regions, and the + +POLITICS. +191 + +sultry gales which pass over the arid plains of the Arabian and African deserts, experiences all the fatal effects of both extremes. The lowest temperature in London, situated in 51° north latitude, is $+1.98$, while at Zurich, situated more than three degrees south of London, the mean temperature in the same month is $-3.17$. The winters of London are milder than those of Vienna, and even than those of Buda, in latitude 47°, it is $-2.00$, from December to March, being colder than London; but from May to October, the reverse is remarkable; for at Vienna, the mean temperature is +6.61, while at Zurich, it is +16.43; and at Buda, +22.01. On the average of the year, our climate is warmer than that of Vienna, and much more agreeable to man. + +Relative locality, the state of cultivation, and the general characteristics of a state, are as much to be considered in esti- +mating the effect of the climate on human life as the nature of the atmosphere above the surface of the Atlantic, while it retains the cold temperature of winter, is often attracted to the En- +glish country districts by its mildness during the summer months, +periled by heat. These changes frequently happen in early +springs; and are the cause of those returns of winter so detri- +mental to the health and prosperity of our temperate vegetation, +which are common to the whole of western Europe, and particularly +the north-west of France, Holland, and Denmark. If, after +the flux of this cold air has passed through the moist atmosphere of +the ocean, a fresh cold east wind blows from the Baltic Sea, we ex- +perience that rude temperature, the frequent occurrence of which, +in the time of our ancestors, the Celts and Germans, was partly owing to their invasions from beyond the Rhine; but civiliza- +tion improves, drainage progresses, and lands are cleared, +the climate may now flow with greater ease and be more salubrious. +In Great Britain where cultivation and drainage have been much extended, the climate is decidedly improved; and as our Continental neighbours progress in the same course, the +effects will be felt here also. + +The snow line commences at various elevations, according to +the situation of the mountainous regions; the character of +the surrounding country; and finally according to latitude. On +the Pyrenees it commences at an elevation of 8400 feet; and on +the Alps somewhat lower. Etats is always covered with snow at +the height of 10000 feet; but in some parts of Switzerland, +and north-east of the Dofrines, where the solar rays fall obliquely, +the snow line descends to 3000 feet above the level of the sea; +and Dr Black calculates the limit of perpetual snow in the marine part of Lapland, at 3500 feet. + +A map showing different elevations with snow lines. + +192 + +THE NAVY + +or + +THE STATES OF EUROPE IN 1826. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Counties.Ships of the line.Frigates.Sloops, &c., &c.Total.
Great Britain155117324606
France11093223
Bavaria2520144
Guisman empire182490132
Holland
Sweden and Norway1013236301
Spain101956
Danmark
Turkey
Austria41455
Lorraine the King of Baslein and the Two Sicilies
Slopes, &c., &c.Total.
Slopes, &c., &c.Total.
Slopes, &c., &c.Total.
Slopes, &c., &c.Total.
Slopes, &c., &c.Total.
Slopes, &c., &c.Total.
Slopes, &c., &c.Total.
Slopes, &c., &c.Total.
Slopes, &c., &c.Total.
Slopes, &c., &c.Total.
Slopes, &c., &c.Total.
Slopes, &c., &c.Total.
Slopes, &c., &c.Total.
Slopes, &c., &c.Total.
                                                                 + + +The above table is given in Balth's late work - his method of classifi- +cation is very different from that of the present writer and upwards he +classes as ships of the line. Ships carrying from thirty-eight to fifty +rams, as well as those with more than one hundred guns on board are +fartiments inferiores; but as a general rule, excepting only Sweden, +he excludes gun-boats and bomb-ketches from this latter class. In the +Swedish navy there are two frigates and three sloops of war. The +peculiar construction of their decked gun-boats (canonneres pontees) +authorises me to consider them as frigates. But the peculiar classification +would make it appear that the French marine includes no frigates; +there being, in 1826, no ship in the French navy serving between thirty- +eight and fifty guns. As regards the number of vessels under sail by the +French admiralty, the list of ships composing the navy on the 1st of +January, 1826, included 39 ships of 300 to 350 guns, and 513 smaller vessels. +It is remarkable that in all maritime nations, the fewest available +navies, the number of ships armed, or in a condition for active service, +forms but a very minor proportion to the number on the marine roll. +Sweden has only one frigate in her navy; Russia has seldom in active service any naval force, except some palyr flotillas, +many of which are composed of small vessels; while the total number +of British ships in commission in 1833, is only 116, of all gradations. +France has seldom more than forty ships in commission, manned by +13,000 men; while Russia has a larger proportion always in active service. + +STATISTICAL TABLE OF EUROPE IN 1835. + +Showing the superficial Extent of each Country ; British square miles ; Real Population ; average Numbers of Persons to the square mile. + +| Country | Superficial Extent (square miles) | Real Population | Average Number of Persons to the square mile | +|---|---|---|---| +| United Kingdom | 1,089,000 131 | 7,666,000 117 | 7.2 | +| Ireland | 55,000 60 | 550,000 60 | 10 | +| Belgium | 12,528 | 1,041,400 283 | 83 | +| Russia | - | 7,566,000 117 | - | + +The above table gives the superficial extent of each country in square miles, the real population in millions, and the average number of persons to the square mile. The figures given are those which were used by Mr. Malthus in his " Essay on the Principle of Population" in 1798. They were derived from the census taken in that year. The figures have been somewhat modified. + +. + +PART II. + +THE DOMESTIC CONDITION OF GREAT BRITAIN. + +CHAPTER I. +POPULATION. + +SECTION 1.—EXPANSION OF NUMBERS, AND POWER OF MAINTENANCE. + +From the foregoing review of the statistical and political condition of the leading continental states, we turn to the more important object of our work; namely, an inquiry into the Domestic Condition of Great Britain. This subject we shall treat of, under the heads of Population—Poor Laws, and the state of the Working Classes—Agriculture, and the Corn Laws—Currency, Commerce, and Finance. + +Theories as to the effects of the increase of British population.—Few subjects, of national importance, have been discussed with so much facility of tongue and debate, than that of the practical operative effect of the increase of our numbers. The different theories sustained by the popular essayists, as to the natural limit of the multiplying power of the human race, have been long familiar to the reading portion of the public. + +o + +194 +POPULATION, AND + +It is assumed by Mr. Malthus, and other writers of acknowledged talent, " that, population being limited by the quantum of subsistence ; and the power of augmenting the supply of food, being inferior to the multiplying tendency of the human race; the means of support must progressively diminish, and privation and misery increase in relative proportion." + +"There is a law in human nature," Mr. Malthus informs us, " by the force of which, man has a tendency to increase in a geometrical progression, whereas his subsistence can only be increased in a concurrent arithmetical progression;" and, on the strength of this supposed law, he attributes the physi cal fecundity of the soil, and of the resources of human ingenuity, he portends the certain and rapid approach of a time, when, population having outgrown the means of subsistence, famine, with all its attendant horrors, must succeed. + +In proof of the absurdness of this doctrine, the preceding pages of Malthus's creed apply the principle to the present state of England ; appealing, first, to the increasing number of parochial dependents ; secondly, to the growing deficiency of profitable employment for the labouring classes, and the consequent fall in the value of labour; and, thirdly, to the increasing inability of the produce of the British soil to supply the demand. Such they say, are the practical evidences of the incontrovertible reasoning of Malthus. + +On the other hand, the opponents to the Mal thusian creed,- Messrs. Sadler, Gray, Godwin, Everett, &c., contend that it is impossible that firstly, that the supply of food may be extended, in a ratio superior to that of consumers; secondly, that every man who comes into the world is endowed with the means of supplying, not only sufficient for his own wants, but of producing that excess, which renders the average provision for + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. +195 + +each individual more abundant, and is hence con- +ducive in multiplying the means of enjoyment; +thirdly, that, by a greater variety of peculiar in- +genuities, an extended means is furnished for sup- +plying the varied demands of increasing numbers. +Hence they infer, that a growing population, +instead of tending to diminish the ratio of employ- +ment, will tend to increase it, and will be directly +conducive to its increase, and to general and indi- +vidual abundance, in proportion to the multiplying +ratio of people. Unwilling to admit that the evils noted by the anti-populationists are the effect +of increasing numbers, they appeal to the progres- +sive quality of the soil, and to the increased +income and capital,—the decreasing ratio of mor- +tality, evidencing the improving condition of the +community,—and the frequently illustrated fact, +of the national physical ability to produce a very +rapid and large addition to the ordinary quantity +of our agricultural productions. The low rate of +wages (owing partly to labourers' unions), and +the privations of those afflicted by poverty, +they ascribe to various causes, by no means con- +nected with the numerical advancement of popula- +tion : such as impediments imposed on the free +course of productive industry ; taxation ; the +inequity in the history of this country's in- +come, arising from the vast number of state annu- +nants ; the restrictions on the more equal division +of land, by the operation of the law of primogeni- +ture; excessive charges on agriculture, by the +operation of the monopoly enjoyed by the land- +owners ; monopolies in trade and manufactures ; +&c. Such are the leading tenets of these literary dis- +putants, and such the explanations given in sup- +port of their separate theories. + +Fundamental as these differences of opinion may appear, yet, if we understand the reasonings ad- +vanced, they all seem ultimately to converge and o 2 + +196 +POPULATION, AND + +harmonize in a remote sequel. That the produce of a man's labour, directed with ordinary ingenuity to the cultivation of the soil, is superior to the adequate support of a family, is admitted by both parties; and hence it is obvious, that, whatever may be the mathematical series of the increase of the human family, the production of food is susceptible of being increased by, the labour created; that, in fact, there is, and must continue to be, a natural creative sympathy between the growth of numbers and the production of food, until all the waste and desolate places on the earth are brought to the highest point of fruitful culture. The progressions which we observe, is, to which of the progressions will continue the longest. However, our subject recalls us from the task of examining the above question upon general principles, and directs us, ere we proceed further, to note the progressive increase of our numbers during past years, and to attempt an elucidation of the causes of such increase. + +Progressive increase of numbers.—The public records, previous to the commencement of the 18th century, are very imperfect as to our numerical condition. In the age of queen Elizabeth, James, and Charles I., the population of England and Wales was vaguely computed at about 5,000,000, and that of Scotland at somewhat less than 1,000,000. Since the year 1700, decennial returns have been furnished. + +The official returns of the population of England and Wales subsequent to the commencement of the present century, were deduced from the excess of registered baptisms over burials; a plan, which, although liable to many inaccuracies, furnishes the general materials for computing a fair approximation of the actual relative state of our numbers. The last four decennial returns were + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. 197 + +calculated on a more systematic and more correct plan; the census being prepared from accounts collected from every householder, by district officers, enumerating the actual number of inmates. + +The following table refers only to England and Wales. +Previous to the census of 1801, there were no official returns of the population of Scotland. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
DatePopulation of England and Wales, deducted from the excesses of registered baptismsDecennial increase per cent.
17005,173,000
17105,340,0000
17205,565,0006
17305,796,0004
17406,048,0004
17506,467,0006
17606,736,0004
17707,023,00010
17807,353,0007
17908,675,0009
+ +These returns, with the exception of that of 1710, all demonstrate a progressive increase of numbers, but in a ratio by no means regular: the average excess, during the ten decennial periods, is about six per cent. The interruption to the general tendency of increase, during the decennial period ending in 1710, may be supposed that that period are not erroneous, may be attributable to the general prevalence of war during these years, and the absence of a large portion of our able-bodied population, in military and naval services. +The total increase during the ninety years ending in 1790, is a fraction above 58 per cent. + +198 + +**POPULATION, ETC.** + +The returns of the enumerated population of Great Britain, in 1801, 1811, and 1821, give the following results:- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
YearPopulation of England and WalesPopulation of ScotlandPopulation of Great Britain
EnglandIncrease per cent.ScotlandIncrease per cent.Great BritainIncrease per cent.
18018,872,0602%1,599,09810,477,048
181110,530,61514%1,805,68811,336,30314%
182111,978,87517%2,093,45614,072,33117%
+ +These returns *exclude* the number of men in the military, naval, and other public services; but that which, in 1801 was 470,598; in 1811, 640,500; and in 1821, 319,300. To these must also be added, those engaged in the mercantile marine, numbering in 1821 about 145,000 men; so that the total population of Great Britain, in 1821 was 14,536,631 exclusive of absentees not enumerated. + +The improved plan, upon which the returns of 1821 and 1831 are presented to the public, enables us to particularise, in the subjoined table, the proportionate number of the sexes, and their relative increase. + +* Although during the decennial period ending 1801 various intervals of death, and great distresses were experienced. It is not probable that the increase of numbers was, as the accounts show, only 2% per cent. This apparent disagreement in the ratio of increase between the two periods is due to the different methods of 1790. All the official tables of population referring to the ten decenary periods of the last century differ materially from Mr. Fawcett's table for England and Wales for the present year; and from the well-known accuracy of this gentleman's political arithmetic they possess great claims to public confidence. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Summary of the Population of the United Kingdom, in 1801 and 1831.*
1801Population of the United Kingdom
MaleFemaleTotalNumber of Male FamiliesNumber of Female FamiliesLanguages Spoken at HomeNumber of FamiliesDate of Census
1831MaleFemaleTotalNumber of Male FamiliesNumber of Female FamiliesLanguages Spoken at HomeNumber of FamiliesDate of Census
England and Wales5,645,079
5,777,700
1,360,627
1,406,680
6,373,294
6,713,384
5,713,844
6,006,238
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,928
6,909,928
6,509,
South and West Counties


*These census slightly differ from those finished in the accuracy made in 1831 was 14.3%.

*The total number of people employed in the accuracy made in 1831 was 14.3%. + +200 +**POPULATION, AND** + +The most striking feature in the preceding returns, is the uniformity in the proportionate number of males to females, in 1821 and 1831. The proportionate number of the former to the latter sex, is about as 10.435 is to 10.000. The desolating effect of war ceasing its destructive ravages upon the male population seems to preassume, that the proportion of males to females progressively approximates: but this theory is disproved by results; for, with the exception of Scotland, where a small relative increase is noticed, the proportion was precisely the same at the termination of both decennial periods. +The corollary is clearly indicated by a greater sum of mortality among males than females; and the results are especially remarkable in their relative precocious tenure of infant life. See table, p. . + +The returns of the population of Great Britain, for the three last decennial periods, shew some disparity between them; but this disparity is not so great as to invalidate the results; but a more correct view of the regularity of the progressive growth of our numbers, is given by the following notice of the increase in the number of the female sex, which, in the decennial period ending + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
1811was14:15
1821.15:71
1831.15:45;
+ +thus exhibiting but a slight variation from regularity in the ratio. + +Thus having shewn the actual numerical progress of the British community, we shall not pause to inquire, whether it be shown that man, obedient to the laws of nature, has a tendency to increase his numbers in a geometrical progression"—harmo-nises with practical fact; but shall proceed to draw some general and particular conclusions, as to the causes which have favoured the augmentation of our numbers. + +*Improvement in the condition of the people.—That* + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. 201 + +the procreative inclination in the human race is concordant with the ability of individuals to provide for dependents, is a generally admitted truth; and hence it naturally follows, that the rapid growth of numbers is indicative of an improving condition in the state of the national community. We need only take a retrospective glance at the progress of British society, from a state of barbaric rudeness to its present condition of science and refinement, to find ample testimony of an improved and improving condition. The present, or rather late, state of the inhabitants of the remote villages in the Highlands of Scotland, or the west of Ireland, exhibits a picture of what England was in the days when our Henrys and Edwards plumed themselves with the trophies of France, how often has famine spread all its horrors over city and village. "Men, women, and children perished of actual hunger, and those who survived kept themselves alive by eating the bark of trees." In this engaging passage, Mr. Haly, in his excellent work on the state of the poor, furnishes, in his notice of a record of the assessment of the town of Colchester, in A.D. 1377, a curious instance of the poverty of England in those days. Colchester then ranked foremost in the catalogue of English towns; and according to Chalmers, "contained about 4400 inhabitants," assessed in pursuance of a subsidy to Edward I., of one-fifteenth of the value of all moveable property. The value of the whole of the household furniture, clothes, money, corn, horses, and other cattle, provisions, and stock in trade, was 518l. 16s. 0d.; and this sum collected, although gathered with the most rigid exaction, amounted to no more than 34l. 12s. 7d." What a contrast would appear in a similar assessment on the property of a town of like importance at the present day! If we can form a reasonable estimate of the value of move- + +202 +**POPULATION, AND** + +able property, from the well known tables of Mr. +Colquhoun, applying to the year 1812, the aver- +age amount of movable stock belonging to 4400 +people, is at least 152,000L.* an increase far sur- +passing any reasonable depreciation in the rela- +tive value of money, and unfolding a comparative +amelioration in the condition of the community, +bordering on theoretical fiction. + +It was not until subsequent to the settlement of +the land by the Norman Conquest, and British crown, +following the events of the memorable battle of +Bosworth, that the nation made any important +advances in the career of improvement; and even +from that date to the revolution of 1688, the im- +provement in the great majority of the people was +slow in its progress, and confined to short periods. +Hollingshed, in his Chronicles (1576) says, "there +are old men yet dwelling in the village where I +remain, who have noted three things to be marvel- +ously altered in England within their sound re- +membrance; one is the multitude of chimneys +suddenly erected; whereas, in their young days, +there were but two or three houses in every parishes +of the realm."—The second is, the great amendment +in lodging; "for, said they, our fathers and our- +selves have lain full off on straw pallets covered +with a sheet, under coverlets of dogs' wane and +hop harlots, and a good round log under their +hearts to keep them warm; so that when a father +or good man of the house had a mattress or flock +bed, and thereon a sack of chaff to rest his head +upon, he thought himself as well lodged as the +lord of the town; as for servants, if they had any +sheet above them it was well, for seldom had they +any under them; but now they take straw from the +pricking straws that ran oft through the canvas, +and raise their hardened beds.—The third thing +they tell us of, is the exchange of trene platters +into pewter, and wooden spoons into silver or tin; +* Ireland is included in this estimate.* + +A historical illustration showing a scene with people gathered around a table. + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. +203 + +for so common were all sorts of trene (wooden) vessels in those times, that a man could hardly find four pieces of pewter in a good farm-house. * By this time, the improvement of the British community with that represented by Holingshed, we may judge of the improvement. There are now few who are doomed to reposs their weary limbs on straw, with a log of wood as a bolster ;-none who linger out a miserable existence on acorns and pig-nuts. Every inhabitant of England is now provided with comfortable against the extreme severities of fate, and moderately supplied with wholesome diet and a comfortable lodging. But it was not until about the middle of the last century, when, by the rapid and substantial improvements in mechanical science, manufactures were introduced, that the increase in the produce, and consequently in the price of manual labour, marked the dawn of a new career of national prosperity, and hence of general amelioration in the condition of the working classes. It was by the growth of sacred genius and human industry, and by the manu- +factures introduced by the famed Arkwright, Watt, and other eternally honoured members of the human family, and the subsequent application of the power of steam to manufactures, or rather to machine-factories, that the comforts of life have been more amply dispensed; the naked clothed, the hungry fed; life has been prolonged; and the fruitfulness of marriage augmented. These effects will be seen in remarking the + +Decrease in the ratio of mortality. The decreasing ratio of mortality, especially since the decennial period ending in 1789, is seen by a reference to the subjoined table, being a return of the annual proportion of deaths to the total population in each ten years, from the commencement of the last century. + +* This is England in the "golden days of Queen Bess." + +204 +POPULATION, AND +England and Wales. +In ten years ending 1700 the average mortality to the population was 39.19 in 1710 36.1 1720 35.5 1730 31.1 1740 35.2 1750 48.4 1760 41.8 1770 41.2 1780 49.1 Five ditto, 1790 45.18 +1800 47.75 in 1 in 48 +1810 49 +1820 59.22 +1830 55 +Every return since 1780 shews a rapid decrease in the ratio of mortality, except that of 1830, which, in some slight degree, differs from the re-turn of 1820 ; but as accuracy, in the full force of the term, cannot be expected, it is fair to presume that there has been a diminution in the rate of mortality during the last ten years, especially as it is evident to rational observation, that the condition of the working classes, during the five years ending 1830, has been more favourable than during the quinquennial period ending 1820. Witness the general scarcity of the years 1816 and 1817, and the decadence of our commerce in the year 1819. + +The country more conducive to longevity than the towns.—That the agricultural counties are more conducive to longevity than where the mass of the inhabitants are employed in manufactur ing or trading towns, is repeatedly demonstrated by the subjoined table of the ratio of mortality in every English county, calculated on the quin- quennial average ending 1800, 1810, 1820, and 1830. The counties are ranked in accordance with their density of population. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
In ten years endingthe average mortality to the population wasin39.19
1700
171036.1
172035.5
173031.1
174035.2
175048.4
176041.8
177041.2
178049.1
Five ditto,179045.18
180047.75 in 48
181049
182059.22
18305555555555555555


















































































\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\ndecadence of our commerce in the year 1819.\n\ndensity of population.
\nF + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. 205 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
1800|11|18|18301800|11|18|1830
Counties.One hundred inCounties.One hundred in
Middlessex3736434142
Lancashire4749516153
Surrey57
York, West Riding4951575155
Kent66
Warwickshire66
Gloscester5243484955
Norfolk5561616162
Chester62










































































<
The density of population in Middlessex is rather above seven persons to the statute acre. Surrey counts one to acre; Lancashire, two to three acres; Yorkshire, two to three acres; every two acres; Nottingham and Chester, the same proportion; Hampshire, Devonshire, and Norfolk, one to three acres; the other counties one to four acres. The general average for England and Wales is one inhabitant to ten acres. But this is a half. If you divide England into north and south, by a line drawn from the Wash in Lincolnshire to the Severn, the population of the eighteenth county south of it is 6,100,384; and of the twenty-two counties south of it, 6,958,735.
+ +In Middlessex, the county most dense in population, the ratio of mortality is the greatest. The counties of Kent, Surrey, and Huntingdon, stand next in point of insalubrity. The fact that Kent counts among its population a large portion of the supernumerated invalids of the army and navy, in some measure, accounts for the excess in the ratio of mortality. Surrey, which includes the densely peopled districts of London and Kent, and its environs, partakes, in a great measure, of the character of Middlessex; and the ratio of mortality is hence influenced by the same causes. + +206 +POPULATION, AND + +tingdon, probably, owes its insalubrity to its humid atmosphere and marshy soil. The agricultural counties of Monmouth, Suffolk, Sussex, Devon, and Cornwall, appear highly favourable to the duration of human life, returning an average mortality of 1 in 62, against 1 in 46, attaching to Middlesex, Surrey, Lancashire, Kent, Huntingdon, and Cambridge. + +Question: has population increased from advancement in the ratio of marriages?—The late rapid increase of British population has been usually ascribed to the great advance in the value of labour during the last century; but this was concurrent with the late wars; and it was expected, that on the cessation of this temporary stimulus, and the occurrence of such periods of embarrassment as those following the peace of 1815, matrimony would be discouraged, and population checked. + +It is in some degree true, that the proportion of marriages to the total population, was greater during than previous to the war; for although the official returns show a decreasing ratio of marriages from the years 1789 to 1810, of about 3 per cent., yet that decreasing ratio is more than counterbalanced by the increase of population under the nubile age, and by the great increase in the numerical complement of the army and navy, subsequent to the commencement of hostilities in 1793, which services are peculiarly unfavourable to marriage. Subsequent to 1809, the returns show an actual diminution in the ratio of marriages; but this, with the growth of population, furnishes a further evidence, that our numerical advancement is consequent on the extended duration of human life. + +The following table shews the proportion of marriages to the entire population in periods between 1780 and 1830. + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. +207 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Periods.Proportion of marriages to the entire population.
1780 to 17891 in 117
1790 to 17991 in 119
1800 to 18101 in 191
1816 to 18251 in 136
1826 to 18301 in 128
+ +Effect of the poor laws on the increase of numbers. + +The operation of the poor laws is usually considered to have been conducive to the expansion of population, but it appears that while the increase of numbers in the agricultural, is far superior to that in the manufacturing districts, where the influence of the "system" is slightly felt. + +The increase of numbers from 1821 to 1831, in eighteen English counties, almost entirely agricultural; as Devon, Essex, North Riding of York, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Northumberland, Cambridge, Norfolk, Buckingham, Lincoln, Wilts, Huntingdon, Northampton, Hereford, and Rutland, is only 10% per cent.; while in the following ten counties, or districts, remarkable for their manufactures: Lancashire, York (West Riding), Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Nottingham, Chester, Durham, Monmouth, Worcester, and Salop, the increase has been 22% per cent. Nor do the accounts sanction the generally received opinion, that the poor laws tend more than any other cause, to promote marriage; the following returns showing that the ratio of marriages is nearly equal in agricultural to that in the manufacturing counties. + +PROPORTION OF MARRIAGES TO THE POPULATION, DURING FIVE YEARS, +1826 TO 1830. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
AGRICULTURAL COUNTIES.MANUFACTURING COUNTIES.
Periods.MARRIAGES.PERCENTAGE.MARRIAGES.PERCENTAGE.MARRIAGES.PERCENTAGE.MARRIAGES.PERCENTAGE.
1780 to 17894563.5%4563.5%4563.5%4563.5%
1790 to 17994563.5%4563.5%4563.5%4563.5%
1800 to 18104563.5%4563.5%4563.5%4563.5%
1816 to 18254563.5%4563.5%4563.5%4563.5%
1826 to 18304563.5%4563.5%






























































































\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\ndd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd +dd + +
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+ +208 +POPULATION, AND + +The comparative ratio of baptisms offers another confirmation of the above thesis : + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Agricultural counties.Manufacturing counties.
Hartfordin 36Lancashirein 34
Huntingdon- in 35Staffordshirein 31
East- in 35Nottinghamin 31
+ +These results clearly indicate, that the theory of those who trace the human cause of our rapid numerical advancement to the operation of the poor laws is erroneous: it is more properly the power of steam than the power of the poor laws which adds to our population. + +The fruitfulness of marriage considered in connexion with the expanding term of human life.—The fecundity of marriage must depend on a variety of circumstances, of which the most important are climate, and the duration of human life. The inhabitants of countries situated within the tropics, arrive at the age of puberty much earlier than the inhabitants of countries situated in climates more cold regions of the north; twelve to thirteen years being the nubile age of the Brazilians, while with us, it can scarcely be less than twenty-three or four years. The age of man is, upon the authority of Holy Writ, three-score years and ten ; but this rather resembles a fixed limit, and is not supposed to predict the average term of human life, at least we find no modern examples where such a term has been realised. + +In England, where the annual mortality during the last thirty years has not exceeded one in 50, and where the term of human life, commencing at the nubile age (23), is about 45.5 years, the average fecundity of marriage is, according to Mr. Sadler, 3.66, or for the United Kingdom, 4.95; And there is no reason to doubt, that the ratio of the fecundity of marriage, and the increase of population, will be co-equally augmented with the expansion of the ric mogwane, commencing + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. +209 + +at the connubial age. To what extent this may be carried in our favoured country, it is impossible to portend. Modern improvements have done much to counteract the ravages of the effect of epidemic disorders and loathsome diseases, especially among the poor ; the improvement in the quality of food ; the more general sufficiency of comfortable clothing, and suitable habitation ; the better appointment and more numerous establishment of charitable institutions, and the great expansion of medical science and practice, all tend to prolong the average duration of human life. Indeed, during late years, useful and liberal science are so powerfully disseminating their influence in improving the condition of the human race, that population rapidly grows with its growth, and we appear to be on the point that ultimately deaths shall be unknown, and when "the child shall die a hundred years old," (Isaiah, chap. lxv. ver. 20). We may suppose, from the extraordinary ages of the Patriarchs in the antediluvian ages, that that universal, and never failing con- quers, Adam was 130 years old before the birth of his third son " Seth," and attained the age of 930 years. Seth was 105 years old ere the birth of his son Enos, and reached the extended term of 905 years ; and Methuselah, the oldest of the patriarchs, was 187 years old ere the birth of his son Lamech, who lived at least 969 years. In the early periods of the post-diluvian ages, the natural death of a person under the age of puberty, was considered as something extraordinary; and + +* The accuracy of these terms has been very reasonably doubted by various ingenious writers, and the researches of A.M. Arndt on this subject have been confirmed by those of Dr. Hahn. The Hebrew traditions of the ages of the patriarchs are not exempt from various interpretations, some of which make the age of Adam 130 instead of 930 years, and reduce those of other patriarchs in different degrees. + +P + +210 +POPULATION, AND + +" in the dawning years of the Grecian republics, the decease of a person under the nubile age, was considered as an event at once so dreadful, and so much out of the course of nature, that it was thought improper to perform the funeral rites in open day, and the body was disposed of in the silence and obscurity of the night. A fact which seems to indicate, that disease had, even then, scarcely begun to rear its hydra head. + +Effect of the improvement in medical science.— + +There is no doubt but that a sufficient supply of the necessaries of life is the most effectual antidote to disease. The progress of medicine contains its fair commendation; and from an article which appeared in the Westminster Review, April, 1832, we are enabled to elucidate the practical effect of its improvement. " Sir William Petty, who died about the era of the revolution of 1689, states, that the proportion of deaths to cures in St. Bartholomew's church was 1 in 7 ; in 1741 the ratio had diminished to 1 in 10; in 1780 to 1 in 14; in 1813, to 1 in 16; and in 1827, to 1 in 48. From the years 1799 to 1808, the mortality by consumption amounted to about 27 per cent. of those who became ill. From 1808 to 1813, it diminished to about 25 per cent.; from 1813 to 1822 it still further decreased to 22 per cent. The entire half of our population was, at one time, destroyed by one disease, " small-pox; " the morality by which, at the present time, is but fractional. Typhus fever was once accustomed to visit this country with such frequency that one out of every three it attacked; whereas, at the present day, it seldom appears as an epidemic, and its average mortality does not amount to 1 in 16." + +In other diseases, such as measles, scarlet fever, hooping cough, &c., there have been similar diminutions in the ratio of mortality, and they are no + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. +211 + +longer regarded with the terror in which they were once viewed. Furthermore, the number attacked by these diseases is very considerably diminished. Such effect has been produced, not only the fruitfulness of marriage, but, in a compound ratio, the increase of our numbers. + +**Comparative ratio of mortality in various States of Europe.**—In other states of Europe, the gratifying results have herebefore detailed as applying to Britain, are equally observable in this country, and we shall shew, by a comparison of the ratio of mortality in England and Wales, with that of other countries of Europe, and the states of America, that the attributes of the former, whether physical or acquired by art, are highly favourable to the preservation of life. + +The following results are given in a letter from Sir Francis Ivernois to Mr. Rickman, dated the 23d March, 1827, and subsequently printed for the use of parliament. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Table of the comparative ratio of mortality.
Countries.Annual proportion of deaths to the total population.
England and Wales1 in 59
Sweden and the Danish States1 in 48
Kingdom of the Netherlands1 in 43
France1 in 40
United States of America1 in 37
Pruisia1 in 36
Wurtemberg1 in 33
+ +Such were the general results of Sir Francis Ivernois' calculations, the report of which is accompanied with comments, of which the following is a copy: + +En Suède et dans les états Danois, où la mortalité a été toujours moindre qu'ailleurs, elle paraît être 1 sur 48. + +F2 + +112 +**POPULATION, AND** + +Dans le Royaume des Pays-bas, où L'Archiviste vient de publier une série de six années, finissant au 31 Décembre, 1825, les rapports sont les suivants. Naissances, 1 sur 27 ; mariages, 1 sur 132 ; mortalité, 1 sur 43.8. Le maximum de cette mortalité est en Zeland, 1 sur 31.4 ; et le minimum dans les Nauirois, 1 sur 57.9. + +En France, la mortalité diminue depuis quarante ans, de 10.6 à 9.4 sur 100. *—Dans les états unis d'Amérique, en 1825, la mortalité fut 1 sur 37. + +En Prusse, où l'on a fait une série de registres depuis onze années, la mortalité est encore dans le rapport précédent : naissances, 1 sur 27 ; mariages, il y a quarante ans, 1 sur 36. Le gouvernement de Wurtemberg, publia les tableaux, pour l'année 1825, d'où il résulte que la moyenne y a été 1 sur 33. + +The foregoing remarks warrant the conclusion, that the increase of British population, and the prolongation of the length of human life, are consequent on the rapid and progressive improvement of the condition of the community; hence we are led to notice the causes which have concurred to extend the national and individual income; and thus to ameliorate the condition of the people. Here the attention of the inquirer is forcibly directed to the vast and growing expansion of our productive power; by the rapid advancement of mechanical science. + +*Increase of productive power.—Nature, bountiful and wise in all things, has furnished us with the* + +*On the 30th January, 1825, M. Fourier read a note from M. Bension de Chateauneuf, on the decrease of the ratio of mortality among children under five years old. Of a total of 100 children born, 20 died the first two years; now the proportion is 38.5 in the former time 55 in a hundred before attaining the age of ten; formerly it was only 28.7. Only 21 in ten reached the age of nine; now the proportion is 24; formerly only 15 in 100 reached the age of sixty; now the proportion is 24; formerly the deaths were to three in ten, now the annual mortality is 1 to 39.* + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. 213 + +elements of wealth, and endowed the human mind with an infinite variety of peculiar talents, that her unsparing gifts may be rendered available to the supply of our varied wants. But labour is the price which the soil demands for her productions, and it is by labour alone that they can be matured and rendered subservient to human enjoyments. + +It is hence evident, that in proportion as the force of labour is made more productive, the necessaries to its assistance rendered more abundant. Were we provided with documents illustrative of the proportion of the British population engaged in the various branches of productive industry two or three centuries since, they would, in all probabity, show a proportion of from 50 to 60 per cent. employed in the cultivation of the soil, producing scarcely an excess of food over the consumption of the community. Indeed, so deficient were the productions of the soil in the reigns of the Plantagenets, that the exportation of grain was prohibited under severe penalties, until the 15th of Henry VIII., when it was allowed to exceed 4,000,000. How limited at this era, ere machinery appeared as an helpmate to labour, must have been the means of acquiring the many other necessaries of life, such as clothing, fuel, and habitation, equally essential with food; and how limited must have been also the productions of foreign climes, so needful to the comfort of the people. A community such as the British, at that era, principally occupied in the productions of the prime necessaries of life, and whose labour yielded but a small surplus over the actual consumption of the labourers on their possessions but little time for attaining those social pleasures, which a knowledge of the fine arts inspires, or of providing for that portion of every well organised society, who devote themselves to the study and diffusion of science, or to the per- + +214 +POPULATION, AND + +formance of those nobler sorts of services, which afford protection and assistance, improve the mental and moral faculties, add to the amusement, and heighten the pleasures of civilised life. +It is by the development of individual ingenuity, slow in its first movement, but, as it were, by the power of attraction, accelerating its pace in its progress towards various centres, that united capa- +bilities have been developed; and perceiving this situation, unfold the means of augmenting the fruit of labour, and hence of attaining to higher enjoyments. + +**Enlarged use of machinery.**—It is evident, that any invention which tends to augment the quantity of the productions of a given sum of labour, must increase the income derived from it. For, in fact, the sum of useful commodities be doubled, by the aid of machinery, without any increase in the number of labourers; it is clear, that the income of each labourer must receive a like aug- +mentation ; and this augmentation of income clearly provides a stimulus to increased consumption, which marks the intimate connexion between the growth of income and the increase of numbers. + +In tracing the increase of the productive power of Great Britain, we shall limit our inquiry to the year 1780, a period when productive industry was stimulated by the scarcity of food. At that time, the inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland scarcely numbered more than 13,800,000; and according to Dupin's tables, the productive force was equal to the manual labour of 31,281,000 effective labourers. From the year 1780 to 1826, +the addition to our labourers was about 8,700,000 souls; the population in that period rose to about 22,500,000, and the increase of productive power, during the same period, equal to the labour of 28,925,000 men; carrying the total productive power of Great Britain and Ireland, in 1826, to + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. 215 + +the equivalent labour of 60,203,000 workmen. +The medium, or annual average increase of popu- +lation, from 1780 to 1826, was 189,100 souls, +while the average annual increase of productive +power was equivalent to 629,010 ; so vast has +been the increase of inanimate mechanical power. +In the year 1780, the proportion of productive +power to the population was 2.20 to each indi- +vidual ; in 1826, it was 3.40. It is evident, there- +fore, that the power of the United Kingdom to maintain +her inhabitants in 1826, was superior to that of +1780 by .50 to each individual, or the produce of +one effective labourer to every two inhabitants. + +So much for the theory of the diminishing ratio +of the power of maintenance, with the increase of +British population. + +If the foregoing comparison was continued to +the year 1833, we feel convinced that it would +demonstrate a far greater ratio in the increase of +our productive force ; the application of steam +power to weaving, navigation, the transit of mer- +chandise on rivers and canals, had during the last seven years, received so rapid an extension. + +But, although the expansion of the national +power of production is generally admitted, there +are many, who, though deeply read in the science +of national wealth, yet, while abstractly viewing +the practical progress of the rapid introduction of +machinery doubt that the power created is actually +employed, and that such portion of it as may be +in active operation, meets its recompense at the +hands of consumers. There were no official docu- +ments to guide us in establishing the negative of +this opinion, the natural conclusion, that mecha- +nical improvements will continue in an increasing ratio of supply without a corresponding demand, would be sufficient; for it is +a self-evident maxim, that where there is no in- +creasing demand, there can be no increasing supply. + +216 +**POPULATION, AND** + +But, leaving this theoretical view of the question, let us look for proofs of a more substantial character. We shall first refer to the expansion of the cotton manufacture. + +The annual average quan- +tity of cotton wool spun +from the year 1760 to 1787 was about +3,000,000 lbs. +The year 1786 +was about +19,000,000 +1865 +— 49,920,000 +1813 +— 61,555,000 +1820 +— 137,407,000 +1835 +— 162,889,000 +1845 +— 273,499,000 + +The entire value of this branch of manufacture, in 1769, did not exceed 300,000L ; in 1824, Mr. Huskisson, in the House of Commons, stated its annual produce to be 33,500,000L ; Mr. Kennedy, in 1827, valued it at 36,000,000L ; and at the present day, it cannot be less than 40,000,000L. In 1818, the number of power-looms in Manches- +ter, South Wales and the vicinity of Liverpool, in 1827, it was 45,000 ; and at present, the number is upwards of 70,000. More than 85,000 weavers, spinners, bleachers &c., are employed in this manufacture ; 111,000 engineers, masons, +joiners, machine makers and others at least an equal number are employed in the preparation of the coal, iron, and other elementary commodities used in the manufacture, and in transporting and distributing its produce. If we contrast the quantity of cotton wool spun in 1832, with that in 1812, +which may be taken as a fair average for the years 1810 to 1834, it increases by one per cent., while the growth of population does not increase by the decimal. The quantity of sheep's wool shorn, +spun, or otherwise consumed in England, in the middle of the seventeenth century, was under +20,000,000lbs.; at present it is estimated at +100,008,066. * The quantity of foreign wool spun in 1829 was 3,774,697; and in 1832, 27,698,699 ; +* M'Culloch's Dictionary. + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. +217 + +being an increase of about 380 per cent., while the increase of population is only 18 per cent. The woollen manufacture, to foster which, in the days of the Plantagenets, so many curious and cruel Acts were passed, gives employment at the present day to above half-a-million of men, women, and children, and produces annually, property valuing 22,000,000/. The quantity of coal raised in the year 1760, was about 2,500,000 tons;—in 1833, about 18,000,000 tons.* + +*The quantity of coal actually raised, has been estimated as high as 28,000,000 tons; but Mr. Taylor computes it at only 13,580,000 tons, an estimate which is usually considered much too low; and it is probable that the actual quantity exceeds this important article since the repeal of the duty, it may be moderately estimated at 18,000,000 tons. The inquiry as to the quantity of coal raised in South Wales is connected with a future deficiency of that most important mineral, has engaged the attention of several scientific geologists. Mr. Taylor has given it as his opinion that the coal beds in Durham and Newcastle alone will furnish the present ratio of supply for 1700 years. Dr. Buckland thinks this estimate greatly exaggerated; but in his opinion "the coal beds in South Wales are sufficient to supply the wants of England for upwards of two thousand years." He approves of a passage in Boulwark's Geology, which states that the coal beds in South Wales are sufficient to meet the present demand for upwards of two thousand years. + +Fortunately we have in South Wales, adjoining the Bristol Channel, an almost inexhaustible supply of coal, and iron stone, which are found in such abundance that they are estimated by some writers to extend over 1900 square miles; and that there are twenty-three beds of workable coal, the total average thickness of which is fifteen feet. The quantity contained in each acre is 100,000 tons or 61,600,000 tons; and if we suppose (a very large supposition) that these beds contain a prodigious total of 76,800,000,000 tons; if from this we deduct one half for waste and for the surface extent of the uplands, we shall admit that there is a coal field of 38,400,000 tons per square mile. Now if we admit 5,000,000 tons from the Northumberland and Durham mines, to be nearly equal to one third the total quantity of coal contained in all the beds of the Welsh coal field would yield coal for two years consumption; and as there are 1692 to 1298 square miles in this coal field, it would supply England for upwards of three hundred years before any new coal mines are worked out." The Newcastle formation is very extensive, and contains 5,375,689,699 cubic yards of coal—extending in length about twenty-three miles. The beds in + +218 +**POPULATION, AND** + +The increase of population since 1780, is about 90 per cent.; while the production of coal has augmented 730 per cent. The quantity of British iron smelted in the year 1780 did not exceed 70,000 tons; in 1831 there were about 300 coke furnaces in work, which, upon the average, produced about fifty tons per week, or the enormous quantity of 760,000 tons per annum. This is the joint produce of the Russian and Swedish mines, on which a century since we were chiefly dependent; and twice the quantity produced in the known world.* + +Previous to 1789 England was dependent on foreign countries for the supply of copper; in 1829 the quantity produced in Cornwall exceeded 10,000 tons of pure metal; and if to this we add the produce of the Welsh mines, the total quantity annually raised is not less than 13,000 tons, equal in value to about 1,450,000l. + +In 1791, the import of flax into Scotland from France amounted to 25,000 tons; and in Leicester, besides those in Scotland, are also of immense extent. It is computed that 2,900,000 tons of coal are annually consumed in London and the neighbourhood of it; and that each person of about 14 tons, or $7\frac{1}{2}$ tons to each family of five persons. Riddle of Walsall (one of the best informed coal engineers), says " that the greater part of the number of persons employed in the navigation and London trade engaged in the coal trade is 45,500, exclusive of those employed in out-pasts, and in discharging ships." Another writer says " the grand total of the number employed in all branches of commerce may be set down at 180,000l., and the total capital employed in it is moderately calculated at 16,500,000l." + +*The quantities produced in 1827 in the different districts were, + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Staffordshire216,000produced by 95 furnaces
Shropshire79,000—81 —
South Wales66,500—96 —
North Wales24,000—12 —
Yorkshire43,500—24 —
Derbyshire43,500—14 —
Scotland36,500—18 —
696,300291
+ +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced in different districts of England and Wales in 1827. + +A table showing quantities produced在不同地区的数量，英格兰和威尔士在... + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. 219 + +amounted to about 2,440 tons ; and of hemp, 299 tons ; and the quantity of linen exported was 7,842,000 yards. In 1831, there were 15,010 tons of flax, and 3082 tons of hemp imported ; and the quantity of linen, sail-cloth, &c. exported, was 57,000,000 yards.* + +It would be no difficult task to multiply practical abstract illustrations of the cause of the increase of produce, power, and wealth, useful application to shew, in fact an income augmenting in a superior ratio to the increase of numbers ; but in order to give a general idea of the expansion of commercial and manufacturing industry, we shall shew, in a tabular form, the progressive increase in the quantity of British and Irish produce and manufactures exported. + +EXPORTS. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Years, and annual average of years.British and Irish ProducIrish Produce and Manufactures Exported from Great Britain and Ireland.Total.
and Manufacturesexported from Great Britain and Ireland.valuevalueL.
1786-9214,765,000L.L.L.
1795-9817,100,000556,00017,656,000
1798-180122,647,000484,30023,131,300
1802-822,669,000477,20023,136,200
1809-15383,854789,5561,173,410
1815-19383,176,000943,4403,916,640
1820-24393,544,000629,2304,562,770
1825-31393,544,000765,6644,701,164
183246,453,092697,66847,450,760
183749,835,854632,88250,468,736
1838-4259,999,556949,59261,949,148
1843-5952,919,728768,31953,788,047
Total (from 1832)L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213.042 L.L. 56213. + +220 +**POPULATION, AND** + +The apparent stationary amount of the exports from Ireland, direct to foreign parts, is by no means an evidence that her trade has not participated in the general extension. Since the Union, the export trade of Ireland has been chiefly carried on through Great Britain. Without entering on the subject of the general improvement of Ireland, we shall here only mention that according to Sir Charles Whitting's table, totalling Irish exports to Great Britain during the seven years ending 1799, was 2,307,722l.; while the value of her exports into the single port of Liverpool in one year, 1833, was no less than 7,456,092l.*** + +From this it appears that there has been an increase in the quantity of British manufactures exported in 1830-31, in comparison with the year 1792,—a period of boasted commercial prosperity;†—is nearly 450 per cent.; while the increase of population is only 70 per cent. + +**Extension of tillage since 1780.—After examining these extracts from official documents, our readers will, perhaps, be inclined to admit that the application of our productive power to manufactures, has fully kept pace with its growing supply;—that is to say, labour is as much in demand, as applying to manufactures, in 1832, as it was in 1780;—and that this extension of manufacturing industry merely evidences the rapid progress of revolution in our accustomed system of production: and that by the transfer of labourers from the plough and the harrow to the loom and other manufactures has suffered in proportion to the growth of manufactures. It is necessary to admit that the income arising from agriculture has not grown in full pro- +* See speech of Mr. Spring Rice, April, 1834. +† See Mr. Pitt's speech, budget, 1792. + +A page from a book with text discussing population and trade statistics. + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. +221 + +portion with the growth of population; and as we have measured the foregoing comparisons from the year 1780, we shall now see the degree of expansion of agriculture since that period. From 1780 to 1794, there were 450 Inclusion Acts passed, the annual average number being 30; from 1797 to 1803, the average annual number was 83; and the total number, 581; in 1811, the number was 134 (the highest number ever known); in 1812, 26; in 1813, 49; in 1821, 21; in 1829, 24; and in 1831, 10. The total quantity of land brought under cultivation in the fifty-one years ending 1831, is about 2,810,000 acres, yielding an additional annual income of about 18,000,000 sterling. But this, it may be said, is not a sufficient criterion of agricultural culture, the productiveness of land being regulated rather by the labour employed, than the extent of land brought under cultivation. We shall, therefore, notice the comparative production of agricultural provision in the periods referred to. After the Act of 1776, we became rather importers than exporters of corn; and during the agricultural period ending 1785, import decidedly predominated. During the eighteen years ending 1791, the excess of our import of wheat over export, was 1,267,922 quarters;* being, upon the annual average, about 70,000 quarters—a small deficiency, but enough to prove that the annual productions of Great Britain were rather inferior than superior to the demand. During the four years ending 1832, the total quantity of foreign wheat entered for home consumption, was 4,795,700 quarters; the annual average being 1,008,800 quarters. Thus consumption has outgrown production by about 940,000 quarters of bread corn per + +*The deficiency in the quantity of wheat, may be taken as a fair criterion of the general deficiency of agricultural productions. + +222 +POPULATION, AND + +annum ; a quantity about equivalent to the support of one million of people (one twenty-fifth part of the population of the United Kingdom). But what does this mean? The whole rural numbers have increased about 10,200,000 since 1780, or 90 per cent., the production of food has lost in its relative increase about 4 per cent.; while the expansion of trading and manufacturing income has been 400 per cent. When we consider that the greater part of the inhabitants of the country to the towns during this period ; or rather the vast increase in the proportion of consumers to producers of agricultural produce, the minuteness in the inferior ratio of the corresponding increase is the most curious result, which can only be accounted for by the improved methods of cultivation, and the partial or substitution of mechanical power for manual labour. + +Increase of town population.--But the means of support is no less real, because the advancing ratio of population has been superior to that of agricultural produce. The inventions of Arkwright, Hargraves, Watt, and others, have given another direction to our productive power, and created another branch of opulence, infinitely more than adequate to our very limited dependence on other countries for supplies of grain. The application of ingenious contrivances in Great Britain has given full force to the efficacy and labour of man, and produced an immense increase of income by the superaddition of value to raw materials of comparatively small cost. How this revolution in our commercial, or rather productive, system tends to concentrate population in towns, will be seen by a following table showing the increase of our own.* + +* It will be remarked, that one-eleventh part of the total population of Great Britain inhabits eight towns, the least populous of which contains more than 100,000 inhabitants. + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. +223 + +Increase in the eight principal towns of Great Britain during the ten years ending 1831. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Population in 1821.Population in 1831.Increase percent.
London, Westminster, Southwark, and suburbs*1,225,6941,471,94120
Manchester, Salford, and suburbs154,807227,80842
Glasgow (city) and suburbs with Toxenth Park147,043202,42638
Liverpool (borough) with Toxenth Park131,808189,24944
Edinburgh (city)138,235169,40325
Birmingham and suburbs136,796175,55533
Leeds83,796133,39349
Bristol87,779103,88619
+ +In these eight towns, containing 2,623,305 inhabitants, the late decennial increase is 547,442 ; being an advancing ratio of 25½ per cent.; while the average increase in Great Britain is 174 per cent., indicating that the existence of a manufacturing population is the existence of a superior inducement for the direction of capital and labour to manufactures than to agriculture, and a comparative superiority in the condition of the town workman over that of the country labourer. + +Advantages of concentrated population.—But let us take a more extended view of the national advantages of population tending to concentrate in towns. + +It is indicative of the rapid growth of mechanical talent, and the increase of skilled labour, which produces at a given time a greater value than common field labour; an advantage which, naturally allied with a commercial spirit, ensures to us a kind of natural monopoly in trade and manufactures. It is from the combination of mechanical talent in + +* The population of London and its suburbs, within a circle struck with a radius of eight miles from St. Paul's Cathedral, was in 1821, 1,461,500; and in 1831, 1,776,500 souls (official report). + +224 +POPULATION, AND + +large towns, that the several co-operative branches of any particular manufacture are prosecuted with a degree of economy and dexterity unattainable in thinly peopled districts; and that the various operations in the manufacture of the same article are more readily divided among different classes of workmen, whose attention being constantly directed to one single object, they acquire a surprising degree of dexterity, which improves the work and facilitates the operation.* Such advantages cannot fail to attract and concentrate capital—not only in the establishment of manufactories, but in the enlargement of the means for rendering the superior advantages of such establishments available for the formation of canals, roads, and rail-ways to connect the manufacturing towns with the sea-ports; thus combining the local advantages possessed in different districts, and immensely improving the power of competition.† + +It is, in a great measure, from this cause that we maintain a decided superiority in foreign trade and manufactures over our continental rivals. Our Gallic neighbour, who perhaps possesses all + +* The report of the Committee on labourers' wages, 1829-30, notices the minute subdivision of labour in the manufacture of steel and metal ware in the town of Sheffield. It says, "Here (in Sheffield) are manufactured all kinds of iron and steel, wrought into articles of table knives, scissors, razors, files, saws, edge-tools, bituminous-metal goods, silver and plated ware, nails, and several other diversified branches of manufacture." These trades are again minutely subdivided. For instance, the manufacture of knives is branched in forgers, grinders, cutters, and hardeners; and in turn these branches of each tool are classed into first, second, and third-rate workmen. This is a most strikingly example of the minute subdivision of labour: the trade of a shoemaker or potter would furnish interesting illustrations. + +† The length of turnpike roads in England and Wales in 1825, was 34,146 miles; in 1830, 1,914,516; debt, 5,200,000.; at present their extent is above 30,000 miles. The total length of canals in Great Britain at the same date, + +A page from a book showing text about population and manufacturing. + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. +225 + +the elements for the attainment of great perfection in manufactures, can never rival us until her exclusive those under five miles, was 2889 miles; at present the length of the canal system is 30,674 miles. The official summary of the subscribed capital of eighty corporate canal companies, and their amount of dividends in 1825 is + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
companieshave expended £3,734,910producing no dividend yet.
14——
224,073,678£92,581 dividend.
232,190,000112,400 —
115,874,000—
10 (dividend 20 per cent)1,127,230311,554 —
£13,305,118 £732,559
+ +The average dividend on property invested in canals, is about $\frac{4}{\pi}$ per cent. The canals in Scotland are many and important, especially the magnificent canal of the Forth and Clyde, and the Caledonian Canal. The first canal in England was opened in 1694. have been expended since 1803. The rail-roads are at present sixty in number, independent of that between Manchester and Liverpool. Of these only two are completed. The other four rai-roads are in progress, which are destined to connect the metropolis with the great manufacturing districts in the north and south, east and west. These railways will be found to be far more com- pared with their prodigious utility. The names of "Metres" and "Novelty" will descend to posterity along with those of Stevenson, Etonson, and others. In the year 1825 we had nearly all of these locomotive engines, we need only say that the engine called the Sampson, in May 1825, drew fifty wagons laden with goods, making a journey from London to Liverpool in three hours and forty minutes. Their speed is unlimited. The engine which conveyed Mr. Huskisson to Manchester on his death-bed was so light that he dominated his valuable life, moved at the rate of twenty-seven miles within the hour. The Novelty moved at the rate of thirty-two miles; and at once made a record by passing over a distance of forty miles on horseback; being quicker than a migratory pigeon can fly. + +Improvements in the engines are rapidly progressing; the con- sumption of coal has been reduced from one hundred and eight pounds of coke per ton, per mile. The superiority of a rail-road over a canal is safety, certainty, economy, and velocity. "(See Observations on Steam-machines.)" - Written by Gurney, Partington, Cum- ming, Lardner, and other authors. + +"How wonderful is man! +A beast ethereal, sullied and absorb'd; +Though sullied and dishonoured, still divine." + +Q + +226 +POPULATION, AND + +government can infuse a spirit of commercial enterprise throughout the community, which can alone make them available. The national spirit in France is opposed to manufactures; the rich prefer the army and the liberal professions, and are generally content with a competency, rather than run the risk of becoming industrious. In England, however, both classes have their native prejudices, and there is a general want of enterprise and inclination to embark capital in great commercial undertakings and national improvements. The French labourers do not like the sedentary life of a weaver, or the im- mured life of a miner; but the arable fields and luxuriant groves are so tempting and so much more congenial. Hence their population is comparatively scattered—their roads bad—their canals few—their immense strata of coal and iron lie buried in primeval beds—and their power of competition is viewed by the British manufacturer with easy indifference. + +**Question as to the effect of machinery discussed.**—Notwithstanding the admitted expansion of national income, and, in a general sense, the national advantage arising from the progressive economy of manual labour, it is not pretended that mechanical power; yet, its beneficial influence on the condition of the working classes, is not only very generally doubted, but in various publications has been absolutely denied. It is viewed as depriving the greater portion of them of their only capital, labour; and as rendering them incapable of purchasing those commodities necessary for subsistence, however low the price at which they may be obtainable. Now, with the vastly increased and increasing power of machinery, which we have before noticed, did no means exist of interchanging the surplus of our productions over our consumption, for the products of foreign climes, the tendency + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. 227 + +to overstock, and thus to outrun the means of pur- +chase is admissible: but, in that case—if every +market in the known world was effectually closed +against us—it could only effect a revolution in +our commercial plan ; for as it is evident, that a +surplus quantity of manufactures can only be paid +for by a surplus quantity of raw produce, the effect +would be to diminish the mechanic power of the +plough, until the value of the two quantities of +production would be precisely equal. However, +such a case is, in the ordinary sense of the word, +"impossible;" and the tendency to overstock is +far, very far, removed by the continually growing +opportunities which arise from the extent of +the ocean afforded. Looking, therefore, to a wider +range for our commerce than a mere isolated trade, +it is evident, that until the demands of ultramarine +people for British productions, and of the British +people for foreign merchandise are fully answered— +a time which will never arrive, till the dawn of the +millennium—there will be no reason why we may pro- +vide additional means of purchasing; for, let it be +remarked, consumption is by no means regulated by the wants of the people, but by their means of buying; and every invention which tends to cheapen commodities, increases the means of attainment, and facilitates consumption. It is true that notwithstanding an increase of from 400 to 500 per cent. in the annual quantity of British manu- +factures produced at the present time, compared with 1780 or 1785, the tendency to overstock is by no means more powerful; and we may fairly postpone its effects for many centuries yet; for when our manufactures will have progressed in a similarly advancing ratio, it will still be equally distant; for, as the quantity produced by a given sum of labour, increases, so the price, *par passu*, diminishes; and hence, the productions being more easily attainable, the consumption of them + +q 2 + +228 +POPULATION, ETC. + +augments in the same degree.* It is this increase in the consumption of commodities, upon natural principles, that gives the decided negative to the assertion, that the economy of manual labour abridges the demand for it; that machinery robs the labourer of his capital, labour; and by depriving him of the necessary sum of the means of purchasing the necessaries for subsistence, however cheap they may be afforded. + +The tables published in 1811 and 1821, with the population returns, embracing an analysis of social life, furnish, apparently, very conclusive evidence on this subject; showing an immense increase in the number of families engaged in trade and manufactures. The returns of this nature, referring to 1831, but only published in the early part of the present year, have been handed to us by Mr. Rickman, so well known for his kind and ready assistance in those inquiries in statistical investigation. These tables disclose important errors in the decennial returns of 1811 and 1821: we shall give them as they appear at the conclusion of the three decennial periods, and explain, in a subsequent paragraph, the necessary corrections. + +*This is surely very evident; but some, mentally blind, either cannot, or will not understand it. Is it not clear, that if by the aid of machinery, a commodity is produced in an hour, which without such aid would require two hours, the manufacturer can afford to exchange it for another commodity, which represents an hour's instead of a day's work? If this is admitted, surely the consumer has no right to complain when he finds it required to work an hour instead of a day for it. Price, in the sense of money, has little to do with the question; money is only used to facilitate transactions between individuals; and by which softens all the movements and turnings of circulation.* + +A table showing population returns and other data. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
250
ANALYSIS.
Showing the number of Families, in Great Britain, in 1811, 1821, and 1831, employed in trade, manufacture, and agriculture and the number of Families employed by each profession, which is the proportion of the whole population engaged in each profession, both separately and together with those employed in agriculture only.
1811Employed in Trade,Employed in Manufacture,Employed in Agriculture,Total EmployedTotal FamiliesTotal FamiliesTotal Families
Engaged in trade,Engaged in manufacture,Engaged in agriculture,Engaged in trade,Engaged in manufacture,Engaged in agriculture,Engaged in trade,Engaged in manufacture,Engaged in agriculture,Engaged in trade,Engaged in manufacture,Engaged in agriculture,Engaged in trade,Engaged in manufacture,Engaged in agriculture,
No. of Families.No. of Families.No. of Families.No. of Families.No. of Families.No. of Families.No. of Families.No. of Families.No. of Families.No. of Families.No. of Families.No. of Families.No. of Families.
Classes:CensusCensusCensusCensusCensusCensusCensusCensusCensusCensusCensusCensus
+ + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + +230 +POPULATION, AND + +Between the years 1811 and 1821, trade and manufactures appear by these returns to have somewhat increased; but between 1821 and 1831, they shew a diminution: the centesimal proportion of families employed in trade and manufactures, from 46 to 42; yet no decay was visible in this branch of industry, and considerable surprise was excited when this result appeared. The paradox of increasing trade and diminishing employment was not at first discovered to spring from an incon siderate notion, that in 1811 and 1821 many were included in the number of those employed in trade, who were not at all; but it seems that a large proportion of labourers, such as miners, fishermen, those engaged in inland navigation, road-making, &c., which in the late returns (1831) numbers 608,712, were classed either as traders or agriculturists; but when in 1831 a census was taken of all useful labour, of whatever kind, the returning officer classed these in it, but placed their families in the column assigned to non-productives—swelling the number of the latter class, and diminishing that of the agriculturists and traders. It thus appears that out of the total number (305,787) classified as non-productives, 608,712 are actual labourers, and 78,669 men employed as domestic servants; reducing the total number to 328,787. If to this number we add the professional men and the domestic servants, the total proportion of those designated as "all other than agriculturists and traders" is reduced to 18 per cent. Of these, a large proportion (nearly half) are super-annuated labourers (inmates of workhouses, &c.); and, with some other necessary deductions, the number of those who constitute annuitants, inde- pendent gentry, legislators, lawyers, clergyman of old land, pensioners, &c., of civilised life, is reduced to a very small proportion. If on these consider- ations we reduce the proportion of the non-pro- ductive column to 18 per cent., which it certainly, + +A table showing population statistics. + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. +231 + +in the widest sense, does not exceed, and add the difference (19 per cent.) to the manufacturers and agriculturists, in the proportion of eight to four, the centesimal parts for 1831 will stand thus :- +Manufacturers and Traders. Agriculturists. All others. +Families: 50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32. . . . . . . . . 18 + +which forms a more correct medium of comparison with the returns of 1811 and 1821 ; and to common observation, appears to bear a more warrantable, in furnishing a relative view. + +The subjoined is an analysis of British society abridged from the official report. + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Analysis.Table.Agriculturists.Manufacturers and Traders.All others.
Number of FamiliesNumber of FamiliesNumber of FamiliesNumber of FamiliesNumber of FamiliesNumber of FamiliesNumber of FamiliesNumber of Families
Families5032185032185032
Families5032185032185032
Families5032185032185032
Families5032185032185032
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
Total.
+
Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:
+ + +
Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:
+
Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:Families:
+
Families:
+<
+ +
+A table showing data on families by occupation and region. The table has three columns for families, one for each occupation (Agriculturists, Manufacturers and Traders, All others), and two rows for total families. The first row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The second row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The third row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The fourth row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The fifth row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The sixth row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The seventh row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The eighth row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The ninth row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The tenth row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The eleventh row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The twelfth row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The thirteenth row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The fourteenth row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The fifteenth row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The sixteenth row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The seventeenth row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The eighteenth row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Total. The nineteenth row shows the number of families in each category for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, + +232 +POPULATION, AND + +These returns being duly investigated upon the principles already explained, are conclusive as to this fact, that while machinery has, to a vast extent, economised the application of manual labour in proportion to the force employed, its progressive introduction has been accompanied with an important addition to the demand for mechanics; and are thus direct evidences against the opinions of those who contend that the progress of inventions, consider that every new discovery is a calamity, because, as they say, it merely cheapens the article to the consumer, at the cost of the producer. We have before observed, and may repeat, that there is no such thing as a cheap article of necessity, nor ever can be. Whatever facilitates the means of attainment, creates new demand : the cheaper an article of necessity becomes, the more it is used; and when the most pressing wants are supplied at a diminished cost, new wants appear; and so long as the means of attainment exist, new demands arise. In consequence of this cause, new channels for employment are provided. M. Say, in speaking of the increase of employment in the English cotton manufacture, says, upon the authority of an English manufacturer of fifty years' experience, * that in ten years after the introduction of machinery in Lancashire, weavers, spinners and weavers, were more than forty times as many as when the spinning was done by hand. It has been calculated that in Lancashire alone there was, in 1825, as much yarn produced by machinery and human labour, as would have required two hundred thousand hands to produce at twenty thousand persons to produce with the distaff and spindle.* This immense power might be + +* To give an idea of the value and extent of the machinery employed in the cotton factories, and the immense economy of manual labour, we quote the following statement made by the editor of the Quarterly Review, in 1826. ** Supposing $30,000 + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. 233 + +supposed to have almost superseded human labour in the production of cotton yarn. It did no such thing ; it gave a new direction to labour that was formerly employed at the distaff and spindle : but it increased the quantity of labour altogether employed in the manufacture of cotton at least a hundred-fold. The increase in the consumption has been shown consistent with the variation of price. About the middle of the last century, the production and consumption of English cottons was about 16,000,000 of yards, of which about one-fourth was exported. At present the production is about 800,000,000 of yards, of which about 400,000,000 are retained for home consumption, and the rest exported, to purchase foreign commodities. + +Of the increase of comfort arising from this extra production, some opinion may be formed by the bare mention of the above comparisons. At the former period the consumption of cotton goods was, on the average, sufficient to clothe an individual ; at present it is increased to about eighteen ; and yet millions of English people, to say nothing of the hundreds of millions of demi-civilised and savage inhabitants of the globe, demand increasing supplies,—a demand limited only by the means of production. + +It has been calculated that one bushel of coals consumed in the furnace of the most approved men are employed in the cotton manufactories; fifty years ago it would have required forty-two millions of men (or fifty-three millions, according to some economists), to produce the same reeuh. The machinery employed in these manufactories is equal to the labour of 120 men fifty years ago. The stupendous machinery employed in the several British manufactories, is powerful enough to raise its own weight; and it is estimated that the largest pyramid of Egypt, in the construction of which, according to Herodotus, 100,000 men were employed for twenty years, and the weight of which is calculated to be 10,401,000 tons. +* Results of Machinery.* + +A diagram showing a comparison between the number of men required to produce a certain amount of cotton goods in different periods. + +234 +POPULATION, AND + +steam engine, will, in a few minutes, raise 20,000 gallons of water from the depth of 348 feet, a work equal to the labour of twenty men for a whole day with a common pump.* A bushel of coals at the pit's mouth would cost 1s. 6d., and the expense while the day labour of twenty men employed to drain the pit could not cost less than fifty shillings. Here, therefore, is a case where machinery enters into an irreducible competition with human labour, and apparently monopolises a vast field for employment ; but, so far from diminishing the demand for human labour, on the contrary, it has vastly contributed to augment it ; and at the present day it is calculated that there are not less than 200,000 families supported on the profits arising from digging, transporting, and distributing coals, without calculating the immense field for employment provided in the several branches of commerce connected with this trade, such as building, engineering, hardware manufacture, &c. It may, perhaps, be said, that although the demand for labour has increased in this trade since the vastly extensive substitution of steam power for manual labour has taken place, yet much more had the steam engine never been brought into competition with it, had rail-roads and steam carriages never been used to transport the coal from the pit's mouth to the place of shipment, and other means of economising human labour never been introduced—to dig, raise, transport, and distribute by mechanical appliances all that part of coal required for the present day, would, if it could be done at all (which it could not), employ at least all the able-bodied labourers in Great Britain, but there would be no funds to pay them, there would be no people to produce other commodities to exchange for the coal—the miner would receive wages in gold, but he could + +* Analysed from " Results of Machinery." + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. +235 + +obtain no bread, no clothing, and no other lodging than the excavated subterraneous vault: he might, indeed, if foreign ships visited the British coast, perhaps barter his coal for corn of foreign growth, but he would obtain but a scanty meal. The British community would, in fact, be little removed from a savage state. However, this could not come to pass without the people pouring the water from the mines and raise the coal; it could not be produced under twenty times the present price, if it were possible. The consequence would be, that all trades depending on cheap fuel must cease; the iron mines could no longer be worked with sufficient profit; the glass works would close; the founderies, and the manufacturers of hardware, glass, porcelain, and pottery, must change their system and curtail their operations; and the poor man, who now gets his cheap coal fire, must go without, or obtain some cheap substitute, as turf, or the dung of swine; and thus in very general use among the French and German emigrants, to whom the horrors of a severe winter can be better imagined than described. Were there no machinery employed, the consumption of coal would sink to one-thousandth part of its present amount, and the number of hands employed to one-tenth the present number; while the diminution of employment in every other branch of commerce would involve all in one common ruin, break down all the ramparts which now protect private property, assuredly effectual bankruptcy, and, perhaps, make us a dependent colony of a powerful state. The French government which is making great efforts to connect by rail-roads the populous districts of France, voted during the session of 1833, about 250,000L. for the study of engineering, applicable to their formation, and numerous lines have been selected where they are to be constructed. One road is already formed, from St. + +236 +POPULATION, AND + +Etienne to Lyons; another, it is reported, will connect Calais with Paris; a third, Rouen and Havre de Grace; and so on. The home supply of iron is totally inadequate to the accomplishment of these great undertakings; and we have the government then obliged—absolutely compelled—to reduce their tariff on the importation of British iron, and to permit interested parties to contract with English houses for the needful supplies. +Here is a direct and new foreign demand for the productions of British labour and capital, proceed- +ing entirely from our confirmed superiority in heavy machinery, and also owing as much to the +land as in France, which it would do, were not our machinery more effective, and our means of production more powerful, iron could not be af- +forded on lower terms, and no inducement would be offered to France to become our customer. +We also owe this demand partly to the results of machinery in adding to the demand for manual +labour.—It is well known that the ancients had no clothing for the legs. Cloth bandages were intro- +duced during the eleventh or twelfth century; +Henry IV wore none but cloth. In 1581 +queen Elizabeth was presented with a pair of black +and silk stockings, which were sent from Spain as +an article of great curiosity, and from that time she ceased to wear cloth hose.† In 1589, Mr. +William Lee, of Woodborough, Nottinghamshire, +invented the stocking-frame, he applied in vain to the queen's government for a patent to enable him to establish a manufactury at Nottingham; +but his appeals were disregarded, upon the plea that "it would deprive the poor stocking-knitters of their subsistence."† Lee afterwards, by the as- +sistance of the French government, established his +manufactury at Rouen. At his death—in the reign +* Howell's History of the World, and M' Cullock's Dictionary. +† See Beckman's History of Inventions. + +A historical illustration showing a man wearing a stocking frame. + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. +237 + +of James I—some of his workmen returned home and established the manufacture in Nottinghamshire: before this invention, a single pair of badly knitted stockings was deemed by the British monarch a present of great value. Even a century since, not one person in five hundred wore stockings; but by successive improvements the article has become so cheap, that now not one person in a thousand is without them. By importing small foreign supplies, to answer the demands of a few rich individuals, our exportation of hose amounts in value to no less than 1,200,000l. per annum, being six-fold the total value of the entire cotton-manufacture. The production of lace is the place of the manufacture of stockings and lace being limited to the employment of a few female knitters, as it then was, it now employs at least 50,000 families, while it has provided a source of work for the industrious females in figuring the lace, which machinery, by greatly diminishing the price, has rendered more accessible. + +The adversaries of the progressive improvements in machinery, driven from their strong-hold by the proofs furnished against the supposed dogma, that every machine displaces a certain sum of manual labour, yet seek to illustrate their favourite maxims, instancing the case of women and mechanics, which machinery is supposed to effect. Now, it is clear, that where the national income, or production, increases in a ratio superior to the growth of numbers, if the income were equally distributed, it would provide a corresponding increase of wages; but as we have seen, on account of the superior ratio of the income is fully established, it by no means follows, as it ought to do, on natural principles, that the operatives obtain their full share of the extra income. For the very nature of the economy of labour being to augment the value of money in proportion to commodities, + + + + + + + + + + + +
of James I—some of his workmen returned home and established the manufacture in Nottinghamshire: before this invention, a single pair of badly knitted stockings was deemed by the British monarch a present of great value. Even a century since, not one person in five hundred wore stockings; but by successive improvements the article has become so cheap, that now not one person in a thousand is without them. By importing small foreign supplies, to answer the demands of a few rich individuals, our exportation of hose amounts in value to no less than 1,200,000l. per annum, being six-fold the total value of the entire cotton-manufacture. The production of lace is the place of the manufacture of stockings and lace being limited to the employment of a few female knitters, as it then was, it now employs at least 50,000 families, while it has provided a source of work for the industrious females in figuring the lace, which machinery, by greatly diminishing the price, has rendered more accessible.
The adversaries of the progressive improvements in machinery, driven from their strong-hold by the proofs furnished against the supposed dogma, that every machine displaces a certain sum of manual labour, yet seek to illustrate their favourite maxims, instancing the case of women and mechanics, which machinery is supposed to effect. Now, it is clear, that where the national income, or production, increases in a ratio superior to the growth of numbers, if the income were equally distributed, it would provide a corresponding increase of wages; but as we have seen, on account of the superior ratio of the income is fully established, it by no means follows, as it ought to do,
on natural principles, that the operatives obtain their full share of the extra income. For the very nature of the economy of labour being to augment the value of money in proportion to commodities,
+ +238 +POPULATION, AND + +and the wages of labour in a populous country being, too frequently, nicely meted, according to the minimum necessary for human sustenance, it follows, that the price of labour sympathises with the depreciation in the price of commodities, or rather, the appreciation of money ; and that those who derive their income from rents, or from capitalising income from lands, or regulated fees (fees allowed to agents of the law, for example), in some measure monopolise the benefit arising from the increased productiveness of labour. It is this undue distribution of the national income (an evil which is such as to affect all Britons) can only be remedied only by slow degrees), that has led superficial observers to denounce the use of machinery as causing privation and distress; and to say, against every principle of human reason, "that the creation of wealth produces poverty, that abundance is the very cause of want." This such incongruities, however paradoxical it may appear, are sometimes found to exist, as in the present state of the Irish community, is true; and that sudden transitions in a certain system of manufacture, cause a temporary suspension in the demand for labour is equally admirable : for there is no general good without some evil. But that a universal injury is effected by the expansion of productive power, is a doctrine so inconsistent with every rational principle, that it can never be sustained by the most ingenious reasoning. + +Evidences of the increase of the earnings and expenditure of the labouring classes.—That the wages of labour have participated in the general reduction of prices cannot be denied; but we contend, that the reduction has not been equivalent to the fall in the price of commodities. The relative prices paid to the Manchester weavers for piece-work, afford no fair criterion for judging of the price of labour, + +A page from a book with text on it. + +POWER OF MAINTENANCE. +239 + +because modern improvements have greatly facilitated the process of manufacture ; nor, do we think that the rates noticed in the report of the Parlia- mentary Committee on labourers' wages, which are decidedly favourable, afford conclusive evidence on the subject.* A more satisfactory solution of the question is to be found in the augmented ability which exists to purchase articles of consumption which do not immediately come under the head of necessaries. + +The following table contrasts the increase of consumption of various commodities, with the increase of population. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Commodities.Consumption in 1814.Consumption in 1835.Increase per cent.Increase per cent.Population, 1801.
Tobacco, lbs.15,000,00020,000,00034
Sugar, cwt.1,997,0003,655,0008324
Coffee, lbs.6,324,00022,552,00018324
Tea, lbs.19,876,00031,761,0006524
Spirits, gallons, Bri- tish and Irish8,666,00029,690,00016015
+ +These returns are sufficiently conclusive as to the general amelioration in the condition of the community ; but perhaps the most solid proof is to be found in the comparative amount of the total revenue in 1815 and 1833. + +The revenue raised by taxes in 1815, the greatest in amount ever collected, was £70,463,000. +The amount of the taxes since remitted, in 1832, was £34,137,000. +Leaving the amount of revenue for 1832 had no increase of consumption taken place + +\* The ordinary rate of wages paid to the Sheffield mechanics, was reported in evidence before the committee, 1830, to be, for the first class of workmen, 25s. per week; second ditto, 20s. per week; third ditto, 16s. per week. + +\* The ordinary rate of wages paid to the Sheffield mechanics, +was reported in evidence before the committee, 1830, to be, +for the first class of workmen, 25s. per week; second ditto, +20s. per week; third ditto, 16s. per week. + +240 + +POPULATION, ETC. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Amount of revenue in 1835, and its increase in the production of taxes since 1815.Actual amount of revenue for the year 1835, ending 5th Jan., 1836.Increase of revenue per cent.Increase of population.
£ 36,266,000£ 31,686,00043°22½
+ +Thus illustrating a ratio of increase nearly in a two-fold proportion to the growth of population. + +These returns refer to a time, not of great commercial prosperity, but to a period accounted the heyday of commerical and national prosperity; a period, when Europe viewed with astonishment, the power and grandeur of the British empire, and when our surplus wealth was so abundant, that the armed forces of the greater part of Europe were paid with British coin. + +With these facts before us, can it be longer doubted, that the working classes have participated in the general expansion of income, that the development of human ingenuity has been accompanied with a vast amelioration in their condition; or, that the progress of science has made the poor have not been impoverished? Until these propositions are negatived, it must be admitted that the power of maintenance and the condition of the people have, to this time, improved with the growth of population. + +* The appreciation of money since 1815 has been fully 60 per cent.; consequently, the £1,000,000 of 1835, is equal to £79,000,000 of 1815. This makes the actual increase of property considerable, 100 per cent. +† According to official statements, it appears that in 1814-15, England had one million of fighting men in her pay. + +241 + +SECTION II.---PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF THE INCREASE OF BRITISH POPULATION. + +In the foregoing section we have attempted to prove that our power of maintenance has progressed in an equal, or rather in a superior, degree to the growth of our population; but this is a contradiction to the opinion of Judge Hale, who, about 170 years since, gravely declared from the bench, that "the more populous we are, the poorer we are"—that population and wealth have to the present day been growing up together. + +But there now comes the point which involves the *ne plus ultra*—the prospective effect of increasing numbers. The public mind is greatly divided on this subject: some viewing our numerical advancement as producing penury and national decadence; while others hail it as a means of progressive alleviation from present burdens, and as an arm of power in our political condition. + +Question as to the natural limit of population discussed. Presuming that there is in the womb of time a period when population will attain its maximum, when no longer possible to make the earth yield additional food for increasing numbers, population may then be said to have reached its extreme natural limit; but the world has yet to learn the extent of that limit.—During the wars of King William and the latter years of the reign of Queen Anne, when the rise in the price of wheat appeared to acquire irrepressibility, an opinion widely prevailed that tillage had reached its terminus, and the practicability of any considerable addition to our produce was considered an irrational expectation. Yet since that + +A small image of a page with text. + +242 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +time our numbers have trebled, and we find in 1833 and 1834 our home produce quite equal to the maintenance of our population. However, while the world is in total ignorance of the utmost extent of the physical qualities of the soil when called into action by the utmost effort of human ingenuity, and while the value of this ordinary calculation, which, in the present state of agriculture, assigns two acres of ground, of average quality, for the subsistence of one person. Hence an isolated nation, deprived of all foreign intercourse, would, if its population increased beyond that proportion, no less people than those of substantial size, the community would suffer all the consequent miseries:--yet, such a case never has, and we fully believe never will occur. + +But supposing Great Britain to be entirely dependent on her own resources, she is far from having attained a limit to her population, even according to the most moderate estimate. The arable area of Great Britain is about 67,000,000 acres; and by a late survey it appears that there are 34,014,000 acres enclosed or under cultivation; supporting a population of about 17,000,000.* Of the 25,000,000 of acres still remaining in a state of nature, there are 12,523,280 acres capable of improvement, being about the area at present in corn cultivation; and we may fairly presume, capable of supplying as much grain as in the pre- +* State of Cultivation in Great Britain and Ireland : + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Cultivated.Improvable.Bare.Total.
England311,700530,900311,7001153,300
Wales311,700530,9001153,3004759,500
Scotland5265,9005950,9008239,93019738,730
Ireland125232804568968276464819798544
British Isles488696816566968569468811119159
Acrea. 46922970 14600000 15871663 77394033
This table is given in the third report of the Emigration Committee. 1829.
+ +**State of Cultivation in Great Britain and Ireland :** + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Cultivated.Improvable.Bare.Total.
England311,700530,900311,7001153,300
Wales311,700530,9001153,3004759,500
Scotland5265,9005950,9008239,93019738,730
Ireland125232804568968276464819798544
British Isles488696816566968569468811119159
Acrea. 46922970 1460000 15871663 77394033
This table is given in the third report of the Emigration Committee. 1829.
+ +**State of Cultivation in Great Britain and Ireland :** + +
Cultivated.Improvable.Bare.Total.
England:311,700
Wales:		530,900
Scotland:		311,700
Ireland:		1153,300
British Isles:


Acrea. 4692297 146 5 77 3 4 3 3
This table is given in the third report of the Emigration Committee. 1829.
+ +**State of Cultivation in Great Britain and Ireland :** + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Cultivated.Improvable.Bare.Total.Acrea. 4692297 146 5 77 3 4 3 3 This table is given in the third report of the Emigration Committee. 1829.Total Acrea. 77394 4 3 3 Acrea. 77394 4 3 3 Acrea. 77394 4 3 3 Acrea. 77394 4 3 3 Acrea. 77394 4 3 3 Acrea. 77394 4 3 3 Acrea. 77394 4 3 3 Acrea. 77394 4 3 3 Acrea. 77394 4 3 3 Acrea. 77394 4 + +INCREASING POPULATION. +243 + +sent day is required for the support of our entire population.* Hence should the present ratio of the increase of our numbers continue, the foregoing calculation leads us to consider that the British population will double itself within about forty years. This reasoning, however, cannot apply in fixing an actual terminus to the increase of numbers in such a country as Great Britain,--a country intimately connected in commerce with nations producing a vast excess of food over their ordinary consumption, but deficient in the means of subsistence of sufficient quality. A war or political quadrangle could effectually prevent our obtaining adequate supplies, not only from our colonial possessions, but even from belligerent nations ; private interest, and that selfishness which is so general and so useful a compound in the innate disposition of the human race, being sufficiently strong to prevent every pecuniary attempt to annihilate transmarine commerce where gain offers an inducement.† In the year 1801, + +*The area of England and Wales is computed at 37,094,000 acres, thus apportioned : +3,250,000 wheat. +125,000 oats, barley, and rye. +3,200,000 oats, beans, and peas. +1,200,000 clover, rye grass, &c. +1260,000 potatoes and cabbages cultivated by the plough. +2,100 fallow. +47,000 hop-grounds. +14,500 meadows and pastures. +17,300 depatured by climate. +1,200 hedge-rows, woods, &c. +1,365 ways, water-courses, and buildings. + +32,065,000 total cultivated. +5,029 commons and waste lands. + +37,094,000 total acres. + +† When Louis XIV. had resolved to invade Holland, in the year 1672, le Marquis de Louisx commissioned le Comte de R 2 + +244 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +when England suffered all the sad effects of deficient seasons, and the course of events had involved her in hostilities with all Europe, the import of foreign grain exceeded that of any preceding year in the annals of her annals - and if any further proof were necessary of the impossibility of preventing this state of inferiority being maintained by the most vigilant measures, we could appeal to the modern instance of the futile attempt of the Miguelite government of Portugal to starve the inhabitants of Oporto into subjection. In our inquiry, therefore, touching the natural limit to our numbers, we must consider how far the capacity exists of augmenting the excess of food in those countries from which we usually receive imports, and which are as dependent on us for supplies of manufactures as we are on them for supplies of food. + +It is a small endeavour to shew, there exists in Europe a physical power for the production of food, superior to the demands of its inhabitants, and that the stimulus to make this power operative is to be found in the offer of a sufficient value in other commodities, no permanent scarcity of food is likely to occur, while some means of producing articles of manufacture equal in value to the foreign supply of food required. These means we always must possess, while Beuthin to purchase of the Dutch ammunition, arms, and provisions found in the garrisoned towns of Holland, in order that the measure proposed might be the more easily effected. By this means the state of affairs would be considerably diminished. Prince Maurice, in conversation with a Dutch merchant, said "I have heard much talk about this lack of patriotism on the part of the Dutch traders." "Mem- icur," answered the Dutchman, "si on pouvait par mer, faire quelque commerce avantageux avec l'Inde je haarderais d'y aller boulir mon argent." "The same sentiment expressed by M. Beaumier, in his sketch of the United States, says, "A Bostonian would go to hell in search of his fortune." + +A historical document page. + +INCREASING POPULATION. +245 + +the art of printing, which is the bulwark of every useful science, the national physical attributes, and the opportunity of obtaining an adequate supply of the materials used in manufactures, are preserved. + +**Estimate of the quantity of land cultivated in Europe.**—In our statistical table (p. 191), the area of Europe, exclusive of sundry European isles, is stated to be 350,000,000 acres, or 2,336,000,000 British statute acres. Now, the natural limit to population we have presumed to be a general density of numbers, equal to 320 persons to the square mile, or one inhabitant to two acres of ground; and the actual density of numbers in Great Britain is computed at sixty-three persons to the square mile, or rather less than one-fifth of the natural limit, supposing there may be no future improvement in the method of tilling the ground. But from this calculation we are disposed to make a large deduction in the superficial area of Europe, and to exclude from the productive areas all portions of territory as the wild regions of the Dofrafeld and Lapland; the mountainous districts of Switzerland and Italy; the inhospitable regions of the Carpathian and the Balkan mountains, and, of course, the surface covered by lakes and water courses. + +We are in some measure left to speculate upon the extent of land thus to be excluded; but if, as an average, we take the proportion which the barren or unprofitable land of Great Britain and Ireland bears to the total superficial area of the kingdom it will be found that it is one-fifth, or rather more than one-fifth (see table, page 242). With a similar deduction from the area of Europe, it leaves the superficial extent cultivated, or capable + +A small image representing a page from a book. + +The +PROPORTIONAL EFFECT OF + +of being bounded by 3000 acres; and +the produce of an average year's cultivation to an +acre of land, at least must be but rather less than +one-fifth of the average produce of the inhabitants to +the like space. In determining what proportionation +of this area is desirable for cultivation, is a +point which both statistical documents we have +been able to consult, and the most accurate data +have from time to time appeared upon the subject, +from which we shall endeavour to form a +fair approximate estimate. We have already shewn +that in Great Britain, the proportion is one person +to two acres of cultivated ground. In Ireland, the +proportion of the cultivated ground is not less, the +extent is about 12,500,000 acres, and the popu- +lation 7,500,000; being 11 acres to each indi- +vidual; and Ireland annually exports about +one-fifth of her total agricultural produce.* France, exclusive of wood lands, has a fertile area +of about 34,000,000 acres (see page 50), equal to nearly 70,000,000 British square acres, sup- +porting a population of 32,500,000, being at the +ratio of about 21 acres to a person; but this culti- +vated area includes about 6,000,000 acres in +vineyards, chestnut, olive, and other fruit groves, +of the produce of which a large portion is annually +exported into France. Portugal is more fertile than +an important country of physical productions. +Hermann tells us that European Russia has 611 +millions of desiatins of land (about 160,000,000 +acres), under tillage, and 2774 of the total area + +* Imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1826—Oxen, +57,365; sheep and lambs, 78,799; butter and cheese, +hams, 338,298 cwt.; beef and pork, 143,725 barrels; butter, +611,229 cwt. In 1830—Wheat, 225,929 quarters; oats and +oatmeal, 997,444 quarters; corn spirits, 684,996 gallons &c. +The imports are much increased since these years. Of pigs, bacon, +butter, poultry, &c. the increase has been immense. + +A table showing imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1826 and 1830. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1826Imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1830
Oxen57,365?
Sheep and lambs78,799?
Butter and cheese??
Hams338,298 cwt.?
Beef and pork143,725 barrels?
Butter611,229 cwt.?
Wheat225,929 quarters?
Oats and oatmeal997,444 quarters?
Corn spirits684,996 gallons &c.?
Pigs? (not specified)? (not specified)
Bacon? (not specified)? (not specified)
Butter? (not specified)? (not specified)
Poultry? (not specified)? (not specified)
Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1826??
Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1830??
+ +A table showing imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1826 and 1830. + + + + +
Imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1826Imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1830Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1826Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1830Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combinedTotal imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined per acre of cultivated land in both years combined (in pounds sterling)Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined per acre of cultivated land in both years combined (in millions of pounds sterling)Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined per acre of cultivated land in both years combined (in millions of pounds sterling per acre)Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined per acre of cultivated land in both years combined (in millions of pounds sterling per acre per year)Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined per acre of cultivated land in both years combined (in millions of pounds sterling per acre per year per acre)Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined per acre of cultivated land in both years combined (in millions of pounds sterling per acre per year per acre per year)Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined per acre of cultivated land in both years combined (in millions of pounds sterling per acre per year per acre per year per acre)Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined per acre of cultivated land in both years combined (in millions of pounds sterling per acre per year per acre per year per acre per year)Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined per acre of cultivated land in both years combined (in millions of pounds sterling per acre per year per acre per year per acre per year per acre)Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined per acre of cultivated land in both years combined (in millions of pounds sterling per acre per year per acre per year per acre per year per acre per year)Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined per acre of cultivated land in both years combined (in millions of pounds sterling per acre per year per acre per year per acre per year per acre per year per acre)Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined per acre of cultivated land in both years combined (in millions of pounds sterling per acre per year per acre per year per acre per year per acre per year per acre) +```json +[ + {"name": "Imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1826", "value": "57365"}, + {"name": "Imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1830", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1826", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1830", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"} +] +``` +```json +[ + {"name": "Imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1826", "value": "57365"}, + {"name": "Imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1830", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1826", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in 1830", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"}, + {"name": "Total imports from Ireland into Great Britain in both years combined", "value": "?"} +] +``` + +INCREASING POPULATION. +247 + +(about 29,000,000 acres), in meadow and grass land; leaving about 862,000,000 acres of unexplored desert land. Little faith can, however, be placed in any specific statistical accounts emanating from the faithless government of Russia; and, although there is no doubt that M. Hermann has official authority for his statement, we very much question whether it is not somewhat inaccurate. In the countries situated on the coast of the Euxine, between the Pruth and the Kuban, including the Crimea, agriculture has made a rapid progress; and in the north—the irrigated districts of Finland, and the countries washed by the Baltic—considerable improvement is evident. However, her exports of the raw produce of the land are immense. In tallow alone they amount annually to 2,500,000 cwts.; and in corn, hemp, flax, hides, &c., her exports amount to half her home consumption. From the defective state of Russian agriculture it follows that only a portion of the Russian lands which, although figuring in the expanse of the cultivated area, yet are scarcely reclaimed from natural unproductiveness, a great deduction from the estimate of M. Hermann is warranted; but we shall not underrate this deduction. We will take the total cultivated area of Russia, and call it 190,000,000 of acres, being at the ratio of about four acres to every inhabitant. In estimating the total cultivated area of Europe, we shall take the averages of the foregoing calculations. Thus: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Great Britain2 cultivated acres to each inhabitant.
Ireland1%ditto
France3%ditto
Russia4%ditto
+ +\frac{10}{4} = 2\frac{1}{2}\text{ average.} + +It is an admitted principle, that upon the ge- + +248 +**PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF** + +neral average, supply and demand are precisely equal; hence it is fair to presume, that just so much land is cultivated as is required to supply the consumption : for were a larger area brought under tillage, and an excess of food produced, agriculture would of course experience those several checks which have been found in England in 1821, 1822, and 1823 ; and the loss to the cultivators would give another direction to the investment of capital. Upon this self-evident proposition, we may hazard an estimate of the present extent of the **fertile** area of Europe, calculated upon the present population, and assuming that all land is cultivated, namely, 21 acres to each inhabitant. Thus : + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Population.Acres.Total extent cultivated in British Statute Acres.
230,000,000+ 21575,000,000
+ +This extent of cultivated acre is deducted from that portion of the superficies of Europe adapted for cultivation which is uncultivated; it leaves the vast unimproved space of 2181,000,000 British statute acres in Europe alone, inviting the labour of man to produce food equal to the abundant support of 512,000,000 of people; a number approaching to three-fold the population she has attained since the days of Noah. + +**Probability of supplies of food from Continental Europe.—Such, we presume, to be the capacity of Europe to provide for increasing numbers, and whether the increase be in Britain, France, Hol- land, or any other country; but such supplies always flow, whether it is most demanded. But the especial difficulty exists, not in the power of production, but in the defective means of trans- porting the produce to shipping ports; a difficulty which, in such inland positions as Poland, Hun- gary, the Austro-Germanic provinces, and other + +| Population | Acres | Total extent cultivated in British Statute Acres | +|-------------|-------|-----------------------------------------------| +| 230,000,000 | + 21 | 575,000,000 | + +INCREASING POPULATION. 249 + +parts of Europe, materially tends to retard the progress of agriculture.* + +It is necessary, therefore, in the present age, to limit the prospect of supply to those countries, whose opportunity of commerce is enlarged by the aptitude of their geographical position, and the means of inland navigation; in fact, to what is usually termed, the corn-exposing district of Europe, which lies between 48th and 60th degrees of north latitude, and includes the north of France, the German and Danish states, the Prussian dominions, a portion of Poland, Lithuania, Courland, and other Russian provinces on the shores of the Baltic Sea; possessing a soil and climate especially suitable to the production of bread corn; and the advantage of cheap communication with the sea, by means of the Rhine, the Meuse, the Elbe, the Oder, the Visula, the Dvina, and the Neva, many of which are connected by canals. In density of population, this country compares little with more than one-third that of Great Britain and Ireland; therefore, no inadequacy of production to meet the demand, arising from deficiency of territorial space, can reasonably be anticipated for centuries to come; and in proportion as the demands of additional consumers offer sufficient inducement to extend cultivation so as labourers shall be directed to augment supplies; and this inducement + +* Mr. Jacob, in his reports, says, "that in some parts of Germany the expense of transporting a quarter of corn to a shipping port is equal to 50 per cent of its value on arrival." And we have lately heard from a gentleman residing in Spain, that in plentiful seasons, fine crops of wheat have been known to be left to rot on the ground in Castile and Aragon; the price, although high at home (being sold at the shipping ports), being too low in the interior to indemnify the proprietors for the expense of harvesting the grain. The cost of transportation is also very great at these ports on the backs of mules, or in wagons rolling over a trackless country intersected by mountains, can be easily conceived. + +250 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +must expand in proportion to the general depreciation in the price of manufactures, reckoned against agricultural produce. + +But an objection to the policy of relying on these countries for supplies is founded on the frequently illustrated fact, that an unfavourable season in this country is usually concurrent with a deficient supply from those countries of the same climate as Great Britain; and, consequently, that the power of supply is sensibly diminished at the very time when it is most needed. The fact is undeniable; and did no extended means of purchasing foreign food exist, England might experience the same distresses as afflicted her during the latter five years of the sixteenth century. But this probability, which indeed might occur with a boundless uncultivated area, is, in the present day, materially diminished—improvements in navigation, and the extension of commercial intercourse, enabling us more readily to bring supplies from distant states. + +It is generally found, that when seasons prove deficient in one climate they are abundant in another, indeed the rationality of this proposition may be metaphysically demonstrated. The seasons of 1787 and 1788 were unusually severe in the north of Europe, proved abundant in Spain, Italy, Sicily, and the shores of the Levant and the Euxine. At the present day, agriculture progresses rapidly in the marine districts, between the Deeester and the Don, and the expansion of capital and science must tend to enlarge the means of commercial intercourse with those countries. + +Probability of supplies from the colonies.—But our views of increasing supplies are not necessarily + +INCREASING POPULATION. +251 + +limited to Europe — the British colonies in America offer an unlimited area for the extension of agriculture—Dissgressing somewhat, let us look to the power and present state of our colonies. Banister “ On Emigration,” estimates the cultivated and uncultivated areas of British America to be 145,000,000 of acres. The progress of the Canadas in population, capital, internal improvement, and commerce, has alarmed the most sanguine expectations. In the year 1714, the whole population of the Canadas was only 27,000 souls; and in 1783, twenty-four years after the English had conquered them, it amounted to no more than 135,000. At present time it exceeds a million. Achilly able body may estimate the Quebec Act,” passed in 1774, significantly called the “ Blunder Act,” was revoked in 1790, by the Act called “ Constitutional,” which founded the prosperity of these colonies, and their improvement has continued uninterrupted ever since. In Canada alone according to the last semi-annual statement 27,000,000 acres are occupied by, or have been granted to private proprietors; besides upwards of 25,000,000 granted to the companies, and as much more apportioned to the crown and the clergy.† In New Brunswick the + +* Chartrain’s Memoirs. + +† See Banister on Emigration. + +The plan adopted by the government in distributing the colonial lands is attended with the greatest inconvenience to the settlers, and baneful effects to the advancement of the colonies. The lands are parcelled out in regular figures, such as parallelograms, or triangles; but they are so arranged that the government reserve two, one for the crown, and another for the clergy; these portions remain unoccupied and uncultivated, and the settlers are obliged to travel a great distance before shut in, without roads or any ready means of transporting the produce of their farms. Surely the government ought to adopt means for facilitating emigration as well. It is but fair that the crown and the clergy should contribute their proportion of expense in opening the lands. + +A page from a historical document discussing colonization and land distribution in British North America. + +252 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +cultivated area is very great; and in Nova Scotia it already exceeds 160,000 acres. Since 1811, the extent of new lands brought into cultivation has trebled. The monopoly of the British timber trade, granted to these colonies by the Act of 1810, has trebled their commerce; and the shipping engaged in this trade surpasses 430,000 tons, employing 21,000 vessels. The immense improvements have sunk in the internal improvement of the country, especially in promoting the interior navigation, in connecting the immense lakes or inland seas of Erie and Ontario, and in opening a water communication between Montreal and Kingston, by the Rideau and Champlain canals. In 1827, 1828, and 1829, 349,262l. were already expended, and the total estimated expense was 576,572l. * Sir Henry Parnell estimates the capital already invested in these colonies at between 50,000,000l. and 60,000,000l.; and Pebrer calls the value of property annually created, 17,620,625l. The tide of emigration from Great Britain to Quebec, New Brunswick, and capital, hurries on with surprising rapidity. The number of settlers who arrived at Quebec, from the commencement of the year 1832 to the 15th of October, was 49,281; the number of vessels 915, measuring 273,874 tons; while, in the same year, 75,000 pounds sterling were sent into the Canadian banks, chiefly by emigrants.† With such a power of production, growing up with astounding rapidity in this part of the British empire—a power of supply certainly increasing upon an equal ratio with the extending demand of consumers—what is left to be done? If this progress is upheld,—shall we fix a limit to the means of Britain to support an augmenting population? + +But we may rationally extend the view. The climate of southern Africa is perhaps the most + +* Ord. Office, 26th March, 1830. (Byham). +† Letter to Mr. Pebrer, from a friend in Canada. + +A page from a book with text discussing the prospectives effects of colonization. + +INCREASING POPULATION. +253 + +genial to production of any in the known globe, and the small supplies of wheat to this country from the Cape of Good Hope have been peculiarly excellent. The productive power of this part of the British empire is rapidly extending. "The motley population, composed of the most heterogeneous elements, French emigrants and Hottentots, Eng-lish and Cape Dutch, Danish and Portuguese descendants and savage Bushmen" has doubled itself since 1811, and at present numbers 160,000 souls. + +To the present time the cultivation of the vine has formed the chief object of the British settlers, but the discouragement which the go-vernment has shown by refusing to permit the importation of Cape wine into the British ports will probably induce the Cape settlers to give another direction to their labour and capital. The uncultivated area of the colony is boundless, the means of trans- port cheap and expedientous. + +Australia is perhaps at too great a distance to supply Great Britain with grain on easy terms, and the climate appears better adapted to the growth of fine wool, cotton, sugar, indigo, and other productions common to the warm countries of the east; but if Australia progresses in the pro- duction of wool, increasing supplies of that com- modity may gradually tend to eliminate corn cultivation in Europe. *The Saxon, Silesian.* + +* Borrow on the Distribution of Population.* +† It has been questioned, whether corn, shipped to England from the eastern coast of New Holland, would retain its quality during so long a voyage. In this case, plain meal flour in preference to corn meal would diminish this risk and the expense of transport, could the means of insuring its good quality on arrival be clearly established. We remember that at that time subsequent to our separation from Great Britain, with the United States of America, a proposal was made to the British admiralty to adopt the American plan of packing gunpowder in metal (cans) instead of in barrels, which had then been ordinarily used. The reason assigned for this recommendation was, "that while the quality of the British gunpowder was so + +254 +**EFFECT OF INCREASING POPULATION.** + +and Hungarian farmers experiencing the effects of the successful competition of Australia, might direct their capital and labour to the production of grain. + +We need not further speculate upon the power of Great Britain to subsidise her inhabitants, her colonies possess all the elements of unlimited production. They are the limbs of that gigantic body, "the British empire," which receive their strength and vigour from the mighty heart; while by a strong and reciprocal motion, they increase its vitality, action, and power. From the various parts of the globe, we have received supplies of the Plate's Jumna, or the Ganges; --- from the valleys of the Cordilleras, or the shores of the Americas,—supplies will progressively increase with the expansion of demand. Peace, a powerful marine, and the free navigation of the ocean, are sufficient barriers against overrunation. + +Our readers will be enabled to estimate the power and importance of our colonies, by a perusal of the annexed tables. + +Our next object is to disprove the theory, that population has a universal tendency to double itself every generation. + +Deteriorated after a voyage as to make it necessary to change it, the American powder being packed in air-tight barrels always retained its original quality; but this was owing to the Americans great superiority in action with British ships. The proposal was adopted by the admiralty, and the principle has proved correct in practice. It is now proposed to apply it to the preservation of the quality of flour, or indeed any other commodity? We doubt not, but that if flour were packed in large metal vessels, and transported in a steam vessel, it would preserve its original quality during the longest voyage. +* A quantity equal to two cargoes of wheat and flour, or 9853 quarters of wheat, was imported into Liverpool last year from Calcutta. + +General View of the British possessions in North America; showing the population, land cultivated and uncultivated, in the different regions, with their extent and expense, value of fisheries, and commerce of each of the British possessions; deduced from the most recent official documents. + +| Province | Population | +|---|---| +| New Brunswick | 613,185 | +| Nova Scotia | 73,025 | +| Cape Breton Island | 142,548 | +| Prince Edward Island | 43,000 | +| Newfoundland | 22,673 | +| Hudson's Bay | - | + +| Land Use | Population | +|---|---| +| Colonized (Uncultivated except for fishing) | 108,000 | +| New Brunswick | 613,185 | +| Nova Scotia | 73,025 | +| Cape Breton Island | 142,548 | +| Prince Edward Island | 43,000 | +| Newfoundland | 22,673 | +| Hudson's Bay | - | + +| Imports & Exports | Value in Dollars | +|---|---| +| Canada & Lower St. Lawrence River | $18,000,000 | +| New Brunswick | $18,000,000 | +| Nova Scotia | $18,000,000 | +| Cape Breton Island | $18,000,000 | +| Prince Edward Island | $18,000,000 | +| Newfoundland | $18,000,000 | +| Hudson's Bay | $18,000,000 | + +**Total:** $913,255 + +**Imports & Exports by Province:** + +- **Canada & Lower St. Lawrence River:** $18,000,000 +- **New Brunswick:** $18,000,000 +- **Nova Scotia:** $18,000,000 +- **Cape Breton Island:** $18,000,000 +- **Prince Edward Island:** $18,000,000 +- **Newfoundland:** $18,000,000 +- **Hudson's Bay:** $18,399,999 + +**Imports & Exports by Land Use:** + +- **Colonized (Uncultivated except for fishing):** $18,399,999 + +**Imports & Exports by Value in Dollars:** + +- **Canada & Lower St. Lawrence River:** $18,399,999 +- **New Brunswick:** $18,399,999 +- **Nova Scotia:** $18,399,999 +- **Cape Breton Island:** $18,399,999 +- **Prince Edward Island:** $18,399,999 +- **Newfoundland:** $18,399,999 +- **Hudson's Bay:** $18,399,999 + +A map of North America showing the British possessions. + +*Including Provinces.* + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE POWER, CAPITAL AND COMMERCE, OF ALL THE BRITISH COLONIES.
Tongye.
Military
Inhabitants.
Estimated value of the
Estimated value of the
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Colonies.Population.Land.Cultivated.Uncultivated.Imports.Exports.Imports from other British Colonies.Imports from United Kingdom.Exports to other British Colonies.Exports to United Kingdom.Tongye.Military Inhabitants.Inhabitants.Estimated Value of Tongye.Estimated Value of Military Inhabitants.Estimated Value of Inhabitants.Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together.Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).Estimated Value of Tongye, Military Inhabitants and Inhabitants together (in pounds).
+ + + +
Colonies:Population:Land:Cultivated:Uncultivated:Imports:Exports:Imports from other British Colonies:Imports from United Kingdom:Exports to other British Colonies:Exports to United Kingdom:Tongye:Military Inhabitants:Inhabitants:Value per inhabitant:Value per inhabitant:Value per inhabitant:Value per inhabitant:Value per inhabitant:Value per inhabitant:Value per inhabitant:Value per inhabitant:Value per inhabitant:Value per inhabitant:















































+ + + +
British possessions in India,                                        (including Ceylon) 
+ + + +
British possessions in Africa,                     (including South Africa) 
+ + + +
Australia, 
+ + + +
Rare Islands, 
+ + + +
Total Colonies, 
+ + + +
Total Colonies, 
+ + + +
Total Colonies, 
+ + + +
Total Colonies, 
+ + + +
Total Colonies, 
+ + + + + +
Colonies + +Population + +Land + +Cultivated + +Uncultivated + +Imports + +Exports + +Imports from other British Colonies + +Imports from United Kingdom + +Exports to other British Colonies + +Exports to United Kingdom + +Tongye + +Military Inhabitans + +Inhabitans + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitant + +Value per inhabitan
+Colonies +
+British possessions in India, +
+(including Ceylon) +
+British possessions in Africa, +
+(including South Africa) +
+Australia +
+Rare Islands +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonies +
+Total Colonities + +INCREASING POPULATION. +257 + +Uncertainty in the ratio in the increase of popu- +lation.—If the thesis of Mr. Malthus, " that popu- +lation has a tendency to increase in a geometrical +proportion," be true, then, whatever may be the +physical fecundity of the earth, a terminus to the +increase of the numbers of the human race is +rapidly approaching. The present population +of the globe (say 800,000,000), being doubled +every succeeding generation or twenty-five years, +would, in a century from the present date, +amount to 12,800,000,000 souls ; which, +taking the territorial superficies of the known +globe at the usual calculation of 37,000,000 of +square miles, would require an average number +equal to 346 persons to the square mile, or greater +than what is termed the natural limit. Such a +calculation, however, carries with it the proof +of its own fallacy, there being no instance on record +of the continuation of such a ratio of increase +during many successive generations. Even the +reference to Mr. Malthus's table of the increase of num- +bers in the United States of America—a nation +increasing, not from the excess of births over +deaths, but from a vast and continued influx +of people, in the flower of their age, from every +civilised country of Europe, bringing with them +the capital and improvements of European nations, +does not furnish an illustration of his thesis. In +1770, the population of the United States was +3,921,000; and if the ratio of increase had been +geometrical every twenty-five years, it would have +become in 1820, 15,854,000, while the actual +population has become only 19,274,000; and this progress +to be only 9,637,000 ; nor is there any probability +that it will become 19,274,000 in the year 1845. +(See note, p. 103). + +Indeed, the tenets of those who concur in the +opinion that population, actually increasing from +the excess of births over deaths, has a reduplicative + +S + +258 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +tendency during a period of twenty-five years, appear, on examination, so ill grounded, that it is difficult to conceive how they can be maintained in public estimation. To shew the impossibility of population increasing according to the full operation of such a tendency, it is only necessary to apply the calendar of the primeval human age. According to the improved chronology of our English Bibles, the deluge was in the 1560th year from the creation, * and 2448 years before Christ ; hence the present is the 4282d year from the flood. + +We are told in holy writ, that the entire population of the world, at the instant on which the ark landed on Mount Ararat, consisted of our common ancestor Noah, and his family, in all eight persons. Now, presuming that in this primeval age, when the springs of life were reinvigorated by the especial mandate of God to Noah and his sons—Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth—the human race increased in a ratio equivalent to a reduplication of numbers every twenty-five years, thus + +The exponents of generations 1 2 3 4 5 +The tenfold population would have attained to the present number of the inhabitants of the earth (800,000,-000) in 241 generations, or 612 years. + +But if this ratio of increase was continued to the present time; or to the 171st generation, the inhabi- tants of the earth would be so numerous, that no words in the English language could describe even the average number of inhabitants of any part. It is indeed impossible to define the ratio of the tendency of the human race to augment their spe- +* Josephus reckons the period before the flood to be 2256 years. +† The reduplication of $n$ to the 171st term, gives $49.974$, and 46 other numerators, and the average number of inhabitants to the square foot of ground, would be 77, and 29 numerators. + +INCREASING POPULATION. 259 + +cies ; the numerous checks to the expansion of numbers, independent of the limitation of territorial space, rendering the operation of that tendency various and uncertain. + +The foregoing position illustrated by reference to ancient records.—Even with such records as ancient history furnishes, it would not be difficult to prove the very irregular progress of population ; and we think it might be shewn, with reasonable probability, that in the remote ages of Cyrus, Cambyses, Xerxes, and successive Persian monarchs, the population of this large globe was not greatly inferior to its extent in the present day. Let us examine the first point on the basis of the earliest recorded facts. + +The earliest data by which we can calculate the increase of the human race, we find in the first chapter of Genesis, where it is stated that the number of Israelites that came down into Egypt from the land of Canaan is recorded to have amounted to seventy persons. The date of this immigration was B.C. 1706. Now it appears, that in the year B.C. 1300, when the Jewish kingdom was established under a king who called himself Moses was the divinely commissioned agent, a registration of the Israelitish families was made, by which it seems that the total number of " fighting men," that is to say, men above twenty years of age, capable of bearing arms, was 603,550, exclusive of the tribe of Levi ; and calculating that this able-bodied population numbered about one-fourth part of the total number of the Jews, it may be fairly presumed that the total number of the Israelites was not less than 2,400,000 souls. Thus during the space of 215 years, which elapsed from the + +* This was the second year after they came out of Egypt. +† The number of all males of the tribe of Levi, from a month old and upwards was 8600. (Numbers i.: iii. 28). s 2 + +260 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +descent of Israel with his family to the departure of the people under Moses, a period of great affliction to the Jewish people, they multiplied from 70 to 2,400,000 souls, or at the ratio of 340 per cent. every twenty-five years. This was a great increase, but not the fact as recorded in the book of truth, human reason would doubt their veracity. We cannot suppose that this enumeration included a mixed multitude of Egyptians, who had accompanied the Jews and Canaanites who had joined them in the wilderness, as it is expressly said, "that all these were numbered by the general census after their families;" - though we know that Solomon's descent from Israel. The reduplication of numbers, however, from this date was far less rapid ; and notwithstanding the accession of territory gained on the eastern banks of the Jordan and the valleys of Lebanon, under Joshua, and the extension of the kingdom under Solomon, the number of the people in the reign of David, B.C. 1017, a period of 473 years from the Exodus, scarcely doubled the number registered under Moses. The record of this second enumeration is found in the second book of Samuel, chap. viii., where it says, +"There was in Israel 850,000 able-bodied men and the men of Judah were 500,000." But it seems did not include the number of troops in the king's service, which was 288,000, besides a body-guard of 12,000 men attendant on the princes of the ten tribes, carrying the total Jewish army to 300,000 men," and the number of the able-bodied population about two-thirds of 600,000 (600,000) there was, however, at this time an army of observation, numbering 30,000 men, on the frontiers of the Philistines' country,\textsuperscript{†} which were included in the number of 500,000 men of the people of Judah, reducing the total to 1,376,000. Now, calculating the able-bodied +\textsuperscript{*} 1 Chronicles xxviii. +\textsuperscript{†} 2 Samuel, chap. v. vi. + +INCREASING POPULATION. +261 + +males at one-fourth of the population, the grand total becomes 6,280,000 souls. It hence appears that during the 215 years which elapsed from the descent of Israel into Egypt, to the 'Exodus', they increased at the compound ratio of 340 per cent. every twenty-five years; and that from the planting of the Jewish nation in Canaan to the thirty-seventh year of the reign of King David, a period of 473 years, they diminished at the same rate, 340 per cent. every twenty-five years. This diminution in the ratio may perhaps be accounted for as the effect of the sanguinary wars in which they were engaged through a long period of their history. Indeed, it is difficult to conceive how such calamities were able to continue, when we find that those in military service numbered a fifth of the total able-bodied male population; a proportion which the resources of no modern state could support, and which, if attempted, would cause that deep and widely spread poverty which could not, according to human reasoning, fail to impair its resources and diminish the happiness of its state; indeed, from the general tenor of the history of the Jews, from this date, it seems probable that the nation continued to decline until the period of the Jewish captivity by the Assyrian and Babylonian princes, B.C. 606 to 538. + +Thus, it appears that there is no especial physical tendency in people, even when possessed of the finest and most favoured portion of the known globe, "a land flowing with milk and honey," to increase in a certain regulated ratio; and further, that whatever may be derived from the useful occupations of life to the destructive profession of arms, poverty, the natural consequence, checks the progress of the increase of numbers. + +Modern instances are not wanting, to prove the depopulating effect of the mal administration of national resources. Spaiu, Portugal, and the + +262 +**PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF** + +dominious of the Mahmoud countries, possessing vast tracts of territory in primeval sterility, are all slowly tending to depopulation. Now to the second point. + +**Probable amount of the population of the Old Continent before the Christian era, and its subsequent small increase.** If authentic documents could be obtained of the comparative population of the globe at various periods of history, it is not improbable they would prove, that the human race, so far from increasing their numbers in a progressive geometrical ratio, have added but very few to their numerical sum during the last 2000 years. The only means furnished by the ancient historians of estimating the probable population of the nations of antiquity, are the accounts given of the armed forces they were enabled to bring into the field, which, on some occasions, far surpassed the most numerous armies of modern times. Herodotus, to whom we are chiefly indebted for information on the past and history of the ancient world, says Darius, whose empire extended from the Peloponnesus in the west to the banks of the Hydaspes in the east, and from Sarmacain in the north to Syene on the confines of Ethiopia in the south, headed 700,000 men in his expedition against the Scythians (B.C. 514); while his fleet, which numbered 800 ships or vessels of war, was manned by 150,000 mariners. + +The eastern expedition against Greece (B.C. 490), which ended with the total defeat of the Persians by Miltiades on the plains of Marathon, was composed of 300,000 infantry and between 500 and 600 ships.* But the most numerous army which history, either ancient or modern, records, is that which Xerxes collected for the subjugation of Greece, or rather of all + +* Plut. in Moral. p. 829. + +INCREASING POPULATION. +263 + +Europe (B.C. 481). Herodotus, whose account of this colossal force is confirmed by Plutarch and Socrates, says, "Xerxes crossed the Hellespont, and arrived at Dariuscus, a city standing at the mouth of Hebrus, in Thrace, with 1,700,000 Asiatic infantry, 80,000 horse, and 20,000 men attached to the equipage of the army, carrying the total number of Asiatics to 1,800,000; the nations which submitted to him on the Thracian side of the Hellespont added 300,000 more to his army, which made the total number of his land forces 2,100,000 men. His fleet, when it left the Asiatic shores, consisted of 1207 ships, to which the Europeans added 120 vessels, the total being manned by 501,616 mariners; besides this fleet he had 300,000 sailors on board his 312 fighting ships, which were manned with about 240,000 men; so that when Xerxes arrived at Thermopylae, his land and sea forces numbered 2,641,600 men, exclusive of the accompanying crowd, which usually attended the eastern armies, consisting of servants, eunuchs, women, sutlers &c., the number of whom was said to be three times that of the forces." So that the whole number of those who followed Xerxes into Greece was 5,283,220; being, without question, the most numerous body of people ever assembled under one chief. Now, if we calculate that the actual force which Xerxes brought into Greece was 312,000 men, it was in the proportion of one to fifty of the population of a country, a proportion which, even in modern times, has never been equalled in Europe. The total number of the inhabitants of the Persian empire was 111,500,000, being at least three-fold the population of the + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
1207 ships230 men each277,610
300 transports80 each240,000
This excludes the European troops and mariners.2,817,610
+ +264 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +states situated between the Bosphorus and the Hydaspes at the present day. + +Of the numerous population of the other parts of Asia we may form some idea, from the immense armies which Alexander encountered in his invasion of India. Without enumerating the forces which opposed him in Massageta, and other provinces on the west of the Indus, we may remark, that king Porus was defeated by him, stationed between that river and the Hyphasis, stretching eastward across the present Punjab, opposed Alex- ander's passage across the Indus, with a detachment of 30,000 foot, 4000 horse, and 300 chariots. +Quintus Curtius, who minutely details the history of the Macedonian expedition into India, hath says, "that while Alexander was marching about passing the Hyphasis, he was told, that further in the country lived the Ganagaride and Prasi, whose king was preparing to oppose his entry into his dominions, at the head of 200,000 foot and 80,000 horse, reinforced by 8000 chariots and 6000 elephants." We have no exact information as to the limits of the dominions of the kings of the Gan- garide and the Prasi ; but this terra incognita, +which may be named the country watered by the Ganges and the Jumna, was evidently capable of sending a greater number of men into the field than the whole of British India at the present day.* We need not further enumerate the im- mense forces of the Malli, the Catheri, and the Oxydrace, which opposed the retreat of the forces of the ambitious Macedonian. Enough has been said to establish a fair presumption, that so much of Asia as was known to the ancients was then infinitely more populous than the same tract of country at the present day. + +Ancient European literature is silent as to the numerical condition of the Chinese ; and from the +* The Anglo-Indian native army members 187,000 men. + +INCREASING POPULATION. 265 + +conflicting and contradictory accounts of the present population of China, it is difficult to find proper data for estimating the comparative density of numbers in that portion of the eastern world. Klapproth, in 1827, in his appendix to the travels of the Russian mission, states, on the authority of an official document, the population of China Proper, of about Young, including the countries subject to the emperors, to be (a figure num- +bering 913,500 men), to be 155,249,897: later authorities have added very considerably to this number; and the celebrated Dr. Morrison, than whom no British subject is better acquainted with the Chinese language quoted "the 'Ta-kuang' published by authority in 1825, in which the number of the inhabitants of fourteen provinces present an aggregate amounting to 352,866,012 souls: a number so startling as to be almost incredible. Three hundred and fifty mil- +tions of human beings! more than one-third the whole body of men separated almost entirely from the rest of mankind. They live on head and one system of laws, cherishing the same national feel- +ings, using the same written language, and that language symbolic, and shewing no signs of im- +provement in the rudiments of the arts and sciences, is a phenomenon so wonderful, and ap- +parently so inexplicable to diligent revelation as to make the most credulous pause ere he places reliance on the estimate; he can but look at it as a mendacious exaggeration.* We give, as a curious document, the following account of the progression of population in China: + +* In Mr. Montagu Martin's work, vol. i. page 447, we find a curious document relative to the statistics of China, taken, we presume, from Dr. Morrison's work : from want of space, we can only give some of the totals, as under--Estimate by Mr. Propert in square miles. The total population was 352,866,012. Fixed revenue, 11,133,281.; military force, 1,130,000; persons to square mile, 288. + +| | | +|---|---| +| **Conflicting and contradictory accounts** | **of the present population of China**, it is difficult to find proper data for estimating the comparative density of numbers in that portion of the eastern world. Klapproth, in 1827, in his appendix to the travels of the Russian mission, states, on the authority of an official document, the population of China Proper, of about Young, including the countries subject to the emperors, to be (a figure num- | + +266 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +Chinese enumerations from the year 1853. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Year.Population.Authorities.
181360,545,811Kang-Keen-e-chu.
17451,571,400Peking documents.
1762199,914,533Grossier & Co.
1792307,467,200Anglo-Chinese College Report.
1813307,467,200Official documents.
+ +It has been well authenticated that the Chinese, whose laws give an uncontrolled power to every head of a family over the persons of his offspring, use the most violent checks to the increase of numbers, not by the non-intercourse system of Malthus, but by the practical science of guarding against domestic wants by emigration,† and the + +† This table includes the population of Kewning, which is included in that of Kenting, besides the population of Tartary, the dependent province of Hindostan. + +† Extract from a document prepared by John Crawford, Esq., late resident at Singapore, and read before the East India Com- +mittee. + +"The emigrations of the Chinese take place from the same provinces which conduct the foreign trade, viz. Canton, Foken, Chinkiang, and Tientsin. The emigrants to Java, however, are not frequent, and seem to be confined to Tonquin and the Philippine Islands. In some countries the emigrants are excluded from political rights. In others they find no room affords them no encouragement to settle. Like the European nations, they are excluded altogether from settling in Japan on political grounds. In China itself their emigration affords them no encouragement from the same reason; and the Dutch and Spanish governments of Java and the Philippines have always looked upon them with suspicion. For this reason, and above all, the existence of a dense and comparatively in- +dustrious population, excludes them from the British dominions in Hindostan. They are generally employed by other artisans, and these confined to the towns of Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. The emigrants, I think, are invariably of the labouring classes. They bring with them a little baggage in ordinary cases consists of little else than the coats on their backs, a bundle of old clothes, and a dirty mat and pillow to sleep on. The Chinese are generally very ugly but physically superior to the nations and tribes among whom they live. A Chinese is at least two inches taller than a Siamese, and by three inches taller than a Cochinchinese, a Malay, or a Javanese; and his frame is proportionate to his height. His strength is superior in personal skill, dexterity, and ingenuity, it is still greater. The different classes of Chinese settlers not only live freely and keep + +INCREASING POPULATION. +267 + +"Prudent exercise of infanticide," this document, alleging an increase of 160,000,000 of people in one empire during half a century, is so astounding, that we feel some difficulty in reconciling it, or in offering a fair approximate estimate of her present population. An appeal to our most correct authorities will furnish no assistance ; let us therefore take the medium of the estimates furnished by the Chinese themselves, and compare them with the population of China, including its dependencies and Tartary, at 260,000,000 of souls. This part of the world may be called the "terra incognita" of the ancients; and history furnishes but slender means of comparing its present with its ancient power. Since, then, it is not the country of the Cochin Chinese, at the extreme eastern end known by the Grecian and Roman historians, and is rarely mentioned by them. China has never menaced the independence of other nations, and has never, like the four great empires, figured as a conquering belligerent, or aspired to universal dominion; nor has it no remarkable feature in its pre-dicted fifth monarchy. Marco Polo, in the 13th century; was the first who made Europeans acquainted with this immense country, and from distinct from the settlers of other nations, but also from each other. There is a wide difference between the character, habits, and manners of the Chinese settlers, according to the parts of China from which they proceed. The natives of Fukien have a higher degree of civilization than those who are emigrants from the province of Canton there are three classes, viz., those of the town of Canton and its neighbourhood, the natives of Macao and Hongkong; those who inhabit the more mountainous districts of the same province. The Chinese of Macao and other islands are held in very little repute among the rest of their countrymen; but those who live on the coast provinces, are the lowest in rank. Their most frequent employment is that of fishermen and mariners; and it is from among their ranks that Europeans have often sought refuge; have occasionally received hands to assist in their navigation; --of all the Chinese these are the most noisy and unruly. + +A map showing China's borders and territories. + +268 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +the information collected by the researches of mod- +ern authorities, it seems that since the foundation of the Tsin dynasty (B.C. 220), a vast population has migrated from the north and west to the south and east parts of the empire. The Chinese annals, and the elaborate researches of the elder Deo Guigues, prove that a great Tartar irruption took place about this time. The "Huns" fair, pre- +sume, that the Scythian tribes of the Asiatic Pansini, Tochari, and Sacarauli, whose numbers are de- +scribed as overwhelming, * and who inhabited a vast tract of country north west of China, at the present day almost depopulated, were then, in point of numbers, the most formidable inhabitants of inhabi- +tants in the Chinese empire since that remote period. In estimating the comparative population of eastern Asia, much must necessarily be left to conjecture; and the writings of the Jesuits, the researches of Dr. Morrison, Deo Guigues, Du Halde, and the eccentric Klaproth, furnish the best materials for a study of those who feel in- +terested on the subject. + +In computing the population of Africa in the Carthaginian ages, we shall find equal evidence of the existence of densely peopled countries. Hero- +dotus says, that Egypt in the days of Amacis, B. C. 3000, counted within its territory 500,000 inhabited cities and "an incredible number of inhabitants." Thebes vied with the noblest cities in the universe : its magnificence and its hundred gates, are duly celebrated by Homer;† and history records, "that it could send out at once, 200 chariots," which is a very considerable number for its gates. ‡ If such is the fact, the total number of the inhabitants of this city must have exceeded three millions. Memphis, with its stately temples, Syene, Lycopolis, and other ancient Egyptian + +* History of the Huns and Turks, by the elder Deo Guigues. +† Book ii., ver. I., 381. +‡ Rollin, book i., c. 1. + +A historical illustration showing a scene from ancient Egypt. + +INCREASING POPULATION. 269 + +cities, are also justly celebrated for their vast extent, and the immensity of their riches and population. + +" 400,000 soldiers were kept in continual pay, all "natives of Egypt," and trained up in the most exact discipline." From the extravagant rate of expenses, which the trained force was supported by, it is fair to presume that it did not bear an excessive proportion to the total number of inhabitants, which proportion, calculated as 1 to 100, makes the total population of Egypt at that era, 40,000,000 of souls.† + +The Carthaginians under Hamilcar, B.C. 481, maintained a force of 300,000 men, besides an immense fleet;† but as these were chiefly mercenaries, drafted from Spain, Gaul, and Italy, they furnish no correct notion of the population of the Carthaginian territories. Hannibal, in his expedition against Italy, commanded about 100,000 men;§ he had with him about 50 elephants; about 40,000 foot and 10,000 horse. Strabo, in his Geography, says, that the Carthaginians possessed 300 cities in Africa before the commence-ment of the third Punic war;† and Dr. Shaw states, that their dominions extended, from east to west, about 160 miles in breadth. The distance towards the south cannot be determined; but it is supposed that the whole extent, from the deserts of Sahara to the Mediterranean, varying from 50 to 200 miles, was under the dominion of the Carthaginian re-public. Without further research into the statistical + +* Herodotus, i., c. 11, p. 164—168. +† No country in Europe, at the present day, supports an army numbered at 300,000. In Spain alone a Spanish soldier was allowed twelve aurei per diem, a piece of land, being nearly an English acre of ground, exempt from all tax or tribute; and a horse was worth two hundred pounds of meat. The guards, about two thousand in number, each received, in addition to this allowance, a quart of wine."--- +(Herodotus.) +‡ Diod. i. xi. +§ Livy, book i. + +A Roman legionary marching. + +270 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +annals of other African nations, sufficient evidence is already adduced to shew, that the Egyptian and Carthaginian states, alone contained, at this era, more than the entire population of Africa at the present day, which Malte-Brun estimates at 70,000,000 souls. + +Now looking to the immense resources of all the oriental and African nations mentioned by ancient writers, compared with their feeble and degenerate character at the present day, we find nothing to warrant an opinion that they have increased in population. The present wonder-telling returns of the number of the Chinese, although offering evidence that some increase of population has taken place since the Christian era last 500 years, by no means proving that the Asiatic continent is at the present time more densely peopled than it was before the Christian era. + +Europe has probably received some increase of population since this period ; but, that the southern and south eastern parts of Europe were by far more densely peopled in the time of Alexander and Paulus Emilius, than in the present day, there is every fair reason to suppose. It will be remem- bered, that the European states on the Thracian side of the Bosphorus, added 300,000 men to the army of Xerxes.* The Lacedemonians and Athe- nians, besides those who fought under arms. When Paulus Emilius conquered Macedonia, 150,000 men in Epirus were sold as slaves; and if we estimate these at one-fourth of the whole population, as they were probably all those of a military age, the total number of the inhabitants of Macedonia would be 600,000 ; and esti- mate them at 300,000 men. The Macedonian district in Greece would be 600,000 ; and esti- mate them at 300,000 men; if they ever had existence, were chiefly drawn from Egypt. + +* This is certainly a most extraordinary number. We never read of such Grecian armies employed under their own kings. The Macedonians and Grecian army, which made the Indian expedition, did not number one-third the above. Perhaps the 300,000 men, if they ever had existence, were chiefly drawn from Egypt. + +INCREASING POPULATION. 271 + +mating the whole population of Greece, north of the Isthmus of Corinth, at three-fifths of the density of the Peloponnesus, the total inhabitants of ancient Greece numbered 8,500,000; being equal to the whole population of the total European dominions of Mahmoud, and the states of the new Grecian monarchy at the present day. + +That they were densely peopled, may be inferred from the immense forces that the Roman republic, in its early days, was enabled to send into the field. Æmilius and Varro, who opposed Hannibal at Cannae, commanded an army of 80,000 foot, and above 6,000 horse, a force equal in number to the whole army of Carthage under Scipio Africanus. Gelon, who governed Sicily, offered the Lacedemonians (B.C. 481), on certain conditions, an auxiliary force of 20,000 foot, 2,000 light-armed soldiers, and 2,000 horse; besides a fleet of 200 vessels of war; and Diodorus Secullus says, that in the days of Timoleon and Hiero, it contained 5,000,000 inhabitants; while that of Syractus each contained 800,000 people. Of the state of the western parts of Europe at this era, history makes little mention; but that Spain was a densely peopled country, although divided into numerous factions, may be inferred from the long and determined resistance it offered to the Romans; and as some consequent to the Roman arms; and as some confirmation of their resources, we may notice that Polybius says **there were upwards of 40,000 men employed in the gold mines of Nova Carthago.** + +The revenue of Abd al-Rahman third khalif of Andalusia in Spain was king's income not exceeding one tenth of the present extent of the Spanish mon-archy, exceeded 6,000,000£ sterling.* + +If our limits permitted, we could offer more ample testimony of the riches and resources of ancient empires, and deduce from the amount of revenue + +* See Edition of Rollin, by Mr. Bell, chap. vi. p. 223 (note). + +272 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +they contributed, enlarged evidence of the density of their population ; but enough has been said to convince the impartial inquirer, that the inhabitants of the Old Continent have not added very extensively to their numbers since the second century prior to the Christian era. + +The ancient British records bearing testimony of the increase of inhabitants in the north west of Europe, we shall admit an expansion of numbers amounting to 100,000,000 ; an increase which, we firmly believe, would not be warranted, if correct documents furnished the necessary data for determining the facts. But presuming the population of Britain to be 260,000,000, we may estimate the present population of the Old Continent at 760,000,000. Hence, during a period of 2000 years, the population of the three grand divisions of the habitable globe has increased from 660 to 760 millions, or about 15 per cent.; and perhaps during the last 2000 years, if we run its course, the present 760,000,000 may become 860,000,000. Where then, is evidence of the + +* Sir John Malcolm, in his Sketches of Persia, states the present revenue of that empire at 3,000,000 sterling, and observes that the revenues of Persia are estimated by Herodotus as £15 million. The calcula- +tion of Herodotus, reduced into French money by Rollin, makes the revenue of Darius equal to 44,000,000 francs; about 1,789,533 sterling. This sum includes all public expenses in corn, horses, camel's forage, and other commodities, and no means exist of determining the value in money of such commo- +dities; but it is probable that they were not so great as are +told by Pliny, that Cyrus carried away from Babylon and the Lesser Asia, not less than equal to thirty-four millions sterling. +The statement of Sir John Malcolm respecting Persian +sterling, and the whole of the statuta and decorations of Babylon alone were valued, as Diodorus affirms, at 21,000,000 sterling. +Justin states (book xii.) that the revenues of Rome were derived from Italy. Perseus was supposed to possess 360,000 talents annually, or rather more than 58,000,000 sterling. The differ- +ence in these accounts is so vast, and the calculation of Herodotus appears so improbable on every side; that it is impossible to suppose forces of Persia very much exceeded Sir John Malcolm's estimate. + +INCREASING POPULATION. +273 + +tendency of population to increase in a reduplicative ratio of its succeeding generation! It is nowhere to be found in nations advanced to a certain degree in density of numbers; and in extending the inquiry to either of the principal divisions of the globe, the theory sinks into a mere chimerical idea.—Let us here pause, to consider the vicissitudes of the social world. + +**Reflections on the revolutions of society.**—The plan of the universe, which fixes the destinies of empires, and the rise, progress, and perfection of the arts and sciences, are curious objects of contemplation. Four times have the distributive families of nations congregated into "mightiest aggregates," and formed themselves into monarchies, established in holy writ. The Assyrian, planted by Nimrod and his hunter tribes, first rose from primeval weakness through a long course of conquest into vast extension and unlimited power, until debased by luxury, effeminacy, and licentiousness, it shook before the conquering sword of Cyrus. The Persian monarchy was the Persian monarchy, which, boundless in extent but defective in social organization, first received its check from the hardy mountaineers of Lacedemon, and then rapidly sinking beneath the resolute bravery of the Grecian forces, prepared the foundation of the Roman monarchy. Social organization had made some progress, and the resources of this mighty empire had begun their development, when the Roman strength, which had been growing through the long course of two centuries, was measured against it; and in turn it yielded to the conquering legions of the Queens of Empires. Thus has the increasing might of the human race manifested itself in the erection of four great monarchies, each successively triumphing over an antagonist, barbarous in comparison with + +T + +274 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +itself, "and each by and through that very supe- +riority in the arts and polity of civilization."* If we confine our view to nations, we see them gra- +dually emerge from a state of barbaric rudeness, and proceed until they acquire a taste for, and, +practise, all the elegances of civilization. They cultivate the arts and sciences — become re- +nowned in arms, and make extensive conquests; they acquire wealth and power, and become the +prey of invaders, and by degrees lose all those noble qualities which once distinguished them +above the other nations of the earth. But there is a certain point of depression, as well as of exalta- +tion, from which human affairs have fallen in a country, and from which the bounds which they sel- +dom pass either in their decline or advancement. +Thus we contemplate the states of ancient Greece rising gradually through successive ages, from a +state of ignorance, barbarism, and poverty, to the +highest point of intelligence, civilization, and +national prosperity; and after extending their con- +quests over a great part of the face of the world, +gradually retrograding and, at length, sinking into their pristine ignorance, foreign dependence, +and moral degradation; and then, as it were, re- +appearing in the horizon, reasserting a national +existence, and recassembling its orbit to a state +of internal peace and national immortality. Egypt +first illuminated the world with her refulgent rays. + +* The first empire of the Assyrians, which began B.C. 2904, +and ended at the death of Sardanapalus, who terminated his life +by burning himself in his palace (B.C. 707), subsisted more than +1600 years. It was founded by Sargon I., king of Kish; and +the Assyrians of Babylon, the Assyrians of Nineveh, and the Medes. +After the death of Cyaxares and Cambyses, Cyrus, who suc- +ceeded to the throne of Persia under Darius Hystaspes, founded +the empire of the Moles with that of the Babylonians and Persians, +forming the Persian empire (B.C. 536). This empire subsisted +200 years; when Alexander subdued Persia (B.C. 330). +The Macedonian continued dominion until B.C. 146, when Macedonia became a Roman province. + +INCREASING POPULATION. +275 + +of intellectual splendour, carried her conquests over Ethiopia, Lybia, Armenia, Cappadocia, and Thrace; in fact spread her dominion from the Danube to the Ganges; and after amassing the riches of the universe, and rising to the highest point of mundane prosperity, regressed into effemacy and weakness, became a prey to foreign domination, and returned to the lowest state of primeval barbarity. After traversing the dark vale of civil degradation during the period of 2000 years, again she begins to reascend, and to dart forth those beams of light which predict the revival of her political importance. Those who cast their eye on the revolutions of society, will perhaps find that civilization, national prosperity, and all other improvements, have been less in their ground than added to their sum; and that the total number of inhabitants of the globe, and the sum of human enjoyments, have remained nearly the same under all changes since a remote age. If they be lost in one part of the world, they are found in another; and thus has this wise Dispenser of every good added to man's well-irrepressibly lost through man's perversion of nature's gifts. Thus the physical capacity of the earth to provide food for her inhabitants, always existing upon certain immutable principles, nothing but an extensive sphere for international commerce is necessary to make them available. If, by the revolutions of society, a certain spot on the globe increase in population beyond its power of provision, then that faculty with which the Divine Creator has endowed the human race, provides the means of transporting the superabundant produce of other countries to answer the wants of the too densely populated country; and thus becomes, as it were, the city which is supplied with food by the surrounding district. "Be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth and subdue it;" t 2 + +276 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +(that is, celibate it), is the divine command ; and while this inestimable mandate remains on the theocratic statute book, which it must do as long as the laws which govern the universe operate, or as long as the earth moves in its annual orbit, it is treason against the Majesty of Heaven, and a label against the beneficent designs of providence, to predict that the physical fecundity of the earth can ever be inadequate to supply a sufficiency of food for her inhabitants. It is impossible to calculate the period when the human race will be brought into the world without the possibility of obtaining subsistence, can be but the work of the infidel. To human reason, guided by the present imperfect state of human knowledge, there is evidently no doubt that the present inhabitants of the earth are tenfold the present inhabitants of the earth ; and according to the progress of population during the last 2000 years, countless ages must elapse ere the land be fully subdued. + +Prospective effect of the substitution of inanimate for animate power.—Yet, however erroneous the opinion of various writers as to the natural terminus of population, the British government appear to concur in the didactical theory, that the principal cause of partial poverty in the British community is traceable to a redundancy of inhabitants, and hence they propose a new policy, which is to cure all the disorders of our social condition. We deny the efficacy of the proposed remedy ; but if deficiency of physical power to support the population of the British Isles were really the cause of poverty, the transcendent faculty of the human mind, +Unbroken as the sacred chain of nature, +That links the jarring elements in peace, +is ready with invention and improvements to increase the capability of support, and devise new + +INCREASING POPULATION. +277 + +means of subsistence, by the substitution of inani- +mate for animate power. + +Mr. Alexander Gordon, who has illustrated, in +a most instructive and useful volume, the national +advantages of elemental loco-motion applied to +steam-carriages, says, " At present the animate +power employed in the commercial transportations +of this country, keeps down the number of horses +2,000,000 of horses ; each horse consumes as much food as is necessary for the support of eight +men ; hence the conversion of its consumption to +purposes of human subsistence, would, if carried +to this practical extent, amount to a quantity of +food equal to that which is annually consumed." +He further says, " The reduction of farming con- +sumption (the bug-beam of the project), will be met +and compensated by a steady and proportionate +demand from other quarters ; whilst in the United +Kingdom, the 8,100,000 acres of land now required +to feed the horses, together with the capital sunk +in their purchase and maintenance, may be devoted +to other and general purposes, amply compensate for +the change." If instead of 20,000 horses, we keep +30,000 fat oxen, butchers meat will be always +cheap to the operative classes ; whilst the quantity +of tallow will, of course, make candles cheap, and +so many more articles than the least need. The +same may be said of more sheep and woollen +cloths. Colonel Torrens, in his evidence on this +subject before a Parliamentary Committee, says, +" If steam carriages could be ultimately brought +to such perfection as entirely to supersede draught +horses (which are now used for all purposes except +those used for other commercial and agricultural pur- +poses), there would be food and demand for +8,000,000 of people. But when we take further into consideration, that diminishing the expense of +carriage would enable us to extend cultivation over soils which cannot now be profitably tilled ; + +278 +**PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF** + +and that it would have the further effect of enabling us to apply, with a profit, additional portions of labour and capital to the soils already under tillage, I think it not unfair to conclude, that were elementary power on the common roads completely to supersede draught horses, the population, wealth, and power of the country would be doubled." Here is a direct and substantial remedy for an overgrown population (did it exist), and thus we see that when we are but approaching to that point which the most sceptical consider the "natural limit" to our numbers, a new provision appears, sufficient for the support of a population equal to that which has grown up in Britain since the era of the creation. + +**Inequality in the distribution of property.—The bane of the country is not a deficiency of national income to support the population, but the inequality in its distribution. The increase in the amount of property annually produced in Great Britain is moderately estimated at 310,000,000£ sterling.* (some writers make it considerably more)† ; averaging about 93£. 19s. to every family of five persons; an ample sufficiency for comfortable subsistence. Yet, so immense is unequal in the distribution of this wealth that while 50,000 families, or one-fortieth of the population, enjoy upwards of eight-fortieths of the income, or 65,000,000£ sterling,‡ the agricultural portion numbering about 800,000 families, or ten-fortieths of the population, scarcely obtain three-fortieths of the property raised, or 28,000,000£ sterling. This + +* We have made this calculation from Mr. Colquhoun's tables, allowing for changes since the date of his publication. +† Forster estimates the annual income of the United Kingdom at 514,823,050£. +‡ Mr. Marshall, in his tables, published 1825, allows a much larger sum to 80,000 families. + +INCREASING POPULATION. +279 + +notonly explains the cause of the wretchedness of the many and the vicious prodigality of the few, but also the mysterious, apparently irreconcilable, but in-dubitable fact, of the rapid progress of national wealth concomitant with an increasing number of parochial dependents. Such, however, is the defect in British society—a defect in some degree common to every state—acknowledging the rights of property, and deriving its force from the constitution of the social compact; but in Britain, especially detailed by the heavy amount of the state obli-gations, which annually subtract 30,000,000L. sterling from the wages of labour, to be added to the incomes of more fortunate citizens. The general tone of our reasoning on this subject has, we believe, shown that the national income has uniformly increased with the expance of numbers, and we doubt not that the same causes will continue to produce the same effects. But, it is evident, that this increase of property has been, and must continue to be, produced by the ope-rative climate and habits of life of the people which creates an excess of commodities over its consumption. + +Emigration.—To curtail, by emigration, the num-ber of those who are able to provide an excess over their consumption, must naturally cause a bur-den of providing for those who produce nothing, and yet largely consume, to press the more heavily; since, the proportion subtracted from the wages of labour must be augmented in an even ratio to the diminution of the number of labourers. Evident as the foregoing principles are, the government, supposing them correctly applied, will find deficiency of employment is to be found in transporting the elite of the British population—the ingenious mechanic, and the youthful, sturdy husbandman—to the distant shores of Canada and Australia, + +A page from a book with text discussing population growth and economic issues. + +280 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +obtained a parliamentary grant, to be distributed in bounties or passage money to emigrants; and an act of the senate enabling parishes to mortgage the parochial assessments in order to raise a fund to facilitate the emigration of the working classes. +Of all remedies for the privations endured by the British people, none is so egregiously wrong, and so contrary to all sound principles of legislation, as that of encouraging the emigration of labourers at the cost of those who remain ; and it is evident that the system, carried to any great extent, must effect a diminution of the number of persons of which the country at present labours. If the internal resources of Great Britain are duly investigated, it will be found that they are quite adequate to render both general and individual wealth more productive at home than in any other country, and to diffuse a greater sum of human happiness throughout the whole community. +Our extensive manufactures, which have been powerfully tended to raise our country to its present state of wealth and mighty power, afford full scope for both genius and industry; it is no want of the means of supporting an increase of numbers which can sanction the government in offering encouragement to emigration, but it can only operate. The strength of the nation depends on the increase of population, not only as a means of defence but as an extended means of subsistence; as an enlarged power of maintenance, both collectively and individually. +The trade of Great Britain can never be accelerated in its increase through the hands of our colonists by emigration. Important as may be our external commerce, yet our internal trade is superior to it. "England is England's best customer," and the largest consumers of her manufactures are her own inhabitants. Every emigrant therefore dimi- + +INCREASING POPULATION. +281 + +nishes the demand for our productions, and impairs our power. Hence, whatever advantages emigra- +tion may unfold to the mechanic, the field labourer, +or the newly capitalist, certain it is that the nation must lose by the separation. To the emi- +grant the question of improved condition is indeed speculative; for, however poor the condition of +the labourer at home, the law ensures to him protection against his own state; but to the +newly located emigrant—provided with no capital, +in an unknown and unexplored country, dependent +for every necessary on the precarious productions +of the soil or the chase, his means affording no +sufficient guarantee of a suitable maintenance until +some years after his arrival location—no protection +is offered by law, and unless he can improve his +condition is by no means certain. Generally +speaking, all mankind feel a natural instinctive +desire to continue in that country which gave them +birth, where their ancestors have lived and died, +and where their fondest recollections are con- +nected and cherished; and the severest distress, +or perhaps even oppression, cannot be required to +induce them to leave their native land, endure +all the perils of a long sea voyage and the hazards +of providing themselves in a barbarous country, +for the chance of obtaining the means of a liveli- +hood. While so much remains to be done at home, +which will enable us to employ those who are +the ingenious mechanic and the laborious hus- +bandman ; while the vast tracts of uncultivated +land in Britain, invite colonization in our own +native isle ; while so many opportunities of na- +tional improvement present themselves, requiring +but the smallest end enticement, the government refuse +to dispense by emigration, offering by the advan- +tages of intimate co-operation, profits far greater +than those attainable by the colonization of the +bleak wilds of Canada or the arid plains of central +Australia ; it is the duty of the government to pause + +282 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +ere they, contrary to every principle upon which civil society is formed, renew the proposal to expatriate a portion of our English labourers, whose only crime is poverty, wrought by the waste of the national resources in wars in times past, and the restrictions to international commerce in times present. + +To form part of the government plan of emigration our objections are less determined; we allude to the parliamentary grant to enable females, between the ages of fifteen and thirty, to obtain their passage to the Australian colonies. + +In Great Britain the late accounts show a number of females emigrating annually, amounting to about 490,000, in favour of females. Various causes have contributed to produce this disproportion, such as the superior ratio of mortality among males; their more frequent emigration, and the increased number of that sex who die abroad. In Australia the opposite effect is produced by the immigrants being generally in favour of females. The accounts just received from Sydney, made up to the 22d August, 1833, enable us to shew the extent of this disproportion. The total population of that colony at this date was 55,591,† of which were + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Males.Females.
Free born, above twelve years of age15,518Free born, above twelve years of age8,254
Under twelve years6,068Difference that age4,715
Free males22,586Total free females13,099
Male convicts19,384Praisoners2,612
Total males39,970Total females15,621
+ +* Lord Howick's bill proposed that an individual emigrating at the cost of his own country should be allowed to enter a parochial settlement; should, in fact, surrender a portion of his civil rights. The late poor law commissioners strongly object to this clause; and it is now proposed to omit it from the measures. +† There were in New South Wales at this date : Protestants, 33,578 ; Roman Catholics, 15,165 ; Jews, 307 ; Pagans, 41 ; uncertain, 1,306. Of the Catholics, 9168 were free. + +A table showing statistics on male and female emigrants in New South Wales. + +INCREASING POPULATION. +283 + +Thus the proportion of free males to females is about as 100 to 68 ; of convicts as 100 to 13, and in the total population as 100 to 39. Such a disproportion very materially retards the progress of the colony, and renders it hazardous for immigration from this country, ordinarily of the male sex, there appears no immediate prospect of remedying the evil, unless a portion of the excess of the British female youths can be induced, by the moral certainty of improving their condition, to emigrate. + +With due caution on the part of the local government, such a change of country may be made highly advantageous to the colony, and beneficial to female emigrants : while much as the British people might regret the loss, the prospective advantages of the measure would reconcile them to the sacrifice. But we are fully persuaded that no relief to the people of England can be consequent on a systematic increase of population, until the redundancy of population does, will, or ever did exist. + +A deficiency of employment must occasionally arise in every large commercial and manufacturing community engaged in branches of trade subject to speculative changes and temporary depression, from a slackness of foreign demand, the caprice of fashion, or other similar causes; but the effect is always transitory, and caused in no degree by an excess of numbers; for, is it not evident, that in a population increasing from an excess of births over deaths, the ratio of such increase being greatest in that portion of the community under the patronage of foreign demand for labour, the demand on the able-bodied population must always be greater than where numbers are stationary or decreasing? + +For relief we must look to more substantial means than the emigration of labourers. A more equal distribution of the national income must be effected, not by the adoption of the " Lex Agraris," + +284 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +but probably by a liberal revision of the law of primogeniture, with a view to the more equal division of landed property : a subject which, at no distant period, must be seriously considered by parliament. + +In France, the abolition of "le droit d'aînesse" is popularly considered one of the most beneficial measures that have done real action since the revolution of 1789 ; and that it has been, and continues progressively instrumental, in creating a middle class of people so little known in that country during former ages, is evident to the most careless observer ; while its powerful and extensive effect in promoting agricultural improvement, is equally manifest. + +We must look also to the progressive abolition of restrictions to free trade, to the annulment of all commercial monopolies, and to economy in the distribution of the state revenue. These are the sources from which relief can flow ; and the prospective effects of these most desirable communal blessings, "peace," as well as the liberal policy of the British government, offer fair pledges that it will flow with increasing force -- in proportion as these ameliorations are introduced ; so will appear the incontrovertible proposition, -- that the true prosperity of Britain, her great example of her strength and resources, are to be found in the productive powers of an industrious and numerically increasing people ; and that amid all the transitory calamities of the state, there is no reason to deplore a growing population. + +INCREASING POPULATION. +285 + +**TABLE OF MORTALITY.** + +Ages of 3,038,490 persons buried in England and Wales during the 18 years, 1813 to 1830. Also, the proportion of mortality at various ages; and of the numbers who attain respective ages; the whole compiled from the latest official data. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Ages.Male.Female.Total.
Proportion of Mortality.Mortality Rate per 1000.Proportion of Mortality.Mortality Rate per 1000.
In millions of persons.
Under 1 year.63,046241,147274,193102100963,046241,147274,193
1 to 2 years.139,496127,017266,513891891139,496127,017266,513
2 to 3 years.78,11417,09095,20430323378,11417,09095,204
3 to 4 years.47,86946,77394,64235325447,86946,77394,642
4 to 5 years.33,80232,05265,85420415433,80232,05265,854
5 to 6 years.29,524




















































































<
Total: 65,854
Total: 139,496
Total: 274,193
Total: 102
Total: 891
Total: 78,114
Total: 17,090
Total: 95,204
Total: 353
Total: 254
Total: 47,869
Total: 46,773
Total: 94,642
Total: 204
Total: 154
Total: 33,802
Total: 32,052
Total: 65,854
Total: 204
Total: 154
Total: 33,802
Total: 32,052
Total: 65,854
Total: 204
Total: 154
Total: 33,802
Total: 32,052
Total: 65,854
Total: 204
Total: 154
Total: 33,802
Total: 32,052
Total: 65,854
Total: 204
Total: 154
Total: 33,802
Total: 32,052
Total: 65,854
Total: 204
Total: 154
Total: 33,802
Total: 32,052
Total: 65,854
Total: 204
Total: 154
Total: 33,802
Total: 32,052
Total: 65,854
Total: 204
Total: 154
Total: 33,802
Total: 32,052
Total: 65,854
Total: 204
Total: 154
Total: 33,802
Total: 32,052
Total: 65,854
Total: 204
Total: 154
Total: 33,802
Total: 32,052
Total: 65,854
Total: 204
Total: 154
Total: 33,
+ + + + +
Ages.Males.Females.Totals.Mortality Rate per thousand.Mortality Rate per thousand.Mortality Rate per thousand.Mortality Rate per thousand. + +
In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.In millions of persons.Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortality Rate per thousand. Mortalit... +Description_This_image_presents_a_table_of_mortality_rates_by_age_group_in_England_and_Wales_during_the_years_179... +
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+Description_This_image_presents_a_table_of_mortality_rates_by_age_group_in_England_and_Wales_during_the_years_... + +
+Description_This_image_presents_a_table_of_mortality_rates_by_age_group_in_England_and_Wales_during_the_years_... + +
+Description_This_image_presents_a_table_of_mortality_rates_by_age_group_in_England_and_Wales_during_the_years... + +286 +PROSPECTIVE EFFECT OF + +Our limits are insufficient to enable us to give the entire table of mortality as furnished by the official authorities ; we have yet thought it necessary to exhibit only a portion of it, which is, at least, illustrative of the great excess of mortality among infant males compared with females. The average of the quinquennial periods (except in the cases annexed), will in general furnish the annual sum of mortality. + +At the termination of the first twelve years, about one-third of those born, are with the departed ; the proportion being against males in the ratio of 855 to 732 females (nearly). After this term (12 years) to the age of 44—the middle period of life, and by far the most hazardous to women,—the comparative mortality shows a different result; being as 46 females to 41 males. At the termination of this period, when the increase of population after life is comparatively the most secure; the average mortality from the ages of 45 to 65, being about as 63 males to 60 females. The comparative security of life subsequent to this is slightly in favour of males. The tables show that, in every instance where females predominate, it should be remarked, that the excess of female population after this period of life is nearly twelve per cent. over the male (see table of ages), and the ratio of mortality is hence by so much greater, without indicating any comparative insecurity of life. + +In collating this table from the official documents before us, we cannot but remark the extraordinary mortality it evinces at the termination of each decade of man's life, from the age of thirty years. In every instance from thirty years of age and upwards, the mortality in the year which terminates the decade, very greatly exceeds that in the preceding and succeeding years : as a matter somewhat curious, we shall shew these instances— + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ +INCREASING POPULATION. +287 + +| Ages | Males | Females | Total | +|---|---|---|---| +| Under 5 | 791,579 | 774,689 | 1,566,268 | +| From 5 to 9 | 693,858 | 698,457 | 1,392,315 | +| — 10 – 14 | 609,613 | 586,366 | 1,196,979 | +| — 15 – 19 | 509,586 | 533,569 | 1,043,155 | +| — 20 – 24 | 743,228 | 740,404 | 1,483,632 | +| — 25 – 29 | 593,602 | 648,507 | 1,242,109 | +| — 30 – 34 | 482,329 | 500,977 | 983,306 | +| — 35 – 39 | 418,410 | 432,864 | 851,274 | +| — 40 – 49 | 231,509 | 248,184 | 479,693 | +| — 50 – 59 | —— | —— | —— | +| ——-—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— +| —- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +| —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- —- +| Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +| Total : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : +| Total = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = +| Total (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) +| Total (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) +| Total (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) (Total) +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total +| Total + +Any proportions may be easily found ; and we need scarcely add that those proportions may be fairly applied in estimating the ages of the inhabitants of Great Britain at any period. + +288 + +CHAPTER II. + +POOR LAWS, AND THE CONDITION OF THE LABOURING CLASSES. + +SECTION I.—HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE POOR LAWS, AND THEIR CHARGE AND EFFECT ON LABOUR AND CAPITAL. + +The matter of the preceding chapter, intimately connected with an inquiry into the relative condition of the British community, in some degree prepares us for discussing the subject proposed in this. + +We shall first give a brief, historical retrospect, of the state of British society during the early reigns of the Norman dynasty. Secondly, note the progressive expansion of the charge for the support of the poor, and the practical operation of the system on the condition of the working classes. And thirdly, the remedial measures recommended by the late commission, and adopted by parliament. + +Low condition of British society in the Middle Ages.—The servile condition of the majority of the British people immediately after the successful assumption of the English crown by William the Norman (1066) was such as to render them little else than the property of the several baronial landed proprietors, or the mere slaves of ambitious chiefs. None who had unhappily been born in bondage, or who had fallen into that state, could + +ON THE POOR LAWS. +289 + +acquire any right to property, all disposable com- +modities possessed or acquired by the bondman being understood legally to belong to the baron to whose estate he was attached ; * even the lifeless body of the serf was at the free disposal of the baron, and the morte-main (dead hand) was required in testimony of that right.† Servile and detestable as such a state of servitude may have been, and injurious as it was to progress, national improvement and civilization, yet the bondman was relieved from all anxiety as to the provision of himself and family during old age or infirmity, by the legal obligation contracted by the estate owner with his servant, at a purchase price of his services. Thus while the nation consisted of but two classes, the landholders and the servile cultivators, the latter transferable with the estate, and the appendages of slavery descending in hereditary succession from the parent to the child, motives of interest induced the rich to maintain the poor; and hence, except in times of death, the labourer was assured of the neces- +saries of life. + +Gradual abolition of the feudal system.—By va- +rious edicts of the council, but more especially by the mandate of the pope of Rome, towards the close of the eleventh century, for the emanci- +pation of christian slaves, some beneficial reforms were introduced into the feudal system, and baronial rights becoming less arbitrary, were confined, during the twelfth century, to a legal demand on the tenant for so many days labour in this week or month, to be supplied by +* Bondmen were not subject to sale (attached to estates), there +were other serfs transferable by sale; for by the decree of +the great council held at Westminster 1102, the selling of slaves in open market, which had hitherto been the custom, was prohibited. +† The Statute of Mortmain was enacted in 1279, to check the +requisitions of the clergy. + +290 +POOR LAWS, AND + +baronial domains. Under this conditional system of manumission, the middle classes progressively increased their numbers ; but having, as the purchase price of their freedom, forfeited all title to maintenance on the property of the landlord, they became, in sickness or old age, destitute of provision, and contributed little to the eleemosynary contributions of the more affluent. + +The long wars of the chivalrous Edward III. and succeeding princes, however calamitous in the abstract to national improvement, were yet not without their good effects in aiding the emancipation of the bondman; as they unfolded the means of obtaining freedom by personal service. Nor were the ravages of the deadly pestilence which distinguished the fourteenth century, without the admixture of beneficial consequences to posterity; since they were a means of imparting to those who survived, a just idea of their own importance by increasing, for a season, the value of services in accordance with the diminution of numbers. + +The progress of freedom and civil rights, and the growing political influence of a middle class, is forcibly evinced by the tone of the populace, who resisted the royal authority during the memorable insurrection of W. W. Tyler (1831). And although this burst of public feeling was silenced by the craft of the court, it had its important effects; since the manifestation of determined resistance to political injustice, by the physical force of the nation, served to limit the power of the landlords from recompensing, and to restrain the lower orders from resubmitting to, the degrading condition of bondage. + +Thus the social condition of the people diverged into various distinctions, and in proportion as they acquired opportunity to direct themselves to those branches of commerce best suited to their varied + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. 291 + +capacities, manufacturing industry received additional encouragement. This was forcibly exemplified during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when special chartered privileges were given to those towns, wherein manufactures, chiefly woollen, had taken deep root. These privileges assured protection to those, who, forsaking the service of their landlord, sought refuge in the chartered towns, where the higher wages and better appointments were to be obtained; offered additional alloments to the labouring classes to migrate from the country, and thus secure their manumission. + +Institution of poor laws.—Important and beneficial as have been the results of this early extension of British staple manufactures, not only in enlarging the national resources, but in aiding the cause of individual freedom and civil rights; yet it is to this change in the previously accustomed means of livelihood, that we may clearly trace the emanation of the poor laws, with the support of the poor. For the progress of society, without free, tending to favour a growing inequality of property, the less fortunate or the less prudent, neglecting to lay up store for the day of need, and having no claim on the property of the barons, as in the ancient days of village, became chargeable on the funds of the community. + +That the rapid growth of a class of freemen, who from incapacity, misconduct, or misfortune were unable to support themselves by labour, was productive of many cases of indigence and poverty, we find evidenced by the fact of the attention of Parliament being bestowed by 12th Richard II., (A.D. 1388), to devise some means of supporting " impotent beggars and others having no means of livelihood." This Act, the first on record, regarding the state of the poor, + +v 2 + +292 +POOR LAWS, AND + +recites, " that a convenient sum shall be paid and distributed yearly out of the fruits and profits of the several churches, by those who shall have the said churches in proper use, and by their successors, of the poor parishioners, and of their living and other revenues thereof. Such were the funds to be set apart for the provision of the poor; and although the wording of the enactment fixes no specific portion of the church revenues as applicable to the contemplated object, yet it appears to have been the evident intention of the legislature, that the poor should be supported out of the ecclesiastical revenues. The law moreover appoints the clergy to act as the guardians of the poor, and declares, by another clause, that the clergy shall be liable to maintain them. + +This provision for the needy, necessary as it was at the time of the enactment, subsequently became obsolete, because it was influenced from the total abolition of the feudal system caused by the civil commotions which distinguish this and the following century of our national history. + +**Cause which led to the total abolition of the feudal system in England.**—The reigns of the Plantagenets, first successfully enforced by Henry IV., were the prelude to those disastrous contests between the representatives and adherents of the houses of York and Lancaster, which during 200 years crimsoned England's soil with the blood of her people. During this melancholy period, all rights were claimed by the crown without authority, and the foundations of public security shaken by the impurity of licentiousness, every temptation, device, and means were resorted to, to swell the forces of the contending chieflands. Freedom,—emancipation from village,-protection and rewards to renegades—and other alluring advantages, were offered to + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. 293 + +those who should join the standards of the party chief. Thus every bondman who could bear arms possessed the full opportunity of purchasing his freedom by military service. So general indeed was the effect of these violent commotions and frequent revolutions in the regal government, that at the accession of Henry VII., the race of villains is said to have been extinct, and universal freedom to have been established. + +Such were the principal causes which concurred to abolish hereditary slavery; but as an alloy to the great moral good which they effected, they planted deeply the seeds of individual pauperism, and hence the root from which sprung a compulsory cess for the support of the poor. + +Effect of the Act of Richard II. and Statute of Labourers.--Subsequently to this time the notice of parliament was frequently summoned to the state of the poorer classes;* and even in this early period of the system, the statute in favour of the poor and labouring people, considered as one of the labourers to regard the legislative provision as a means of dependence, in the place of availing industry; and hence to cause demands for higher wages by those who laboured. This opinion, whether at the time it was or ill founded, gave rise to the regulation Act of 20th Henry VIII., commonly called the "Statute of Labourers," which sought to regulate the price of labour, hours of work, mode of life, and impose other equally futile regulations for the government of the working classes; viz., that no man should be allowed to encourage idleness and indifference to labour, or the emigration of the most expert workmen; and hence especially ill calculated to afford advantage to either the rich or the poor. The measure + +* 2d and 19th Henry VII.; 6th Henry VIII.; and 22d Henry VIII. + +294 +POOR LAWS, AND + +evidences a lamentable deficiency of knowledge on the part of the government in the elementary prin- +ciples of national wealth, and stands opposed to the clear axiom, " That the collective self-interest of individuals is always in unison with the welfare of the community." + +Several other experimental attempts to improve the poor laws were made during the reign of Henry VII. One of which, noted in the Act of the 22d of that monarch, cap. 12, authorised the jus- +tices of the peace " to grant licences to such poor people as they might consider most in need, to beg +alms within certain districts; " a mode of provision which, though still in use in some of the larger cities and country (P. 30), was found to be attended with many inconveniences, and inadequately adapted to the desired object. This Act was followed by +that of the 7th Henry VIII., which directs the parochial or head officers of separate towns to collect alms in order that " sturdy vagabonds and valiant beggars may be kept from continual labour, and directed every preacher, priest, vicar, and curate, to exhort, move, stir, and provoke people to be liberal for the relief of the impotent, and for keeping and setting to work the said sturdy vagabonds." + +* Increase of parochial dependents.—Such were the principal regulations for the support of the poor until the era of what is usually termed the refor- +mation ; when the court, influenced by a marauding, plundering policy, determined to annihilate the ordinary sources from which the poor had hitherto been relieved. To this time the people had been +* The tyranny of the laws of this despotic's reign is strikingly evidenced in this following passage : " He who first engages is to be whipped the first time; his right ear cropped the second; +and if he again offend, to be sent to the next gaol till the quarter sessions meet; then to be whipped again, cropped again, and dis- +bies; and if convicted, shall suffer execution as a felon and an enemy of the commonwealth." 27 Henry VIII. + +A historical document page. + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. 295 + +taught to consider the revenues of the church and of the monastic order (revenues chiefly derived from bequeathed endowments) as a fund destined not only for the dissemination of Christian knowledge and spiritual consolation, but for the support of the poor in the day of need. Hence the sub-version of the whole monastic order; and the spoiling of the poor to gratify the avarice of the rich, who had an insatiable appetite for lucre, which so especially characterised the first two princes of the Tudor family, could not but be inimicable to the great majority of the people. + +In order, therefore, to appease the disaffection so generally manifested, the court, pretending some concession in favour of the community, promised a certain portion of the revenue from the Abbey lands should not be appropriated to the use of the crown, but applied towards the maintenance of the civil and military government of the state; and that no demands should be henceforth made on the subject in the shape of loans, subsidies, or aids of any kind whatever. But it was shown the little respect paid to this parliamentary resolution: no portion of these revenues having ever been applied to the promised purposes; the property of the church, the resources of the poor, and the patrimony of the monkish order, being distrusted to any luxurious great, for objects of political intrigue, and being left to be squandered, transferred to a "taxable people." To the success of this conspiracy of the nobility to despise the church and the poor of their patrimonial rights, the minority of Edward VI. was highly favourable: no sufficient, co-existent power existing in the executive power to prevent such a groundless appetite for plunder which distinguished the ruling faction. Hence the administrators of the royal functions found themselves obliged to purchase political + +* 35 Henry VIIII + +296 +POOR LAWS, AND + +influence from such as were enabled by their wealth and power to support their measures; and for this end dealt out the late properties of the church with lavish prodigality. Some pretence to a more just appropriation of the ecclesiastical revenues was, however, manifested by 1 Edward VI. c. 14, which recites "that the revenue of church lands should be applied to goodly purposes, such as the building and support of grammar schools, the augmentation of the poor among the universities, and the better provision of the helpless poor;" yet few of these provisions were complied with. Such intemperate use of power, masked by a pretended zeal for the reformation, could not fail to have baneful effects on the condition of those who had hitherto been supported by such munificent liberities. Various attempts were made by parliament, 3 and 4 Edward VI. c. 16; 5 and 6 Edward VI. c. 2, to raise funds for their relief by voluntary subscription. The first recites " that in Whitsun-week, the minister or churchwardens shall appoint collectors, whose duty it shall be to see that they of their charity will give towards the relief of the poor, and if any obstinately or frowardly refuse to give, the bishop is to send for him to induce and persuade him by charitable ways and means." So desirous were the sycophants of the court, who had seized the opportunity of obtaining a pretext of supporting the poor on the incomes of the people. All these endeavours, however, appear to have been ineffectual --- the wrongs inflicted on society were too violent to be remedied by appeals to the generous passions of individuals; and they progressed in numbers and hosts of supplicating monks, whom a life of secular life had unfitted for the busy scenes of commerce, and multitudes of helpless poor, echoing the grievous calamities inflicted by the confiscation of that property from +* This Act gave birth to Christ's Hospital. + +The next attempt was made by 7 Edward VI. c. 10, which recites " That all persons who are able to pay a certain sum of money (to be determined) shall contribute towards the relief of the poor; but that no person shall be compelled to contribute unless he has received notice thereof." This measure was not only ineffectual, but proved so oppressive as to occasion a great number of prosecutions for non-payment; and it is said that many persons were driven into debtors' prisons for want of money to pay what they were required to contribute. The third attempt was made by 8 Edward VI. c. 10, which recites " That all persons who are able to pay a certain sum of money (to be determined) shall contribute towards the relief of the poor; but that no person shall be compelled to contribute unless he has received notice thereof." This measure was not only ineffectual, but proved so oppressive as to occasion a great number of prosecutions for non-payment; and it is said that many persons were driven into debtors' prisons for want of money to pay what they were required to contribute. + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. 297 + +which they had been accustomed to receive relief, irresolutely demanded an efficient protection against the severities of fate. The 5th and the 14th of Elizabeth, after, in the preamble, inciting the great increase of beggars ("rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars"), and the consequent evils, empower the justices of the peace "to tax and assess all the inhabitants dwelling within the said division to a certain weekly charge, according to the circuitry thereof," and to apply it "in support of the poor." These Acts, however, which appear to have been intended rather to facilitate voluntary contributions, than to organise a regular plan of assizes, were found insufficient; and hence, after some other attempts to avoid them, a new law was passed by Henry VIII., levying all former statutes relative to the poor were consolidated into the notable Act of the 43d of Elizabeth, 1601. + +The 43d of Elizabeth.--This Act, forced upon the government by the dire distress of the working classes, at the time of death of 1594-5-6-7, and the interruption to commerce consequent on the prevalence of war in the Low Countries, Spain, Italy, and other parts of Europe,* provided "that the wardens and overseers of the poor should levy upon the inhabitants of their respective parishes such sufficient sums as shall be necessary for purporting that they may inform pensioners, and for setting to work all persons using no ordinary and daily trade of life to get their living by." By another clause, the justices of the peace are allowed a discretionary power, to the effect that should they deem the inhabitants of any particular parish + +* During this period thousands of persons were without want of food. The price at which wheat which in former years had rated at about 10s. per quarter, rose in A.D. 1593 to 64s.; in 1594, it receded to 54s.; and in 1595, to 34s.; but in the following year it rose again to 64s. This wheat was supposed to be equal to about 480s. per quarter, or 24t. of our present money. + +298 +POOR LAWS, AND + +too poor to contribute, then to tax other parishes within the district. Another clause empowered magistrates to raise a fund within the county for the relief of prisoners in gaols, as also for indem- +nifying those who might suffer by fire, water, in- +ternal commotion, or other casualties; or for such +other local purposes as the major part of the district +magistrates might think most convenient. +Checks against the undue use of authority were intro- +duced, by which an appeal was provided for +those who might feel themselves aggrieved. + +Such are the chief provisions of this well-known +statute,—provisions which, by a lamentable mis- +conception of the true nature of the present system; +and which framed with all that caution and stern judgment which characterises the administration of Lord Burleigh, are well adapted, if rigorously maintained, to form the model of a well defined plan for the support of the helpless and the relief of the unfortunate. + +The policy of the Act 43d of Elizabeth dis- +cused.—The policy of this enactment, standing as +it does not only on the broad basis of philan- +thropy, but on the no less stable foundation of political justice, has, from the subsequent cor- +ruption and principally from the neglect of its sub- +jects; and various have been the attempts of +the legislature to consolidate and improve its +provisions, or rather, to adapt them to an altered state of society. Without question, it is consistent with natural law, that the land should support those who are unable to support themselves; and di- +gent poor have a rightful claim on the funds of +society, if their misfortunes be a consequence of +the social compact. Nay, it is a condition upon +which civil society is formed, and the introduction +of private property assented to, that every member +of the community should be secured against the +severities of fate, and that none be left to perish + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. 299 + +from absolute want, if from physical incapacity they be unable to earn a subsistence. While human nature is accessible to the influence of humanity, we must feel that the support of the helpless is a sacred obligation; and such natural dictates justify a government in enforcing from the affluent contributions in aid of the indigent, as a debt due from the rich to the poor. But the crying evil in the present state of things is not that it does not arise from its use, but its abuse. The Act has been considered to impose an obligation, not only of providing work for the labouring classes, but also to counterpoise the effect of dear seasons or de- pressions by means of a fund called "the poor's fund." The words, "for setting to work all per- sons using no ordinary and daily trade of life," have been construed into an obligation to provide work, and in fact, to pay those who do use an ordinary and daily trade of life. This practice is replete with futility, as being rather a cause of poverty than a remedy for it. It consists in paying only to pay the wages of labour from funds col- lected from its proceeds; coupling the evils of the expense of its collection and distribution, depressing wages to the minimum necessary for a bare sub- stance, and swelling the apparent burden to an amount which, to a foreigner, would convey the erroneous impression that England is cursed among her population a greater body of extreme poor than any other country in Christendom. + +We now approach the second section of our inquiry, the extension of the poor-rate charge. + +Annual charge for the support of the poor towards the close of the 17th and commencement of the 18th centuries.—The condition of the working classes, during and for some years subsequent to the reign of Elizabeth, is represented to have been very de- plorable, and the assessments for their relief to + +300 +POOR LAWS, AND + +have been so inadequate, that many died of abso- +lute want. By respecting the amount of the levy, +or the number of claimants, history is silent; nor +do we know any thing more than to found a fair +estimate, until towards the close of the 17th cen- +tury (1673), when it is reported to have approxi- +mated to 700,000L.; a very large sum, considering +the high value of money, and the comparative +paucity of population. + +The following table we meet with is contained +in the tables of Gregory King, prepared A.D. 1684, +in which he states the amount of money levied in +England, exclusive of Wales, to be about 665,000L., +and that in Wales 34,000L., being a sum total +of 699,000L. The inspector, Davenay, says that +subsequently this sum was much increased in +consequence of the great burden of the wars; +and that at this time (1685) as much is +collected for the poor as for the government of the +state in peacable times, estimating this sum at +1,000,000L. sterling. Of the number of poor then +chargeable on the public funds we find no +positive estimate; but from the amount of the +sum collected, and the very low rate of wages, +(about fivepence per diem,) we expect it was very +large; probably as one in ten to the total popula- +tion, or about 500,000. + +The wars of William III., with their consequent +evils,—the loss of national debits, confiscations, +corn laws, monopolies, and other financial machi- +nery,—depreciating the natural wages of labour, +tended materially to augment the cess for the sup- +port of the poor, and the growth of that deplorable +poverty which is especially remarkable during the early +years of this reign of Queen Anne. This pauperism had much increased during the late years, +appears evident from the preamble of the Act of +1702, relative to the poor; but from the stimulus +given to productive industry through the operation + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. 301 + +of the war expenditure, it does not appear that the amount of the sum levied received much extension during the war period which succeeded. + +The economy and good management introduced into every state department by the ministers of George I., was productive of the most beneficial results, and checked the spread of pauperism. +The amount of the tax continued with its prolongation in peace, and in spite of a great increase of population, receded to an average of about 520,000L. for the three years preceding the outburst of the Spanish war, 1739. That unfortunate contest, in which the fame of the French fleets was nullified, and the English navy was defeated, the British army, dispelled at Fontenoi, could not but affect the condition of the English labourers; hence the amount of the cess for the three years ending 1750, reached an annual average of about 690,000L. + +Increase of charge after the year 1750.—From this date we trace a rapid increase in the amount of the charge. Our interference in the affairs of the Continent, by the war of 1756, brought with it a large increase of taxation: the early years of the war were also marked by deficient seasons, and a great rise in the prices of the prime necessaries of life. A great expansion of the parochial assessments took place in 1758, giving rise to the official return of 1760, which stated the amount to be - - - - - - - - 960,000L. +The rise in the price of provisions continued permanent; and, notwithstanding a peaceful interval of two years, the amount of the tax in 1770, reached - - - - - - 1,306,000L. +The amount continued to progress, and at the commencement of the ever to be deplored contest with the American colonies, in 1776, reached - - - - - - 1,520,000L. +At the termination of hostilities in 1783, the amount was officially returned at - - - - 2,182,000L. + +302 +POOR LAWS, AND + +Thus we find, that in the short period of seven years the increase in the amount of the poor's rate was nearly 80 per cent., in consequence of the vast expenses of the war; the interruption to foreign trade; and the derangement of commerce by the loss of the American colonies. The return to peace in 1783 restoring undisturbed opportunity of international commerce, would appear calculated to diminish the pressure on the poor. But during this same time our financial and domestic condition was materially changed. The disastrous war had caused a permanent addition of 100,000,000l. to the national debt, and added greatly to the amount of the peace establishment. This waste of capital, subtracted from commerce, could not but impair the sources of production; and the vast sums thus abstracted from the wages of labour, to meet the increased claims of state annuities, could not but favour the growth of that disproportion in the distribution of the national income, which is the very cause of individual poverty, and the very bane of the social system. + +The operation of these causes was soon apparent in the condition of the people. The rich became richer, obtaining a higher rate of interest for their dissipated capital; and the poor poorer, larger contributions being required of them to indemnify the capitalistic losses sustained by their landlord proprietors and the tiller became wider, and the property of the small freeholder, or dependent tenant, merged into the possession of the large estate holders. The consequent depression in the wages of labour, with the defective system in the management of the funds, concurred to carry the amount of the cess in 1790, to 2,560,000l. + +Vast increase of charge during the late wars.— Thus the increase in the amount of the cess was nearly 100 per cent. in twenty years, but the course of events soon effected a still further addition to + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. 303 + +the amount. The operation of the war increasing the price of every necessary of life, urged the government to measures which totally perverted the intention of the original poor laws; and by well intended, but fatal interference, changed that which was before a blessing, into a curse. The 43d of Elizabeth never contemplated, as objects of relief, the poor who were unable to work; and only ordered that they should be "set to work," and that the old, impotent, or decrepid, not able to work, should be maintained out of the funds. + +The 9th of George I. enabled parishes to purchase or hire, or write in purchasing or hiring a work-house, for the maintenance of the poor, or their children, of their poor; enacting, that any person who should refuse to be lodged in such houses, should not be entitled to receive relief. This Act was a barrier to the innovation of corruption; it acted as a test of the degrees of want professed by the applicants, tended materially to check pauperism, and in many instances prevented its extension. Additional force was given to this measure by the enactment of 1782, commonly called "Gilbert's Act," which aimed at the extension of the workhouse system, or rather, the rendering it more effective, by bringing numerous capacities into one centre, and thus improving the division of labour, or the classification of those who were in immediate need. During this period, the allowance system seems to have been entirely excluded from practice. The first adoption of this plan was authorised by the 33 Geo. III., 1792, which enacted that "the overseers shall, during the absence of militia men, grant relief to their families by an allowance of meat out of the poor's funds according to a certain scale." The barrier to abuse once raised, corruption went on rapidly. In 1795, the effect of war, and a deficient season, occasioned a rapid rise in the prices of the necessities of life: bread corn, which averaged 52s. 8d. in 1794, became in this year + +304 +POOR LAWS, AND + +72s. 11d. ; but the rates of wages could not immedi- +ately adapt themselves to the altered value of money. The county of Berks. took the lead in counterpoising this deficiency of wages out of the poor's funds. Sir Frederick M. Eden says, " in many parishes relief was granted, not only to the impotent, but to the able-bodied and industrious." +And when Edmund Burke, representing the county, assembled at Spexhamland, resolved, +" that they should act with uniformity in the relief of the impotent and infirm poor, by a table of uni- +versal practice, corresponding with the supposed necessities of each family." This resolution was not in itself productive of any advantage to the poor, but it seems to have laid the foundation for the allowance system, which, in the following year, was sanctioned by parliament. The 36 Geo. I. I. c. 23, repealed the clause of 9th Geo. I., which prohibited relief to those who refused to enter the workhouse, and empowered the magistrates to order, " at their discretion," relief to be paid and distributed to paupers at his home or house. This is truly termed, "the fatal deviation from previous policy." The plan of out-door relief to able-bodied paupers, was partially adopted immediately after the passing of this Act : but according to evidence collected by Mr. Mackenzie, it was not until after the dis- +tressing dearth of 1800 and 1801, when " the magistrates of the bench of Chichester recom- +mended the various parishes (instead of advancing wages in proportion to the time), to make certain allowances, in consideration of the higher price of corn." It is evident that these allowances were acknowledged to be a portion of the wages of labour: it was no longer a remedy for unexpected calamity, nor was its receipt a badge of degrada- +tion; it was received by the applicants, not as the generous gift of virtuous and unassuming charity, but as a recompense which the labourer had a +* Report, 1834. App. A. Part i. p. 546.* + +A page from a book with text on it. + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. 305 + +right to claim," for availing industry. When we look to this perversion of the original institution, in conjunction with the operation of the war, we can scarcely feel surprised at finding, in the year 1800, a period of distressing dearth,--the amount returned at **1,361,000L**. + +Subsequently to A.D. 1800, **a nucleus of mal-administration spread its benefic effects over a larger area.** The plan of poor-districts was adopted throughout the southern counties --- in Essex, Oxfordshire, and elsewhere---and regulated scales of allowances were distributed throughout the several districts. The evil effects of this equalisation of wages by the inducement of filthiness, honesty and dishonesty, were soon apparent; the paupers and labourers claimed the parochial allowance as a regular pension; and industry was paralysed by the knowledge, that it produced no extra wages to the labourer. The weekly pay out of the poor's fund was received as a right, and regarded by the labourers sometimes as the common allowance, sometimes as "the government allowance," sometimes "the Act of parliament allowance;" but always as "our income." Thus the amount of the levy increased in a ratio with the perversion of the legitimate objects of the original Act, attaining, in 1810, 5,407,000L.; and in 1812, 6,589,000L. + +The charge in subsequent years was as under--- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
AverageSum expended forPayments for otherTotal sums
of the years.the relief and mainpurposes, such asexpended.
usance of the poor.law tax, churchsupplies, &c.
12 and 13£ 656,106£ 1,860,847£ 2,516,453
13 --- 146294,5811,886,8178,170,398
14 --- 155415,9461769,4657,181,424
15 --- 165272,95924147919,695,900
* Report of Mr. Okeleu. Appendix, Part I. p. 1.x
+ +A table showing average sums expended for relief and main usance of the poor from 12 and 13 to 15 and 16. + +A table showing payments for other purposes from 12 and 13 to 15 and 16. + +A table showing total sums expended from 12 and 13 to 15 and 16. + +306 +POOR LAWS, AND + +Here the accounts show an annual decrease in the amount of expenditure, proceeding not from any reformation of the defective management, but from a rapid fall in the price of corn subsequently to the year 1812, and a large diminution of militia charges consequent on the termination of the war. +The prospect which peace unfolded, at a diminution of charge, was, however, clouded by the unfortunate depression of the year 1816, when it occurred with the derangement of the commercial system, arising from the transition from war to peace, to kindle a degree of suffering among the labouring classes unknown since the memorable dearth during the latter years of the reign of Elizabeth. The effect was to augment the amount of the charge for the support of the poor to a sum unprecedented, and never since surpassed in the annals of history. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Average of the yearsExpended for the relief of paupers.Expended forTotal sums expended.
1816 and 18176,910,924l.1,210,720l.8,121,645l.
1817 and 18187,970,9011,432,3329,313,133
+ +Gradual diminution of charge from the year 1818 to 1824.—A more pleasing prospect opened with the year 1818. The foreign demand for British manufactures was proportionate to the immense imports of agricultural produce from various parts of Europe; and this circumstance augmented the revival of commercial activity reduced, in some degrees, the number of claimants for parochial relief. After the year 1819, the seasons proved more than ordinarily favourable; and more discrimination being used in the distribution of that relief, by the partial adoption of the clause—S. Gen. II. c. 12, which authorised the appointment of paid and permanent officers to act as assistants to the annually chosen overseers, the amount of the cess shewed a gradual diminution, as seen by the following table. + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. 307 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Average of years.Expended for the relief of the poor.Expended for other local purposes.Total sums expended.
1818-195,716,7041,408,665£ 8,255,609
1819-205,825,3111,425,613£ 7,250,924
1820-216,039,3511,576,666£ 8,354,957
1821-226,384,7041,530,533£ 7,915,237
1822-236,749,4981,670,202£ 8,419,700
1823-247,534,5901,537,598£ 9,072,498
+ +Fluctuations in the amount of the assesss from the year 1825 to 1832 -- Such was the cheering prospect unfolded of a gradual reduction of this formidable charge, which would doubtless have continued had the price of grain remained low, and the commercial embarrassments of 1825-6 been avoided by greater caution on the part of capitalists. But the price of grain has long since risen in those years, concurrent with a progressive rise in the price of grain, seems to have negatived the economy introduced by the appointment of assistant overseers, and by other reforms suggested by the Act of 59 Geo. II. The sums expended increased annually until the year 1827 when the deficient harvest of 1827 added half a million to their amount, to which a like sum has been added during subsequent years. + +The following table shews the amount expended in each year, from 1820 to 1832 inclusive : + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Average of years.Expended for the relief of the poor.Expended for other local purposes.Total sums expended.
One year.
18306,899,0491,339,238£ 8,238,287
18316,798,8881,540,108£ 8,339,096
18327,036,9681,585,952£ 8,622,920
+ +x 2 + +308 +POOR LAWS, AND + +The relative increase or decrease of pauperism in accordance with population.--The relative increase or diminution of pauperism is, however, but imperfectly illustrated by the foregoing tables of the actual amount of money distributed in each year for the relief of the poor. An estimate of the amount distributed in provision (bread), not money, is necessary. To make this calculation, we must reduce the money expended into corn, at the prices of the particular years. Since 1815, there have been no official returns of the actual number of persons annually relieved out of the poor's fund; hence, in estimating the average measure of relief during those years, we shall take the returns for 1813, 1814, and 1815, as data for ascertaining the quantum of relief distributed to each person in succeeding years. + +Number of persons relieved. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
181318141815Average
Poor permanently relieved in workhouses97,22594,06588,11593,141
Poor temporarily relieved out of workhouses134,441140,140140,687135,819
Parishioners occasionally relieved400,249429,770400,971426,996
Total number of paupers relieved672,913655,995685,973694,936
+ +Now the average price of wheat during the three years ending 1815 was 80s. 7d.; and the average amount annually expended for the relief of the poor during the same period was, 6,132,715l., equal to £306,687. Thus it will be seen that the average quantity distributed to each pauper stands thus: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Annual average number of persons annually receiving relief during 3 years ending 1815.Quarters of wheat distributed.Average quantity to each pauper per quarter.
Packs. Qs. Bs. Pcs.
5943,9561,511,73951 or 4 & 3
+ +Thus, assuming that fifty-one pecks of wheat are the average annual measure of relief distributed to each claimant, we shall be enabled to form a fair + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. +309 + +approximation to a correct estimate of the numbers relieved at any particular period; and hence show the relative numbers of paupers to the total population. In the following table we have, for the first two periods, 1684 and 1685, reduced the amount of the assessments into quarters of rye, that grain being then the bread corn of the humbler classes.* + +Table, shewing the proportionate number of persons to the total population receiving parochial relief at various periods, from 1684 to 1832. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Years.Amount ofPriceNumberPer-
perofequalchargeableonperper
the relief ofthe poor.corn.parishlandWalesper
1684699,00020s.699,000438,5355,300,0007.43
1685950,00022s.836,636502,5405,300,0009.44
1750713,00031s.460,000289,8344,667,0004.49
17661,330,00044s.649,5117,350,0005.85
17761,230,000
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310POOR LAWS, AND
The minimum rate of pauperism appears to fall in the middle of the last century, a period remark- able for the cheapness of provisions, favoured by a strict application of the principles of the original statute.
After the wars of 1756, some increase seems to have taken place, which received a great extension during the years following the peace of 1782, a period of great commercial embarrassment and deficient trade. The proportion of pau- perism calculated on this scale, continued in about the same ratio during the whole period of the late wars : but with the peace, a large increase is remarkable. In the year 1817 and 1818, was the largest proportion of paupers. Subse- quently, the proportionate number somewhat di- minished ; and the years 1824 and 1825, being a period of great commercial activity, the average for the triennial period ending 1826, decreased to about 62 per cent. of the former proportion. But the loss of commercial capital in the latter years, and the deficiency of employment of which it was productive, concurred, with the two unfavourable seasons of 1828 and 1829, to swell the number of parochial dependents in the years 1830 to 1832, to 1,391,630 exceeding, in the aggregate, any pre- ceding year, and bearing a proportion to our total number, little less than that noted in the most disastrous seasons.*
* It is necessary to remark, that the table (p. 309) is not placed in our volume as an official return of the actual number of pau- pers relieved at each period; but as a measure of relief dis- tributed in each successive period, calculating the value of money by its power of purchasing provisions. This method has been adopted by the returns of 1813, 1814, and 1815; presuming that they offer a fair average for computing the measure of relief distributed to each individual—a plan for calculating the relative value of money in different periods from which the admitted inaccuracy of the returns of the actual number of pau- pers relieved,
affords a fair means of forming a just opinion upon
the subject.
+ +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. +311 + +Comparative pressure of the charge on the papers of poor-rates.—Let us here look to the progress of the charge in another point of view, — its relative pressure on the productive industry of the country ; or, on those contributing to the support of the poor.—This we shall calculate, not according to the actual sum of money contributed per head, but (reducing the contributions into corn value), by the number of persons who contributed. We shall trace this calculation from the middle of the last century, 1750, being the earliest date for which we find an official return. + +Table of the relative amount of contribution for the support of the poor, calculated in quarters of corn (= £100) and the relative pressure per head, on the relative population. + +As the prices of corn may be seen by reference to the foregoing table; it is not necessary here to repeat them. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Periods.Yearly sumAveragePopulation of England and Wales, aboutAveragecontributionsin purs.of wheat.
for the main-in quar-per head
tiers of corn.sars of corn.
1750460,0006,467,00035
1776687,3509,428,00045
17901,105,1506,675,00070
Average1,016,1808,168,00056
1797-18031,016,1808,168,000
+
S. D.D.C.B.A.F.G.H.I.J.K.L.M.N.O.P.Q.R.S.T.U.V.W.X.Y.Z.
1806-10
S. D.D.C.B.A.F.G.H.I.J.K.L.
(2)
<
1815-17
<
1816-39
Such have been the variations in the actual contributions for the poor; shewing, that since the year 1750, the tax has increased nearly three-fold, notwithstanding a duplication of inhabitants; and inferring that pauperism has spread in a thre- + +312 +POOR LAWS, AND + +fold ratio with the increase of population. This, however, arises from causes very different from those which the comparison seems to suggest. It proceeds from no decline of the national resources, but solely from the corrupt plan upon which the poor fund is distributed ; and if the sum paid out of the parochial funds in the shape of wages for labour were deducted from national wealth would be found little, if at all, increased, since the most favoured period of our national annals. + +The effect of the poor law on the condition of the labouring classes.—The fundamental principles upon which the British poor laws were enacted, are in every sense commendable. They were intended to secure the performance of the sacred duties of benevolence, to those who, from misfortune or physical incapacity, might be reduced to want ; and as in every civilised community where freedom exists, some inequality will arise, from the very nature of the social compact, it becomes the duty of the government, to whom the rights of society are confided, to provide a remedy ; so that none be left to perish, from need of the common necessaries of life. But this is the limit of what can be done by that state ; any measure of relief to the poor beyond that limit, destroys the very motives for exertion, and impairs the vital springs of national prosperity. We have seen that poor laws arose on the decline of the feudal system, and grew out of the very depths of aristocratic tyranny, and that they are more and more important as the uselessness of freedom and society enlarge its vivifying sphere. The statutes of the Plantagenets and the first two crowned heads of the Tudors, in favour of the poor, are all tainted with sanguinary and tyrannical clauses.* and seem to + +* The inhumanity of the savage laws against beggars is illustrated by the following notice of some of the clauses of the Acts + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. +313 + +have been wrung from the villainous government by a people merging from a state of secure but ignoble vassalage into the more precarious but less de- +grading condition of free subjects and freemen. +The provisions of these Acts appear to be inde- +finite, and to give no security to the decrepid or +unfortunate, against the extreme severities of fate ; +but it was this security, and this alone, which the +ministers of Elizabeth intended, when they pro- +vided a mode of relief for the eligible poor. +Although every reign since the age of the +Tudors furnishes numerous enactments respecting +the management of the poor, it does not appear +that the principles of the Act of 1601 were essen- +tially invaded, until about the middle of the reign +of George III. The principal enactments made +during this period, of which the most important +were the 9th of George I. and 2nd George +III., did not recognise as objects of relief the +able bodied and fully employed labourers; they +offered him no alluring inducements to leave the +path of industry and moral integrity, to become +the prey of those who had no other object than +—the 9th of George I. made the workhouse the +test of the necessity of the claimant. It had refer- +ence to two classes of poor, the able bodied and +passed in the reigns of the Tudors. By I Edward VI. a beggar shall be thrust into a house where he shall lie with the letter V, and adjudged a slave for two years; and a person who shall demand him ; to be fed on bread and water, and caused to work by beating, chaining, or otherwise; if he run away within that period, he shall be punished with death; and if he do not return, he shall be adjudged a slave for life; if he run away again, he is to suffer +death as a felon. The 14th of Elizabeth reduces—stoutly beggars shall for five years be confined in a house through +through the gristle of the right ear with a hot iron of the compass of an inch about; for the second, he deemed felons; and for the third, each year one pound. +Dr. Burn, in speaking of the early statutes against vagrancy, +says, " This part of our history looks like the history of savages in America; almost all severities have been exercised against vagrants, except vagrancy." + +
+ + + + +
Page Number313
+ +314 POOR LAWS, AND + +the impotent; to the first it offered work, to the second necessary relief; and notwithstanding the corruption of principles, which always progresses in the absence of firm checks and rigid responsibility; and the occasional laxity of a due discrimination, the race was kept moderate, and the independence of the poor, which had been preserved. It is the ever to be regretted Act of 36 George I., though conceived by the philosophic mind of Mr. Pitt, which has degraded the most useful portion of the British community to the condition of the *adscript gloce* of the feudal times. The great disunion between the landlord proprietor and the laboring classes, which brought the majority of the working classes under the withering shade of the deadly upas. + +This Act, as we have before observed, repealed the 9th George I., which prohibited relief to those who refused to enter the workhouse; it authorized the manufacture of those articles used to order out-door relief, or in other words, to pay a supplement to wages out of the poor's funds. All protection to the maintenance of the first principles of the institution were thus removed; and time only was required, by the development of this mischievous system, to produce a lamentable revolution in the moral character of the people, to substitute idleness and licentiousness for industry and frugality, and to work the most injurious results in the condition of the state. + +Our political economists say, the most valuable knowledge to a statesman is to know when to do nothing. This is a defect which Mr. Pitt has qualified! One of the first effects of the power thus delegated to the magistrates was seen in their fixing the minimum rate of wages: this minimum ratio depending, not on the quantity or quality of the work performed, or at all governed by the fact whether the claimant is or is not em- + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. +315 + +ployed, but on a nice calculation of the quantity of food necessary for his support, according to the price of provisions and the number of his family : the great demand for labour during the war, and the consequent high prices it commanded, in some degree tended to retard the operation of the poison which had been administered to the prosperity which so especially favoured British agriculture during that period, could not wholly resist its mortiferous effects on the industrious habits and condition of the labourers ; and its powerful re-action on the landed interest. For see indeed, that while the country was in commercial prosperity, when trading income increased fully 300 per cent.; when the wages of mechanics and the salaries of employed advanced in a similar degree; and when foreign capital, talent, and labour, were attracted to this country from all parts of Europe, by the allurements of trade and ample remuneration, notwithstanding all the convincing evidences of a high state of domestic prosperity (fleeting we admit), we see that during this period, the sum collected to maintain the poor and unfortunate agricultural labourers, on a scale just sufficient to sustain stability, increased no less than 5,300,000l. or 300 per cent. The government were too fully engaged in the work of conquest, and in legislating for property and intelligence, to regard the claims of poverty and ignorance, and the system progressed in its mischievous career, unheeded those at the helm of affairs. But at the peace which followed, a new order was entered into by a higher class, through the great depreciation of landed income, a general demand was made for legislative aid. The great source of depreciation was imperfectly known, and hence unavailing remedies were applied.* In 1817, a parliamentary committee reported on the state of the administra- +* The Corn Bill of 1815. + + + + + + + + + +
THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION.315
ployed, but on a nice calculation of the quantity of food necessary for his support, according to the price of provisions and the number of his family : the great demand for labour during the war, and the consequent high prices it commanded, in some degree tended to retard the operation of the poison which had been administered to the prosperity which so especially favoured British agriculture during that period, could not wholly resist its mortiferous effects on the industrious habits and condition of the labourers ; and its powerful re-action on the landed interest. For see indeed, that while the country was in commercial prosperity, when trading income increased fully 300 per cent.; when the wages of mechanics and the salaries of employed advanced in a similar degree; and when foreign capital, talent, and labour, were attracted to this country from all parts of Europe, by the allurements of trade and ample remuneration, notwithstanding all the convincing evidences of a high state of domestic prosperity (fleeting we admit), we see that during this period, the sum collected to maintain the poor and unfortunate agricultural labourers, on a scale just sufficient to sustain stability, increased no less than 5,300,000l. or 300 per cent. The government were too fully engaged in the work of conquest, and in legislating for property and intelligence, to regard the claims of poverty and ignorance, and the system progressed in its mischievous career, unheeded those at the helm of affairs. But at the peace which followed, a new order was entered into by a higher class, through the great depreciation of landed income, a general demand was made for legislative aid. The great source of depreciation was imperfectly known, and hence unavailing remedies were applied.* In 1817, a parliamentary committee reported on the state of the administra-
+ +316 +POOR LAWS, AND + +tion of the poor laws, in nearly the same terms as the one that has just appeared. Its main features were, the admission of an absence of due discrimination on the part of the parochial officers, and the recommendation of the appointment of salaried officers to act as assistant overseers. This gave rise to the Bill of 59 Geo. III.,--adopting the recommendations of Mr. Collett,--which, however, have imposed some temporary check to the progress of the abuse of the poor laws. The parliamentary reports of 1822, 1824, and 1828, all bear evidence to the miserable state of agriculture, the distressed condition of the labouring classes, and the mal-administration of the poor laws. The subject-matter came from all quarters; the press teemed with innumerable publications on the subject, all confirming the existence of the crying evil, and urging the government to arrest its march, by a decided veto against the mal-appropriation of the eleemosynary funds.* Still, nothing of importance + +* Mr. Collett, of Cambridgeshire, says, in his evidence before the parliamentary committee on this subject, "I am not able to proceed to detail the melancholy, degrading, and ruinous system which has been pursued, with few exceptions throughout the country, in regard to the poor laws; but I can say that there is no species of illiberalism which should scarcely be credited beyond its confines. In the generality of parishes, from five to forty labourers have been without employment during several years; and many families are reduced to such a state of destitution as to be unable even to provide for their own subsistence. The wages paid are so low as to render it impossible for them to purchase any thing but such articles as are called idle games, insulting passengers on their road, or else consuming their time in sleep, that they might be the more ready and active in the hours when they ought to be employed. They are fed with food more than food; how then are they clothing, hiring, and rent, to be provided? By robbery and plunder--;--and these so artfully con- spired and carried into effect by persons who are called respectable Picklock keys have really opened our barns and granaries; and the lower orders of artisans, and even in one or two instances, small farmers, have been induced to sell their corn at less than twenty men's pence. Corn has been sold by sample in the market of such mixed qualities, by these small farmers, that competent judges have found it difficult to distinguish stones from different barrels; and it could not have been produced from different farms. Disgraceful as these facts are to a civilised country, I could con- merate many more, but licentious would create disgust." This evi- + +A page from a book with text discussing poor laws. + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. +317 + +was done ; and towards the close of 1830, the mem- +bers of disaffection, which had long been smothering +beneath the weight of the most gaudy oppression, +burst into some, and spread a general glare +of insurrection through every part of the country. Rapine and plunder then formed the availing resources of the labourer ; and the laws lost their power of restraint against a multitude, impelled by direful famine to rebellion.* Such was the state of the agricultural population, and the rapid decay of landed pro- +perty, which pressed on administration at its office. +It was then necessary to do something ; and to every reasonable inquirer, who has perused the ponderous volumes of Reports on our domestic condition—from the committee on the poor law—on agriculture—on labourers' wages, &c.—it must appear, that there was no time for delay in providing before parliament, to authorise some immediate and decided measures ; yet delay was found more convenient : matters of high (we had almost said higher) import, engaged the attention of ministers. +The denunciation of the poor law, was given in 1834, yet nothing was done until 1836. Mr. Collett is perfectly right, in saying that the details of fact would scarcely be credited beyond the confines of the country. When the author, during his residence in France, published a summary of the English plan of paying wages out of the poor's fund, his observa- +tions have invariably occasioned surprise. The Frenchmen rejoiced at this new arrangement. They exclaimed: "Habiles ils renoncent pour sa sagesse, puissez permettre un tel système de continuer !" +* Answers to the subjacent general question of the poor law commissioners—over the overseers of parishes.—Can you give the commissioners any information respecting the causes and conse- +quences of the riots and burnings in Ireland in 1830 and 1831 ?** +(From Sherlington, Bucks.) * I consider the burnings and riots of 1830 and 1831, to have been caused by the poor laws." +(From Over, Cambridge.) * I am not aware that they arise from the feeling of discontent among the poor man, brought on by +the present poor laws." +** The Duke of Wellington, very shortly after his retirement from office, addressed in his place in parliament, the rural rebellion of 1836, mainly to the mal-administration of the poor laws. + +318 +POOR LAWS, AND + +all-absorbing Parliamentary Reform Bill, the pa- +nacea for all state disorders, was in progress; and +it was found more convenient to refer the question of poor law reform to commissioners of inquiry. +Their report is before us; and a more lamentable tale of the progress of social disorganization, dest- +ruction of capital, and national ruin, never ap- +peared. The same system has been adopted in some parts of the French, who have long called our poor laws, +"la plaine la plus devorante de l'Angleterre." + +Mr. Whateley, in his report from Cookham, thus describes the effect of the allowance system on the condition of the labourer: + +This system was founded upon itself to the cir- +cumstances of each family, without any reference at all to their moral qualities. The consequence was, that all distinction be- +tween the rich and the poor, between the prudent and the thoughtless, was at once destroyed; all were paupers alike: the most worthless were sure of something, while the prudent and industrious were left to their own care and pains obtained only something, and even that scanty pittance was doled out to them by the overseer. Like the Israelites in the Wilderness, they had no food but what they gathered; and had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack; they only gathered every man according to his ability. This was done with a view to preserve +the masters from the workmen, but a right on the one, and a tax on the other; and by removing the motives for exertion, the labourer was rendered so far as possible totally unworthy of his hire. This system was introduced into England by Eng- +lish labourers who, in former times, had boasted with honest pride that he never was beholden to a parish, was destroyed altogether; +all habits of industry and frugality were lost; all rights vanished; and since a family was a sure passport to a parish allowance, it is not to be wondered at that the most impovrident marriage became the consequence of this most pernicious and most demoralizing system.* + +The truth of Mr. Whateley's remarks is indeed too abundantly proved by the evidence collected by the commissioners in various parts of the country. The allowance system is there exhibited in all its varied forms of mischief, and in all its + +* Report. Appendix A p. 11. + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. +319 + +baneful effects,—such as indifference to labour, decline of industry, concubinage, poaching, thiev- ing; in short, an utter abandonment of every moral principle is too clearly demonstrated. We shall extract a few, out of the list of cases with which the report abounds, shewing the general results of the plan— + +"In Westoning, Bedlamshire, there is scarcely an able bodied labourer who does not lament the want of individuals who receive regular relief on account of his family, whether in or out of employment. The change that is made in the characters and habits of these poor people, when they are relieved, is quite remarkable, they are demoralised ever afterwards." + +"The general applicants for relief are generally of one family; the deceased husband being alive and his family still applied for relief, they are pressed down for ever."* + +"This system (the allowance) is a crying evil, working great mischief to the poor, and to the parish also; because it deprives their family in the mind of the labourers."-(Report from Stokumber, Somerset.) + +Mr. Stoker says, "the effect of allowance is to destroy all ties of affection between parent and child. Those parents who are thoroughly degraded and demoralised by the effects of allowance, not only do not work themselves but prevent their children from doing industry, but do their utmost to prevent their obtaining employ- ment, lest it should come to the knowledge of the parish officers, and he to hold hold of for the purpose of taking away the allow- ance."* + +The overseer of Kettering says, "the paupers employed by the parish go on roads and work for a master; the overseer or his deputy is present; immediately his back is turned, a man who gives himself any trouble is laughed at by his companions; their remark is, you must have been a farmer. Ten or 12 weeks after- they join them again. I would not be allowed to take such work; and of course they do any thing but work. If there is a wood, they run into it to strip it, strings which they hide, and carry off at a cost less than that under which they are in the hands of stealing any little thing that comes to hand." + +Mr. Hobber says, "I am sorry to say that this family he receives as much from the parish as he would from any farmer; accordingly, labourers are indifferent as to pleasing or displeasing their employers; they quit with the remark ' I can get as much on the road as I can in the house.'" + +* Mr. Baker's Evidence Extracts, p. 84. +† Evidence of Mr. Hobber. +‡ Appendix A. Part. p. 347. + +320 POOR LAWS, AND + +Mr. Majendie states, "in Sussex, labourers refuse work, unless of a description agreeable to them; at Eastbourn (1839) men receiving from 12s. to 14s. per week from the parish, refuse to work at threshing for a farm at 2s. 6d. and a quart of beer per day. The flies are so great that they cannot go to sea in the winter." + +We could fill the remaining sheets of our volume by multiplying quotations from this report ; but the recital of many instances shows that the public could but confess disgust, and excite the most lively fears as to the preservation of the state resources. They all bear melancholy evidence of the degrading and ruinous system which has been pursued; and, in a national sense, of the incalculable injury sustained by the community, and of the resources of individuals have sustained, and must yet sustain, through the operation of such a perverse and unnatural deviation from the elementary principles of government. + +It is clear, that the funds collected under the assessment can but be part of the wages or produce received, and that the tax must increase in a ratio with the depression of wages. In fact it is obvious, that the greater the charge for poor's rate on the produce, the less remains to be divided among the producers, and vice versa. Hence it is evident, that where the income spent in the parish ispecious, the parish loses its share; and that from the labourer with one hand and paying him with the other, the actual funds received can, in a financial view, effect no possible advantage, but on the contrary, sacrifice in a manner worse than useless, whatever sums are expended in the collection and distribution of the funds. Thus, various items of disbursement, such as law charges (always considerable), removal of paupers, expenses of overseers and officers, besides the frauds practised on the parochial authorities, of which so many cases are cited in the late committee's report, and the time consumed + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. 321 + +in the process, are all clear and unnecessary losses to the labourer, and diminish his wages in relative proportion. + +In ordinary course, labour—did no artificial impediment exist—would seek employment where it found the best compensation; and in general, it would be best compensated where it produced commodities which had the highest value, and produced the greatest property. Ere the comparatively recent improvement of manufacturing machinery, labour produced a greater value, applied to agriculture than to manufactures ; and hence, the productive industry of the country was principally agricultural. But since the last improvements have transferred the most important branches of manufacture from the cottage door to the factory, and the great stimulus given to manufacturing industry, has had the effect of raising the wages of the artisan to nearly two-fold that of the field labourer. Hence, those who find employment to migrate from the country to towns, would cause those flowings from the higher to the lower channels, that is, from those overstocked, to those under-stocked branches of industry, which would bring the rate of wages in both departments more nearly to a level. This would tend to draw interwoven to that portion of labourers employed in agriculture, who, from depression of prices, and a consequent slackness in the demand for labour, may constitute a redundant body of labourers in that particular branch of industry, and who would hence seek employment in other parts of commerce, when the proportion of the demand for, to the offer of labour, was more nearly equiposied, it says; "Your absence from profitable employment shall not impair your condition: although you earn nothing, you shall be supported from the earnings of others, just upon the same ratio of stipend as when you were employed; with this + +V + +322 +POOR LAWS, AND + +proviso, that while you are able to work, your services shall be at the disposal of the parochial authorities. Under this arrangement, the parochial officers have always at their disposal, a large body of labourers, which are brought into the field of competition with other labourers, and their services sold by knocked down prices to the highest bidders, who like the gamekeepers throughout the West Indies ; the parish agreeing to counterpoise the deficiency, between the wages received and the scale of allowance, out of the parochial funds.* This is just the rotation of the system, and thus the rate of wages is kept at its minimum to the whole collective community. **This** deprives the labourer all a slave's security, without his liability to punishment : it relieves him as to any anxiety in procuring subsistence, and hence retains him in an ignoble dependence, or unprofitable employment, who would else have directed his labour towards more profitable pursuits. The dispersion of hands from branches of over-stocked labour is thus restrained ; the glut is longer perpetuated, and a more lengthened depression of wages the certain result. Hence what the legislature intended as a boon, and the humane, but unconscious, consequence benevolence, proves a sore bereavement to the objects whom it is intended to benefit. + +But let us briefly review its effects in another point, namely, in perpetuating ignorance, and + +* In many places, the roundamen system is effected by means of an auction. Mr. Richardson states, that in Sulgrave, Nor-champshire, the following prices were given for labourers to the best bidders, at prices varying from 1s. 6d. to 3s. per week; that at Yardley-Hastings, all the unemployed men are put up to sale weekly; and that "in one instance," he says, "I had seen men sell last week." *knocked down* to one farmer for 5s., and that there were at that time about 70 men out of a body of 170, let out in this manner.—Report. Appendix I, part I., p. 140. + +1 + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. 323 + +in impeding the diffusion of useful education among the poor. + +Low state of education among the labouring classes, its effect, and the importance of improvement. +It has been already shown, that the operation of the poor law is to retain wages at a maximum rate; that rare instances occur of parents neglecting to educate a family, or of discharging the moral obligation of parents to children. It is evident, that while the earnings of parents are barely adequate to procure the prime essentials to subsistence, the family must be deprived of even those common rudiments which are necessary for the acquisition of their attaining mechanical skill ; and this deprivation, narrowing the sphere of their usefulness in a great degree, renders them incapable of adapting themselves to any other kind of employment than that which their parent has ordinarily followed. The special circumstances under which this evil has forcibly unfolded to public view, the prevailing ignorance among the English peasantry; and we do not doubt, but that the prolonged continuance of an excess of labourers in agricultural districts, and the consequent inadequacy of wages, with all other accompanying evils, have contributed to some degree, attributable to the absence of primary instruction among the rural population. We especially invite our readers to peruse the subjoined notes, illustrative of the lamentable ignorance which prevails in the rural districts.* We may yet observe, that + +* Evidence of the ignorance of the peasantry: Committed for robbing a man in his house and tried before the judges of the special commission in 1859, &c. +Berkshire.--Of 138 persons committed to Reading gaol, 25 only could read; 70 could neither read nor write : 120 were under 40 years old; 60 were over 35 years old. +Hants.--Of 332 prisoners committed for trial at Winchester, 105 could neither read nor write; nearly the whole were deplo- rably ignorant of even the rudiments of religious knowledge. + +V 2 + +324 +POOR LAWS, AND + +the annexed accounts of the low state of intelligence among the labouring classes, bear reference to an adult population, whose youth was passed during a period when no inconsiderable portion of the rich, and the generality of the clerical body. + +Kent.—About one half of the prisoners committed to Maidstone gaol could neither read nor write, and nearly the whole were totally ignorant with regard to the nature and obligation of religion. + +Abingdon.—Of 30 prisoners tried, 6 only could read and write, 11 could read imperfectly, the remainder were wholly uneducated. + +Bucks.—Of 79 prisoners convicted at Aylesbury, only 30 could read and write. + +Sussex.—Of 35 persons put on trial at Lewes, 13 only could read and write imperfectly and none could read well. + +These statements were attested by the local authorities, and derived from the correspondence of the British and Foreign original Lancasterian school society: they are contained in the appendix to Mr. Joseph Hume's letter to a minister of state, printed for private distribution. + +This absence of education does not appear limited to the peasantry. Mr. Moylan, who acted as revising barrister under the Reform Act, stated that he had been unable to find any of the overseers in country parishes in Cheshire and Nottinghamshire surpassed any thing I could have previously conceived. In some of them I found that the overseer was not even qualified for the overseer's signature for the list of voters. Many lists were made out and signed by the village shoemaker, or some other person whom I considered unfit to act as a judge of law or court, and who was alone competent to answer on his behalf any inquiries he deemed it requisite to make. Mr. Maclean says, "In 1829, I visited many parishes where I found that many of the voters were illiterate." In my own experience, and in the present year, I revised the lists of the northern division of the county of Essex. In both counties, I met with many overseers who were unable to read or write; others who could read but not write; some who could neither read nor write. + +The Reform Act, what they were required to do. Many were unable to write at all, and others could with difficulty affix their names to a ballot paper without assistance from a solicitor or informer, or of understanding any distinction between a freehold and a leasehold qualification." The Rev. Robert Ellison, rector of Slaugham, stated that he had never seen more than two men in villages to audit accounts. My vestry clerk is a pauper, and not a good character; the two last overseers could neither read nor write. + +14 + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. +325 + +wickedly opposed the spread of education among the poor. During the last five or six years, reform has been growing—a more liberal feeling has prevailed, and the opponents to the expansion of intellectual light, and the enlargement of social happiness, unable to stem the flowings of generous benevolence, have deemed it prudent no longer to impede the progress of education, but to aid the march of instruction in those rudiments which accord with the peculiar forms and tenets of the + +* Mr. Hume—than whom no man has more ample means of correct information on this subject—observed that the establish- +ment of Lancasterian schools was opposed by the rich, and especially by the clergy; and that wherever it was found impos- +sible while they were thus opposed, and their funds withheld, to prevent their increase. The most effectual of which was +the hypocritical pretense of a willingness to teach the people by the establishment of national schools; and in many places, where a +national school was established, and in places where subscription was unequal to the support of two schools, and was yet divided between two, the Lancasterian system was generally ruined, and no school maintained. In other places, when one subscrip- +tion opened for a Lancasterian school, then another subscription was commenced for a national school ; and the consequence was, +that no school was ever maintained. + +It is well known, that this discrimination to encourage the establishment of elementary schools, pervaded the highest orders of the state. In 1786, at the request of a committee, unfold a lamentable catalogue of the mis-appropriation of funds generously bequeathed for the instruction of the poor. The Pickering's will left £1000 for a poor school in his native town; but he bequeathed 2000l. for erecting an orphan hospital, and the whole of his property, amounting to upwards of 150,000l., to trustees, for erecting a poor school in his native town; and also for the charity school of St. John of Wapping, and for maintaining, clothing, and educating poor children of that parish. The government having refused to allow any part of this sum to be applied towards the erection of a school in the wording of the will. The testament was set aside by the court of Chancery, the property declared forfeited as a debt of the crown, and in 1816 it was again laid before Parliament as an article of the civil list.—See report of the education committee 1816, p. 289. +[This plunder ought to be restored]. + +326 POOR LAWS, AND + +church establishment. Our note (page 50) avinces the existence of enlarged means for the diffusion of elementary education, and that this good feeling will expand with the very cause which it nurtures, there is every fair reason to conclude. + +It is difficult to express the extreme importance of dispensing elementary education to the humbler classes. Society can enjoy the advantages of civilization if it has means of instruction with reading, writing, and accounts. To be peaceful, united, and happy at home—great, powerful, and influential abroad, we must be both morally and physically strong; our internal peace, the main- +tenance of which depends on intellectual or means of support, may our very existence as a nation, depend as much on the intellectual as on the physical grandeur of the state; to be convinced of this truth, we have but to consider the basis upon which our commercial superiority is founded, and we trace it to the comparative standard of national intelligence. The diversified arts which favour and perfect labour. Strongly, however, as we would advocate the importance of dis- +pensing education to the humbler classes, we very much doubt the efficacy of any direct interference on the part of the government, tending to the establish- +ment of national intelligence by public instruc- +tion. That it is the duty of those in authority to +favour the diffusion of moral and religious edu- +cation, must be generally admitted; but any direct interference on the part of the government would, +in our opinion, give rise to so much jealousy among various sects (an effect which fell in Ireland), and so damp the zeal of private indi- +viduals for the diffusion of intelligence, that no +good results would be effected. If the British, like the Prussian community were poor, or like the French chiefly ignorant, a state provision would be highly desirable; and whether it cost an annual 10,000L., + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. +327 + +100,000L., or 1,000,000L., the property, if honestly applied, would be economically employed; but with an opulent society possessing a high standard of talent, where the spontaneous endeavours of private individuals are so actively and so well conducted, the good policy of such a course is highly problematical. The government, however, can by occasional parliamentary grants, facilitate the establishment of elementary schools; but in this case, great impartiality should be manifested in the distribution of the property, and no favour should be shown to any particular sect; for, where all religious sects are equally benefited, that one portion of the community should be taxed for the education of another. The grant being fairly applied, the government should abstain from any further interference in the rules or management of the establishment, and the whole should be left in the hands of private individuals. From this digression we retire, to review the operation of the poor laws. + +The operation of the poor laws on the value of landed property.--The effect of the mal-administration of the poor laws has been detrimental to labourers and in the utter extinction of every one who is industrious principle, could not be slow in re-acting on the properties of the landed interest. The report of 1833 on agriculture, and the present poor law committee report, furnish some important illustrations of its destructive influence. Several instances are produced in these reports of the abandonment of farms, through the operation of the poor's rate, and the whole tenor of the evidence bears testimony to a declining state of agriculture. We extract from these reports, in a condensed form, a few, from among a multitude of cases bearing on this point :-- + + + + + + +
+ +328 +POOR LAWS, AND + +" In the neighbourhood of Aylesbury there were forty-two farms untenanted at Michaelmas last (1859), most of these are still on the proprietor's hands, and in some no acts of husbandry have been done since, in order to avoid the payment of poor rate, I attribute this to the effect of the poor laws. "*** + +"If some material change does not very soon take place, the time is far distant when the whole rent will be absorbed in the poor's rate."*** + +"In the parish of Thoresborough, Bucks, there are at this time 600 acres of land unoccupied. The greater part of the other tenants have given notice of their intention to quit their farms entirely to the increasing burden of the poor's rate." + +" Mr. Majestic, who visited this parish during his time of visit, some of the land was out of cultivation." + +"The owners of untenanted farms, who are not farmers, fear to occupy them, because they are subject to the unlimited expense in poor's rate."*** (Adatock, Bucks.) + +From Cholesbury, Bucks, there is evidence of the total abandonment of a parish to the poor. + +"The population of this parish has been almost stationary since 1831 ; but in 1837 it was 1,000 souls; in 1841 it was 1,381 ; and in 1852, when they were proceeding at the rate of 367. per annum, suddenly ceased, from the impossibility of collecting from the landholders giving up their rents, the farmers their tenants and the clergyman his glebe and his tithes."† + +Respecting the depreciation in the value of land, there are numerous instances cited. The answer from Mr. Pilkington is as follows: + +"The annual value of real property assessed here in 1815, 3390/, became in November 1829, 1950/. It has undoubt- edly fallen in value since that time—see Mr. Pilkington says, on visiting this parish. At that time he found that he was informed 'that the value of land had fallen one-half since 1829, and was yet unsalable.' On his return to that neigh- bourhood he found that it had fallen one-third since that time, 'that property in land was gone, and that the rates could not be collected without judicial sales.'" + +*Appendix (B. 1.) Sherington, Bucks, p. 43. +†Gillingham, Kent. Report. +‡Exeter Mercury. July 25th, 1859. p. 96. +§Appendix (B T.), page 531. +||Appendix (A), Part II. + +A page from a book with text discussing poor law statistics and agricultural conditions. + +THEIR PRACTICAL OPERATION. +329 + +These are but a few of the sad catalogue of cases contained in the late report, which evidence the rapid decline of agricultural capital, and the progressive ruin of agriculture. Such effects were fully predicted in the evidence before the poor law committees of 1817 and 1824, and the agricultural report of 1821. + +The report of 1817 says, that unless some efficacious check is interposed, there is every reason to think that the amount of assessments will continue to increase, until at a period more or less remote, according to the progress the evil has already made in different parts of the country, all the lands and portions of the property on which the rate may have been assessed; producing thereby the neglect and ruin of the land, and the waste and ruinous consequences which are now the calamities of the happy order of society so long upheld in these realms. + +These lachrymose vaticinations, however disregarded at that time, appear on the eve of realization. Already the burden of maintaining a disolute peasantry, and the system of stifling human industry by offering a boon to inactivity, has, in some instances, obscured the entire face of the land; where ignorance and poverty, the offspring of idleness, merging into turbulence and criminality, have changed those whose industry once constituted the great and prolific source of our national prosperity, into destructive instruments of national ruin. + +The question of legislative interference in the adoption of energetic measures to arrest the march of destruction, is completely set at rest by the general evidence adduced before the commissioners, and by their able and useful report. Interference with this subject can no longer be deferred, and a bold effort must be made to crush the hideous hydra of corruption. + +The reforms proposed by the commissioners, we intend to discuss in the following section. + +330 + +SECTION II.—REMEDIAL MEASURES PROPOSED BY THE POOR LAW COMMISSIONERS. + +**Question as to the total abolition of the poor law.** + +The hostility of modern political economists to the entire fabric of the British poor law, is well known. But the late Sir William Ricardo, Senior, M'Culloch, and other writers of deep erudition and acknowledged talent, "that the only effectual means of improving the poor law is to abolish it in toto," have long been submitted to the test of public opinion. Indeed, if the evils which the existing system produces are not primarily incidental to any system of compulsory relief, many would accord in this severe, but needful remedy. +Experience, however, proves that such evils are not necessary consequents on a system of compulsory aid, when conducted on right principles. During the administrations of Lord North and Pitt—Butler and Peel—and for an early period, until the era of the American war, the operation of the poor law was attended with no such results as have been witnessed since the passing of the fatal measure of the 36th Geo. III. 111. and from the practical effects reforms later introduced into the system by various establishments it is fair to presume that a provision for the indigent may be maintained, without its being made a boon to idleness, and a fruitful source of moral degradation. Indeed, sound as may be the opinion of political economists on this subject, and consistent as it may be with "the general sentiment" of mankind in general sense, yet it is quite impossible that the benevolent, generous, and charitable community of Great Britain, could concur in any measure which would expose the aged and infirm portion of the labouring population to peril from the incapacity of earning the means of subsistence, on the plea that + +POOR LAW REFORM. 331 + +such a measure would amend the condition of others. The question of the abolition of the poor law cannot be entertained ; all that can be done is, to adopt the best means of improving its operation. + +With this object, the commissioners propose several remedial measures, which we propose consecutively to review. + +**Remedial measures.—The situation of able bodied paupers, say the commissioners, "should not be really or apparently so eligible as that of an independent labourer of the lowest class ; every penny which tends to oppose this principle, is a bounty on idleness." It is therefore necessary to let the labourer feel that the parish is the hardest taskmaster, and the worst paymaster he can find, and thus induce him to make it his last and not his first resource. Under the present system, it is found that wherever relief is permitted to remain eligible, no serious expenditure is invested in cases which will be strong enough to exclude abuse and fraud; the only true test is, to make relief ineligible except to those who are absolutely destitute. This principle, coupled with the immutable determination of refusing to pay a supplement to wages, one of the most useful measures adopted in various parishes with the greatest success. A plan of several parishes has been given those who applied for relief, full employment by piece-work, at wages something below the ordinary rate paid to the independent labourer. In others, provided with suitable workhouses, where vagrants have been employed in training inmates with the object of forming industrious habits in the young, and of deterring the indolent. " Into such a house none will enter voluntarily ; work, confinement, and discipline, will deter the indolent and vicious, and nothing but extreme necessity will induce any to accept the comfort which must be obtained by the + +336 +POOR LAW REFORM. + +in the accustomed system of administering the poor laws, cannot be expected, and time will be required to shew the efficacy or inefficacy of the proposed reforms; to correct that which works ill, and to confirm that which works well. None of the various plans of poor law reform, which during the last ten years have received legislative sanction, have been found effective; and the evil of the abusive system has been rapidly growing, in spite of every attempt to arrest it. The importance of success is so supreme, and the evils to be over-combated so ineradicable, that those who feel a deep interest in the welfare of the British poor, and the spread of independence and intelligence among the labouring classes, will concur in strong measures to attain the one by eradicating the other. +Yet the institution of such a triumvirate as a board of three commissioners, clothed with such extensive powers as are now proposed to be given, appears little suited to the British character or constitution, and objectionable, both in a political and financial point of view. We cannot but think, that if the Scotch system of administering relief had served as this plan for English purposes, a more economical, more constitutional, and equally efficient plan would have been the result.* The power + +* In Scotland, the funds collected for the relief of the poor scarcely amount to 100,000l. per annum; and are derived from voluntary subscriptions, fines for immoralities, baptismal, mar-riages, and burials; and from occasional contributions from landowners, and occasionally by a moderate levy on the inhabitant. The number of poor, or rather of those receiving parochial relief, scarcely amounts to one-tenth part of that number in England. + +The main cause of the great excess of pauperism in England, is the corruption of principle; but the difference in the plan of management between Scotland and England is one which has been long lost in England, viz.—"the original object of the fund." + +In England, the total management of the fund being vested in annually chosen overseers, frequently unacquainted with the + +POOR LAW REFORM. 337 + +given to the commissioners to commit "at pleasure" any witness they may choose to summon before them, seems to be quite unnecessary, and opposed to the genius of the British constitution; it, in fact, is nearly allied to the resuscitation of the star-chamber, and the practical abolition of habeas corpus, significantly timed the outbreak of British liberties. We cannot help to wonder what the ablest board will do, but what it can do. It can summon witnesses before itself, and propose questions; these questions may be answered to the full ability of the party examined; yet, at their caprice, the commissioners may think otherwise, and commit the party examined to prison for want of memory; at the end of the month, they act in the same way, to the same party; and to what length this power may be extended, or how many peo-ple may be immured by these governing com-missioners, or for how long, without the power of appeal, it is impossible to say: this kind of legal torture is more likely to destroy than to obtain true evidence. We do not suppose that the com-missioners will exercise this absolute prerogative, but they can do so; and laws, we presume, ought to oppose both will and power to do wrong. Indeed it seems probable that this power will very rarely, if ever, be exercised; but our public mind is so opposed to it, that should it be brought into action, "the pressure from without" would overturn the whole fabric; it being quite impos-sible that flagrant injustice could long reign in this country. If it is thought necessary to give such a + +circumstances of those applying for relief, and sometimes inter-ested in perpetuating abuse, that due discrimination, which is so essential in a well-regulated system of poor relief; while in Scotland, the execution being vested in such men as landlords, clergymen, or deacons, whose functions are permanent, a more insidious mode of perpetuating the original condition of the inhabitants of the district, is acquired; greater discrimination is used, and more salutary effects the consequence. + +Z + +338 POOR LAW REFORM. + +power to the board, why not give the party com- +mitted the right of appeal on giving security for +the costs? Such a plan is found effective in +various instances against vexatious suits; and un- +der such restrictions, none would appeal who were +not conscious of having suffered injustice. + +To another part of this Bill, as proposed by the +government, there seems firm ground for objection; +we allow to the poor class with no burden the mother +of an illegitimate with its entire support. It +certainly, from the numerous instances of false +swearing adduced, and the difficulty of fixing the +guilt on the putative father, is a difficult question to +deal with; but the effect of the measure will be to +save the father's income at the expense of the parish, +which, in many cases, is very considerable, with +the support of the illegitimate; and hence the expense +of maintaining the poor be proportionally in- +creased. + +Economy of maintaining the poor in large or small +collective bodies.—Much useful evidence was ad- +duced before the committee, on the comparative +economy of maintaining the poor in large or small +collective bodies; and the comparative efficiency +of large and small work-houses, or more properly, +poor-houses. + +On this subject, Mr. Mott states, that if the +maintenance of 500 persons cost 10l. per head, 1000 +would cost 9l. per head.* In large work-houses, +economy is practicable by an appropriate classifica- +tion of the inmates, and hence varying the nature +of the supplies : for instance, in the smaller work- +houses, the children receive nearly the same diet as +the adults ; while in those which contain only old men, +they might receive a diet both cheaper and more wholesome. +The relative economy in maintaining the poor +in large and small parishes, is practically and very + +* See the Committee Report, page 314. + +POOR LAW REFORM. 339 + +forcibly illustrated, by returns from seven counties* of the expense of poor rates per head, in the largest, the intermediate, and the least parishes. We have not space to give the whole of this return, but the following will shew the general result :- +In the 67 largest parishes, containing a population of 178,208, or an average of 2660 inhabitants, the contribution per head was + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
—66 intermédiaire ditto789—99. Qd.
—67333—14 11/2
Of all England the 100 absolute smallest +
+ +The economy attendant on the incorporation of rural districts is also proved by a comparison of the expenses of the eight unincorporated hundreds of Suffolk, with that of the two hundred hun- +dreds of the same county. Making the calculation on the basis of the real property assessment in 1815, it appears that the expense of maintaining the poor, from the years 1824 to 1831, was 53 per cent. in favour of the incorporated hundreds. + +Added to these considerations, and economy, which would attend the plan of incorporating parishes, there are others which claim an equal approval. By this means, numerous capacities will be brought into one centre, providing a greater power of applying labour to useful pur- +poses. The inmates of a district work-house, +especially if such establishments may be properly classed, according to the varied employments they have heretofore followed. The supply of the articles consumed in the work-houses, the necessary repairs, and perhaps the cultivation of the grounds attached, would provide useful sources of employ- +ment. All these advantages, whilst in fact are more important as a check against indigence, than +* Bedfordshire, Berks, Bucks, Cambridge, Chester, Cornwall, +and Cumberland. +z 2 + +340 +POOR LAW REFORM. + +as a source of profit, are lost in parishes unpro- +vided with work-houses, or possessing but an +inicient staff. In such parishes where the +treatment of the poor is left to an unpaid +overseer, the trouble of superintendence has tended +to disconnect utility with employment. The latter +has been provided by various useless expedients ; +such as sending paupers on fictitious errands with +baskets full of stones ; or with blank paper directed +as letters to friends, who do not return them, +obviously intended to torment them.* However +degraded a man's condition may be, he revolts at +such contrivances. Employment, only, is not the +one thing needful ; it must be useful employment. +Every man, with a spark of human feeling in his +composure, will admit that what is useful would be +beneficial and productive. Even the prisoners at the +Brixton House of Correction feel indignant at +" grinding the wind;" and every human being +feels a kind of natural satisfaction in the conscious- +ness that he is useful employed : nay, we would +say more, he feels the moral obligation of being +useful in his generation. + +Question as to existence of a surplus of agricultural +labourers, and the effect of the poor laws on marriage, +bastardy, and population discussed.--The question as +to the actual existence of a surplus body of labourers +in the country was considered to be very hypothetical; +and although the commissioners seem to recom- +mend measures for facilitating emigration, they +produce no evidence to prove, that, under a good system of management, the supply of +labour exceeds the actual demand for it. They say, +* the present state of the emancipation of +the poor laws does not allow us to certain in a great majority of the parishes we have re- +ferred to, what the demand for labour would be, +if work were sought with energy and performed + +* Report, 1834. † Address to the Working Classes, 1832. + +POOR LAW REFORM. +341 + +with diligence ; and further, we have already had to state, amongst the most satisfactory results of poor law, that the dispauperised labourers have found employment to a greater extent than the most sanguine friend of the change could have anticipated. + +The commissioners are yet decidedly inclined to the opinion that there is, and while a system of compulsory relief for the poor is maintained, that there will continue to exist a superiority of labourers; founding their reasoning upon the encouragement to marriage held out by the poor laws, and the increase of population in the rural districts. + +The report says, " that one of the most unquestionable effects of the poor law is the encouragement and increase of free marriages among the unqualified statement, which we think is satisfactorily confuted by the evidence furnished in the population returns of 1831. The general tenor of the late report leads us to suppose that the great majority of the labouring classes marry with a view of obtaining an enlarged weekly allowance; such may be true in some cases, but the natural tendency of the compulsory nature of relief afforded to the poor; but that such is the practical effect, in a general sense, is disproved by the clearest evidence. + +We have already shown ( p. 207) the inferior proportion of marriages in the agricultural, compared with those in other counties. We shall here, however, to obviate the necessity of a reference, give a few more comparisons : + +Proportion of marriages to the population. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Manufacturing counties.Agricultural counties.
York1 in 113Essex1 in 154
Alnwick1 in 113Sussex1 in 149
Gloucestershire1 in 117Wiltshire1 in 148
Warwick1 in 120Somerset1 in 147
York (West Riding)1 in 131
+ +Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 in 149 + +A table showing proportions of marriages to population in manufacturing and agricultural counties. + +342 +POOR LAW REFORM. + +These returns show, that in the manufacturing counties, where the population is chiefly concent- +rated in towns, and where the allowance system is comparatively little known, the marriages are one-fourth, or twenty-five per cent. more numerous than in the agricultural counties, where the poor law reigns in all its corrupted sovereignty. Ireland furnishes a proof that the poor law is not the pri- +mary reason for the want of marriage. Ireland, in which there is not, nor ever has been any provision for the poor, is the very theatre wherein all the evils of such marriages are exhibited : without a poor law, she has outstripped all other countries in improvident marriages. Indeed, the evidence adduced by the Commissioners tends to prove that the English poor law, so far from having a general tendency to promote marriage, rather imposes obstacles to legal matrimony, and banefully drives the multitude to habits of concubinage. Let us look to the evidence on this point. + +Mr. Dodgeon, of Cumberland, says " at this time, in our parish, there are many families of children whose mothers have landed property of their own, and would not marry the father of their children. The daughters of some of these are rich land- owners, and they keep their children with them regularly keep back the poor rate, to meet the parish allowance for their daughters bastards." + +Captain Hume says " that the allowance made to the mother for the support of her child is an encouragement to the offence." + +Mr. Sewell, of Swaffham, after giving some strong illustrations of individual instances of bastardy, says " I am convinced," he says, " a bastard boy is about twenty-five per cent. more valuable to a parent (on the scale of allowance) than a legitimate child. The premium given to bastardy is therefore a premium on vice; and here very obvious, it is considered a good speculation to marry a woman who can bring to her husband a fortune of one or two bas- +tards." + +The evidence throughout is ample in proof of the encouragement given by the poor and bastardy + +* This, it will be seen, is not what is meant—it evidently means, some farmers, and even landlords, whose daughters having bastardy. Living with them, regularly keep back, &c. +† See Committee Report, 1831, pp. 160—71. + +A page from a book with text discussing Poor Law Reform. + +POOR LAW REFORM. 343 + +laws to the crime of concubinage. A reference to the returns on the number of illegitimate children born in the year 1830, will confirm the above testimony. This document shows that the illegiti- +mate births are proportionally much less nume- +rous in the towns than in the country. The total +number of illegitimate children born in England +and Wales in the above year was 20,039, of whom +10,147 were males and 9865 females, being about +as 1 in 10, while the number of births in Mid- +dlesex (the metropolitan county) the proportion was only as 1 in 38, while in Pembrokeshire it was as +1 in 8, and in Radnor 1 in 7. The diminished ratio in Middlesex may be deemed remarkable, +considering the opposite result in a neighbouring nation, where the proportion of illegitimate +births are as 1 in 2, while in the provinces they are only as 1 in 14" (see p. 44.). Notwithstanding this very large excess of illegitimate births in the country compared with the towns, still the ratio of +the increase of population is very greatly inferior. +This fact we shall again illustrate, by comparing +the actual increase of population in the rural +agricultural districts during the decade ending +1831. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Increase of population.
Manchester countiesper cent.York North Ridingper cent.
Chester2 dittoRutland5 ditto
Warwick23 dittoHertfordshire7 ditto
York West Riding29 dittoWiltshire8 ditto
Stafford19 ditto
Average increase 5%Average increase 5%
+ +* This table is an enlargement of that given at page 296. It exists in applying the word illegitimate to all who are deposited in the hospitals for the reception of les enfans troués, and who are in many cases the children of wealthy parents who are too poor to maintain them. The great number of these infants are attended by the poor laws. The opulence of the metropolitan area, as well as its density of population, facilitates the concealment of illegitimate births. The so-called Foundling Hospital has long ceased to be so in reality. + +344 +POOR LAW REFORM. + +Thus the ratio of increase has been four-fold in favour of the manufacturing districts, in the face of a very large inferiority in the proportion of ille- +gitimate births. Where could we find a stronger proof that the poor law does not tend to promote population by offering encouragement to impro- +vident marriages? That the crime of concubinage occasionally leads to matrimonial we admit, and we by no means doubt that it is one of the peculiar cases cited in evidence; but that the general ten- +dency of the poor law is to promote population by encouraging improvident marriages, is disproved by the general results. + +The following report gives a very different colouring as to the effect of the poor law on popu- +lation; and while urging the government to be impolitic encouragement of emigration, says, +" not only has an increase of population, which would have been heretofore deemed extraordinary in a long settled country, taken place in the manufacturing counties, but the increase has been nearly as great in agricultural districts from which we have received such general com- +plaints of a decrease of the capital of the farmers." To illustrate this allegation, it refers to a few agri- +cultural counties which shew the largest increase; in these it includes Buckinghamshire, which it says has increased its population nineteen per cent. during the decade ending 1831. We certainly felt some surprise at seeing so large an expansion of numbers in a county which may be termed purely agricultural, and where no excessive growth of urban population can be supposed. And on referring to the population returns, we find the inhabitants of the county to number, in 1821, 134,068; and in 1831, 146,529; shewing an in- +crease of 94 instead of nineteen per cent.—an +error materially affecting the basis on which the + +* Report, p. 352. + +POOR LAW REFORM. 345 + +reasoning and conclusion of the commissioners are founded upon the more unfortunate, and we would say fatal, as it concur to induce them to recommend "that the public should be still further empowered to raise money for the purpose of facili- +tating emigration." It is much to be regretted, +where the public pay so high a price for the talent employed in collecting information and in inves- +tigating the causes of abuse, that more accuracy has not been displayed in the statement of the facts; and that the government should be induced upon false, or, to use a milder term, erroneous data, blindly to concur in a recommendation decidedly opposed to sound principles of practical economy. Had the commissioners more closely examined the late population statistics, they would have found that almost every agricultural county shews an inferior ratio of increase in the decade ending 1831, com- +pared with 1821; and on the other hand, that almost every manufacturing county shews a com- +parative superior ratio of increase,—proving that the addition to the number of consumers of farming produce is greater than that of labourers; and implying a growing demand for agricultural labour. The abolition of the out-door allowance system will sufficiently facilitate the equipoise of demand and supply, without the quick system of burdening parishes with heavy debts for property expended in transporting the elite of the popu- +lation;† or, in existence of these errors in the re- +* Report, p. 367. +† By a reference to our table of the ages of the inhabitants of England and Wales (p. 297), it will be seen, that the number of males between twenty-five and thirty years old was 1,000,000 in 1821, and 1,300,000 in 1831; but even in the present year, much exceed 1,300,000; of these about 1,000,000 may be termed the operative classes ; and it is almost certain or probable that this number will continue to increase. When we consider that one man's labour is equal to the maintenance of eight people, we can form some idea of the loss of productive power in sending any material portion of this class out of the country. Every man who emigrates, takes with him the pro- + +346 +POOR LAW REFORM. + +port is the more unfortunate, as it seems to give an additional hue to that manifest overcolouring which characterises it, tending to bear out the professed and well known individual opinions of some of its founders, against any system of compulsory relief for the poor. We will not trust ourselves to say more on the subject of expense; our opinions are freely expressed in 270 to 275 lines. + +The poor law has undoubtedly heretofore tended to retard the adaptation of the supply to the demand for agricultural labour;--it has tended to retain an undue proportion of labourers in the country which would have been more profitably employed in the towns and cities. It is probable that the first effect of a general refusal to "make up" wages will be to throw a large body of agricultural labourers on the parish resources, and be attended with no little degree of suffering. What proportion of this number may constitute a surplus, cannot be determined. However we shall attempt an estimate. + +We find by the census that persons receiving parochial aid, under all the varied forms, to be in round numbers, 1,200,000 (see table, page 309), a calculation formed on the average of the last ten years. This number we class as under (taking as data the tables of 1813, 14 and 15). + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Persons permanently relieved in workhouses1,000,000
Ditto temporarily relieved200,000
Parishioners occasionally relieved600,000
Total1,800,000
+ +This number we divide into three classes--- +1. Those incapable of labour. +2. Able-bodied paupers receiving a supplement to wages from the parish funds. +3. Those totally dependent on the parish funds from want of employment. + +vision for, or what is the same thing, the means of providing for seven people; so that if the government by means of bounties on emigration, or other means, can provide for one hundred thousand by the means of subsistence for 350,000 people; but this is not all, they burden the impoverished nation with a debt for effecting this de-struction. This reasoning may provoke a smile, but it is true. + +POOR LAW REFORM. 347 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Farmers receiving pauper reliefPoor receiving pauper reliefPaupers totally independent from pauper relief to wages
Of 600,000 persons receiving relief, chiefly as a supplement to wages, we shall assume one-fifteenth to be proper objects of pauper relief, viz., ill health or causal absence of employment.40,000560,000—
Of those who are relieved in work-houses (100,000), we assume twelve-fifteens incapable of labour.80,000—20,000
Of those permanently relieved out of work-houses (500,000), we assume also twelve-fifteens to be incapable of labour, including children.400,000—100,000*
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .520,000560,000120,000
+ +The third column gives 120,000 as the estimated body of agricultural labourers. The number to whom a supplement to wages is paid, is 560,000, being about seven-eighths of the total number of agricultural labourers. + +Questions as to the policy of employing the redundant body of labourers in colonising waste lands discussed, and deficiency of agricultural productions—if the effect of the measures now before parliament, will be to identify a surplus body of labourers numbering 120,000, we cannot but think that some measure for employing them in this branch of productive industry would be suited to their capacities would be both politic and necessary. The extension of our agriculture, if the means are at hand, appears, from the investigation of our wants in a national sense, and from the quality of our + +* This includes those uselessly employed, and paid by the parish. + +348 +POOR LAW REFORM. + +surplus productive power in a particular sense, to be that which claims the first consideration. +We shall cursorily refer to the average annual amount of the deficiency of our agricultural produce to meet the consumption. + +In computing this deficiency, we pass over the years of war,---when indeed it would appear on a much larger scale,---and revert only to the communications with the productive parts of the country. + +The following is the quantity of wheat, barley, oats, peas, and beans, imported and exported (exclusive of Irish produce) for the seven years ending 1830 :- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
WheatBarley and RyeOatsPeas and Beans
Of which were re-exported . . .5,970,0001,822,0008,110,000543,000
976,000266,000282,00050,000
Leaving for home consumption . . .4,994,0001,554,0007,828,000493,000
Average annual deficiency . . .713,400222,0001,118,00070,000
+ +During the years 1821 to 1823, the British ports were closed against the importation of foreign corn. The following will show the quantity of foreign grain imported and exported, for the seven years ending 1830 :- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +






































































































Wheat Qn.Barley and Rye Qn.Oats Qn.Peas and Beans Qn.
Imported . . .4,863,0001,174,000457,500453,500
Re-exported . . .339,000192,000159,99959,999
+ +Leaving for home consumption . . . 4,364,999 + +Annual average deficiency . . . 614,256 + +Annual average deficiency for the two periods. 665,556 + +This importation of corn forms but a portion of our purchases of foreign agricultural productions : + +POOR LAW REFORM. 349 + +seeds and dairy produce are brought in large quantities from Holland and the Baltic states. + +The annual average amount of the importations of these commodities is subjoined. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Lined.Rapeseed.Cassia-seed.Butter.Cheese.
bushels.bushels.cwt.cwt.cwt.
1,250,0001,500,00054,000183,00093,000
+ +These importations cost the nation annually about three millions and a half sterling, which the greater part might have saved by industrious habits encouraged, by the cultivation of a portion of the British waste lands. No complaint is more general than the difficulty of finding profitable investment for money; and while capitalists are found ready to invest property in the frail securities for foreign investments, they are not of interest, and in any plausible, speculative undertakings of the day,—nay, even in the cultivation of the wilds of Canada, and the more remote regions of Australia, few seem disposed to advance the necessary means for consummating a great national improvement, by the cultivation of lands at home, which would yield them ample recompense. We shall here attempt an estimate of the quantity of waste land in the various English and Welsh counties. + +Tables of the cultivated and uncultivated area of England and Wales.—In the preface to the abstract of the population returns, printed in 1834, we find a table of the superficial area of the English and Welsh counties; and Mr. Marshall's book contains an estimate of the number of acres of land in tillage and pasture, and the number of acres remaining in waste and wood land. From these and other documents founded on good authority we have compiled the following table, where it appears that the quantity of land still uncultivated, is abundantly sufficient for the employment of the entire surplus of agricultural labour. + +A table showing cultivated and uncultivated areas in England and Wales. + +350 +POOR LAW REFORM. + +Table, showing the area of the several English counties, quantity of land in tillage and in pasture, and the quantity remaining uncultivated, or in wood land, roads, covered with buildings, water, &c. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 255.000 + style="text-align:right;"> + 284.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 288.548 + style="text-align:right;"> + 269,766 + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Counties.Total areaIn tillage.In pasture.Total cultivated.Uncultivated, roads, trees, &c.
Lincolnshire.1,671.040405.0001,100.0001,500.000171.040
New York, West J.629.648255.000370.0001,150.000689.548
Riding - .
Dover.1,315.200273.000167.000460.000655.200
York, North Riding.1,293.362739.000263.000993.000361.362
Norfolk.1,197.448159.000639.000898.000339.448
Northumberland.
Lancashire.
Sussex.928,898335.000
+ +Total: **31,336,696**
+Uncultivated: **16,977,696**
+Roads: **13,369,776**
+Trees: **1,999,176**
+Grand total: **37,996,636** + +POOR LAW REFORM. +351 + +The foregoing table differs, in some slight de- +gree, from the table, page 256; but if either deserves +any confidence, it is evident that the cure of that +particular disease, " the existence of a redundant +body of agricultural labourers," is to be found +co-existent with the evil itself, by the possession +of so large an area upon which such labourers +might be advantageously employed. Of the +8,600,000 acres of waste land in England and Wales, +4,360,000 are said to be physically unfit for cul- +tivation ; and from the remainder we may deduct +about 1,500,000 acres for roads, water, buildings, +&c.; leaving, after these ample deductions, an area +of about 3,800,000 well adapted to general pur- +poses of cultivation. Dividing this area by the +total number of parishes in England and Wales, +(say, 10,700), gives 355 acres for each parish. + +**Results of the allotment system.**—Different opi- +nions prevail as to the best means of applying the +waste lands in aid of the improvement and main- +tenance of the destitute poor. A report from +Wells, Somerset, noticed a happy success of the +allotment system in that neighbourhood. The +lord bishop of the diocese granted, in 1826, three +pieces of waste, amounting to thirty acres; and in +1831 and 32, other portions, making in the whole +fifty acres. This land, of which a small part given +in 1831 was sold at auction for £25 per acre to +203 persons, in quantities varying from one-twelfth +to one-half of an acre, at a rent of 12s. 6d. the +quarter of an acre, the land being tithe and tax +free. We invite attention to the following results, +cited in the report: +" 1. All those who received were pointed out, of persons who for- +merly had received relief, but had discontinued it since they got +land. 2. There is a general improvement in the character of the +occupiers; they are industrious and industrious and diligent. +3. Not a single instance has occurred, in which any person thus +holding lands has been taken before a magistrate for any com- + +*1.* In many instances were pointed out, of persons who for- +merly had received relief, but had discontinued it since they got +land. *2.* There is a general improvement in the character of the +occupiers; they are industrious and industrious and diligent. +*3.* Not a single instance has occurred, in which any person thus +holding lands has been taken before a magistrate for any com- + +352 +POOR LAW REFORM. + +plain. +4. The land is much improved. 5. The continued increase in the demand for allotments, is the best proof of the advantage derived from them. 6. The success of this plan has induced other parishes to adopt it. Many have done so, and it is very extensively adopted in other parts of the country.* + +At West Looe, Cornwall, within the last five years, a portion, amounting to about 100 acres, was purchased by the parish, which, at first time immemorial had been waste, was inclosed, and was let in lots from 15s. to 20s. per acre rent, the money being raised by subscription among the inhabitants; this experiment was such as to induce the parish to include another portion of about the same extent, which was all let. + +Captain Chapman's Report, gives a very interesting account of this experiment, and found it in excellent condition. The effect on the poor rate has been a diminution from 10s. to the pound to 8s.; but the moral effect upon the poor is beyond calculation. + +The most satisfactory results, which seem to recommend the allotment system, are however clouded by the failure of like experiments in other parishes. +At Westbury, Shepton Mallet, Tunbridge, and other places, where the system has been practised by the parish, it has not succeeded ; and the general conclusion seems to be, that where unpaid parishes are employed in these undertakings, success is rare; while, if conducted by private individuals, the opposite effect is produced. +The farmers throughout the country look with jealousy on the introduction of allotments; they object to the increased independence of labourers; +*This article is extracted from Mr. Power's Report.* says Mr. Power in his report from Cambridgeshire "I must not only deduct from the market of labour, but place the allotment occupier on a better footing as to the terms of the contract with his employers; and unhappily these considerations operate to the exclusion of those who would adopt it." But though this evidence however shews that there is a decided feeling in the rural districts among proprietors, in favour of inclosures and allotments for the better employment of the poor; and this feeling proceeds from a decided conviction of its utility. A legis- +* Captain Chapman's Report. + +POOR LAW REFORM. 353 + +lative provision, abolishing all tithes, taxes, and local rates, for a term of years (say fourteen) on land newly brought into cultivation, and proposing some substantial principle upon which the plan might be acted on extensively, would doubtless facilitate its operation ; while, if left entirely to work its own course against the impediments which fiscal burthen impose, its effect can be but extremely limited. + +Every county possesses a considerable area of uncultivated land, although unequal in extent; and as it is proposed to incorporate the rural parishes, a certain portion of these wastes might be attached to them, and their inhabitants rendering its claim on the waste in relative proportion to its inhabitants, or ordinary number of dependent unemployed poor. The central board of control might become the general lessees, with liberty to grant subleases on certain prescribed conditions, with a view to the better employment of the labouring poor. The means by which these wastes might be obtained, would be the parochial lands, or commonage belonging to parishes; then the crown lands, or such national domains as are not at present under cultivation ;-of course excluding those planted with timber or otherwise used for ornamental purposes. Lastly, the crown lands, if suitably assigned for the proposed object, might be claimed on lease, subject to a rent assessed by a jury. We think also that exchanges of lands possessing local conveniences might be effected on terms mutually advantageous. The employment of the unemployed poor in such works is becoming a favourite domestic policy with several continental governments. The Dutch have entered on it on a large scale, at Williamstadt. The Prus- sians are following the same plan ; and in this country it appears to be demi-officially sanctioned by the association of a large and highly patriotic portion of + +2 A + +354 +POOR LAW REFORM. + +the British nobility, to forward the object. The co-operation of the legislature is only wanting to render the exertions of the society to which we allude, highly beneficial to the state. What is to be the particular system upon which the super-numerous country labourers are to be employed, is yet to be decided; but it certainly will be in a great majority of the parishes throughout the kingdom, common lands are to be found at present comparatively useless; which, by a skilful appropriation now, and good management hereafter, would suffice to give employment and provide maintenance for every unemployed labourer in the kingdom; and, hence, expense to an important degree, the national resources. + +Estimate of the increase of the growth of agricultural produce, consequent on the employment of the poor in agriculture. It is impossible to get an estimate of the extra quantity of agricultural productions which might be supplied, if the entire body of supernumerous labourers were fully employed on the land. Our object, in forming this estimate, is to show that the extra supply, even supposing the whole of those labourers were forthwith employed, would not effect any material depreciation of prices. Suppose an area of land equal to the employment of 100,000 hands, at the average of six men to every 100 acres, were brought into cultivation,* it would measure 1,666,000 acres, being about two-thirds of the extra quantity required in England and Wales in an unoccupied state, but adapted for general cultivation. The present proportion of tilled to pasture land, appears in our table (p. 350), to be nearly as 70 to 100. We should, therefore, be warranted in calculating that the above area would eventually be cultivated in + +* Preparing the allotment system rejected, and the land divided into regular farms. + +POOR LAW REFORM. 355 + +about the same ratio. Hence we shall presume, that 686,000 acres would be applied to tillage, and 980,000 acres to pasturage, or to the growth of various grasses. + +By the table (p. 243), the proportion which the area of land appropriated to the growth of wheat, bears to the total area under tillage, is about $\frac{1}{7}$; to oats, barley, and rye, about $\frac{1}{10}$; to roots, potatoes, or other kinds of cultivation by the plough, $\frac{1}{2}$; fallow, $\frac{1}{4}$; hop grounds, pleasure grounds and gardens, $\frac{1}{2}$; buildings, roads, hedges, boundaries, &c. $\frac{1}{2}$; water courses, $\frac{1}{2}$. + +Thus the proportion of the 686,000 acres applied to wheat would be 98,000 acres; to oats, 154,000; to barley and rye, 51,000; to roots, seeds, or other cultivation by the plough, 102,000. The remainder would be in fallow, or appropriated to minor objects of culture. + +In estimating the probable annual production of this land when brought under tillage, it is necessary to consider whether the soil may be physically of good quality, yet it would be unlikely, at least until some seasons after its primary location, to produce as abundantly as lands already under cultivation. But, calculating on the average produce of an acre of land under tillage, Mr. Isaac's report shows that four bushels per acre for seed corn, the net increase of wheat would be twenty bushels per acre; of oats, thirty-two; and of barley, thirty-two. + +Presuming that these estimates form a fair approximation to reality, the extra annual quantity of wheat produced would be 385,000 quarters; of oats, 616,000; and of barley, &c. 204,000, + +*The quantity of corn raised on an acre of ground of course varies with the quality of the soil. Some soils produce on the average more than six bushels per acre; others do not produce more than sixths. The general average is supposed to be about 24; the average produce of an acre under barley cultivation is 52; and oats 32.* + +2 A 2 + +356 +POOR LAW REFORM. + +quarters ; a supply of corn very inferior to the quantity annually imported. +We invite the attention of the reader to the following summary, shewing the inferiority of this supply to meet the consumption + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Annual average import during the seven years ending 1832WheatBarley
the seven years ending 1832614,000655,000
Estimation of the supply from extended cultivation385,000616,000
Annual deficiency229,00037,000
Total deficiency of wheat Ditto oats Ditto barley229,000 37,000 24,000
Annual deficiency of corn to be supplied by foreign importTotal in quarters 290,000
+ +Had we formed the foregoing calculation from the returns of the quantity of corn imported during the four years ending 1832, the deficiency of wheat would have appeared three-fold. The annual average quantity of that grain which paid the import duty during that period being 1,008,860, would leave a deficiency of nearly 300,000 quarters, after allowing for the above additional supply. +Thus, it appears, the supply of home-grown corn would still be inferior to the consumption, by nearly 300,000 quarters per annum; and when we add the increasing demand of a population growing in the ratio of 230,000 per annum, the danger of over-production need not create alarm, while prices are moderate. + +Would this excess of production diminish price? +Now, as the market price of a commodity is regulated by the proportion of the demand to the offer; and as at present the supply of home-grown corn would still be inferior to the demand for it, the corn laws, should they be continued upon the + +POOR LAW REFORM + +357 + +present footing, would continue to hold the same degree of influence as heretofore ; hence there appears no reason to anticipate any prejudice to the interest of landed proprietors from the extension of tillage. + +**Probable advantages from employing the poor in agriculture.** Having thus endeavoured to show that no depreciation of landed property would be consequent on the measure, we shall briefly remark on the beneficial effects which may be anticipated from its adoption. + +The present charge for the support of the poor we have estimated at 6,820,000l. per annum; and the number of these, who form the community of beggars (for beggars we must consider all who receive elemosynary aid) 1,390,000. We have presumed that about 560,000 individuals are partially supported out of the parish funds, through inadequacy of wages. Now the effect of the increased demand for labour, by means of this fund, and additional employment of 120,000 persons, would so completely turn the scale of the demand for, and supply of, labourers, that the rate of wages would no doubt become adequate to the due support of the labourer and his dependents ; and hence one immeasurable advantage would result. Secondly, the diminution of rates to the extent of the amount distributed to this collective body, and the confining of the charges to the amount necessary for the relief of the aged, infirm, or unfortunate. + +There is no official information published of the relative sums paid by each parish to those contributed to those actively employed, who receive their weekly stipend from the parish overseers as a counterpoise to the inadequacy of wages, and to those who are supported by the fund through infirmity ; we are, therefore, in some degree left to speculate upon the relative sums. As a medium estimate, we + +358 +POOR LAW REFORM. + +shall presume the sum distributed as part payment of wages, to be equal to two-fifths of the total sum disbursed, which would make it 2,730,000L. per annum. Of this sum the contributors would be entirely relieved, and the charge falling chiefly upon the agriculturists, the diminution in their rates would be sufficient for the additional charge to which they might be subject from a moderate increase in the rate of wages;* indeed, it is fair to calculate, that the diminution in poor-rates would very closely approximate to the additional sum paid in the shape of wages. + +The annual revenue from the income conse- +quent on the full completion of such a system for +the employment of the poor, would, upon a mode- +rate calculation, approach eight millions sterling; +and as the present amount of state revenue bears +a ratio of about sixteen per cent. to the yearly +national produce, it may be safe to presume that an addi- +tional 1,200,000L. would be paid into the state +treasury from that source. + +We cannot conclude the present chapter without +offering a few observations on the condition of +Ireland, and the policy of introducing poor laws +into that portion of the kingdom: + +* To show the relative proportion of poor rate paid by the separate classes, I have given the following official return of the pro- +portional calculations in 1826; levied on + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Land.Devil's-houses.Mills and Factories.Massial profits.Total.
4,795,4681,843,2981,964,54596,583100,388
being to the total cost in millennial parts,
††261-24
+ +The average rate on cultivated lands, taking the number of acres +as cultivated at 27,500,000, is 3s. 3d. per acre. + +POLICY OF POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. 359 + +SECTION III.—THE POLICY OF INTRODUCING POOR LAWS INTO IRELAND. + +The evils of Ireland—Ireland and her evils are daily presented to public view as painful subjects of discussion. In that unfortunate country re- +peated confusions—-and the hideous provisions of the Catholic code—which forbids the distribution of property to nine-tenths of the people, have caused capital to centre in a few hands, and in various provinces completely severed the natural connection between industry and its reward. All the complaints of which she has suffered, and must, in some degree continue to suffer, are absenteeism—the defective administration of justice—seditionary societies—insecurity to property—religious jealousies—widely spread poverty and many others—are all centred in this fundamental curse, +—inequality in the distribution of property, engen- +dered by long courses of mistaken policy. From this cause have manufactures in the north and west have dwindled, and her people been driven, en masse, to seek subsistence from the soil, under the most severe exactions of the landlords, the clergy, and the state. + +Let us view Ireland as she now is ; placed as a link between the eastern and western continents, and in the centre of the civilised nations of Europe, she possesses a geographical position highly favour- +able for international commerce. Intersected with deep and spacious bays, and traversed with nume- +rous navigable rivers, she is clothed with an irrigated soil unequalled in fertility, and a climate so pure, so genial, that no noxious reptile could exist in it;* inhabited by a highly spirited, and constitutionally industrious, people; in short, + +* It is said that no poisonous animal, not even a toad, exists in Ireland. + +360 +POLICY OF + +possessing all the elements for the superstructure of national wealth, prosperity, and widely diffused happiness, yet exhibiting a picture of dire distress, with the mass of her people goaded by famine and debased to the lowest stage of human misery. This paradox is the result of that Machiavellian policy which, with little interruption, since the junction of the two kingdoms under James I in the person of Henry II., the British government has adopted towards Ireland. Seeking by this plan to establish an arbitrary authority, without considering the justice of the means employed, it has brought Ireland to what she is, the poorest of the peoples of Europe. + +An improved policy has, however, during the last few years, been observed towards Ireland ; and that antiquated and infernal principle, " dividi et impera," no longer characterises the measures of the imperial legislature towards the sister isle. From a state of distress, we have now on view, and we trust a prosperous career : progressing, we think, rapidly in that course, which will at no distant period mitigate her evils, and importantly add to the sum of her happiness. + +Parliamentary committee reports on the state of Ireland.—Any official information on the evils and remedies, actual state, resources, and prospects of Ireland, are so interesting to every attentive mind, and so useful as a matter of reference, that we shall here quote portions of the evidence advanced before the parliamentary committees on the state of that country in 1810, and 1820. We do not remember to have seen a parliamentary report so talented, so useful, and containing so much valuable information as that made in 1810, and reprinted in 1829. + +The report commences by noticing the evils attendant on the rapid growth of unemployed + +POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. 361 + +population in Ireland : it says, " that excessive population in proportion to the demand for labour does exist, and is fast growing in Ireland, is a fact which demands the most serious attention of the legislature, and makes it not merely a matter of humanity, but of state policy, that every reasonable encouragement should be given to labour in that portion of the empire. It continues, " the non-resident proprietors of estates, and the consequent remittance of full 50 per cent. of her rental to be expended in England, operate banefully against the accumulation of Irish capital, and enhance her claim on the general resources of the country." + +The area of Ireland was stated in evidence to be about 12,000,000 of acres, Irish, or 19,210,000 acres English admeasurement: "of this area," says the evidence, "5,710,000 acres remain in a state of primitive unproductiveness." Of this there are 2,830,000 of bog land ; 1,500,000 of uncultivated moorland ; 250,000 of waste land ; and several qualities. Messrs. Telford, Nimmo, and other able engineers, state, that of the bog land, about 1,580,000 acres, consisting of flat, red bog, might be easily adapted to the general purposes of agriculture ; and of the remainder 1,250,000 acres a considerable part might be brought into cultivation at small expense, for pasture, rearing, or dairy purposes, or perhaps still more beneficially applied to the purposes of plantation, much of the worst of it having formerly been forest land. In the high-land districts, different portions are well adapted for the same purpose ; but there are many exceptions ; but the whole is at present comparatively unproductive, from the total absence of roads, or other means of communication with the market towns, or landing places. + +* The rental of Ireland is about - 12,000,000£ per annum. +The amount remitted to England 6,000,000£ do. + +362 +POLICY OF + +The committee, referring to several reports made to the Irish House of Commons between the years 1733 and 1799, forcibly notices the highly advantageous position of Ireland as a seat for the fisheries ; " an advantage which could alone have rendered unprofitable by a most perverse and injudicious system of laws, the whole coast of Ireland." The habits of the fishermen on the coast, appears to be most miserable; and yet their general habits, character, and qualifications are highly deserving of liberal encouragement. + +From the whole current of evidence, it is conclusive, that only the northern and western coasts afford very desirable advantages for a bay or cod fishery, but that they are eminently suitable for a deep sea cod fishery of great importance, independent of that for the production of oil from the whale and basking shark, which abound in the contiguous seas. In view of this recommenda- tion of the committee to parliament to multiply the means of communication between the coast and the interior, it particularly notices the precedent by which the government acted in 1802 and 1803 with regard to the fisheries. It has approved of the principle of applying the public money for the ulterior object of encouraging the Scotch fisheries, and in that view adopted a scheme for opening the bog lands, on a prospective estimate of 150,000L., to be met by an equivalent levy on the districts to be thereby improved. " Of the signal success of that scheme," says the report, "the committee have the most satisfactory evidence." + +The improvements which have already taken place in Ireland upon the suggestion of this com- mittee, from the extension of steam navigation, have been published by very important Mr. Nimmo in 1829 represented to the parliamentary committee the deplorable state of the southern + +POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. 363 + +and western districts of Ireland, from the total absence of the means of inland communication. +He described the country as being the retreat of smugglers, robbers, and culprits of every description. Extensive lines of road have since been formed ; and Mr. Griffiths, in 1829, in speaking of the change which had been produced, says, +" A great improvement has already taken place in the vicinity of the roads. At the commencement of the works, the people flocked into them, seeking employment at any price; their looks were haggard, and their clothing wretched. Since the completion of the roads, rapid strides have been made in every direction. New houses have been built; new enclosures made, and the country has become perfectly tranquil, and exhibits a scene of industry and exertion, at once pleasing and remarkable." Mr. Kelly, confirming Mr. Nimmo's description, says that " the progress of opening the country, says, " before the formation of the roads, at Abbeyfeale and Brossa above half the congregation at mass on Sundays were bare-footed and ragged : hundreds, or even thousands of men could be got to work for sixpence a-day, if it had been offered ; but many families still remain in Tipperary and other parts. The condition of the people is now (1829) very different. The congregations at chapels are now as well clad as in other parts ; the demand for labour is increased, and a spirit of industry is getting forward since the new roads have been opened. Mr. Griffiths again speaks of the advantages Ireland derives from the intimacy of communication with England by steam navigation, says, in his evidence before the committee on the condition of the Irish poor, 1830, +"One of the effects has been to give a productive employment to the capital of persons in secondary lines of business, that formerly could not have been + +364 POLICY OF + +brought into action; he adds, "I am a daily witness to the intercourse, by means of the small traders themselves, between England and Ireland. I have known fifty tons, or 880,000 eggs, and ten tons of poultry, collected from the poorest classes, shipped in one day from Dublin to Liverpool." This is a new creation of property; that a direct tendency acts upon the situation of the poorer classes in Ireland ; for the produce is laid out in purchasing articles of clothing and manufactures, which are retailed out to the families of the peasants who rear the poultry and collect the eggs. This new trade--this mutually beneficial intercourse--is expressly productive of this result; it is entirely the result of a rapid and cheap communication by means of the roads and steam navigation;* and when the metropolis, Bristol, and Liverpool, are connected by rail-ways, and communicate by means of steam carriages, there is no reason to doubt that the same mutual advantage will ensue; and that a very large and beneficial extension ; and that a very happy effect will be produced in multiplying the means of enjoyment to both the English and Irish people. + +We have given more copious extracts from these reports than we at first intended; but from attentively perusing them, we were persuaded that the evidence they furnish of the evils of Ireland, and the convincing proofs they give of the good effect of the partial adoption of the recommendation of the committee, could not be too frequently brought to public view.* From this general tone of the + +The first steam boat was established at Cork, and Dublin was launched in 1824. In 1830, there were no less than forty-two steam-boats, measuring 8423 tons, engaged in traversing the Channel. The cost of fuel employed in this shipping trade was reported to be 671,000l. + +† Various evidences of the rapid extension of Irish commerce, clearly in consequence of these improvements and the extension of steam navigation, have lately been submitted to parliament. + +POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. +365 + +evidence of the above quoted report, there is fair reason to conclude that a variety of private in- +Mr. Spring Rice, in his place in parliament, April 1834,--debate on the motion of the member for Dublin for a committee to inquire into the state of the revenue of Ireland,--the following opinion, took that occasion to state the following comparisons and results: + +The export trade of Ireland to the single port of Liverpool was +1831 4,497,708 +1832 4,581,313 +1833 7,450,692 + +The tonnage which passed on the Grand Canal, the Royal Canal, and the Barrow, was as under: +Average of 1811-2-3. +Tonnage. +Grand Canal 29,909 +Royal Canal . . . 88,190 +The Barrow 23,770 +53,487 + +The tonnage which entered the ports of Ireland amounted for the average of the three years ending 1810 at 26,464 tons Ditto ditto 1820 961,884 Ditto ditto 1830 1,329,079 One year, ending Ditto ditto 1831 2,529 Ditto ditto 1831 2,616 Ditto ditto 1832 2,506 + +The amount of property proved under probate of wills and letters of administration for the average of the three years ending Ditto ditto 1831 2,616 Ditto ditto 1832 2,506 + +In 1825, a power of transferring stock to receive the interest in Ireland was given, since which time property to the amount of £16,000 has been transferred, the dividends on which amount to £562,000. + +As some proof of the amelioration of the condition of the Irish people, we give the following returns of the consumption of various commodities in Ireland. + +In 1777 the consumption of cotton used was 429,000 lbs. +1826 ditto ditto 4,368,000 +1793 ditto sheep's wool 450,000 cwtts. +1832 ditto ditto 342,000 +1777 ditto tea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1450 ditto ditto meat 3,857,000 +1800 ditto ditto coals 364,000 tons. +1830 ditto ditto ditto 940,000. +1890 the import of sheep's wool was 450,000 lbs. +1826 ditto ditto ditto 6,682 tons. +1860 the export of linen was 36,000,000 yards. +1826 ditto ditto 51,000,000 + +305 +POLICY OF + +terests might be reconciled with important public advantages; and that by the introduction of a plan for the cultivation of the wastes of Ireland, in connexion with other internal improvements, much might be done to correct the redundant population of Ireland, and to improve the condition of wretchedness and peril to the state, to an useful means of prosperity and national strength. + +Poor laws for Ireland advocated.—The foregoing citations are evidence as to the domestic improvement of Ireland and the extension of her commerce, seem to prove that she is at the present day in a state of active transition ; that she is merging from a state of poverty, not to prosperity, but to an improved condition; that she is increasing her income in a ratio superior to her numerical growth; and hence that her people are obtaining, in the aggregate, a greater supply of the necessaries of life. * But this expansion of commerce is not all that is necessary; let it be granted that it offers more general employment and more ample recompense for labour; yet it gives no security to individuals against want; it provides from +* Some economists have maintained that exports from Ireland are demonstrative of her increasing suffering; that by sending food out of the country she deprives her own inhabitants of the means of subsistence. Neither Ireland nor any other country gries away its wealth by sending out its produce; on the contrary, it has always been found that it is only when it has exhausted its own need of, for that it has more need of, and hence benefits by the importarce. We by no means intend by this to maintain that Ire- land does not suffer from want; but we do mean to recall due to her absence. But even by this she suffers in a far less degree than is generally supposed. If Ireland remits to this country one-fifth part of her annual produce, she does not lose 6,000,000l.; and the sum must be paid by the producers to the landlords, whether present or absent, and in either case no return is made. If Ireland remits two-fifths part of her annual sum was spent in Ireland instead of out of it, her trade would obtain all the profit on its expenditure; calculating this profit at thirty-three per cent., she may be said to lose 6,000,000l. by the absence of her inhabitants. + +POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. +367 + +no support to the helpless, the destitute, or the infirm; it does not say to the labourer who for fifty years has risen with the sun to till the earth and enrich the world, you shall not in the decline of life be left to perish of hunger in the land of your birth; it does not say to those who from accident or disease may be incapacitated for labour, or who for a season may wish to have the opportunity of profitable employment, you yet shall be preserved; it does not say to the feeble and aged widow, the state shall be to you a husband; or to the orphan, your country shall be to you a father. All this demands for a poor law to do and while this is not done, the absence of a poor law is perpetually enforced, which they cannot justify be, away with all objections as to the policy of a poor law based on principles of state economy. The demand for such a provision is too supreme to be met by any argument; for if it be true that not to feed the hungry is a crime, did we not see our hands in his innocent blood, how can we excuse the obligation attached to property, of contributing for the support of the really necessitous? Valid as may be the objections advanced to a poor law as a cause of privation to many for the safety of a few, yet because it is that necessity should suffer a diminution of their gains, than that one should perish of hunger. + +*To shew the distress which pervaded Ireland in 1832, and we fear too frequently visits her, we quote a letter written by the Rev. William Baker Storey, rector of Newport, county of Mayo, in the following terms: "I am now writing this letter from Dublin, where I find the relief of the Irish poor in London in that year." No tongue can tell, no pen describe, the state of wretchedness into which thousands were reduced by want and famine in this country by the almost total destruction of the potato crop. Particularly the aged, the infirm, and multitudes of little children are reduced to the utmost extremity. The poor man has been compelled to sell all he has; no provisions sold, except at a price far beyond the poor man's reach; he has parted with all, and his family is starving around him. I have seen all this with my own eyes; and unless + +A page from Poor Laws for Ireland. + +368 +POLICY OF + +All attempts to rule Ireland by terror have failed, and must fail; they have but produced one monotonous course of the most horrible barbarity, which has driven capital from the country, and extended the plagues of privation among the poor; and until the government perform their bounden duty, of obliging the rich, or the possessors of property, to contribute to the sustenance of those really neces- +sitous, all coercive measures enacted for the suppression of crime, disaffection, and rebellion, must and ought to fail. It is vain to expect in- +ternal peace from a people who have never felt hunger, among whom are but few of our legislators, know well that man devoured by famine is reckless of life and character - moved by the worst passions, ready to listen to any leader who incites him to unlawful acts, or to join in any enterprise calculated to disturb tranquillity, or re- +gards as causing his suffering. It is impossible in this state to impress him with the necessity of respecting property, or to inculcate in his mind any virtuous principles. A poor law, which offered security in the day of the utmost need-which afforded a means of subsistence during times of starvation, would, in our opinion, prove a needful remedy for the ills of Ireland ; it would act as oil poured on troubled waters; as the sovereign elixir for the complicated evils which afflict the Irish community ; or, as the learned and virtuous Dr. Boyle has said, "the surest remedy." It would give security to property, encourage investment in that vast field for improvement which Ireland presents; it would place the Hibernian in that speedy relief afforded, I expect to see the work of death com- +mence in a manner that will render all attempts to check it almost hopeless. + +J. Dunbrain, Esq., inspector general of the coast blockade for Ireland, says, many are living on sea weed and such shell fish as they can procure. The visitation of such distress as is here described, calls loudly for protection by a poor law. + +POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. +369 + +position when it would be possible that he could receive wholesome and useful instruction, and be taught to uphold the laws and the national institutions of his country, and to love them as his oppressors;—thus he would grow in honesty and virtuous principle; he would acquire a taste for the comforts of life, and learn how to direct his efforts to obtain a small stock of those necessary domestic articles, which attach a man to his home, and civilise him by engaging, preserving, and cultivating. This would revive his anxiety to obtain more, and thus to advance in the career of social existence; for where shall we find a truth more universally illustrated throughout the whole family of man, than that the love of property increases with the possession of it? + +These truths, which advocate the introduction of poor laws into Ireland, are rapidly growing into conviction in the minds of our legislators. Even some of the leading political economists of the day, who for a long time were opposed to the measure, now concur in the policy of introducing them upon the soil. It is evident that the opposition of the Irish landholders, from motives which would bear but little scrutiny, and the objections of those few who view the tranquilising effect to be anticipated from the operation of Irish poor laws as a prelude to the decline of their political ascendancy, must yield to the force of public opinion, and the acknowledged equity of the measure. + +**Estimate of the probable amount of charge on the landed rental by a poor law.—The leading objection to the introduction of such a law into Ireland, is founded upon the magnitude of the charge which they would entail on the landed rent; and judging from the almost universal poverty which pervades Ireland, there is too much reason to fear that** + +2 B + +370 +POLICY OF + +the change would be very great. But all calcula- +tions on this point, and all objections to Irish poor +laws, are based upon the immensity of the sums +collected for the relief of the poor, or more properly +for the management of labourers, in England, +and the vast evils which the corruption of the +original principles of the statute have effected. +No government in Ireland would think of +extending the English poor laws with the bene- +ficial provisions of the 36th Geo. III., to Ireland ; +the impolicy of such provisions is clearly demon- +strated by the valuable information collected by +the late commission, which is as important in +guiding us in this matter as it was in reforming English poor laws. Without entering +upon the principles which may be adopted with +respect to poor laws for Ireland (without doubt +they would be considered in connexion with +various local improvements), we will suppose the +provisions of the 9th George I. to be extended to +that portion of Ireland which has been settled ; it is +fair to estimate that the expense would not greatly +exceed the amount collected in England when that +wise statute operated, and the English community +numbered about the same as the numerical com- +plement of the Irish population at the present day. +To form a correct idea of what might be +collected upon this data,—which we think fair and +reasonable,—we are referred to the year 1782, +when we find the population of England and Wales to have been 8,020,000 souls, and the total +amount of the cess for the relief of the poor and for other purposes, including education, £500,000; +now adding twenty per cent. to this sum for the +greater poverty of Ireland compared with England in 1782, the amount required for the support of +the Irish poor would be about 2,500,000; a very +large sum we admit, but very far from being such a sum as,—to use the phraseology of the day,— + +POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. +371 + +" would swallow up the whole of the rental." The annual landed rental of Ireland may be very moderately computed at 12,000,000l. Hence, the cess at the foregoing ample computation would only amount to about twenty-two per cent. of it; but whatever it might amount to, it would occa- +sion an extra expenditure in the country of at least a moiety of the sum collected ; that is, pre- +suming half of the rental of Ireland to be now remitted to England, and then assuming by this means an extra 1,200,000l was retained in Ire- +land and distributed to the unfortunate peasantry, +instead of being remitted to England to support the non-resident Irish landlords, it would greatly exceed any extra expenditure which the most sagacious statesman could anticipate. The repeal of the absentees or by the reintegration of a legis- +lative assembly in that portion of the kingdom. +Those who call for " poor laws, or the repeal of the legislative union," would do well to bisect the phrase ; to cling to its prior member, and renounce the latter. It is a more effective and more profitable concession to the Irish people : and had that measure been urged by the member for Dublin with the same zeal as he demanded the repeal of the union, his demand would not have been nega- +tive, as was that motion, by a majority of the Irish +and likewise by a majority of those who would have received that strong demonstration of public feeling in its favour, which must have speedily ensured its triumph. Looking at the question as a subject of economy, it is a matter of nice calcula- +tion to determine whether poor laws for Ireland are not advisable. The Irish poor are, and must be kept at home; the charge for doing must necessarily fall on property. In the place of a legal provision, plunder, mendicity, robbery, and such means are made available. Of the amount thus obtained, of course we can form no estimate ; +2 s 2 + +372 POLICY OF + +but doubtless, from the frequency of degradation, and the great number of beggars, it is very large. +Add to this the amount annually raised by volun- +tary subscription ; the moneys paid out of the +English poor fund for the support of Irish poor +in this country ; the parliamentary grants, and +the sums granted by England to the Irish clergy, +from the impossibility of collecting their dues in +that country ; the cost of maintaining Ireland +by a numerous police and a large military force ; +the cost of the arms employed, and the mitraille +expended for this purpose ; the amount of these +various items might equal or surpass that required +under any such enactment, which would at once +sweep away so far the greater part of this unhappy +character of charges—-but who, with a view of shewing that the amount expended in support of a coercive system is inferior to that +which would be demanded under a poor law +assess, could uphold, a fortiori, the continuance +of the present system, when the great work of car- +rying real reform into the social condition of Ireland is attainable by the introduction of poor laws? It would be a libel against the imperial parliament to pretend that any of its members could base their objections upon the measure upon such a calculation—and we are convinced that when this measure is essentially passed by gov- +ernment—which it must be very speedily—that it will meet all the support which its great import- +ance merits. We deeply regret that ministers have not thought proper to propose during the present session a renewal of the obnoxious coercion bill of 1833. Had this been done, the success of the great work of tranquillising that unfortunate country would have been more fully assured, in a manner infinitely more gratifying and salutary. There never can be any union in spirit between England and Ire- + +14 + +POOR LAWS FOR IRELAND. 373 + +land, until the Irish people enjoy all the privileges of British subjects. Politically speaking, we must forget that the deep sea separates Ireland from British ground, and rule her as though she stood in the same position to England as the Isle of Wight. + +When the rental of Ireland shall be charged with the support of the Irish poor; individual interest will powerfully urge her nobility, landowners, and political representatives, earnestly to apply themselves to ameliorate the condition of the Irish labourer, so that the least possible deduction may be made in the rent and value of their estates; for in proportion as one class is benefited by the other, so will the charge augment on the other, and hence their income be virtually contracted. + +With these remarks we dismiss the present subject. Much remains to be done; much that lies within the reach of the government to do, as applicable to both parts of the kingdom; and it is earnestly hoped that they will make better employment of the parochial poor, and for the removal of those obstacles which now impede the progress of instruction,—giving a freer scope to every instrument which may elevate the intellectual and moral condition of the humble classes,—will contribute greatly to improve our legislation; and that such wholesome reforms will be progressively introduced, as offer a well grounded anticipation of important and felicitous results. + +374 + +CHAPTER III. + +AGRICULTURE, AND THE PRACTICAL OPERATION OF THE CORN LAWS. + +SECTION I.—HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CORN TRADE. +The state of our agriculture, and the practical operation of the laws which govern our corn trade, will form the succeeding subjects of disquisition. +We propose to divide this inquiry into three separate heads : embracing, I. An historical sketch of the British corn trade; II. Some comments on the present state of our agriculture, and the prospective effect of free trade in grain, upon vested interests; and III. Remarks on the expediency of the entire abandonment of restrictive regulations. + +HISTORICAL SKETCH. +Early statutes relative to commerce in grain— +The interference of the legislature in the free course of the British corn trade, dates from a remote age. All the early statutes referring to the first three centuries immediately succeeding the Norman accession to the English crown, were intended to promote commerce by prohibiting contraband, and importation admitted on easy terms. These statutes were framed with what was supposed to be the dictates of common sense, the object being to promote as large a supply of the necessaries of life as possible; but that the contrary effect was produced, is very + +AGRICULTURE AND CORN LAWS. 375 + +evident from the frequent occurrence of direful famine in those days of feudal ignorance. The first Act we meet with authorising the exportation of grain was passed in 1436 (15th of Henry VI.), by which it became lawful to export corn when the home price did not exceed 6s. 8d. per quarter, equal to about 12s. 10d. of our present money ; barley was allowed to be exported when the price did not surpass 10s. per quarter. In determining the home price, it is probable that these limits were little regarded. The 3d Edward IV. (1463) gave birth to an Act of somewhat novel character, imports being prohibited when corn reached the export limit, and exports from turbulence of times, and the frequent revolutions in the regal government, parliamentary enactments could command but little respect. This statute, however, continued unrepealed nearly a century, when it was superseded by the Act passed in 1562, (4th Elizabeth) which extended the export limit to 10s. per quarter for wheat and 6s. 8d. for barley and malt; prices extremely low, when we consider that the currency had been re-adjusted, and was in point of metallic weight and fineness the same as at present. This Act was in a few years repealed; and in 1571, a new enactment permitted the exportation of wheat at a duty of 2s. per quarter when its price was not under 20s.; and barley and malt at a duty of 1s. 4d. when the price was under 12s. per quarter. This doubling of price in a few years is very remarkable, and its causes have been a subject of considerable discussion with political economists; but it has been generally attributed to the effect of remittances of specie, which at this time began to flow into Europe from the Americas, and the general expansion of commerce towards the east by the happy discovery of a marine passage to the Indies. These conjunct causes may in some degree have operated; but a more probable solution of the + +376 +AGRICULTURE + +problem will be found in the general prevalence of war throughout Europe at this period. Without, however, determining the really operative causes of this enhancement of price, we find it to have been progressive, as implied by the Act of 1623 (21st James I.), which raised the export limit to 32s. per quarter for wheat, and 16s. for barley and oats; but this was only part of the origin of the unfortunate Charles I., whose tempest took in the waves of civil commotion, was not only deprived of the protection which a firm government affords to the rights of property, but goaded, raved, and plundered by the contending factions—the principal cause of the revolution. The early years of the republic, attained the very high rate of 58s. per quarter. The rise was yet in some degree nominal ; the debasement of the currency, by clipping and filing, adding considerably to the apparent price of commodities. After the restoration, and the return to a more precise and orderly system pursued by Mr. Pitt; these prices, concurrent with greatly increased charges on production, from causes not unlike those which have operated in late years, pressed heavily on vested interests, and induced the legislature to adopt various expedients to counteract it. By the 12th Charles II., 1660, 11s. per quarter; the export limit was increased from 32s. to 40s. per quarter for wheat, and proportionally increased in other grain; but the measure being deemed by the agriculturists insufficient to the desired object, they obtained in 1663 an Act, increasing the export limit to 48s., and conferring a fixed duty for an ad valorem tax on exportation. + +These Acts, of course, implied an intention to carry prices up to the export limit, the legislature always inferring that foreign consumers would increase their offers in relative proportion to the demands of the British parliament. The opera- + +AND CORN LAWS. 377 + +tion of the Act, however, proved the fallacy of such an anticipation, the average price for the seven years ending 1670 was exceeding 41s. 6d. per quarter. It seems probable that these vexatious restrictions to a free trade in corn tended in some degree to impart a stimulus to agriculture on the European continent, for in the year 1670 we find the agriculturists imploring legislative protection against the importation of corn, by means mainly through foreign importations, and obtaining a new Act, which extended the export limit for wheat to 53s. 4d. per quarter, and for other grain in proportion, at the same time imposing a duty on foreign wheat of 16s. per quarter until the price rose to the export limit of 8s. per quarter, the prices of wheat rated between 53s. 4d. and 80s., on barley, the import duty was fixed at 8s. per quarter; and on oats, 6s. 4d. Little effect, however, emanated from the Act, partly in consequence of the continuance of the duties on export, caused by the necessities of the crown (see finance chapter), recourse to exportation of corn being but more especially from the inadequacy of our own growth of corn to meet the consumption. During the nineteen years, 1671 to 1689, prices continued below the export and import limit, averaging for the ten years ending 1680, 44s. 6d., and for the nine years ending 1689, the unusual depression of 34s. 1d. per quarter. + +Laws against engrossing corn.—A material, or rather remarkable alteration occurs in the regulation of this subject during the reign of William III., ex- +isted from a remote age severe enactments against engrossing corn, the government always inferring, that the corn factor, dealer, or agent in distribution, had interests opposed to the common weal; viewed the existence of this useful class with great distrust, as tending to raise prices to the consumer, while it depressed the remuneration to the farmer. + +378 +AGRICULTURE + +Various chronologists bear evidence of the unhappy consequences of the laws which proscribed the operations of the corn dealer or "corn en-grosser." Farmers were generally without the means of holding their corn for any considerable time after the harvest; hence, however deficient the harvest might prove, food was always abundant during the winter months, and no distress was experienced until the ensuing spring or summer. In that part of the year, corn usually rose to four or five times its price in the months of September and October, producing a degree of suffering among the humbler classes which words can but inadequately describe. The speculators in capital and corn en-grossers, we are no longer exposed to these vicissitudes : the speculators in corn, by their more extended sphere of information, are better judges of the state of the harvests than the located agriculturists or the ordinary consumers ; and immediately at the approach of a season is known, care is employed to buy up the corn, and warn the people of the necessity of being sparing by a rise in the price. Thus the nation is, as it were, immediately the necessity occurs, put on short allowance ; and the stock being more or less distributed throughout the year, the degree of suffering inseparable from a deficient season is diminished in intensity in proportion to the length of its endurance; seldom—in these days of corn en-grossers and speculators—producing those periodical plagues and morbid diseases, which are so frequently mentioned in history, during the middle ages. + +*The improvidence of the unfortunate peasantry in the south and west of Ireland, who exist during the year on the preceding crop of potatoes, usually produces a great scarcity towards the latter part of winter; and this is in some degree attributable to the absence of capital and traders in that part of the country.* + +A page from a book with text about agriculture. + +AND CORN LAWS. 379 + +As the erroneous conclusions respecting the tend- +ency of the operations of the corn engroger gra- +dually became more obvious, so the severity of these +ridiculous enactments were modified—some relaxa- +tion of the restrictions against corn factors was made +by the Act of 1634: and in 1683 (16 Car. II. c. 7), +"engrossing corn," or as we now call it—"holding +corn for a longer than legal, so long as the price +did not exceed 48s., a limit allowed universally above the market currency." This Act, Dr. Smith +justly observes, has, with all its imperfections, done +more to promote plenty than any other in the sta- +tute book. But it was not until 1773, that the last +remnant of this law was removed, and that the freedom of the trade of corn dealers, was abolished. +"Engrossing corn" has, notwithstanding, since +that period been, and we believe is at the present +day, held to be an offence at common law; and it +is a remarkable fact, that so lately as the year 1800, +a corn dealer was convicted by a judge and jury +of this offence in this country. The corn dealer, +on reflection, refrained from calling up the sup- +posed delinquent to receive his sentence, and it +is to be hoped that this is the last instance that +common sense will be so outraged in this country +by such a disgraceful proceeding. + +But reverting from this to our digression, we pro- +ceed in our historical sketch. During the five cen- +turies immediately posterior to the Conquest, to the +reign of Elizabeth, importation had been substan- +tially free, and exportation discouraged, with a view +of ensuring low prices to the consumer. After the +reign of James I., when England was subject to +the turbulent times of the commonwealth, the +opinion began to pervade the legislature that the +agriculturists required a more extended sphere for +the sale of their produce, and to a certain extent + +* See M'Culloch's Dictionary, article Corn. + +380 +AGRICULTURE + +the monopoly of the home market—hence the increase of the export limit, and the restrictions on imports, by the statutes of 1623, 1660, 1663, and 1670. Little effect emanated from all these enactments, prices being usually under both the export and import limits. + +The Bounty Act of 1689.—A new era now opens in the political and commercial history of Britain. The war of the revolution—the conflict in Ireland—the reforms of the currency—in short, an altered position both positive and relative, necessitated pecuniary sacrifices far exceeding those submitted to during the preceding period; and they formed a large addition to the ordinary rates of taxation. + +To provide the necessary funds for upholding the new system was, in these times of limited external commerce and deficient internal capital, no easy task. Land was considered as the principal source of income, and higher prices for its produce were encouraged as one of the most convenient forms of taxation. By the 1st William and Mary, c. 12, not only was the exportation of grain rendered free by the repeal of the duties on export, but encouraged by a bounty of 5s. per quarter on wheat, when the price was under 2s. 6d.; on rye, when it exceeded that sum; on 2s. 6d. barley and malt, when under 2s.; while the restrictions on the importation of grain remained the same as in 1670. By a subsequent Act, a bounty of 2s. 6d. on the exportation of oats was also granted. These bounties were given in anticipation of the imposition of duties upon foreign grain; but, owing to the resistance which they met with from those who had been benefited by them, and upon the landed interest, was not likely to meet the assent of the great estate holders without some concomitant measure of indemnity. Restrictions on the importation, and bounties on the exportation of grain, were expected to secure to the agriculturists an increased price for their produce, and to + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
380AGRICULTURE
the monopoly of the home market—hence the increase of the export limit, and the restrictions on imports, by the statutes of 1623, 1660, 1663, and 1670. Little effect emanated from all these enactments, prices being usually under both the export and import limits.
The Bounty Act of 1689.—A new era now opens in the political and commercial history of Britain. The war of the revolution—the conflict in Ireland—the reforms of the currency—in short, an altered position both positive and relative, necessitated pecuniary sacrifices far exceeding those submitted to during the preceding period; and they formed a large addition to the ordinary rates of taxation.
To provide the necessary funds for upholding the new system was, in these times of limited external commerce and deficient internal capital, no easy task. Land was considered as the principal source of income, and higher prices for its produce were encouraged as one of the most convenient forms of taxation. By the 1st William and Mary, c. 12, not only was the exportation of grain rendered free by the repeal of the duties on export, but encouraged by a bounty of 5s. per quarter on wheat, when the price was under 2s. 6d.; on rye, when it exceeded that sum; on 2s. 6d. barley and malt, when under 2s.; while the restrictions on the importation of grain remained the same as in 1670. By a subsequent Act, a bounty of 2s. 6d. on the exportation of oats was also granted. These bounties were given in anticipation of the imposition of duties upon foreign grain; but, owing to the resistance which they met with from those who had been benefited by them, and upon the landed interest, was not likely to meet the assent of the great estate holders without some concomitant measure of indemnity. Restrictions on the importation, and bounties on the exportation of grain, were expected to secure to the agriculturists an increased price for their produce, and to
+ +AND CORN LAWS. +381 + +the landlords an increase of rent in relative proportion ; thus indemnifying the landed interest for the amount of the tax levied, or rather trans- +ferring it from the producer to the consumer. + +High prices for grain, the never-failing accom- +paniment of war, followed the passing of this Act : +a rise by no means caused by legislative enact- +ments, but by circumstances in a great degree similar to those which prevailed during the late war period ; such a curtailment of productive power, +arising from the demands of the government for +men and money to recruit and maintain the forces ; +to which causes may be added the occurrence of +an unusual number of deficient seasons during this period. +From the year 1760, when the Bounty Act, +from which this wonderful advantage was initi- +cipated by the landed interest, to the peace of +Ryswick, wheat was usually above the export limit +price, or 48s.; and without admitting that the +measure of 1688 in any degree caused this rise (for +the law of 1670 forbidding the export of wheat +when its price was 48s. did not actually negatived the Bounty Act during this period); yet its imaginary influence, together with the +higher prices which followed, in an important +degree encouraged the progressive application of +capital to tillage, and hence laid the foundation of +that excess which, during the following half cen- +tury, kept prices far below their previous ordinary level. + +The prices of corn during the fifty years suc- +ceeding the peace of Ryswick, preserved a remark- +able steadiness, wheat being usually about 45s., +or about 13s. per quarter below the export limit ; +evidencing the gratifying fact, that the very engine +which the selfish landed proprietors had employed +to increase prices, and thus starve the community, +was turned into a powerful instrument for their +own punishment. + +382 +AGRICULTURE + +**Table of the import and export of wheat from the years 1701 to 1764.**—We shall here give, in a tabular form, a return of the quantity of wheat exported during the first sixty-four years of the 18th century, illustrating the expansion of British agriculture during that period. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Years, or periods.Qn. of Wheat imported.Qn. of Wheat exported.Excess of export over import.Annual average quantity exported.
1701 to 17202,9042,172,4702,170,566108,013335,141
1721 to 1730193193,856193,8568,165,9318,165,931
1731 - 17401740174017407,995,395335,141
+ +Notwithstanding a growth of population of little less than thirty per cent. during this period, the surplus produce increased three-fold; a fact which seems to bid defiance to the most ingenious devices of the legislature to increase unnaturally the price of corn. + +This rapid increase in the quantity of agricultural produce raised, does not appear to have been so much the result of the expansion of the area brought into cultivation, as to improvement in the art of agriculture, and the extra labour and capital employed in farming the lands already under tillage. From the report of a parliamentary committee, it appears that in the reigns of Queen Anne, George I. and George II., the area brought into cultivation was as follows: + +| No. of acres brought into cultivation | No. of acres enclosed | +|--------------------------------------|-----------------------| +| Belgium | 2 | +| Anne | 2 | +| George I. | 16 | +| George II. | 266 | +| | 338,177 | + +Thus it appears that the area brought under cultivation from the accession of queen Anne, 1700, to the demise of George II., or to the termination of the session of 1759, was only 338,177 acres (of + +AND CORN LAWS. 383 + +which the greater proportion in a few years became pasture land), being an addition of about one and a half per cent. to the area under cultivation in England and Wales at the demise of William III.; while the increase of home consumers was fully twenty-six per cent., and the extension in the quantity of grain exported very large. This fact is very important, as illustrating how much more the quantity of production depends upon the amount of labour bestowed on a given surface, than on the extent over which it is applied; provoking also the very limited acquaintance of our ancestors with the physical capacities of the soil, and unfavourable to that estimate of its value, the probability of our being, even at the present day, very imperfectly informed as to the elementary properties of land, and as to the accuracy of general geological deductions: we may also add, that these premises, based on returns of more recent date, will appear equally well founded. + +**Rise of prices and cessation of corn export subsequent to 1756.—In the very principle of commerce there is action and reaction, and the low returns made for the capital employed in agriculture during the late forty years, gave a different direction to our efforts.* + +The year of 1756, conducted at an unprecedented expense, opened new channels for the more profitable employment of capital in manufactures, and caused a large subtraction of labourers from the pursuits of productive industry, to man the fleets which were sent out to America for grain had also induced many landed proprietors to convert their tilled lands into pasture grounds; and hence, towards the latter years of the contest (1760-62), supplies of grain became scanty, and exportation comparatively ceased. + +The official returns of the import and export of + +384 +AGRICULTURE + +wheat during the nine years ending 1773, make it appear that the consumption more than equalled the home production; and this fact receives confirmation by the orders in council, issued 1767, laying an embargo on all grain destined for exportation, and forbidding the use of wheat in the distilleries. Thus vanished all preceding legislative enactments, bovities on export and duties on import being known but in name, and virtually ceasing to operate. + +The quantity of wheat imported and exported during the years from 1765 to 1773, was as under: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Qn. of wheatQn. of wheatExcess of importsAnual average import.
1,051492,595509,59856,399
+ +A change so sudden in the accustomed course of trade during a period of uninterrupted peace, when capital became more abundant and the supply of hands increased, is remarkable enough in the history of British agriculture; that the cause of this change could not be the mere effect of a numerical increase of consumers to the extent of about seven per cent. is evident, but that there was any decrease in the annual supply of corn of home growth is contrary to evidence. Mr. Cowper says that the annual average quantity of wheat raised from the commencement of the reign of George III. (1760) amounted to about 3,800,000 quarters, of which about 300,000 were sent out of the kingdom, leaving about 3,500,000 for home consumption. In 1773, the annual production of wheat was stated at just over 4,000,000 quarters; all of which, with the addition of about 100,000 quarters per annum imported, were consumed in Britain. If these statements are to be credited, they infer that while the number of mouths had increased about twelve per cent., the actual consumption of wheat had increased eighteen per cent. +* Treatise on National Subsistance, p. 180. + +AND CORN LAWS. +385 + +a result which appears extremely probable, when we consider the great extension of our commerce, and the growth of manufactures, particularly of cotton, which improved machinery was at this time effecting. By these important mechanical inventions, which economised manual labour, the working classes were more fully employed, and the expanding demand for workmen augmented the price of labour. The consequent increase of wages was the consequence, and an enlarged consumption of food, superior in quality to that ordinarily consumed in previous times, the result.* + +Corn law of 1773. This change suggested the corn law of 1773; a law which implied that England was henceforth to be considered rather than an import than an export country of grain. The statute of the above year repealed the Act of 1670, and permitted the import of wheat when the price exceeded 4s., at a nominal duty of sixpence per quarter; and barley, when the price exceeded 4s., at the rate of twoopence per quarter, and of oats, when the price exceeded 16s. at the same rate of duty. The export limit was also reduced to 44s. for wheat;† The Act of 1773, admitting the free importation of grain when the price surpassed the previously appointed limits, being more moderate in its demands than any preceding enactment was better calculated to maintain a superiority of price over the market price of grain on the continent. + +When prices exceeded 40s. per quarter--being perhaps a fair return for the expenses on production.--the English markets were kept in check by + +* The above apparent paradox is fully explained, pp. 240-44. After the repeal of the Act of 1670, wheat was generally substituted for rye by the labouring classes. +† Dr. Adam Smith says there seems to be a great deal of impropriety in prohibiting exports until together immediately the price of wheat attains the limit; when the bounty, given to force it, is withdrawn. + +2 c + +386 +AGRICULTURE + +foreign importations; and no irrational inducement being offered for large investments of capital in bringing new lands into cultivation, the demand and supply were nicely poised, import or export alternately occurring in conformity with the state of the seasons. To what degree import predominated will be seen by the following return:— + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Period.Qn. of wheat.Qn. of wheat.Ecosm of Aver.Aver. annual duty on wheat.
1774 to 915,435,7213,167,7901,267,92270,440
+ +**State of the corn trade at the commencement of the late war, and Act of 1791.**—We now approach the eventful period of the late war, which was replete with vicissitude in the commerce of the state, and unfolding the most useful lessons for the due and practical government of transmariner trade. During the two years preceding the ever to be deplored rupture with France, the price of wheat fluctuated between 2s. 6d. per quarter and 3s. per quarter, which being insufficient to satisfy the exigency of the landed proprietors, they obtained in 1791 a new act of parliament, by which the bounty on export was extended until the home price of wheat reached 4s. The import limit was raised from 4s. to 5s. per quarter, and a duty of 2s. 6d. per quarter was imposed on all and every additional duties on other imported grain. The Act also enacted that foreign wheat might at any time be imported and warehoused under the king's lock, and re-exported duty free, but if sold for home consumption it became liable to a warehouse duty of 2s. per quarter, and to a duty on all other duties. This Act, securing to the British grower a more strict monopoly, became in a great measure eclipsed by circumstances arising from the French war, which unfolded to view a certainty of increasing prices in all essential necessaries of life, and hence a co-existent increase of charge on pro- + +A table showing data about wheat imports and exports from 1774 to 1791. + +AND CORN LAWS. 387 + +duction. Yet the policy of the British government towards France tended for a time to retard the rise of prices, which, in ordinary course, must have immediately followed the commencement of hostilities. France, at this time, distracted by the revolutionary tempest, which paralysed the springs of her forces, felt grievously the effects of famine and the miseries ofarchy; and in order to engender among the French people a dislike to the revolution, and a national demand for the re-integration of the ancient regime, the British government determined to direct its utmost efforts to aggravate, in that country, the existing dearth. With this view, Parliament passed an act (see p. 50), Feb. 1793, prohibiting the exportation of grain to the French ports ; which, together with strict measures to prevent supplies reaching that country, and the large importations brought into England, depressed the price of grain in the English market; and according to the returns for the year ending 1794 being 46s. 9d.; and this depression would, doubtless, have been more considerable, had not the government, interfering in operations foreign to its office, bought up large quantities of corn, which, in some measure, counteracted the effect of supposed scarcity. + +The partial deficiency of crops which consecutively occurred in the years 1794 and 5, joined to the influence of the war, relieved the market of the redundant quantity, and carried prices in the latter year to 72s. 11d. + +Corn Bounty Act of 1795.—The credit of France sinking under the pressure of circumstances, and the nation being disgusted with the sanguinary course of the revolutionary factions, a new attempt was made by the British ministers to starve her into subjection, or to increase the expense of maintaining an armed force, so as to place resistance to th... + +2 c 2 + +388 +AGRICULTURE + +United efforts of Great Britain and Austria beyond her power. With this view Mr. Pitt determined to make a vigorous attempt to raise the price of grain on the continent, and to make Great Britain the storehouse for all the disposable grain of Europe. Hence he obtained the sanction of parliament (1795), allowing a bounty of from 16s. to 20s. per quarter on all ordinary quality wheat imported from the north of Europe, until the quantity imported should amount to 900,000 quarters ; of from 12s. to 15s. per quarter on wheat from the south of Europe or the Americas, until the quantity imported should amount to 500,000 quarters ; and of from 8s. to 10s. on such additional quantity as might be imported previous to the 30th September, 1796. + +This truly ridiculous measure, so "full of sound and fury," could of course make no impression on the price of grain ; for, the bounty being part of the purchase-money paid by the government for wheat purchased was just minus the sum of the bounty in comparison with what it would have been if the trade had been free. That the plan failed in practice is evident from the fact, that the quantity of wheat imported from the north of Europe (430,000 quar ters) during the whole period of its operation, did not amount to a moiety of the limited quantity to which the bounty was attached ; and the total import from foreign parts upon which the bounty was paid, did not exceed 700,000 quarters, being just half the quantity limited by the Bounty Act—a result which fell very far short of the anticipations of the government. + +Fluctuations in the price of corn, from 1796 to 1800.—The season of 1796 proving abundant, not only in this country, but throughout the greater part of Europe, prices gradually declined ; and the +* The amount paid for bounty on corn imported under the Act of 1795, was 572,418/. + +AND CORN LAWS. +389 + +government, convinced of the futility of their late attempt to starve their enemies into subjection, returned to that policy from which, in our opinion, they departed with great misfortune. They were forced to admit the import of all grain free of duty and free of bounty. The fall of prices, which commenced towards the close of the year 1796, continued progressive during the years 1797 and 1798; the average price of wheat, which in 1796 was 70s. 5d., became in 1797 60s. 4d., and in 1798 50s. 4d. This fall of prices alarmed the landed interest; and notwithstanding the almost total failure of all former political schemes to raise the price of corn, they again applied for, and obtained the sanction of parliament to an Act imposing a duty of 2s. 6d. per quarter, on all imported grain. + +The large amount paid to foreigners for supplies of grain during the years 1795 and 6, turning the balance of commercial payments against England, had a powerful effect on our exchanges, and concurred with other causes to drain us of bullion and to stop the bank. The Exemption Act, which followed this unfortunate transaction, hence opened a great facility for raising nominal capital, and hence provided a renewed stimulus to agriculture. The application of these means to farming investments was powerfully encouraged by the distressing season of 1799 and 1800, which, with the extension of this scheme, seemed to occur as penal retributions for our iniquitous attempts to starve Europe into submission. + +As soon as the deficiency of the wet season of 1799 was confirmed, prices rose rapidly, carrying the average of the year to 60s. 11d. After the corn harvest, the price fell so low, which proved unfortunately for the rise in price was still more important, and averaged for that year 110s. 5d. In the spring of 1801, fine wheats attained the extraordinary price of 180s. per quarter, and notwith- + +390 +AGRICULTURE + +standing the rapid fall during the autumn of that year, wheat maintained the average rate of 115s. 1d. These prices were wholly unprecedented in Britain, and caused that severe distress, which in a great degree resembles that mentioned in the latter years of the reign of Elizabet. + +**Bounty Act of 1801.** —These high prices induced the government (in 1799), to reduce the import duty from 2s. 6d. to 6d. per. quarter—and in 1800 to recur to the plan of granting bounties on the importation of grain. These bounties were regulated on an ascending scale, according to the quality of the grain ; and subtracted from the exchequer, for corn imported during the three years ending 1809, no less than 2,150,078l. + +**Fall of prices at the peace of Amiens, and Act of 1804.** —The peace which succeeded to this eventful period, restoring free transmarine intercourse with the northern European nations, concurred with the favourable effects of 1802 to give a sudden check to these high rates ; and the average price which in the latter year had been 67s. 9d. became in 1803, 57s. 1d. So sudden a fall in the price of agricultural produce, was a subject of no little embarrassment to those who had invested property in agriculture during the late period. Legislative aid was again invoked to restore remunerating prices. The landed interest maintained, that the prices of 1804 would not admit of the cultivation of the poor soils which had been broken up in the dear years being continued, and pernicious measures were adopted by Parliament, which closed the ports against importations of foreign wheat until the home currency should reach 63s.; imposing a middle duty of 2s. 6d. per quarter when prices rated between 63s. and 60s., and a nominal + +AND CORN LAWS. 391 + +tax of sixpence per quarter when it surpassed that limit. A new plan was also at this time devised for more accurately determining the home prices of grain. By the Act of 1791, the maritime counties were divided into four maritime districts, and the prices regulated by the particular prices of each; by the Act of 1804, they were regulated by the aggregate prices of all the maritime districts; the averages were taken four times a year, so that the ports continued either opened or closed for three months; during the following session, an Act passed by which importations and exportations of grain were regulated by the average prices of the twelve maritime districts. + +**Inutility of the Act of 1804; permanent rise of price subsequent to that year.—The abrupt renewal of the war with France in 1803, was, however, in itself quite sufficient to have spared the legislature the trouble of statutory on the corn trade ; all the nice machinery of the Act of 1804, being of about as much avail as the resolution of Xerxes to command obedience from the sea by chastising it with stripes. + +The years 1803 and 1804 had passed over without any pecuniary pressure; but the formation of a new coalition against Austria, Russia, and the drain of hands and capital for the war, produced in the summer of 1805 a sudden revolution in our exchanges, depressing the value of Bank paper about four per cent., and causing a relative rise in the price of merchandise. The season of 1804 un- happily proved to be one of scarcity; and the prices of grain was a natural consequence. Wheat attaining for the entire year of 1805 the average price of 67s. 1d. or about 22s. per quarter above the import limit in bullion. During the years 1806-7 and 8, the nation was in a measure independent of foreign supplies; but the prices for three consecutive years being 76s. 8d.; 73s. 1d.; 78s. 11d., + +392 +AGRICULTURE + +—rates considerably above the import limit,—our ports remained open. In 1809, prices were enhanced from various causes. Our remittances to the Peninsula and Austria depressed, in an important degree, the relative value of Bank paper to gold. The harvest of 1809 was unfavourable; and the season of 1810 following, suffered a more calamitous deficiency. The expenditure of the government increased, and the operation of the war taking a wider range, the demand on our manufactures became proportionally enlarged. Foreign commerce in the year 1809 was especially extensive, partly because greats to augment the supply of labour, and thus to expand the power of purchase; hence the prices of wheat rose to the annual average of 94s. 5d., or about 23s. above the import limit in bullion. + +From this time, the depression in the exchanges powerfully operated to increase the nominal price of corn. The poor and deficient harvest of 1809, carried the average for the year 1810 to 103s. 3d. The season of 1810 was unusually abundant; but causes of a permanent nature, "the effect of the war," continuing to operate with increasing vigour, the currency of the markets did not average for the year 1811 less than 92a. 5d. + +**Extreme prices in 1812-13.—This was the year in which the resources of the British empire were put to the severest test : a deficient harvest,—a currency depreciated to the extent of fifteen to twenty per cent., excessive demands for specie for maintaining the forces in the Peninsula,—the necessity of extending powerful pecuniary aid to the leviathan Muscovite,—all tended to press heavily on resources already dilapidated by un— + +* Mr. Baring says, that gold remitted to Hambro in 1809, returned a profit of £2 per cent. on the mint price. +† The amount of marine expenses in this year, was £26,258,5007. + +A page from a historical document discussing agricultural prices and economic conditions during the Napoleonic Wars. + +AND CORN LAWS. +393 + +precedented sacrifices. The prices of provisions soon sympathized with the extended demand and the deficient supply; when averaging, for the year 1812, 122s. per quarter; and for 1813, despite of the abundant season of 1812,—106s. 6d. + +At no period during the past century, were the profits of the agriculturists more remunerating than from the year 1811, to the peace of 1814. It was the heyday of prosperity to farming interests. Beans, wheat, and other articles of commerce depreciated from twenty-five to thirty per cent., the agriculturists felt in no degree the pressure of high rents, while prices afforded an indemnity far exceeding their original calculations. Thus, investments in land and farming stock, became a favourite speculation for the benefit of capital; rents and tithe received a rapid increase, and profits augmented to a degree which far surpassed any previous anticipation. + +Such were the prospects of the agriculturists, and the laws which governed the importation of foreign grain, and the taxation of the war; prospects doomed to undergo a bitter disappointment on the return of a pacific era. + +**Transition from war to peace.—The cessation of so many causes which had produced the enormous rise of prices during the war, together with the diminution of the charges on foreign importations, naturally caused a rapid fall in the prices of agricultural productions. Bread corn, which averaged in 1812, 122s., at one part of the year rose to 123s. per quarter: subsequent to the harvest of 1812, prices began to recede, and in the following year fell to an average of 106s. 6d. + +Parliamentary resolutions, and committee reports on the corn trade, between 1813 and 15; and corn bill of the latter year.—Previous to the fall of + +394 +AGRICULTURE + +prices in 1813, a parliamentary committee had been appointed, to inquire into the state of the corn trade "which is acted on by a mixture of ignorance and selfishness, hardly to be credited in men of their station in society," agreed in the wise resolve of r.commanding to parliament, prohibition of import, until our home currency reached 105s. per quarter for wheat, and other grain in proportion. The farmers, however, inclined to favour the landed interest, and yet were com- +pletely stultified as to propose to parliament the adoption of such a recommendation, and hence it was treated with the contempt it merited. In the early part of the session of 1814, the House of Commons came to certain resolutions. 1st. That it was expedient to suspend all duties on importation of wheat, whatever might be the home price. 2ndly. To impose a graduated scale of duties on the importation of foreign grain, as follows—" when the price of wheat should be at, or under 64s. per quarter, the import duty should be 24s. per quarter, decreasing one shilling for every one shilling rise in the price; until the home currency should reach 86s., when foreign wheat should be admitted for home consumption, at a duty of one shilling per quarter. These resolutions were at the time but little in favour with the great majority of the people; but they attracted attention as a proof of a price on the necessaries of life, at a time when our manufacturers were entering on a new field of com- +petition with foreigners, was popularly stigmatized as a most injudicious and nefarious policy. These opinions being well grounded, reached the cabinet, where the conflicting views of its members pre- +vented that which would have been decisive measure. The landed interest yielded to the opposition, perhaps under the vain expectation, that prices would rise without legislative interference; hence the bill + +* Committee Report on Agriculture, May, 1813.* + +AND CORN LAWS. +395 + +imposing prohibitory duties miscarried, while the enactment permitting the free exportation of grain with the bounties granted in 1689, passed into law. + +In 1814, another committee was appointed, to inquire into the operation of the laws affecting the corn trade. The witnesses examined were unani- +mously of opinion that the corn law of 1804 was insufficient to enable farmers to pay their en- +gagements, or to retain in cultivation the poorer soils which had been broken up during the time of high prices. Some of the country gentlemen, who came to enlighten the committee by their vast fund of practical knowledge, thought that the very +modern price of wheat per quarter should be the lowest at which foreign wheat should be allowed to be imported ; others varied in their estimates from 90s. to 100s., 80s. to 90s., and a few so low, as 80s. The committee were, how- +ever, contented with the lowest estimate, and recom- +mended 75s. per quarter for wheat should be +the future import duty. + +Upon this report, ministers prepared the corn bill of 1815, and Mr. Robinson (now Lord Ripon) was deputed to propose the measure to parliament. +Neither ministers nor the advocates for high rates seemed to be aware of the effect on prices of a rise in the value of money, which had been about 20 per cent.; and despite of all opposition, and the wise warning of the public voice, succeeded in ob- +taining the sanction of parliament to a measure +which prohibited wheat when the home price should be under 75s. ; ye, rye, oats, barley, +beir or bigge 40s. ; and oats 26s. Importations from the colonies were also prohibited, when our current prices were under 67s. for wheat; 44s. for rye and beans; 32s. for barley &c.; and 22s. for oats. By this Act all foreign grain might be im- +ported and warehoused for exportation, duty free ; + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ +396 +AGRICULTURE + +but the bounty on British grain exported was abo- +lished. Immediately that peace opened the unre- +stricted navigation of the ocean, the importations +of foreign grain became extremely large, and even +the reduced prices of 1814 offered ample remunera- +tion to the cultivators for their operations during +that year—were conducted on an extensive scale. +The immediate effect of the bill of 1815—which is +perhaps the most unfortunate statute passed during +the last 100 years—was to close the ports against +any further supplies, and to cause demands for +higher prices. These demands were shortly answered, +partly by the anticipation of the crop of 1816, but +more particularly from the distressing deficiency of +the crop of 1816; the effect of which to carry +prices far beyond the import limit, and to occasion +during the years 1817 and 1818, supplies of corn from +the European and American continents, which +have since been absent in like proportion at any simi- +lar interval of time. Notwithstanding these im- +mense supplies,—surpassing 5,300,000 quarters of +grain—(see table, p. 432) prices rose rapidly, reach- +ing from 63s. 8d., the average of the year 1815, to +90s. in the autumn of 1817. In 1818, the average of the year 1817 . after the harvest of the latter year, they began to show a tendency to de- +cline, and the season of 1818 proving abundant, +they fell to an average of 83s. 8d. for that year. + +Effects of the Corn Bill of 1815.—The Act of +1815 remained inoperative, except during the early +part of the year 1816. That the subsequent rise in +price proceeded from causes almost entirely in- +dependent of legislative enactment, is evident from +the inefficiency of foreign importations, although +conducted on an immense scale, to reduce prices +below the import limit, ere the abundance of +the season of 1818 was confirmed. But the high +prices which followed the passing of the Act, + + + + + + +
Effects of the Corn Bill of 1815.The Act of 1815 remained inoperative, except during the early part of the year 1816. That the subsequent rise in price proceeded from causes almost entirely independent of legislative enactment, is evident from the inefficiency of foreign importations, although conducted on an immense scale, to reduce prices below the import limit, ere the abundance of the season of 1818 was confirmed. But the high prices which followed the passing of the Act,
+ +AND CORN LAWS. 397 + +revived the drooping spirits of the farmer; and this confidence in the vain security which the statute pretended to offer, that the permanent minimum price for wheat should be 80s., caused a renewed extension of tillage. The country had been so long fed by foreign importations, that the idea of its being able to produce a sufficiency of food for its rapidly increasing population, was now almost whimsical; and thus new investments of capital in agriculture were deemed quite safe, under the firm protection afforded by a legislative enactment. No sooner, however, did this extension of tillage begin to operate in increasing the supplies, than which the prices fell, and the home consumption abundantly proved to be an indubitable fact. The growth of 1819, 1820, and 21, decidedly surpassed the home consumption. The ports were closed against foreign importation, yet the prices of wheat receded, falling in 1819 to 72s. 3d.; and in 1820 to 65s. 3d.; the agriculturists were confounded, yet despite all their labours, the price of grain fell in 1821 to 54s. 5d., and in the autumn of 1822 to the extreme depression of 38s. 2d., averaging for the whole year 43s. 3d. + +Thus, the unfortunate corn law of 1815, had the very contrary effect to that intended, and had not the innocent sufferer with the guilty; selfish monopolists, the punishment would have been happily commensurate with the deserts of those who demanded the statute. In vain did the landed interest in 1821 appeal to parliament for relief. The legislature, having abused its functions, ceased to possess the power which it ought to possess; and when it remained unpaid—farming stock sold at ruinous rates, and the agriculturists throughout the kingdom experienced in no slight degree, the beggary and ruin they intended for others. + +Re-action of prices after 1822.—That extreme depression in the prices of merchandise always carries its own antidote, is a maxim too evident to + +398 +AGRICULTURE + +require any comment; and the prices of 1821-2 having so depressed the profits and wages of the agriculturists, as to induce a rapid transfer of labour and capital from husbandry to trade and manufactures, prices in 1823 began to recover, averaging for that year 51s. 9d. The rise continued slowly progressive, and resumed, in 1824, an average of 50s. 6d., but the full prosperity year for all classes, and the agriculturists obtained their full proportion, prices averaging 60s. 6d. + +The spring and summer of 1826 proving prematurely arid, and the crops indicating a general deficiency, the government determined to check a further advance of prices by a measure deemed necessary, from the extreme embarrassment into which the commerce of the country had been plunged by the events of the early part of the year; hence Orders in Council were issued, "admitting for home consumption, a quantity not exceeding 500,000 quarters of wheat, at such rates as should be thought advisable by the Board of Trade." This measure, which is characteristic of the promptitude of Mr. Canning, had the effect of preventing any further rise in the price of grain ere the harvest of the year was gathered; and the crop proving more abundant than was anticipated, the average currency of the year did not exceed 58s. 9d.* + +This measure was but the prelude to a revision of the laws which governed the importation of grain. Mr. Canning, in 1827, proposed to parliament certain resolutions, to the effect that foreign corn might be taxed imposed in order to be warehouse duty, and always admitted on home consumption on payment of certain duties. It was resolved, that in the instance of the average current price of wheat being 70s., the duty charged + +* The standard, or imperial measure, which came into operation in 1826, being somewhat more than the Winchester measure, 58s. 9d. is only equivalent to 57s. computed by the old measure. + +AND CORN LAWS. 399 + +should be one shilling per quarter; the duty in- +creasing one shilling with every shilling decrease +in the market price of wheat: the scale was also +extended to other corn. These resolutions were +embodied in a Bill, which passed the House of +Commons with a large majority, and which was +considered by many as a great improvement +on previous corn laws; but in the House of Lords, +the Duke of Wellington having succeeded in car- +rying an amendment interdicting the admission +of foreign wheat until the home price reached 60s., +ministers abandoned the Bill, considering such an +amendment incompatible with its general principles. + +**Corn Bill of 1828.—Upon the accession of the Duke of Wellington to office, during the year 1828, a Bill, very similar to that which he had formerly opposed, was introduced by his govern- +ment, the chief provisions of which were to admit +the importation of foreign wheat at reduced duties +calculated in relation to the usual comparison of +prices in the British and foreign markets. By +this enactment, it was intended to secure to the +home grower a monopoly, when prices might be +under 60s. per quarter. The practical operation +of this Bill shall hereafter notice; and shall +here give a copy of the ascending scale of duties +which it enforces. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Duty.
If the average price of wheat s. d. +during six weeks is at or above73, the import duty is
If under 73s. and not less than 7273
— 72— 71
— 71— 70
— 70— 69
— 69— 68
— 68— 67
— 67— 66
— 66— 65
— 65— 64
— 64— 63
— 63— 62
— 62— 61
Duty.
+ +A table showing the duty rates for different wheat prices. + +The following table shows the duty rates for different wheat prices: + +| Wheat Price | Duty | +|-------------|------| +| Above £73 | £73 | +| Between £73 and £72 | £71 | +| Between £72 and £71 | £70 | +| Between £71 and £70 | £69 | +| Between £70 and £69 | £68 | +| Between £69 and £68 | £67 | +| Between £68 and £67 | £66 | +| Between £67 and £66 | £65 | +| Between £66 and £65 | £64 | +| Between £65 and £64 | £63 | +| Between £64 and £63 | £62 | +| Between £63 and £62 | £61 | + +This table shows that the duty rate decreases as the wheat price decreases. For example, if the wheat price is above £73, the duty rate is £73. If the wheat price is between £73 and £72, the duty rate is £71. This pattern continues down to a wheat price of below £61, where the duty rate is £1. + +400 +AGRICULTURE AND CORN LAWS. + +By the above scale, it appears that the decrease of duty is co-equal with the increase of price, when the latter ranges between 61s. and 67s. per quarter; after the price reaches 67s., the duty decreases 2s. for every shilling rise in the price of wheat, until the latter reaches 69s. When the prices range between 69s. and 71s., the duty decreases one shilling per quarter for every shilling rise; and when between 71s. and 73s., four shillings upon the same ratio; when at or above 73s., the duty is one shilling per quarter. + +Barley, when rating under 33s. and not under 32s. per quarter, is subject to a duty of 13s. 10d.; the rate increases by one shilling, viz. 14s. 6d. for every shilling rise in the price, until it reaches 41s., when it is fixed at 1s. per quarter. + +Oats, if under 25s. and not under 24s., pay 10s. 9d. per quarter duty, which decreases 1s. 6d. per quarter, until the price reaches 31s. when the duty is fixed at 1s. + +Such is the law which at the present day governs the importation of foreign grain. In the succeeding section we purpose discussing the practical operation of our corn laws, and the expediency of their repeal. + +OPERATION OF THE CORN LAWS. +401 + +SECTION II. PRACTICAL OPERATION OF OUR CORN LAWS. + +Question as to the efficacy of corn laws discussed. It is no difficult task to prove the utter impolicy of any legislation entrenching and restricting the free ingress and egress of breadstuffs. A retrospect of the results of the various statutes which have been framed by our legislators, will convince the most sceptical, of the inability of our law makers to effect any permanent benefit either to the community generally, or to any particular class, by the perversion of the natural laws which govern our productive power or international commerce, while the injury done by the attempt is frequently of the most beneficial description. That the effects of the various enactments passed to regulate the trade and govern the prices of corn have ordinarily been in direct consequence of their design, is proved in almost every instance to which we refer. The object of all the early statutes was to ensure low prices and abundance; their effects were high prices and scarcity. The object of the bounty granted on the exportation, and the restrictions on the importation of grain, both of which were to ensue high prices and stimulate tillage; its effect during forty years was to depress prices far below their previous limit, and to cause that torpid state of agriculture so remarkable during the half century previous to the American War. All the Acts passed since 1815, with one exception, have operated to increase the corn trade during the last war were inoperative; but in no instance was the triumph of justice and reason over malevolence and ignorance more forcibly evinced, than in the results which followed the enactment of 1815. From the stimulus given to tillage by the high prices following 1808, our + +2 S + +402 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + +supplies so much increased, that in 1812 and 1813 our home growth of corn was quite equal to our consumption ; it was therefore evident, that had our ports been hermetically sealed against importations, the first abundant harvest would occasion a rapid fall of prices : the operative effect of that ill advised statute was to favour an erroneous notion, both in England and on the continent, that prices could never rise above a certain level, above the import limit, and that they could only be kept in check by foreign supplies, from reaching a greater elevation. This opinion was calculated to create a temporary rise of price, and to favour the accumulation of large stocks of grain on the continent, which, when realised, caused the stock of the whole of the granaries of Europe to be poured, at one fell swoop, into the English markets ;-thus unnaturally depressing prices, and causing those sudden jerks in our agricultural, commercial, and financial concerns, which could but be followed by the most disastrous effects. These effects indeed were too severely felt during the four or five years following 1818. But such consequences, however disastrous, are very inferior to those which would follow, if the legisla- ture could give full effect to its intentions. It is impossible to exaggerate the disastrous evil consequent on the Corn Bill of 1815, had it continued permanently operative. This Bill, which was trumpeted forth by Parliament as necessary to maintain the prosperity of British agriculture and commerce, would, if its operation had been commensurate with its pretensions, have been attended with the most ruinous effects to both. If indeed effect could be given to such laws, the nation might starve amidst surrounding plenty; or at any rate the dearth would be proportional to the magnitude of the prohibition. It would + +OF THE CORN LAWS. 403 + +have compelled us to have had recourse to such expensive means of raising food, and of employing so large a proportion of our productive power in unprofitable agriculture, that the means of supporting the national burdens would have been wholly inadequate to their pressure. Emigration of capital and talent to less taxed countries would have been carried on extensively, and our power of performing public works would have been, except at a most distressing reduction of wages, quite out of the question. Had the Corn Bill of 1815 been rejected, and no inducement held out by the government to extend tillage in the anticipation of permanently high prices, the conversion of arable lands into pasture which has taken place since 1814, would have progressed, all the unfortunate investments made in 1815, 16 and 17, been avoided, supply and demand been more equally poised, the transition from high to moderate prices more gradual, and less severely felt; and the agricultural ruin which distinguished the years 1821, 22, and 23 came by the introduction of a great degree prevented. The Act of 1828 was in itself quite sufficient, because its provisions would, for a season, have been chiefly inoperative, and in subsequent years have counteracted any extreme depression; hence a more steady and permanent advantage in price would have been maintained over the continental markets. + +EFFECT OF THE CORN BILL OF 1828. +The Act of 1828, by reducing the import limit, and gradually increasing the facility with which supplies with the need for them, has been more effectively supplied to this country; its demands, although too large, being comparatively more moderate. By diminishing the probability of extreme prices, investments in agriculture have, in a degree, been discouraged; and in spite of partial + +2 b 2 + +404 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + +deficiencies of crop during the first two years, and more abundant seasons in the two latter years of its operation, a more than usual steadiness of price has been maintained. To what extent this Act taxes the consumer for the benefit of the producer, or rather, of the landlord and other co-partners in the produce, is a question which involves much inquiry, and to the elucidation of which we shall here offer some data. + +**Estimate of the annual production and consumption of grain in Great Britain.** — As a prelude to the elucidation of the question as to the tax imposed on the consumer by this Act, it will be found that it is first necessary to form some approximate estimate of the quantity of corn raised and consumed in Britain. Several calculations have from time to time appeared on this subject, founded chiefly on the number of acres under tillage, and the average quantity per acre. The following table gives Mr. Charles Smith's results: + +Mr. Charles Smith, author of Tracts on Corn, made some curious calculations on the consumption of grain, referring to the year 1765; and by reducing it to the standard of wheat, he found it to be equal to about one quarter to every inhabitant. The manufacture of flour in county of Suffolk in the year 1765 was investigated with a view to the purpose of ascertaining the consumption of bread by each family, and found Mr. Smith's calculations very accurate. + +The calculation of Mr. Smith, referring to 1765, is as under: he takes the population of England and Wales at 6,000,000 souls. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
PopulationTotal consumption
3,750,000 consume 1 qr. of wheat per head3,750,000
888,00014 rye ditto999,000
739,00011 barley ditto1,016,000
624,00024 oats ditto1,391,000
6,000,000 Total bread corn consumed by man7,556,000
+ +A table showing population and total consumption of grain. + +OF THE CORN LAWS. +405 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Brought forward—quantity consumed7,556,000
Wheat used for distillation and in starch making90,000
Barley ditto and for malting3,417,000
Rye for hops, &c.31,000
Corn for horses, &c.2,848,000
Total home consumption13,553,000
Klasses of imports over imports284,694
Add for seed (one tenth)1,395,447
Total production of all corn15,349,071
+ +This table has, we believe, formed the foundation for various subsequent calculations; but the time elapsed since 1765 has, undoubtedly, worked a material change in the accustomed diet of the labouring classes, and consequently a variation in the relative consumption of the different sorts of grain. + +We have already noticed the estimate of Sir F. M. Eden, of the relative consumption of wheat, barley, and rye, as food for man, referring to the year 1760. The two latter descriptions of grain are now, as regards England and Wales, rarely consumed as bread corn. Barley, but more especially rye, is still extensively cultivated in Scotland in the shape of bread. The general improvement in the condition of the British people has, doubtless, enlarged the consumption of meat, and probably, in some degree, diminished the relative consumption of bread. + +In 1823, Mr. Lowe estimated the corn produce of the soil of England and Wales to be, viz: +Wheat : 12,000,000 qrs. +Barley : 7,000,000 +Oats : 10,000,000 + +Total : 29,000,000 + +The produce of the soil during the four or five years previous to 1823, having been about equal to the quantity consumed, the above calculation bears reference to both production and consumption. Since that year, the increased consumption + +406 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + +of wheat has perhaps not surpassed the relative increase of mouths. The quantity of barley and oats consumed has doubtless increased in a greater ratio, from the great excess in the quantity used in the breweries and distilleries; but as Mr. Lowe's calculation of the consumption of barley is decidedly too large, our estimate for the present year will still be more moderate. + +Upon these premises, and the data furnished in various official documents, we may hazard an estimate of the consumption of grain at the present date, with reference to Great Britain. We compute the population at the end of 1833 to be 10,800,000 souls. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
PeopleQuartersTotal consumption
15,000,000 consume 650,00014,455,00014,455,000
650,00021cats1,869,000*
550,00018barley and rye894,000
Total corn consumed in bread17,388,000
Wheat used in the distilleries, 100,900, and in March, 8199 quarters.103,100
Barley used for matting, 4,655,000; in the distilleries, 880,900; for pigs, and other purposes 200,900 quarters.5,735,000
Oats for horses and other cattle, 11,592,999; for other purposes, 100,999 quarters (partly used in the distilleries)13,856,999
Pigs, beans, and other sorts of grain2,269,999
Total consumption of grain in Britain36,321,109
+ +From the defective returns of the state of cultivation in Ireland, a detailed estimate of the production and consumption of grain in that country would be difficult to make. It is however usually computed that the Irish consume about one-fourth the quantity of grain consumed in Britain, while the quantity produced amounts + +* Present State of England (Appendix p. 91). +† This is intended to include the oatmeal consumed otherwise than in bread. + +**OF THE CORN LAWS.** 407 + +to fully one-third. Upon this estimate the produc- +tion of grain in the United Kingdom, in the +average of two years, ending 1833, stands thus : + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Total consumption of grain in Great BritainQuarters.
Add for Ireland, one-fourth36,500,000
Total quantity of grain consumed9,100,000
Add for seed, one-tenth45,500,000
Total grain produced in Great Britain and Ireland*50,100,000
+ +Having thus completed our estimate of the con- +sumption and production of corn in the United +Kingdom, which, when compared with the esti- +mates of the consumption in other countries, +is moderate; our next subject is to determine, in +what degree the operation of the present corn law +influences the price of grain in the English mar- +kets, and hence to what extent it taxes the British community. + +**Superiority in the price of grain in Great Britain, +over the Continent, deduced from the Consuls' returns** + +The comparison of the prices of grain in the +principal shipping ports of continental Europe, +compared with the prices in the British markets, +furnishes the best, or perhaps only data, for com- +putation on this subject. In their most familiar +form, the consuls' returns of the prices of wheat in +the north of Europe, at various intervening dates, +from 1829 to 1833 ; also an estimate of the expense +of transport, the prices of wheat in the British +markets, and the superiority of price maintained. + +* During the two past years, the production of grain in the United Kingdom, has very nearly equalled the consumption. Thus the quantity of the quantity consumed, will also refer to the quantity produced. +Whaten bread is seldom found in the cabin of the Irish peasant in England; but his daily consumption of wheat is not comparatively so large as in England. The quantity of barley used in the distilleries is immense. + +408 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Shipping Ports.Average prices of wheat per ton for the year 1825.Consols at which these prices could be obtained in London, for the quarter.Total price at which these consols could be obtained in London, for the quarter.Average price in London, for the quarter.Superiority of price in London, for the quarter.
Dantzig43 5 7 6a. d. c. d. c. d.43 5 7 643 5 7 615 4
St. Petersburg34 9 8 3a. d. c. d. c. d.34 9 8 334 9 8 323 3
Riga35 11 2a. d. c. d. c. d.35 11 235 11 222 10
Mamel39 6 5 6a. d. c. d. c. d.39 6 5 639 6 5 621 3
Hamburgh.
+ +Another return of this description was presented to parliament during the session of 1833. Noting the prices at various shipping ports in Europe and America, between October 1829, and July 1832, the subjoined table, deduced from the above-named document, will refer to the latter year only. + + + +Taking the average of the two periods referred to, + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +This includes shipping charges, and lighthouse from St. +Peterburg to St. +Peterburg. +There is no official estimate of the expenses of transport in +this return, but we have calculated them rather above the actual sum. +Taking the average of these two periods referred to, +the superiority of the price of wheat in the British +markets over that average price in continental +ports is about £25s per Quarter; but allowing for +the +Taking the average of these two periods referred to, +the superiority of the price of wheat in British +markets over that average price in continental +ports is about £25s per Quarter; but allowing +for +Taking the average of these two periods referred to, +the superiority of +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +Taking th +409 + +expenses of transport, the corn law seems, through this period of four years, to have imposed a duty on wheat of 17s. 6d. per quarter; being without doubt, the highest duty ever imposed by any act of parliament on record, and by far too oppressive to remain in operation. Our table (page 432), will shew what proportion of this tax was paid to the government—and what remained for the landed interest. We are, however, disposed to admit some restriction from the large superiority in price, on account of the difference in the quality of corn on which the average prices are calculated in the foreign and British ports. The usual description of foreign wheats shipped to England, furnishes but a very imperfect sample of the quality on which the average prices are calculated abroad— for the British law subjecting foreign wheat of every quality to the same rate of duty, it is fair to presume that the best descriptions, only, are brought to the English markets; it being evidently to the interest of the importers to pay a high duty on that description which sells for the higher prices; the proportion of duty diminishing with the increasing price obtained. Hence we may reasonably infer, that there is a difference of ten per cent., or about 4s. per quarter, on account of difference of quality in the wheat on which the average prices are computed in the British market. If we deduct this sum, if we add 1s. 6d. per quarter for landing charges, storing, merchants' commission, &c., we shall reduce the excess of price maintained in wheat, through the operation of the Act, to about 12s. per quarter; which is still a very important reduction. + +Sixty shillings may be taken as the medium price in the English market for a quarter of wheat between the years 1829 and 1833, therefore this 12s. extra price may be computed at twenty per + +410 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + +cent., which is perhaps about the ratio of the excess of price on all grain, through the operation of the corn laws. + +Now taking the medium price of all corn, at 4d. per quarter, and the consumption of grain in Great Britain, at 36,000,000 of quarters, the money expended for grain amounts to 72,000,000L.* twenty per cent. on which, amounts to 14,500,000L. being the apparent direct tax levied on the consumers by the corn law; but as a large proportion of the consumers (of agriculturalists) are both receivers and payers of this tax, the pressure on the community cannot be computed at so large an amount; allowing one third on this account, the tax on corn paid by the consumer, amounts to the annual average sum of about 9,700,000L.; but if we were to extend our view to the influence which the price of bread has on all the prime necessities of life, our estimate would be at least double. + +Such we find to be the present operation of the British corn laws; and it now remains to be considered, whether, duly weighing all the several interests affected by them, they are productive either of restriction to a free trade in corn, they work to the advantage or disadvantage of the British community. + +The policy of restrictions to a free trade in corn discussed. The rent of land, it is evident, is the surplus which remains, after every charge incurred in cultivation. Rent may be substantially divided into three portions: viz. landlord's profit; tithes; and such portion of the charge for the support of the poor, as is applied to the maintenance of the aged, impotent, and infirm. The foregoing returns + +* Ireland perhaps receives as much as she pays, by the operation of the corn law, we therefore leave her out of the calculation. + +OF THE CORN LAWS. +411 + +seem to warrant the opinion, that the total abolition of all restrictions on the import of corn, would bring prices in the British market to within about 10s. per quarter of those of the country, thus the sum being about equivalent to the expense of transport; and if, as a fair average, we take the standard or ordinary price of wheat in the corn exporting countries laid by the Baltic at the very probable currency of 38s. per quarter, the standard price in England would be 28s. per quarter. This may be considered equivalent to a reduction of about 12s. per quarter on wheat, taking the average price of the last three years at 60s. per quarter; and if we admit that this 20 per cent. depreciation on wheat is a fair estimate of the fall on all articles consequent upon the removal of all restrictions to a free import of corn, we may infer that the money rent of land would depreciate in the same ratio. + +**Question:** Is the landlord benefited by corn laws? + +To the landlord the question arises, whether, in placing this depreciation of income on one side of the account, and the various advantages consequent on the return to a "natural state of things," by the abolition of the corn law, on the other, it is to his interest to advocate or oppose such a measure? Let it be granted, as a hypothesis, that by the repeal of all restrictions on corn, landlords' income would diminish 20 per cent., where would he find the counterpoise? First, it is clear that the fall of income would be concomitant with a similar depreciation in the prime necessities of life, but it would not, in a general sense, be equivalent to a rise in the value of those articles which constitute the usual roll of the items which usually constitute the disbursements of those expending large incomes. + +* We suppose 12s. per quarter to be the difference of price, from which we deduct 2s. per quarter for the importer's profit. + +A page from a book discussing corn laws. + +412 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + +Such items of expenditure as servants' wages, * salaries, professional fees, education at the public schools or universities, the cost of articles of luxury, and the productions of the fine arts, which ab- +sorb a material portion of the expenditure of the +higher orders, being scarcely susceptible of an im- +mediate and complete reduction, that an equal or +nearly equivalent reduction of these items of +expenditure would eventually fall a fall in the +prime necessaries of life, is very probable, but +the operation would be slow, and the full accom- +plishment remote. Yet a fall of prices in articles +of prime necessity would give a tendency to ge- +neral rise in the value of money, and disbur- +ments of a superficial character; and, as no incon- +siderable portion of the expenditure of the higher, +or rather richer, classes, is disbursed directly and +indirectly in commodities of prime necessity, in +which the fall would be 20 per cent., we may + +* There are, perhaps, no services which, in England, are more +amply remunerated than those of domestic servants. In all +other countries they suffer a great depreciation during the last +twenty years, the wages paid to domestic servants have un- +doubtedly increased. The increase in the price of clothing is +one of this class; and the very considerably diminished the cost of +clothing, which, we presume, constitutes the chief disbursement +of female domestic servants, has diminished since the peace, at +least 80 per cent. The cost of food has risen about 30 per cent., +equivalent to 271. twenty years since. The number of female servants in Britain is upwards of 700,000; and if their ages were calculated by age groups, it will be found that nearly one-third +of all the British damsels, between the ages of fifteen and twenty- +five, are domestic servants; yet, notwithstanding this immense supply of labourers for domestic service, their wages have fallen as their +wages rise, and their prosperity is strikingly evinced by their +elegant garments, and costly decorations. Male servants are +not so numerous as female servants; but they also enjoy high wages, +and the services of a footman, gratuitously educated at the parish +school, already command an equal remuneration, and promise to continue so long as they can perform their duties. It is evident that +expended huge sums in the acquisition of prime lore at the uni- +versities. This proves that the useful are beginning to be appreci- +ated. + +A page from a book with text on it. + +OF THE CORN LAWS. +413 + +fairly estimate that they would meet a counterpoise amounting to half, or ten per cent., from this source; leaving still a deficiency of income to a like amount. If our landlords would refer to the interesting report of the parliamentary committee on agriculture, in 1821, they would there find most useful, and we think sound, advice, as to the course which ought to be pursued at the present time. The report was calculated to make the landed interest to the folly of high restrictive duties on the importation of foreign corn, and to the injurious tendency of that discouragement to foreign competition which has so remarkably distinguished their progress since 1689. The committee specially notices that the bounty system of 1689, whatever might be its early operations, was accompanied by a torpid state of agriculture for the half century previous to 1773; and that one cause (we presume, by their noticing it, that they considered it a material cause) of the prosperity of our agricultural districts during the last forty years is its retrospective exemption from legislative interference. The advice of the committee was, to return, by cautious steps, to an unrestricted state of intercourse. This valuable advice, coming from those who were the professed, and undoubtedly the best, friends to the landed interest, has been neglected by unheeded; and it has unhappily been forgotten in the current of events. The charges on cultivation have been in a great measure retained; and the British growers of corn, who, from limited information, are unable to judge of the natural effect of unlimited competition with the immense force of the monopoly, have become the innocent victims to their credulity. The evidence adduced before the agricultural committee of 1810,* which indeed, would apply at the present day—and in + +* Our readers are well aware, this was a time of great deficiency of home-grown corn to meet the consumption. + +414 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + +our opinion will apply fifty years hence—should have warned the landed interest of the impossibi- +lity of retaining high prices on agricultural pro- +duce. Mr. Beecher, of Suffolk, being asked by the committee whether he considered the import +limit of this time (63s.) as too low, answered in +substance— + +"If the import limit was raised 20s. a quarter, or to 84s. +instead of 75s., the effect would be, on a notice given that that +would be the import price after the 30th of September in any +year, the consumption of the country would be fully provided for at home, and the price would fall." + +Q.—Could it be provided for in the first year, without cross cropping? + +A.—I observe that the lands now sown with wheat are not +in the high state generally they might be ; and this I am aware of, +that every additional hosing of the wheat crop will give, upon an average, one hosing more than twice as much as experi- +ment more than once in the same fields. By not hosing, hosing +once, and hoisting twice, the difference has been—with one hosing, +two hosing more, and upwards ; and in that hosing twice, four +bushels more. + +Here we have the opinion of a gentleman of +practical science as an agriculturist, of the ability +of farmers to increase to a large extent, and almost +spontaneously, the supply of wheat on a given +surface, by the employment of additional labour; +so that the price may tend so as to pay a profit on +the labour employed, all the excess of corn law +vanishes ; but it is from the effect of the growing +imports of corn from Ireland, that landlords must +expect the most decided opposition to any corn laws +which purposed to maintain high prices. Those +who ought to know best on these points are the stakers +of agriculture in that country, and its amazing fer- +tility, must be aware that the least improvement +must occasion a very large and rapid addition to +her ordinary produce. Since the opening of the +western districts, and cheap steam communication +with England her trade has rapidly increased; + +A page from a book with text discussing agricultural practices and prices. + +OF THE CORN LAWS. +415 + +and in comparing the imports of Irish corn at the present day, with her import 25 to 30 years ago, we find them to have increased seven-fold. (See table, page 365, n.) No corn law can be im- +posed against the trade of Ireland ; all such measures must be, even if established from the +English councils ; and with such a power of supply, Ireland is fast growing into that productive +state, when she will teach the British manufacto- +rers to mock any effort of a statesman to raise +the price of grain, by imposing corn laws. + +All this only shews our power, after a few sea- +sons, to resist the imposition of a corn law ; +but it is in the interval that the greatest wrong is +inflicted on society by restrictive measures. How- +ever extraordinary, yet it is an undoubted fact, +that small capitalists are induced to occupy under +the expectation that the prices of grain will be +permanently raised ; and that the import laws im- +posed by law ; and this idea pervades all the agri- +cultural classes, they exert every effort, while the +law is young, to withhold supplies, under the im- +pression that they will improve ; in fact, a general +idea usually prevails, that prices will advance ; and +this temporary stimulus to markets succeeds, for a +season, but fails ; and this prior illustration of +this proposition, we could refer to the state of the markets in 1805, 1816, 1823, and 1829, all years immediately succeeding a new corn law ;*—now +the effect of this is, that the tenant engages to rent +a farm upon an erroneous calculation of the value +of the produce ; and thus he becomes a debtor for a term of years; the clergyman triennially + +
Ports.Average prices of wheat per ton for the year April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February, March.Estimated charges on board for passage from Port of London to Port of London.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.Average price in London for the quarter.Superiority of price in London for the quarter.
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a.d.c.d.cDantzig
Hamburgh.
Mamel
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+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Years of a new Corn Bill.
s.Succeeding years.s.
181563 8181076 2
182243 3182351 9
182860 5183066 3
+ +*Years of a new Corn Bill. + +416 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + +commutes the tithe, and other contracts are blindly entered into by the credulous tenant. After the first effect of the new corn law has passed, the tenant finds all his calculations erroneous; --his monopoly of the home market but ideal, and having no means of export, except at the most ruinous prices; --his capital sinks--lands become neglected, his estate depreciates in value, and at the end of a few years, the tenant abandons the farm; and the landlord finds, that although the corn law has transferred some portion of the tenant's capital into his hands, yet that the sum is very inadequate to repair the injury done to his estate by the inefficiency of the tenant to do justice to the ground. + +We could refer to a multitude of instances where this effect has been produced. The late agricultural report abounds with instances of the defective management of farms; and the late poor law report quotes numerous instances of the want of farming capital, and the reversions of farms to the landlord (see page 328). Mr. Power's report from Cambridgeshire would, too, generally serve as a report from various parts of England : he says, "several farms of considerable extent have changed hands twice within the last five years, from insolvency of their owners in some cases, in others from the terror of that prospect." + +Would any landlord in his senses, admitting these effects to be true and general, maintain that it would not be his interest to abandon his claims for rent to the extent of twenty or even thirty per cent? Could he not secure himself against this by placing agriculture on a firmer and fairer foundation? It never can be to the interest of the landlord to prey upon the scanty capitals of occupiers, by pretending to secure to them a boon which, in reality, it is beyond his power to bestow: a heavy loss must, and does eventually fall on him; + +A black-and-white illustration showing a man with a plough standing next to a field. + +OF THE CORN LAWS. +417 + +while the injury done to other classes is incal- +culable. + +**Question:** Is the corn law beneficial to the farmer +or husbandman?—To the practical farmer, who +weighs in his scale of calculation, all charges +which appertain to the expense of production, +against the income arising from his land, a corn +law seems to him to be but a price fixed upon +the charges, of course sympathising with the price +of the produce, and the surplus, whatever it may be, +being what may fairly be termed the natural rent, +or the usually claimed share of the landlord, we shall +here refer to the expenses on tillage, by which we +shall be enabled to show how far the agriculturist +is interested in high prices. + +**Estimate of the expense of cultivating 100 acres of land.**—The board of Agriculture published, about fifteen years since, an estimate of the expense of cultivating 100 acres of arable land in England, +on an average, which was sent to particular +letters to farmers in different parts of the kingdom ; +from this estimate, it will be immediately seen, +how intimate the reduction in the expense of +tillage would be with all in the fall in the price of +agricultural produce. + +This estimate was made for three distinct periods, +viz. 1790, 1803, and 1813 : the proportion which +the various items of charge bears to the total sum, +is nearly equal in each of the periods ; but as +the calculation for 1803, is more suitable for the pre- +sent day, we here note the estimate for that year : + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Rent121 2 71Brought forward319 10 51
Tithes26 7 03Seeds49 2 7
Rates26 7 07Wheat49 2 2
Wear and tear22 11 01Team80 8 3
Labour118 9 4Interest30 3 8
+ +319 10 51 + +2 E + +£ 347 10 11½ + +418 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + +With the exception of rent and interest, every item of charge would almost spontaneously diminish, *pari passu*, with the decline in the price of produce. A diminution in the already depressed wages of the labourer may appear wanting in humanity, and indeed from political reasons unadvisable to the public. However, to the peasant, by a depression of twenty per cent in the amount of wages, concomitant with a corresponding fall in the prime necessaries of life, would be very trifling, will be seen by the following table of the disbursement of the weekly wages of a labourer. This table first appeared in a small pamphlet written by Mr. Henry Hare, a grocery farmer, who says, *during the winter of 1829-30, I made every agricultural labourer in my employ give me a weekly account of how he spent his wages, and from the average of the accounts I computed the following table* ; *the wages are taken at fifteen shillings per week* : + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Articles of expenditure.in 1000 of the fund.Proportionin money.
Bread and flour37557
Meat15023
Butter and cheese8012
Firing, candles, and soap10016
Potatoes7019
Beer and spirits7010
Tea coffee and sugar10016
Clothes10017
100015 o*
+ +Thus, if we exclude the portions expended for beer and spirits, clothes and grocery, amounting to .275, or nearly twenty-eight per cent., the labourer's wages would have been reduced to one-fifth; his wages diminished in proportion to the reduced price of +*A copy of the above pamphlet was sent to the present Earl Fitzwilliam, who, from investigations of a similar description, approves of the accuracy of Mr. Davis's estimate.* + +OF THE CORN LAWS. +419 + +agricultural produce; and presuming that no fall in the articles demanding the outlay of 275, as annexed, would occur, his total deficiencies of wages, although nominally amounting to twenty per cent., or three shillings per week, would be only six and a half per cent., or 114d. But we have no idea that even this reduction of wages would be necessary; the arrangements, progressively making by parliament to reduce other items of expense, being calculated to afford an increase in the share of the labourer. + +To the farmer, the advantage of a reduction of the price of produce, coequal with a fall in the expenses of husbandry, would, in many respects, be beneficial. For instance, the capital required would be diminished; the greater commercial risk arising from bad seasons, or epidemic disorders in cattle; and what perhaps is of greater importance, he would not be exposed to any extensive depreciation of price by the competition of foreign agriculturists. At present, surrounded with marks which are not supported by any real value, he stands exposed to all the disadvantages of depreciation, without any corresponding reduction in charges. Always enduring great fluctuations, and obtaining no countervailing profits—the relief to the farmer must come from diminished charges on production, not from an increased price for the produce. + +The principal inconvenience to free trade in corn, arises from the difficulty of meeting the claims of tenants on lease; but in looking to the roll of the charges on cultivation, it does not appear that the extra proportion of rent, calculated upon prices twenty per cent. in advance of returns actually received, is sufficient to make it increased as to preclude the policy of a return to free trade. The rent, calculated at about one-fifth the value of the produce, would certainly, by a fall of prices equivalent to twenty per cent., be + +2 E 2 + +420 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + +raised to one-fourth; but the anticipated boom to the tenant, "the abolition of tithe," coupled with the gradual relinquishment of those taxes which especially press on agriculture, would fully indemnify him for the extra rent to which he would be subject until the expiration of his lease; and from the general repugnance to contracts for long leases, which of late years has been usually exhibited by both landlord and tenant, it is fair to presume that no long interval of time would elapse, ere the proportion of rent would become justly poised with the value of the crop. + +But the most important of the benefits to be derived from a free trade in corn—is, the advantages it would secure to the manufacturer and general trader. + +Advantages of a free trade in corn to the manufacturer and trader.—Countries which do not, in an especial degree, possess the physical aptitude for producing raw materials peculiar productions of the soil, will resort to them, kind of natural monopoly in certain branches of commerce, must, in order to support a foreign trade, and obtain the productions of other climes, direct their productive power to the manufacture of the raw materials furnished by other countries. Portugal possesses this kind of natural capacity of producing wine and fruit; Italy, of silk; Germany, fine wool; the Brazilis, gold and cotton; through which capacity, they are enabled to maintain a foreign trade. Great Britain produces naturally all commodities indigenous and peculiar to her soil by which she could maintain a foreign trade of importance; she also possesses in a high degree the elements for the manufacture of raw productions—convenient geographical position—an immense commercial marine—intimate means of internal communication—large capital, and above all other advantages, an intelligent + +OF THE CORN LAWS. +421 + +and highly industrious community; hence, the natural current of her commerce is, to manu- +facture for those countries which supply her with raw materials; but this circumstance, however, she possesses no monopoly; but is exposed to the com- +petition of every state, where manufactures are +established, and her superiority can be maintained only by a more economical, and more scientific management of her resources. Now as the ex- +change between Great Britain and foreigners must depend on the competition of foreigners, the limit of this competition be controlled by the price of +labour, and the price of labour governed by the price of the necessaries of life; or, as Dr. Smith— +the father of the science—says, "the price of +corn." Hence, that a high price of provisions, +peculiar to either of the countries engaged in the +competition, must be disadvantageous in proportion to the excess; since the price obtained for their manufactures possesses an inferior power in pro- +curing provisions, and thus virtually depresses the +wages of labour to a point below its minimum. +If we compare the relative prices of provisions in +Britain, and in the manufacturing states on the continent of Europe, by the price of wheat, it will appear that the difference against Great +Britain is usually about thirty-five per cent.* Hence it appears that manufactures made on the continent would cost more than those made in other countries, would afford the foreign mechanic thirty-five per cent. more in wages than the English mechanic could obtain for the same labour. But if the wages of the foreign mechanic are reduced to the minimum reasonably necessary for subsistence, then the wages of such me- +chanic would be thirty-five per cent. below that minimum, and his distress consequently propor- +tional. + +* We exclude France, and allude more particularly to Ger- +many, Switzerland, and the Austrian dominions. + +422 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + +That such a calculation is not sanctioned by practical fact, we are fully aware; and that the wages of the British mechanic are, even calculated upon the comparative value of money, superior to those of any European mechanic, we are inclined to admit; but this proceeds from the especial economy which the possession of coal and iron, and other advantages both natural and acquired, has imparted to the nation, and our productive force, exhibiting a combination of physical and scientific power, which has enabled the British manufacturer, not only successfully to repel foreign competition, but even to meet his rivals in their own seats. + +It is also very evident why native industry should be unnecessarily clogged by taxes to support the rental of a class which, although adding nothing to the wealth of the state, actually receives an income from land exceeding that of the total collective body of agricultural labourers; or why the sphere of our international commerce should be so circumscribed by our laws; and why the corn laws do limit it, none will deny. Large as the amount of British exports may appear, when compared with what it was forty or fifty years since, yet when it is considered that the quantity of British manufactures consumed at home exceeds four-fold the quantity purchased by the people abroad, who number forty-four-forty-fold the British population, and who for the most part are little advanced in the art of manufacture, it sinks into mere insignificance. + +Mr. Lowe, in 1823, valued the home consumptions of woolen cloth, linen, silk, iron, lead and hardware, at 80,000,000l., of which may be added earthenware, porcelain, hats, shoes, furniture, jewellery, and various other articles, including minerals and other demi-manufactured commodities of British production, valuing at least an + +* By a reference to the estimate (page 41), the rent-charge is £11; and the labour-charge £17. + +A page from a book with text on it. + +OF THE CORN LAWS. +423 + +additional 60,000,000l.; and to this total of 150,000,000l. we may safely add 20,000,000l. for increased consumption since the date of Mr. Lowe's calculation. The importance of this view will justify us in repeating, that when against this total of 170,000,000l. expended by the British people on British manufactures, and the immense supply of these same British products, the 40,000,000l. representing the value of British manufactures exported to supply the wants of hundreds of millions of people, possessing but limited means of manufacture, how trifling it appears, and what a field is not open for the almost boundless extension of our foreign commerce. + +But let us look more particularly to some especial branches of British manufacture, and contrast their insignificance with what they would be under a different system of commercial policy. For the manufacture of glass, earthenware, porcela-in, cutlery, iron and hardware, our physical advantages are so great; our advantages in the art of fabric, offer the most ample means of attaining inimitable perfection ; yet our exportation of these commodities does not amount to one-fifth the quantity consumed at home. In the finer sorts of porcelain Britain yields her export trade to France; and although she possesses the materials at Sévres to offer us models for imitation. In the article of plate glass, we are in every degree unequal to meet the French manufacturers in foreign markets. + +In heavy machinery, iron, and hard- ware, the manufacturers of Dusseldorf compete successfully with those of Sheffield and Sheffield, although the physical advantages at the command of the latter are eminently superior. To what shall we ascribe these results?—To those restrictions which fetter our domestic and international commerce, and unnecessarily increase the relative expenses of subsistence. + +A page from a book with text discussing British manufacturing and its impact on foreign commerce. + +424 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + +An unrestricted state of international commerce in alimentary productions—not less important in facilitating the interchange of food and clothing, than in tending to equalise the prices of provisions in the various manufacturing continental states—would open so wide a field for British trade with nations emerging from a state of barbarism, advancing to a state of civilization, and acquiring a taste for the more refined comforts and luxuries of life, that it would be difficult to imagine a limit to our growth in power, security, and wealth. + +Tendency of the measures of government to freedom of trade.—Since the famed memorial of the merchants of London to parliament in 1820, the commercial policy of the government has uniformly tended to free-trade principles ; and the maxim that a free and unfettered intercourse with the nations of the earth, is as productive of general and local advantage as with provinces of the same kingdom, has been lost sight of by our rulers. The repeal of those taxes which press more particularly on agriculture; such as the beer tax, the leather tax, the assessed taxes on horses and vehicles used in husbandry labour, the fire insurance duty of farming stock, and various other imposts, seems to have been done for the sake of those in the ulterior object of ministers. The great obstacle to its accomplishment was, and is, the difficulty of relieving the land from the burden of poor's rate and tithe. Ministers have made a bold effort to limit the pressure of the first; and their poor law reformers have been at work upon it; but even a second or third edition,—will, we doubt not, be effectual in diminishing the pressure of the present burden. The tithing system, which is unknown in any Protestant country except the British Isles, must yield in its turn to wholesome reform; for all who look to the march of improvement in this + +OF THE CORN LAWS. +425 + +country, must feel convinced that the continuance of the levy of tithe is impossible. A due provision must, with that justice which in modern times has, and it is to be hoped will, characterise the British legislature, be made for the clergy ; but the levy of tithe cannot be allowed to oppose the accomplishment of that great national benefit — the gradual abolition of corn laws. Referring to the table (page 380), it appears that under the present system of tithe, it appears to be rather a vicissimal than a decimal part; being about five per cent.; and if this charge were national—that is, levied on the total income of the nation instead of on the land, its burden would be so insignificant as to rarely sur- +pass one-third of its present ratio, or about one and a half per cent. Even such an arrangement would powerfully tend to clear the way for the full development of the plans of government on this important subject. + +Suitableness of the present time for a change in the corn laws.—There has seldom occurred a time more favourable for the reform of the corn laws than the present. Lord Althorp, in the early part of the present session, took occasion to express a contrary opinion, assigning as his reason the present very moderate price of grain : this, we think, is the very reason why no change should be made in a measure should be based. At the present time the prices are so low, that no evils of transition could be felt; a partial repeal of the corn laws could scarcely effect any reduction of prices in our mar- +kets. It would work quietly and gradually, while it would tend to prevent any extensive fluctuations following a partial deficiency of crops. All new tenants would enter on their farms on moderate terms, under a full persuasion that steady prices would be more firmly secured than in former periods: thus their capitals and means of doing + +426 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + +justice to the ground would be preserved, and the security of the landlord's claim substantially improved. + +The reform of the corn laws should be gradual. +When the much desired arrangement with the episcopal clergy shall be made, the principal impediment to free trade in corn will vanish, and a gradual maximum of the existing restrictions on import must speedily succeed. We have no expectation that parliament will concur in measures purporting to abolish at once all present restrictions. The duties now payable on the importation of foreign wheat may be gradually diminished, if necessary, until they expire in natural course. If, for instance, the present duties are calculated to maintain the monopoly of the home grower when prices are at or under 60s. per quarter for wheat, this limit might be progressively reduced five per cent. per annum: reducing the limit in the first year to 57s. ; in the second to 56s. ; in the third to 55s. ; in the fourth, 54s., &c., &c., thus gradually diminishing all restrictions to a free trade. If such a reduction should, on investigation, appear too rapid, its principle might be limited to four, three, or two and a half per cent.; but viewing the case of vested rights, it is but reasonable that the return to sound principles should be progressive. + +When the restrictions are entirely removed, the protection to the home growers will be limited to the expense of transit from foreign to British ports—an expense, including the charges of landing, storing, and conveying, which cannot exceed 10s. per quarter. By the evidence adduced before the agricultural committee of 1821, it appears (page 364) that the cost of raising a quarter of wheat in Prussia or Poland, including conveyance to Danzig, was about 36s. per quarter; and if we may judge by the consul's returns of the price of + +OF THE CORN LAWS. +427 + +wheat in that port during the three past years, it is about the same at the present day. * We may, therefore, infer that it could not, in fair average seasons, be brought into the British ports, adding 10s. for transit, under 40s. per quarter. A reference to other countries would, perhaps, furnish + +* Dantzig is by far the most important shipping port for grain in the north of Europe ; and, allowing for the superiority in the quality of wheat grown there, it is found that it is generally cheaper at Dantzig than in any other continental port. +The market price of grain at Hamburg is usually very much under the price at Dantzig, and frequently happens that large supplies of wheat are found there which are of such quality which could not be met with at the superiority of ware were not more than equal to the difference of the prices. We need scarcely observe, that the voyage from Hamburg to the delta of the Vistula, which river traverses the finest districts of Poland, is, on the shipping part of all the fine wheat exported from that unhappy and oppresed country, one of the longest and most expensive. The dis- +tricts traversed by the Vistula produce the finest wheat in Europe, and it is from thence that the wheat shipped at Dantzig is derived. + +Mr. Jacob says, that in the corn growing provinces in the vicinity of Warsaw, 28s. to 30s. is the lowest price at which wheat can be bought ; and he has calculated by himself, making the following calculation of the cost at which Polish wheat could be brought to the London market :-- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
For Quarter.
Cost of raising the wheat28 0
Conveyance by boats, warehousing, storing, and other charges0 6
Freight to Dantzig5 0
Loss on conveyance, by suffering, and rain causing it to grow0 0
Expenses at Dantzig, in turning, drying, and screening2 0
Profit, or commission to merchant or agent1 6
Freight and shipping charges to London8 0
Total cost of a quarter of Dantzig wheat, free on board in London,48 0
+ +A paper was presented to parliament, session 1827-8, esti- +mating the cost of 100 quarters of wheat shipped from Dantzig to London, and giving the result as follows :-- + +Total Cost of Quarters. +£ 221 13s. 4d. = £100 = £44. 2d. +The mean of these estimates is 40s. 1d. per quarter. + +428 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + +nearly the same results. The cost of raising a quarter of wheat in France, exclusive of rent, cannot be very much less than in England, owing to the large amount of direct taxes levied on the land—such as Le Foncié, a large portion of les droits sur les portes et fenêtres, mobiliers, taxe-personelle, etc., levying about 10,000,000l. per annum on agriculture—and, calculating the vast superiority which the British agriculturists possess over the transport of their grain to shipping ports, no continued competition can be expected from that quarter. Thus the British grower would be secure against the evils of great fluctuations, while he might calculate upon returns advancing upon the minimum price of 46s. per quarter. + +*Practical operations* of the kind suggested and the means of meeting them suggested.—All great authorities were in favour of a free trade in corn, until Mr. Malthus demanded the same protection for the home growers of corn, as for the home manufactories. +Nothing is more clearly indicative of the backward state of France, and the defective communication between her various provinces, than the duties which Government impose on the foreign corn trade. Until a very late date, the French laws forbade the exportation of grain, except when home prices were below a certain level; but even then importation, until prices were above a certain limit. The prices regulating importation and exportation differed materially in different districts; so that in some places where corn was stored in warehouses in a particular port, where it was not allowed to be consumed, except upon payment of a very high duty, has been carried out with great success; and this duty has been admissible duty free. During the last two years, importation has been allowed under a graduated scale of duties, which however, like all other duties, have been raised whenever prices sink to a certain level. The division of the kingdom into separate districts is still kept up; and in June, 1835, while the duties on wheat were 12s. 7½d., those on rye were 4f. 7½c., in others it was 12f. 25c. An official announcement is issued the last day in each month, of what the duties are to be in each district; and these vary from 10 to 15 shillings. These depend, with certain modifications, on the average price in the district.—(See M'Culloch's Dictionary, article Corn.) + +OF THE CORN LAWS. +429 + +turers of particular commodities. At the time Mr. Maltius wrote—about twenty years since—our restrictive system against the competition of foreign manufacturers was carried to great lengths. Since that period, however, many fiscal regulations against the introduction of foreign manufactures into Britain have been effected by our Statute books, and at the present day the protection afforded is rather nominal than real. Presuming, however, that our tariff, on an average, levies ten per cent. on the importation of foreign manufactures, our agriculturists would perhaps contend, with some fairness, that they are entitled to the same protection. If such a claim can be substantiated, we think the following plan for its levy would be the most conducive to the general interest.—That an ad valorem duty of ten per cent. should be levied on the importation of foreign grain, on an ascending and descending scale, which in the case of wheat is, supposing the price of wheat of which ten per cent. is to be charged were fixed at 50s., then, if the price rose to 51a., the duty to diminish, say 14 per cent.; if it rose to 52a., the duty to still further diminish; but if the price fell to 49a. or under, then the duty to increase in the same proportion as being thus calculated may vary, on the average, about ten per cent. on import. + +Mr. Ricardo, justly celebrated for the soundness of his views, contends that the taxes levied on British agriculture ought not to be allowed to impede the export of farming produce. He says, in substance, that there is no loss from paying 6s. per quarter on wheat, and that we ought not, by adding this amount of tax to the natural expense of production, to induce the foreigner to purchase corn of another country, and deprive ourselves of a trade we might, in free competition, enjoy. + +* On Protection to Agriculture, page 28.* + +A black and white illustration of a man in a suit holding a document. + +430 +PRACTICAL OPERATION + +therefore recommends that a bounty, or, as he terms it, a drawback, equivalent to the amount of the taxes levied, should be granted on British corn exported. We are no friends to bounties on export, or duties on import; but if it can be admitted that a sum paid on the export of a quarter of wheat, equivalent to the tax levied on its production, would be equivalent to a drawback, not by quantity, a scale just equivalent to the duties on imported corn should be that adopted. Hence, if the market price of wheat was 50c., the drawback should be ten per cent.; if above that price, the drawback to increase; if below it, to diminish; so as to make the price of wheat in this country ten per cent. We can see many cogent reasons for the plan, some of which we shall here notice. +It will be admitted, that the quantity of grain produced on an extended area (say Europe and America) is just about equivalent to the consumption of its inhabitants, but that great inequality exists in the distribution of the produce of crop in one country or climate being ordinarily counterbalanced by an abundant harvest in another: thus, while import is required in one country to prevent dearth, export is required elsewhere to counteract the ruinous effect on prices of superabundance. This is true as regards us as we have mentioned, while enlarging the area from which subsistence might be drawn, and favouring export when seasons were abundant, and import when deficient, would, by enabling us, as it were, to borrow supplies in a time of dearth, and return them in abundance when they were necessary, essentially tend to equalise prices at home and diminish the suffering inseparable from a deficient harvest, but would operate, we think, more effectively than any other plan, in maintaining a moderate but steady superiority of price to our landed pro- +prietors. The Act, if the scale were sufficiently + +OF THE CORN LAWS. +431 + +extensive, would rarely be inoperative. When prices were low, the inducement to export would increase in a kind of geometrical proportion; while, perhaps, on the average, imports would predominate, and, on the balance of payments, the Exchequer would be the gainer. Under this regulation, prices would, in general, oscillate about the rate at which the mean or standard duty was charged; but the drawback paid by subjects to such a plan are first, that foreign governments might be induced to increase their duties on import equivalent to our bounty, or drawback on export, and thus transfer the money paid from the British Exchequer to their own. Secondly, that collection of duties on the one hand, and distributing it as bounties on the other, is attended, in a general sense, with useless expenditure. As we have before stated, we cannot, on its merits, advocate such a system in preference to a gradual repeal of all restrictions to a free trade, and we have merely thrown out the foregoing suggestions as a means of alleviating the imposition of the laws which govern us, or pretend to govern, our foreign corn trade.--In conclusion, it is seriously to be desired that the question as to the relaxation of restrictions to a free trade in commodities of prime necessity, will at this very consensus of opinion be referred to the consideration of parliament, and that the dark and shallow policy of monopoly will yield to that liberal commercial spirit which permanently secures the happiness of states. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
432
PARK showing the quantity of Foreign and Colonial Wheat, Flour, and other kinds of Grain, entered for home consumption in Great Britain in each year, from 1815 to 1860, both inclusive. The total amount of Duty received, and the rate of Duty charged per quarter, given in the Agricultural Committee Report of 1845. Appendix B. p. 60.
Terms.WheatForeignColonialWheatForeignColonialDutyTotal.Duty.Rate.Quintals.Bushels.Bushels per quintal.
and Roseand Roseand Roseand Roseand Roseand Rose
18151801801802142142141223
17

1820-21
1822-23
1824-25
1826-27
1828-29
1830-31
1832-33
1834-35
1836-37
1838-39
1840-41
1842-43
1844-45
1846-47
1848-49
1850-51
1852-53
1854-55
1856-57
1858-59
1860-61 +
Taxation.Duty on foreign grain for home consumption.Duty on colonial grain for home consumption.Total Duty.Duty on foreign wheat for home consumption.Duty on colonial wheat for home consumption.Total Duty on foreign wheat for home consumption.Duty on foreign flour for home consumption.Total Duty on foreign flour for home consumption.Duty on colonial flour for home consumption.Total Duty on colonial flour for home consumption.Duty on foreign rose for home consumption.Total Duty on foreign rose for home consumption.Duty on colonial rose for home consumption.Total Duty on colonial rose for home consumption.Duty on foreign rose and flour for home consumption.Total Duty on foreign rose and flour for home consumption.Duty on colonial rose and flour for home consumption.Total Duty on colonial rose and flour for home consumption.Duty on foreign rose and wheat for home consumption.Total Duty on foreign rose and wheat for home consumption.Duty on colonial rose and wheat for home consumption.Total Duty on colonial rose and wheat for home consumption.
Foreign wheat (including flour)

+ + + +                                                            + <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> + <tr> + <th>Terms</th> + <th>Wheat</th> + <th>Foreign</th> + <th>Colonial</th> + <th>Wheat</th> + <th>Foreign</th> + <th>Colonial</th> + <th>Duty</th> + <th>Total</th> + <th>Duty</th> + <th>Rate</th> + <th>Quintals</th> + <th>Bushels</th> + <th>Bushels per quintal</th> + </tr> + <tr style="background-color: #e6e6e6;"> + <td rowspan="2" align="center"><b>Total</b>
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+ + + + Average of years + Wheat and meal + Barley and meal + Rye and meal + Grain and meal + Indian corn and meal + Total Grains + + + + + 1807-9 + 59,544 + 22,418 + 476 + 403,130 + - + 3,338 + 495,611 + + + 1810-12 + 145,307 + 18,065 + 73 + 389,971 + 6,415 + 557,764 + + + + 1813-15 + 210,930 + 22,482 + 210 + 614,248 + - + 5,836 + 683,815 + + + 1816-18 + 96,286 + 38,138 + 216 + 768,072 + - + 4,461 + 927,172 + + + 1819-21 + 750,159 + 63,430 + 298 + 956,037 + - + 7,077 + 1,069,935 + + + 1822-24 + 406,495 + 29,229 + 2185 + 965,603 + - + 7,174 + 1,469,117 + + + 1825-27 + 373,044 + +The following is a list of the Annual Average prices of Wheat in the British ports, from the year 1807 to 1832 inclusive, according to the corn importers' returns. +A table showing annual average prices of wheat in British ports from the year 1807 to 1832. + +In 1806, the British ports were opened to the free importation of Irish grain; previous to that year, the commercial intercourse between Great Britain and Ireland was limited by fiscal restrictions. + +Imperial measure from this time. +2 + + +
A.D.S. D.B. D.C. D.D. D.E. D.F. D.
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
Average price of Wheat in the British ports from the year +
+ + +< + +
Average Price (pence per bushel)434 + +CHAPTER IV. + +CURRENCY—COIN—AND OUR MONETARY SYSTEM. + +SECTION I.—HISTORICAL SKETCH OF OUR EXCHANGES. + +This and the succeeding chapter, which will complete our work, will be directed to discuss the financial condition of Great Britain. The first will apply to the state of the currency and the monetary system; the second to our revenue, plan of taxation, and general finances. + +We proceed at once, before us—first, to give an historical sketch of the currency, or rather a succinct chronicle of the fluctuations of the relative value of our paper currency against gold, since the commencement of the late wars, and the causes which effected these fluctuations. Secondly, to elucidate some of the principal Acts on the finances of the country. And thirdly, to suggest some changes, which may be introduced into our system with present advantage and prospective security. + +State of the exchanges at the commencement of the late war.—The years immediately preceding our unhappy rupture with France, in 1793, were marked by general commercial prosperity, and the rapid growth of our productive power and foreign commerce. Our exportation of British staple commodities was large, and the balance of payments being favourable, the exchanges, that + +HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CURRENCY. 435 + +true barometer of the state of foreign trade, rated usually above par. The stock of our gold coinage (about 43,900,000L) was equal to the due support of our banking and commercial credit,* and the supply of the precious metals fully adequate to the maintenance of the monetary system. + +Our coalition in 1793 with powers which had already taken up arms against France, but little influenced the state of our exchanges during the first two years of the war. The effect of the payments on account of subsidies to our allies, was counterbalancing, by the magnitude of the exports; and our circumstance, that during the progress of the war being chiefly in military munitions, the drain on the circulating medium was but little felt. + +Fall in the exchanges during the latter months of 1795.—The year 1795 produced different results : the vacillating policy of the cabinet of St. Petersburg, and the weakness of our Prussian and Dutch allies, viewed in comparison with the bold display of the military force of our enemy (see p. 59), and the expulsion of our troops from the continent. The want of a strong hand to direct and co-ordinate speedy success of our arms, favoured a rise in the current rates of interest, and tended to foment commercial embarrassment. Added to this, we were called on to remit, chiefly in specie, a large subsidy to Austria,† and from the peculiar policy of our government, to import large quantities of British manufactures. The demand for British gold, and its rise in price, equivalent to about seven per cent., implying an equivalent depression in the continental exchanges. The operation of this fall forms a striking feature in our commercial annals. It evidently became the + +* Evidence of Mr. George Rose, before the Bullion Committee of 1816.—This estimate is generally considered too large. +† See Table of Subsidies. † See page 2 . + +436 +HISTORICAL SKETCH + +interest of the merchant to remit bullion to the continent, causing a drain of specie which seriously affected our banking establishments ; and hence a contraction of paper issues equivalent to the coin subtracted by this channel. The effect of this double contraction of the circulating medium, was to limit the means of the Bank to afford the customary aids to commerce, and to diminish the rests in the hands of private bankers. Hence the difficulty of obtaining discounts, the stoppage of the provincial banks, and the commercial embarrassment of 1786, which led, in the early part of the following year, to the suspension of cash payments. + +Financial difficulties of 1797, and suspension of cash payments. The unfavourable state of the war, the aggression of our Austrian allies, the French in the Italian and German campaigns, and the growing military preponderance of France, occasioned renewed distrust in the measures of government, and created a timorous withholding of capital from commerce. The Bank issues were continued until 1797, when they ceased, and circumstances seemed in full progress towards the accomplishment of the total annihilation of banking credit. Yet an interval of suspended hope occurred. The termination of the war on the continent, and the peace of Campo Formio, having rendered further remittances of specie on account to Austria impossible under any circumstances, favoured a rise in the continental exchanges. This change, though occurring on the eve of the decision of ministers to legalize the tender of Bank notes, had no influence on their determination, and on the 25th of February, 1797, they issued orders to council for the suspension of cash payments. It is a circumstance little known beyond the circle of those who have given + +OF THE CURRENCY. +437 + +their attention to Bank affairs, that the anxious correspondence at this date, between Mr. Pitt and the Bank directors, gave the latter no reason to expect this extraordinary mandate. With the cessation of subsidies and corn imports, the balance of payments had become favourable, and gold began to flow into the country. Hence the immediate necessity for such a measure had ceased to exist; and on the reception of the order, it was a matter of discussion in the Bank parlour whether it should be complied with.* + +The measure, apparently so pregnant with fatal consequences to public credit, could only be justified on the ground that it was necessary; and whilst it being adopted in this view, the injunction was at first limited to a few weeks. At the termination of that limit, ministers finding that the Bank were still strong in public confidence, prolonged it to the end of the session of parliament, and subsequently to the opening of the succeeding session. + +In this interval, our finances became more favourable. France, by the enlargement of her continental authority, had relieved us from the pressure of subsidies, and our efforts being chiefly maritime, the nation developed her mighty power on her natural element, without internal embarrassment or foreign interference. The balance of trade continued favourable; and the Bank increasing their stock of bullion, now prepared to resume payments in cash. But the opinion of ministers being favourable to *the system* they determined on obtaining the sanction of parliament to its continuance during the war. + +Severe trial of the system in 1799 and 1800.—No severe trial of the new monetary system occurred + +* See Mr. Tooke's evidence before the Secret Committee on Bank affairs. + +438 +HISTORICAL SKETCH + +until towards the end of the year 1799, when Austria, encouraged by the dissensions in the Gallic councils and the absence of a large portion of the French army from Europe, concurred with Russia in a new coalition with Great Britain. A double subsidy was promised by our government; and no sooner was this treaty publicly known, than our exchanges began to show a tendency to decline, and the depreciation accelerated by the necessity of importing large quantities of foreign corn; and hence, ere the termination of the year, Bank paper was depreciated in relation to gold about three per cent. The opening of the year 1800 witnessed numerous pernicious remittances of bullion in payment of the Austrian and Russian subsidies, amounting in this and the following year to nearly three millions sterling, had begun; and an immense import of foreign corn created a large balance of payments against us. The drain of specie augmenting its value, Bank paper fell to a level of depreciation of about six per cent.--adding so much to the amount of the government expenditure. Towards the latter end of the year 1800, the successes of Bonaparte in Italy, and Moreau in Germany, brought the continental war to a close, and with it the special pressure on our foreign exchanges. Relieved from this pressure, our exchanges would soon have recovered from their depreciation, but the immense imports of foreign aliment in this season of dearth still pressed heavily on our pecuniary resources, and prolonged the inferiority of the value of our currency. + +The sacrifice consequent on this depreciation, although at the time not generally understood by the public, and which will be more fully developed in our future pages, could not escape the discerning mind of Mr. Pitt; he well knew that the only remedy was the pacification of Europe. The + +OF THE CURRENCY. 439 + +aspect of the times, although unfavourable to the attainment of advantageous conditions of peace, seemed nevertheless to recommend this course. +Our best exertions to reduce France by famine and sword had failed ; our allies were every where beaten ; our gold remitted to the continent to be dissipated in war, had brought to the verge of ruin those who had received it. The preponderating influence of the French navy was equal to the formation of a maritime confederacy against our commerce and even our independence, and no attainable object presented itself by the continuation of the contest. Thus, prompted by circumstances, +Mr. Pitt determined to prepare the way for a negociation, and fully appreciated the unpopularity attached to him in France, and hence his inefficiency for a negociation with the French government, retired from office, being succeeded by Lord Sidmouth, who terminated the war by the peace of Amiens, in March 1802. + +Recovery of the exchanges, after the peace of Amiens.--This " made up peace," or short respite from war, proved of the greatest advantage in reinstating the value of our paper currency. The preceding harvest had been favourable, and the free rent from manufactures increased the amount of exports, bringing bullion into the country, and effecting an important rise in the value of Bank paper. On this return to peace, the Restriction Act became open to repeal, hence the arrangements necessary to the resumption of cash payments were speedily completed. When these were completed, the nation was roused to new alarms. War was renewed, and all idea of a speedy return to a metallic currency vanished. + +During the years 1803 and 1804, the contest was chiefly maritime, and our efforts were limited to defensive operations. No remittances for con- + +440 +HISTORICAL SKETCH + +Tinental subsidies being made, our foreign commerce was equal to support the equilibrium of the exchanges, and Bank paper harmonised with the value it represented. + +Slight depression of exchanges in 1805.—The year 1805 produced a return to our accustomed plan, of routing the continental states to arms by alluring subsidies. Austria and Russia were to be supplied with British treasure, on condition of their declaring war against France. On this renewed coalition being publicly known, our exchanges tended to decline, and depreciated about four per cent.; but, in this state of affairs, the days of Ulm and Austerlitz foretold the suspension of our subsidies, and with it, relief to our finances (see page 150). In the year 1806, Prussia, thwarted in her designs on Hanover, and deceived by Napoleon, joined her forces to those of Austria against England; and the vacillating policy of her coadjutor, and her unstable conduct in 1794, had, in the opinion of our ministers—the Grenvilles and the immortal Fox—sullied her character as a zealous ally, and rendered her less worthy of pecuniary aid. The military engagements at Jena and Auerstedt; and Pultusk, abruptly disposed of the question of a Prussian subsidy; and after the forlorn condition in which the treaty of Tilais left Prussia, our remittances to that country were merely limited to a sort of commemorative grant for the support of his Trusselian majesty's army (see page 189). From the recommencement of the war in 1803 to this time, we had experienced but little depreciation in Bank paper—the exception being in the latter months of 1805, when gold was relatively depreciated about four per cent. + +Orders in Council in 1807, and their effect.—It is + +OF THE CURRENCY. +441 + +evident that the value of non-convertible Bank paper, in relation to gold, could only be supported by such a stock or supply of the precious metals as would be adequate to meet the demands of ultra-marine creditors ; and that this supply could only be obtained by the adequacy of our exportation of merchandise : hence the policy of encouraging, by every fair means, the importation of raw materials into the continent, whether to friends or foes. A state of war, which limits the direct commercial intercourse of belligerent nations, imposes the necessity of employing neutral as agents in the conducting of international commerce. During the previous years of peace, at a time when Holland had shared largely in this trade,—they became, in fact, what the Dutch had formerly been, the principal carriers of the imports and exports of Great Britain and her enemies. The capitalists and principals of commercial houses in Europe took the guise of sale brokers and commission agents ; and these intermediate branches of commerce were carried on between subjects of belligerent states, without any relation to the political hostility of their respective governments. The Americans carried their cotton, timber, grain, and other native staple products, to our enemies and sought supplies for the production of proprietary fabrics. The continent, at this time deficient in capital, and imperfect in the means of manufacture, produced scarcely sufficient to meet the consumption of her inhabitants, and hence rather sought supplies through neutrals, that possessed the means of supplying them. The consequence + +* The principal manufactured commodity exported from Europe is cotton. The comparative meanness of the cotton manufactures in France before the revolution may be seen by reference to the following particulars. The cotton manufactories of France before the revolution consisted of two spinning mills, or Arkwright's plan, at Louviers. The French + +442 +HISTORICAL SKETCH + +was, that the proceeds were brought to England, and invested in the purchase of British manufactures, which were partly consumed in the United States and the Spanish colonies, and partly re-exported to continental Europe. The extent of this intercourse will be seen by reference to the subjunctive returns of the exports of British manufactures to the United States during the three years preceding 1808. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
YearsBritish produce.Foreign and Colonial.Total.
180511,011,492635,53011,446,022
180612,898,498-12,898,498
180711,446,013-11,446,013
Annual average.£12,136,060
+ +It is well known that this large trade was not maintained by American consumption; the American government assisted this establishment with £5,000. During the short period of two years after the arrival of Mr. Holika's Rous, procured some persons from England to superintend cotton works of every description; but the hands procured were inferior to those employed at home; their knowledge to the French; and the work done was consequently inferior. Since that period to 1808, several machines were established in America; but they have been so few in number of factories established amounting to forty-two of which only three were worked by steam, for which few was used. The whole quantity of cotton manufactured in America has amounted to 30,000,000 of consumers, was according to the best information only 3,600,000 lbs.; while Great Britain, with about one-third the population, during the same period manufactured 92,000,000 lbs. In France, 290,000 lbs. of cotton manufacture less than 4,000,000 lbs. of cotton; while in England, about the same number of cotton manufacture 92,000,000 lbs. The inferiority of this mill and the quality of its products in France might indeed, at this time surpass us in the beauty of her fabrics ; her manufactures being made from materials which are not suited for the coarse goods are made of fine materials ; but their price is consequently higher, and hence her manufactures are not adapted to the means of purchase possessed by ordinary consumers. Eng- land exhibits a great variety of manufactures capable of producing goods at all descriptions at a great range of prices; but her principal aim is to produce a cheap commodity, which is demanded by the fund of consumers. + +OF THE CURRENCY. +443 + +Cans acted chiefly as carriers and agents to capitalists in great Britain and the continent. +To what extent the returns were made in merchandise, will be seen by the following account of the imports from America during this period : + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
18054,641,468l.
1806· · · ·5,163,098
1807· · · ·7,015,968
+ +Annual average £,733,209 + +Thus a large balance remained to be remitted to us, either in bills on the continent, which cancelled foreign claims, or in specie, when the state of our exchanges was such as to render it impossible for us with important means of prosecuting the war with vigour, and of paying for any excess of imports in times of dearth, without deranging the relative value of gold and Bank paper. Our ministers, imperfectly informed as to principles of commerce, felt that the continent were enjoying these mercantile advantages from the power of hostile states ; and that the superiority of the British marine could not be better employed than in securing the monopoly of the foreign trade of Europe to Great Britain. The shipping interest viewing the carrying trade enjoyed by the Americans as a injury to their interests, had little difficulty in persuading the government that if neutral commerce were checked, the continent would be obliged to draw their needful supplies of transmarine commerce through England ; and that British would supersede American shipping in the transaction. + +This unfortunate and shallow advice had great influence with ministers, who, in November, 1807, regardless of the intimation of Buonaparte to the American ambassador at Paris, of his intention to prohibit neutral commerce, declaring, at the same time, that " all maritime commerce," whether + +444 +HISTORICAL SKETCH + +through the Americans or others, must turn to the advantage of England, --issued orders in council, declaring the ports of hostile nations in a state of blockade, and prohibiting the ships of neutral or friendly nations from entering, on pain of confiscation of ship and cargo. + +Thus the ground work of our currency system was swept from under it; and by destroying the American trade, thereby depriving ourselves of the supplies of bullion from the continent which the Americans had brought us, our Bank paper became exposed to great depreciation. + +Serious depression of the exchanges following the year 1808.--The effect of this impolitic measure was immediately and distinctly visible in our exchanges. Our exports of manufactures to the American States, and on an average of the three preceding years, had been 12,136,000l., sunk in the year 1808 to 5,241,739l., which being met by the imports of merchandise, supplies of bullion ceased ; concurrent with a new and extensive demand for specie for the military expeditions to Spain and Portugal; and with an appreciation of gold to the extent of eight per cent., 4l. 3s. 9d. in Bank paper being required to purchase an ounce of bullion. + +Next year (1809) the pressure on our exchanges became still more severe. The harvest proved deficient, and owing to ordinary imports, supplies of foreign grain were required at extra, encouraged by the success of our arms in the Peninsula, and allured by the promise of a British subsidy, again consented to measure her strength against France. The drain of specie to maintain our troops in Spain, and those of Austria in Germany, through kept the price of gold to £6. 6d. +* Nearly 5,000,000l. sterling was sent in 1809 to the Peninsula.--Appendix to Report of the Bullion Committee. + +A historical sketch page. + +OF THE CURRENCY. +445 + +per ounce, showing a relative depreciation of Bank paper. The depression would doubtless have been more severe, had not the rigour of our orders in council been relaxed, and our commercial intercourse extended. + +The rapid success of the French arms in Germany and Italy relieved our exchequer from the necessity of continued remittances on account of the Austrian subsidy; but a new demand on the state resources was made by ministers, for power to subsidise the king of Sweden. The season was, moreover, concurrent, with a vast outlay for the equipment and maintenance of troops, including the conscription, the expense of expediting against Antwerp, and large remittances of bullion to the Peninsula. These causes were in themselves sufficient to continue the depression of our exchanges; but unhappily another equally powerful cause—the deficient harvest of 1809—operated, adding the necessity of importing corn to the other causes of depression. It is said, that on these various accounts, no less than 7,000,000L. in specie was remitted to the continent during 1810—a degree of pecuniary pressure hitherto unknown. Gold, purchased with bank notes, commanded £. 13s. 6d. per ounce, showing a depreciation of the currency to the extent of twenty per cent. + +**Opinions of the Bullion Committee, and continued depression.—This measure of depreciation created alarm in the governing councils and ministers instituted by the Bullion Committee to inquire into the causes affecting our currency. The withdrawal of the precious metals from circulation, to subsidise foreign powers and support the continental war, were evidently the causes sought; but this truth, though clear and simple, was but imperfectly understood either by the public generally, + +A page from a book with text about currency and economic conditions. + +446 +HISTORICAL SKETCH + +the banking interest, or even the government itself. + +The over-issue of bank paper—the deficiency in the produce of the mines of America—the decline of national credit—were all considered as fundamental reasons for the depreciation of the paper currency.* The committee were little acquainted with the limited power of the Bank to extend its issues beyond the amount demanded by trade, or of the influence of remittances of bullion to the continent; in fact, the general conclusions of the bullion committees were erroneous, as proved by the re-establishment of our exchanges following the peace. + +The harvest of the preceding year proved favourable, and international commercial payments were more nearly poised. Yet the drain of bullion continued, and further operations in the Peninsula, and our exchanges remained at the extreme depression of the former year. + +In 1812 our war expenditure was considerably increased: the arming of Russia to repel the French invasion being extended powers paid from our government. This diversion provided an opportunity, such as had not before occurred, of rendering effective a system of vigour in the conducting of the war: hence the reduced exertions to increase our military forces in the Peninsula, and to establish a system of naval exactions which required large remittances of treasure. This year is distinguished by the unfortunate termination of our differences with the American Congress, as to the right of search and our system of blockade, by a declaration of war against Great Britain; an event which entirely suspended our + +* See the Report of the evidence given before the Bullion Committee of 1810. + +OF THE CURRENCY. +447 + +trade with that quarter of the globe, and deprived us of the feeble resource it had afforded since the memorable edict of 1807. These combined events accelerated the depreciation of our currency, and sunk the value of Bank paper to twenty-five per cent. discount.* + +*It was in the war of 1756, that the French were, for the first time, driven to the necessity of getting neutralists to bring the produce of their colonies into Europe. The object which they sought was to supply the colonies with provisions, and to obtain their produce through the means of a neutral, who brought enemies' property on board his vessels, and delivered it at ports in France, though he had no other interest in it than his freight. The records of the British prize courts could prove that this commerce was considered by the French as a great advantage, and was conducted wherever it could be got at, and in these cases neutralists were captured. During the American war, as in that of 1756, France resorted to neutralists for the same purpose; but she did not even attempted—in Mr. Jay's treaty, which made so much noise in America—to stipulate, that French colonial produce, carried to the United States, should be exempted from all duties during the continuance of the war. From this spring forth other points of dispute which eventually led to the rupture with the United States—namely, the right of impressment, and the right of neutral agents, and the means resorted to in order to avoid capture, are too long for minute detail; they were practised with great success by both parties; and it is only necessary to mention that by means and through these, France enjoyed facilities of commerce which she could not otherwise have possessed. Through neutrals, contin- ental nations obtained supplies from every part of the West Indies, from Spanish Islands and Main, Dutch Guinea, Batavia, etc.; and by such means Spain received its stagnated revenue from Vera Cruz, which was always so readily at the disposal of Buonaparte; and France received her supplies from neutralists. Against these practices were of no avail, and she determined to exercise that power of representing them which Providence had placed in her hands. She therefore took measures to prevent any further importation of hostile nations in a state of blockade; the exercise of her right of impressment against neutralists seemed belonging to one of the belligerent parties from the very beginning. Mr. Walton, from whose excellent edition of De Beauvoir's "Sketch of the United States" this note is derived, says, "If the ques- tion (of impressment) is put before a jury without being put in proper proper point of view, and manifested with simplicity and clear- ness, it would not be difficult to prove that the rights exercised by England at sea are in strict accord with the law of nations;" + +448 + +HISTORICAL SKETCH + +The year 1813 was that in which our greatest efforts were made for the complete subjugation of our enemies. Our sacrifices, both of men and treasure, were carried to an extent never before known in the annals of our history. Treaties were concluded to afford pecuniary aid to our allies, who demanded subsidies of treasure to an immense amount (about £50,000); but the expense of the finances of the country would ill calculated to afford; yet the opportunity, in a military sense, was highly favourable to renewed exertions: the retreat of the French army from Spain,—the total overthrow of the French forces directed against Russia, the rapid advance of the allied troops in Germany, all these events, in general aspect of affairs, predicted great and important changes in the political state of Europe, and opened renewed claims on our support. Gold was bought up for remittance to our allies, regardless of the state of our currency, or of commercial embarrassment without which would occur; and the value of our Bank paper, sinking in relative proportion to the nominal rise in the price of gold, reached the alarming depression of thirty per cent. below par. + +These rights are certainly common to all maritime states; but the English have made use of an expression, that has caused the other powers to suppose that they had no right whatever to exercise of these rights. Whenever this subject has been discussed in parliament, all have uniformly used the expression 'our maritime subjects,' or 'our subjects,' or 'our maritime possessions,' states whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states, whose naval power cannot contend with that of England, so that they can only be considered as maritime states. + +By a fiction of law the sea-coast of a maritime state has been extended to a certain distance into the sea; and thereby has been created a right which may fairly and justly result; That in time of war the sea-cesses to be the common dominion of all; and becomes the territory of him who holds it in military possession. The right to search every ship and vessel; to seize vessels belonging to belligerent powers; is evident for no one can deny a state the right of calling its subjects to the defence of their country." + +OF THE CURRENCY. 449 + +The same causes operated in the early part of the year 1814; ministers felt the embarrassment, in the enormous increase of our expenditure; but it was no time to ponder; the hour was at hand, when the cause of Europe should achieve a complete and honourable triumph. The physical force of France was paralyzed, and her means of effective resistance destroyed; while the strength and resources of Britain were reduced to an astonished world, in accomplishing, after an unparalleled sacrifice, a triumphant peace. + + Ere this event, our stock of bullion was nearly exhausted; the government had been, for the last two years, paying out large coin with bank notes as a promissory note of thirty per cent. with such customers for gold, little could be left in the shape of circulating medium, and the sight of a guinea became something rare and curious. + +Recovery of the exchanges after the peace of 1814. +—Such was the critical state of our finances when peace came to our relief. The vigour of our efforts towards the close of the contest, were of a character to show that public mind was in a deplorable state of our resources. Peace, however, opened an effective means of reclaiming the lost guineas, which were freely returned in exchange for British manufactures, transmitted in large shipments to every part of the civilized world. Hence Bank paper began to redeem its costly character, and gradually recovered before the end of the year 1814, from a depreciation of thirty, to eight per cent. below bullion. + +Sudden fall in the value of Bank paper at the re-commencement of hostilities in 1815.—This promising aspect of affairs, it is well known, did not long continue. The return of Napoleon from the place of his exile, to repossess himself of the imperial diadem of France, caused the war-cry to be resounded throughout Europe, and ignited + +2 c + +450 +HISTORICAL SKETCH + +that mortiferous combustion, which spread its terrific glare over the plains of Waterloo. The necessity of rendering our treasury tributary to foreign governments, was held by the public as a certain consequence of this new appeal to arms. + +Our exchangers immediately sympathised with the unexpected political transaction; but after a few weeks depreciation (two per cent. below par) A speedy termination of hostilities seemed the only means of relieving us from this prospective irretrievable embarrassment; happily, relief was at hand, and the cloud, which so seriously threatened destruction of our finances, was dispelled on the evening of the Battle of Waterloo, by the enemy's country. Peace, that Gilead for the evils which affect civilized states, offered the renewed opportunity of reinstating the currency. Our exports of merchandise were immense, while our imports were more limited, from the abundance of the two or three years preceding. The large importations of bullion were the consequence, and ere the end of the year, the current value of Bank paper was within five per cent. of gold. + +Account of the remittances in specie, on account of subsidies, etc. during the war.--The disappearance of our gold during the war, will be sufficiently accounted for, by the subjoined notice of the amount of the actual remittances on account of subsidies to foreign countries. When viewed in connexion with the large importations of foreign corn during the years of scarcity. + +Account of money remitted as subsidies, loans, or advances to foreign countries during the war, computed from documents presented to parliament from the year 1794 to 1816. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
YearsAmountYearsAmount
17942,196,30018062,600,000
17952,196,30018072,600,000
1796810,00018112,068,108
1797810,00018122,347,547
179920,01218135,315,828
18001814354,415
18012,613,178181510,024,024
1802899,900181611,935,346
+ +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 1816. + +A table showing remittances from 1794 to 18 + +OF THE CURRENCY. +451 + +The total amount of these subsidies exceeds 52,500,000l., which greatly surpasses the amount of the gold coin in circulation, as estimated by Mr. George Rose, which estimate has usually been considered too large ;-when to this amount of subsidies, we add the amount of specie sent to Holland, the Peninsula, and other parts, to pay the British troops employed, and the sums paid as the balance of commercial payments in the years of dearth, we shall be at no loss to account for the disappearance of our guineas, and the absorption of bullion remittances which came into the country in prosperous years. + +The state of exchanges since the peace.-The cessation, through peace, of so many causes which had produced the extensive depreciation of our currency during the war, materially changed our financial condition. Our ports were closed, from causes both commercial and political, against imports from foreign countries; and on account of subsidies granted during the previous years; but the effect of these was more than counterbalanced by the magnitude of our export trade, thus Bank paper reached par* in the early months of the year 1816. + +The state of the foreign exchanges now enabled the bank to prepare for the resumption of cash payments, and the attention of parliament would doubtless have been called to this subject, had the balance of foreign trade continued favourable; but various circumstances combined to render this period unfavourable -the want of a circulating medium-commercial embarrassments, and a general absence of employment prevailing throughout the kingdom. The harvest of 1816, proved + +*The word par in this sense, means that three one pound bank of England notes (17s. 10d.), would purchase an ounce of gold. + +2 a 2 + +452 +HISTORICAL SKETCH + +unfavourable throughout the greater part of Europe, importations could only be obtained at high prices, and our market rates for grain surpassing the legal import limit, immense importations flowed into British ports; other causes also contributed to affect the value of bullion. The Bank, expecting to be called on by foreign governments to receive cash payments, were buying large quantities of gold, and contracting their usual accommodation to traders; foreign governments were also preparing for the reinstatement of their debased currency; in fact there was a general competition throughout Europe to obtain supplies; the effect was a rise in the price of gold, which exceeded 10 per cent., and the resumption of cash payments was necessarily postponed.† + +The only peculiar feature in the state of the currency during the year 1818, was a prompt and extensive issue of Bank paper, to relieve the commercial embarrassment which had beset us during the preceding year. The amount of Bank issues reached the unprecedented sum of 31,000,000L., and imparted a stimulus to manufacturing and commercial industry; our exchanges improved, and in the early months of 1819 reached nearly par. + +**Measures for the prospective resumption of cash payments.**—In 1819, ministers determined on proposing to parliament measures for the prospective resumption of cash payments, and Mr Peel was deputed to move a bill on that subject, which was subsequently embodied in a Bill which allowed the Bank three years to prepare for that event. Hence the policy of contracting the issues, + +* The amount of gold held by the bank on the 28th February, 1816, was 1,000,000L.; in 1817, 9,600,000L. +† In February 1817, the price of standard gold, was 4l. 3r. per ounce. + +DF THE CURRENCY. +453 + +with a view of lowering prices and discouraging imports. The due effect on the exchanges was by this means produced, and gold flowed in, as the balance of commercial payments. Bank paper representing 6,000,000L was suddenly withdrawn from circulation, and the amount of reserved bullion in the Bank proportionally increased;* a contraction which, in the same ratio, influenced the issues of that medium, and led to the contraction of the general circulating medium of not less than 20,000,000L. This withdrawal of capital from commerce could not fail in its embarrassing consequences; and the torpid state of trade which resulted therefrom, together with subsequent evils, form a prominent example of the direct consequences resulting from an unsteady management of the currency. + +During the years 1820, 21, and 22, the Bank, expecting that the determination of ministers in 1819 was inviolable, pursued the same policy, diminishing the stock of bullion from 1819 to 21,500,000L., and in 1822, to 17,800,000L. Their stock of bullion continued to increase; and such was the effect on trade, that large capitals were withdrawn from it, and being invested in government annuities, virtually ceased to exist. The rise in the price of British securities was in a ratio to their withdrawal of capital from, and the consequent decline of, commerce. The rates of interest on these investments diminished with the increasing price of stock; and thus the inducement to invest property in British funds became less attractive than before; and this was in the frail securities of foreign governments. Hence it was the contraction of our currency, and its effect on trade during these years, which prepared that embarrassment which characterized our com- +* The amount of bank notes in circulation in February, 1820, was 23,900,000L.—See Bank Committee Report. + +454 +HISTORICAL SKETCH + +merce in 1825. Towards the latter part of the year 1822, large remittances of specie were made to the continent, in virtue of loan contracts entered into at London and Paris. The effect on the exchanges was not immediate; and the Bank, at no considerable sacrifice, managed to retain, and rather increase, its stock of bullion.* + +*Vocilating financial policy of the government.—Towards the latter part of the year 1823, the Bank had amassed the immense sum of 14,000,000l. in gold, aggravating commercial distress in relative proportion to the immense contraction of the circulating medium. In consequence of this state of affairs, and of being obliged to furnish gold for the notes of the provincial banks, the Act of 1819 cancelling the privilege hitherto held by the country bankers, of paying their notes with those of the Bank of England, subsequent to the year 1823. In the previous session, the measure of 1819 was reconsidered, and it was proposed to enlarge the time for the payment of the country notes to 1833 ; thus, in a great measure, rendering the contraction of the circulating medium during the two preceding years, which had occasioned so great a sacrifice to all parties, unnecessary. This vocilating policy—so far from being a part of government—was ill suited to promote public confidence in the measures of ministers respecting the regulation of the currency; and it is some proof that those at the helm of affairs possessed but limited information on the subject. The Act of 1819 had been passed with a view to sell a price for, and prelude to, a prospective but lasting security; and when the sacrifice had been made, and the benefit on the eve of attainment, we were told—Your sacrifice is of no avail, but its repe* + +*The surplus capital of the bank during these years experi- +cienced a large diminution.—Bank Committee Report.* + +OF THE CURRENCY. +455 + +tition will be required ten years hence, when the promised benefit shall be secured. This new determination left the Bank large means of increasing the circulating medium; money became suddenly plentiful; the rates of interest fell; fictitious bills were freely discounted; merchandise rose, and importations received a great extension; gold was sent out of the country to be invested in foreign securities, and a portion thereof was to be given away to the democratic governments of South America, and expended in furnishing rival chiefs with means of contending for power; —in kindling the flames of civil war in the infant states of that continent. The same large amount of British capital was sacrificed, and the embarrassments of 1825 and 1826 were prepared. + +After the month of July, 1824, the effect of these extensive remittances was distinctly visible in the state of our exchanges ; yet the tendency of a rise in the price of commodities encouraged immense imports of merchandise from all parts of the globe. Our exports of British manufactures were large, but dangerously inadequate to provide remittances for the importation of merchandise, coupled with the demands of foreign governments for money, in virtue of the loan contracts entered into with them. British merchants were thus placed in a difficult position. + +The mutual speculation ranged far and wide. The opening of the Spanish Americas to British intercourse offered fatal allotments to capitalists to enter into contract with the Mexican and other American governments for the mines of precious metals, which were then being worked by so many families. All appeared to promise the most advantageous results. This period was pompously announced as the hey-day of commercial prosperity, and the sanguine calculations of the government were set forth in the speech from the throne, in the following words : " There never + +A historical document page. + +456 +HISTORICAL SKETCH + +was a period in the history of the nation, in which all the great interests of the state were in so thriving a condition." But, with the progress of the year the delusion vanished, and proved to have been the result of the great extension of paper issues succeeding the postponement of the time for the withdrawal of the small notes of the country banks. + +From August, 1824, to December, 1825, upwards of 6,000,000l. in gold left the country, and the exchanges rapidly declined during the latter months of 1825. The Bank found themselves obliged to contract their issues; and the continued operation of these measures, together with takings, created no small embarrassment, and contributed to raise doubts as to the merits of the various schemes in operation. Thus the speculative mania gave way to rational discussion; a general absence of confidence succeeded, and a rapid depreciation of all securities was soon apparent. The loss of property and contraction of issues began seriously to affect the amount of deposits in the hands of bankers, which continued to diminish; and, in the latter part of the year, the failure of one of the provincial banks in the south, and the general state of affairs throughout the trading community, the demand for gold became extensive, all public securities were depreciated, and immense losses incurred by the banks in realizing the funds necessary to meet the demands of their creditors. In the month of December, 1825, a state of things arose breaking up of commercial and banking credit. The situation of the Bank, and of the state finances, was most critical. Every corner of Europe was searched for gold, yet the stock of bullion rapidly diminished; exchange bills fell to an alarming + +* See table page 405, founded on Mr. Horatio Palmer's statement to Mr. McCulloch. +A page from a historical sketch book. + +OF THE CURRENCY. +457 + +discount, and found their way into the treasury as payment for import duties and taxes. We had reached the very verge of national bankruptcy; the bank held but a few hundred thousand pounds in gold--being scarcely sufficient to meet the average demand of the public for twenty-four hours, and no relief was at hand. As a matter of history, it may be interesting to refer, briefly, to the annals of this country between the govern- ment and the Bank at this period. A renewed order in council for a temporary suspension of cash payments was discussed, but finally rejected. Mr. Huskisson proposed that a notice should be affixed to the doors of the Bank, showing the inability of that establishment to continue paying its debts, and acquainting the public of the anticipated speedy arrival of supplies of gold--advice which was too irrational to meet approval. Happily, the directors discovered that they possessed a box of small notes; and with the advice, or rather the concurrence, of Mr. Huskisson, they proceeded on issuing them. This expedient was attended with the most beneficial results. The notes were readily received by the public in exchange for those of pro- vincial bankers ; the demand for bullion from the country was suspended. In the meantime the exchanges began to rise, and anticipated supplies of gold were to arrive. The depreciation of the currency throughout this period did not exceed three per cent., which, although less than might have been expected, yet caused great embarrassments to our merchants, and, according to the evi- dence before Parliament, amounted to about 100,000l. to the Bank of England, in the re-purchase of bullion out of its usual channel.* + +Measures adopted by parliament to limit the paper issues of the provincial banks.--The severe shock to commercial credit experienced during the latter +* Bank Committee Report, 1832. + +458 +HISTORICAL SKETCH + +months of 1825, and the commencement of the year 1826, seem to have paralyzed the springs of trade; thus rendering our financial position insecure. At no period of our history did our prospects, as to the progress of the nation in wealth, experience so sudden a revolution. The beginning of the year 1825 was the hey-day of commercial prosperity; but it ended in a byway of misfortune and ruin. However, prices during 1826 continued to fall. Hence imports were discouraged, and bullion began to come in as the balance of commercial payments. Public confidence, although not re-established, was, if we may judge by the state of affairs which has progresed so as to enable the Bank to furnish fair issues of its currency, upon the stable foundation of an increasing stock of bullion. + +The measures adopted by parliament in the session of 1820, limiting prospectively the paper issues of government, and prohibiting circulating notes under £5, with the reasonable impression that such restriction was essential to public credit,—were viewed not without anxiety by the trading portion of the community. As the time approached for the adoption of the provisions of this Act, a general opinion prevailed among those who felt that the inability of many of the country's banks to redeem their paper, and issue their issues, would occasion a return of the embarrassments of 1825-6. This opinion was happily disproved by results. The establishment of branch banks was instrumental in aiding the measure, by offering assistance to those parts of the country where commercial transactions were most extensive. This, and the length of time given to provincial bankers to withdraw their paper, and the ready issues of the Bank of England, combined towards the accomplishment of the measure, and protected commercial credit from the effect of this contraction of provincial issues. + +OF THE CURRENCY. +459 + +During these years, our foreign exchanges, notwithstanding the extensive imports of grain, experienced but little depreciation: and the gold which left the country from April 1828, to February 1829, did not exceed 500,000L., the extensive exportation of British manufactures counterpoising any further effect. + +*Influence of the French and Belgian revolutions on the foreign exchanges.*—1830-31. At the commencement of the year 1830, the political horizon was calm, and the state of Europe seemed to promise a long continuance of peaceful government. The excitement in the course of the political institutions of Europe, was evidenced by the very high price maintained by foreign securities. Our trade was free from embarrassment, and the exchanges steady. + +This aspect of affairs, it is well known, was doomed soon to undergo a sudden and most important transition. This occurred in the French and Belgian revolutions in the summer of the same year. Such events could not fail to produce a timidity among the moneyed and commercial classes, as to their effects on the pacific relations of Europe. The holy alliance was viewed as the great obstacle to the spread of liberal religion; and although, perhaps, none of the leading powers entertained any intention of opposing, by force of arms, the establishment of the new governments of France and Belgium, yet the question of war was raised into importance by the strenuous means employed by the advocates of peace in Europe, but especially in France. The political horizon of Europe thus appearing clouded with combustible matter, the securities of every government experienced a rapid fall in value, and the + +*The French Four per Cent. Loan was negotiated in the month of March, 1830, at the very high price of 102.* + +A page from a book with text discussing foreign exchange during the French Revolution. + +460 +HISTORICAL SKETCH + +low premium which the bonds of our unfunded debt supported, placed the British exchequer in a position of insecurity. Several causes concurred to extend the demand for bullion on the continent; among which, the principal perhaps was the hoarding of money by the French, particularly by those of the French, who considered recent events as but the prelude to such confiscations of property and *bouleversement* of affairs as succeeded the memorable era of 1789 to 92.* This state of affairs continued throughout the whole of the year 1831; and about two millions sterling of British gold were sent into France, partly to pay for our immense imports of grain, partly to pay instalments on foreign loans, and partly to feed the avarice of distrustful capitalists. Our exchanges were consequently influenced, and remained at a slight depression. + +The effect of the political discredit in 1832.—The commencement of the year 1832 was a time of great public excitement, occasioned by the important proceedings in the British senate, and the strenuous exertions of political parties—both as to impose taxes, and as to oppose, the ever memorable Bill for reforming the representation of the people. + +Public credit was not, however, influenced until the efforts of the opposition were for the second time on the eve of proving effective. This leading fact is that they are more disposed to their public good, and more steadfast in advocating popular rights, than any that ever + +*This opinion, although well founded, will perhaps be doubted by those who are unacquainted with the state of politics in France at this era; but on reference to the debates in the French Chamber of Deputies, on the financial report (budget) of M. Thiers for 1832, they will find that the practice of hoarding money was seriously complained of. + +A historical sketch page. + +OF THE CURRENCY. +461 + +graced the British senate, roused the nation to acts of decision, when the prerogative of the people was to be weighed in the balance against the prerogative of the king. Such a state of affairs could not fail to foment political discredit. + +The call for gold was immediate and extensive, and would certainly have overrun the means of annuities, had not his Majesty, by the timely re-call of the popular ministry, assured the triumph of the great measure in agitation. About 1,800,000L. in gold were withdrawn from circulation during the month of May, 1832. Fortunately, this demand for specie was co-existent with a very high price of bullion, which enabled the Bank speedily to replenish its stock of the precious metals. + +We have now brought our historical sketch of the fluctuations in the currency to a close, and our next object is to elucidate the sacrifice made, and the consequent addition to our public debt, by the operation of the Bank Restriction Act, and the system pursued during the war with respect to loan contracts. These subjects will be discussed in the following section. + +* The exchange on Paris, June 6, 1832, was 25f. 95c. + +402 +EFFECTS OF THE + +SECTION II.—EFFECTS OF THE BANK RESTRICTION ACT. + +**Remarks on the issues of paper money.**—Since the era of the establishment of the Bank, England has enjoyed, in a more or less degree, the convenience and economy of paper money. Public confidence in the stability of that establishment favoured the progressive extension of its notes; and, up to the period of the late wars, no default in the engagements of the Bank with the public having occurred, the national credit system had not been violated, and the credit system proved sound and beneficial. + +At the commencement of the last war, our stock of bullion was equal, or nearly equal, to the amount of paper money in circulation; and thus the full value existed in both, and exchange was free for bullion. But with the war, the interruption to our export trade concurred with various other causes, such as subsidies and large importations of food, &c., to effect a disproportion in the relative amounts of specie and paper in circulation. Now, if a great deal as paper issues must be regulated by the amount of bullion in circu- lation, any withdrawal of it must necessitate a relative contraction of the circulation of its representative—"paper;" for, if the market price of bullion be greater than its coined value, the holders of paper will immediately convert coin, and obtain a more profitable premium on its bullion; and hence paper will be thrown back upon the issuers. Thus, unless the standard is preserved, there is a moral impossibility of maintaining a paper currency in circulation. A bank-note is only retained in circulation on the principle that + +* Including bills and provincial notes. + +A page from a book with text discussing effects of bank restriction act. + +BANK RESTRICTION ACT. +463 + +it will command specie on presentation ; and any delay or default in its payment must depreciate its value, the extent of that depreciation depending on the degree of credit attached to the establishment promising to accomplish its ultimate payment, and the fluctuation in the demand for bullion.* + +These axioms being admitted, it is evident that the Bank, following the Restriction Act, having defaulted in the payment of their notes, depreciation in the value of paper money against gold became an open consequence, the degree of that depreciation depending on the public feeling as to the supply of gold, and the public confidence in the demand for bullion. At the period of the Bank's suspension of payments circumstances were favourable to the due support of the value of paper money. The public judged the directors of the Bank to whom the new privileges were granted, to be men of prudence, talent, and honour; the exchange continued daily improving, and gold became more plentiful. Hence the temporary success of the new plan. + +The day of trial arrived during the season 1790-1800, when the pressure of war subsidies and corn importations, depreciated the value of the bank-note; in which case gold was required at about four per cent., a one pound note and 2s. nearly, being required to purchase a guinea. Depreciation to various degrees, depending on the foreign demand for gold, in payment of subsidies, for excess of imports over exports, or the maintenance of military establishments. This state was discovered in 1805, 1808, and 1815—the bank-note sinking in the latter years of the war, to about 13s. 6d. when purchased with gold; or what is the same thing, 6s. 6d. and a pound note being required to + +* The issues of the Bank are, and must always, as a principle of currency, be regulated by the state of the foreign exchanges.—Evidence of Mr. Ward before the Secret Committee. + +464 +EFFECTS OF THE + +purchase a golden guinea.—Before we proceed to our estimate of the excess of government expendi- +ture, consequent on the Exemption Act, it will +be necessary to remark, that the depression of +Bank paper implies a relative fall in its exchang- +able value against commodities; and that the +public expenditure, which is principally +regulated by the price of commodities, would be +increased, in years of the depression of the cur- +rency, *par passum* with the degree of that depres- +sion; and further, that as the government expendi- +ture in these years always surpassed the amount +derived from taxation, the excess consequent on +the depreciation of the currency was applied to +the amount of the loans, and hence, proportionally +swell the sum of the debt. + +Estimate of the loss to the public by the Exemption Act. In estimating the excess of government expenditure, consequent on the operation of the Exemption Act, we shall, in accordance with the foregoing remarks, consider it relative to the depreciation of Bank paper. +The first period of depreciation was, as we have already observed, the three years ending 1801. + +Our expenditure during these years was 171,500l. £ +and the average depreciation about 6,002,000. +As the fall in the exchanges did not occur until an advanced period of the year 1805, we shall calcu- +late the loss on a moiety of that year's expen- +diture: +The expenditure of the year 1805, was 77,600,000, +the index number being 132. +With 1808 commenced the great losses. +During the years 1808-9, the expenditure reached +185,700,000l., and the average depreciation about +nine per cent. +The expenditure of the years 1810-11, was +181,200,000l., and the average depreciation about +fourteen per cent. +The expenditure of the years 1812-13, was +244,400,000l., and the average depreciation about +twenty-two per cent. +49360,000 +15183,000 +25382,000 +49360,000 + +BANK RESTRICTION ACT. +465 + +Brought forward . . . £ 97,091,000 + +In 1814 and 15 the exchanges greatly fluctuated; in the early part of 1814, they were extremely depreciated, amounting to nearly thirty per cent., while in the latter part of the year, the depreciation was barely ten per cent.; after March 1815, they rose to a level which did not fall to the extent of twenty-five per cent., but ere the termina- tion of that year—recovered about eight per cent., we shall therefore take the average depre- ciation fifteen per cent. The cost of Bank paper of the years 1814-15 was 233,300,000L., which at fifteen per cent. is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,000,000 + +Total extra expenditure, or amount added to the public debt on account of the depreciation of Bank paper is £ 131,091,000. + +The foregoing sketch is illustrative of the proxi- mate excess of government expenditure, resulting from the relative depreciation of Bank paper against coin; and as our war expenditure always surpassed the income arising from taxation, it re- presents an extra expense consequent upon the addition made to the debt from the same cause. + +There are, however, deductions which ought to be made from this large sum, on account of the dividends paid during the depreciation of the currency. + +The total amount paid on account of dividends during the twelve years of depreciation, was about 290,000,000L. The average depreciation for this time was about eleven per cent.; which gives a deduction of about £ 23,000,000. + +Besides this deduction it appears that a depreciation of one per cent. might have occurred, had Bank paper continued convertible—admitting such a depreciation as being possible; but so certain it will add to the sum to be deducted about 10,000,000 + +Making a total deduction of £ 242,091,000 + +This offset reduces the actual loss, on account of the depreciation of Bank paper, to nearly 90,000,- 00L; but if our inquiry extended to the excess of government expenditure consequent on the facility of raising funds by the suspension of the Bank +2 H + +466 +EFFECTS OF THE + +demand for bullion during this period, we might add a very considerable sum to this enormous loss. +For instance, is it probable that after the example which the commercial embarrassments of 1796 unfolded, as the result of the remittances of coin to support the continental war, our government would have found it expedient to make payments to foreigners demanding subsidies to the extent of 6,000,000L; implying at that period, when the balance of commercial payments was against us, a certain addition to the export of metallic currency—is it probable that, after experiencing the difficulties resulting from the diminution of our circulating medium—after having been compelled by the acridity of our citizens on the Island of Malta, even when coincident with the aggression of France on the Swiss frontier, would have induced the government to resume the war in 1803?—Or is it probable, without the financial abundance afforded by the Suspension Act, Mr Pitt's policy could have lasted so much longer than the expensive and fruitless coalition of 1805? Or would the Grenville administration, more inclined to peace than their predecessors in office, have blindly rejected the terms offered by France in 1806? Would the government, without a full assurance in their financial resources, have been able to resist the French proposals, and extend their war by the piratical seizure of the Danish navy, and the bombardment of Copenhagen? Or would the affairs of Spain and Germany have commanded so many millions of British treasure during the latter years of the war? + +Each of these events was either positively negative; for, had not the whole stock of gold been placed at the disposal of the government by the Suspension Act, it would have been impossible to have found the pecuniary means of supporting the immense expenditure which our system of vigour necessitated. Neither trade nor extensive revenue + +BANK RESTRICTION ACT. +467 + +could have been maintained without a large circulating medium; and by the export of gold, and the consequent contraction of paper money, the whole circulating medium would have ceased to appear. + +Addition of public burden consequent on depreciation of the currency, and the system on which loans were contracted during the war.—We shall now shew the combined effect on the public debt, of the depreciation of the currency, and the loan system practised by the government during the war. + +Previous to the war, state loans were usually raised by giving stock for this same amount as the sums borrowed, at a low rate of interest, according to the contractors. Mr. Pitt, however, changed this plan, and adopted the system of borrowing in a nominal capital, bearing a low rate of interest; the three per cent. annuities being those in which the greater portion of the loans were contracted. This plan may have afforded some temporary facilities; but when, with the increase of stock, and with the depreciation of the currency, it has been attended with the most baneful consequences: first, by preventing since the peace the reduction of the rate of interest on the loans contracted during the war; and secondly, by limiting the power of the present surplus revenue to cancel stock, in consequence of its increasing value. + +To illustrate the effect of "the system," we refer to the financial contracts of the government during the latter five years of the war. In these years, 1811 to 1815, the amount of stock created was 214,500,000/. These loans were contracted in a contract expressed upon the average of five years about twenty-two per cent.; the mean price of gold being about 4L. 16s. 3d. per oz., and the mean contract price of the loans a fraction more than 61L. for every 100L. stock created. Hence, every 100L. of debt incurred during this + +2 n 2 + +468 +**EFFECTS OF THE** + +period yielded the government in **money**—that is, in gold—471. 12s.; and the sum actually raised commanded, and does command, an annuity, not of 3l. per cent. as the stock implies, but of 6l. 6s.; while the present market rate of interest is less than 3l. 10s. per cent. + +Now let us calculate the extent of loss, to which this present generation is subject, in the repurchase of stock; suppose for instance, an individual possessed of 150 guineas, subscribed to a loan, contracted at 6l., during these years of depreciated currency, he would first sell his guineas, which weighing precisely forty ounces, at 41. 16s. 3d. per ounce, would cost him 61. 6s. for the whole. This sum he invests in stock at sixty-one per cent., and becomes a state creditor for 315l. 11s. 6d. + +In 1834, she sells this stock to the commissioners for the reduction of the debt, at ninety per cent., and receives in gold 284l. 0s. 5d., equal to 268 guineas 11s. 7d. So that for 150 guineas lent in these years, he did not receive more than his loan has been received from the produce of the taxes an annuity of 6l. 6s. per cent., he receives in liquidation of his claim 268 guineas, or 118 guineas more than his contract entitled him to demand, and for which the public have received no value. + +This is a very important point of view the ruinous financial system followed during the war, and the evils consequent on the non-convertibility of Bank paper. We do not maintain that the Restriction Act is the sole cause of these losses; but, that by placing the whole stock of bullion in England, we have created that system of lavish expenditure, of sending specie out of the country for subsidising our allies, and supporting continental war, which could never have been followed, had the Bank been liable to pay their notes in cash. + +* Mr. Baring, in his speech in parliament, April, 1833, says +2: 10.* + +A page from a book with text discussing effects of money supply changes. + +BANK RESTRICTION ACT. +469 + +Some advantages resulting from the non-conver- +tibility of Bank paper.—Against the evils resulting +from the non-convertibility of Bank paper, it had, +however, some redeeming qualities which ought +in fairness to be noticed. The contraction of the +currency in seasons of depreciation, such as 1790 +and 1830, was no less productive of depreciation +as in 1796, when it caused so much embarrassment +to commercial men. The non-liability of the +Bank to pay in gold, left its directors at liberty to +make unlimited advances on bills or securities, +possessing the necessary qualifications, and to meet demands for cash, which would have been +otherwise due to exercise, had they been liable +to pay in cash. This supply of nominal capital, +which served the purposes of metallic currency, +was, doubtless for the time being, beneficial.—It +assisted those branches of commerce which required +heavy advances at a moderate rate of interest; +and enabled them to employ powers necessary to +answer the increasing demands of the state in a +time of war,—which could not have been brought +into activity without such means; it was also of +advantage, in supplying any deficiency of the cir- +culating medium, which probably would have been +felt in such times. In 1790 and 1801, a crisis, +in a great measure foreign to political events. +In this, as in subsequent periods of the +war, when the balance of trade was against us, +the issues of Bank paper acted as a counterpoise +to the deficiency of metallic currency, and hence +in a great degree prevented those breaks in the +revenue which might have occurred if Bank paper +been negotiable. Yet these redeeming advantages were by no means equal to the ultra- +moral loss which the Restriction Act has entailed. +We now approach the third section of our chapter— +—an inquiry into our present monetary system. + +470 +OUR MONETARY SYSTEM. + +SECTION III.—OUR MONETARY SYSTEM. + +The losses incurred by our inability to maintain the standard of value during the late wars, have been elucidated at some length in the preceding section, and form a subject of sufficient importance to authorise a more extended discussion. Moreover, under the pressure of war expenditure, our present system is calculated to afford security against their recurrence, or whether we possess any means of strengthening our financial position. + +The advantages of the banking system.—The advantages of a sound system of banking are obvious. Banks collect the small inactive sums of individuals into centres, from which they are re-issued, in aid of those employments which could not be conducted without capital. By emitting also, more bills than they hold coin, they multiply money, and consequently increase money power. This principle, which is called 'trade,' the activity of trade, therefore, is in a great measure governed by the amount of money in circulation. If banks enjoy a sufficient degree of public confidence, to cause their bills to circulate freely, in lieu of money, they not only economise the use of precious metals, but extend through them augmenting trade, by facilitating the means of interchanging commodities. But, as it is clear, that the Bank, or any other confidential paper, payable at sight, can only do the entire office of money while possessing the means of commanding it at any hour, the first object of every government is to guard against any violation of the standard of value; or price of gold and paper money, must necessarily expel one or the other from circulation. + +OUR MONETARY SYSTEM. +471 + +Does the Bank possess an effective power to influ- +ence the foreign exchanges?—The power which regulates the standard of value, and the supply of the circulating medium, has during modern times centred in the Bank of England. This power must always be limited by the stock of bullion held, or the means of acquiring it ; and as the ability of every private bank, to extend its issues, must depend on the quantity of the circulating medium, it follows, that the whole currency of the country sympathises with the actual ability, or condition of the Bank of England, and that the state of our commerce is in a material degree de- +pendent on that establishment. To regulate the +foreign exchanges, or rather to influence them in such a degree as should counteract any sudden demand for gold, requires resources so large that corporate associations can alone command them. +In what manner, it may be asked, could the resources of a corporate association regulate or influence the foreign exchanges, when the balance of trade is in favour of this country, and drain on the precious metals a certain consequence? + +Suppose, for instance, 2,000,000l. sterling were required to pay the balance of an adverse trade, it is certain that 2,000,000l. sterling in specie must leave the country ; but it does not follow that this 2,000,000l. sterling must all pass in gold. The standard medium may be all coin; and coinage states is silver; and consequently if the offer of bills on England in foreign markets exceeded the ordi- +nary demand of merchants for them for regular remittance, the export of silver from England to purchase the surplus amount of bills would bring the exchange into a state where it would cost for gold in England ; thus obviating the necessity of contracting the issues in consequence of an adverse trade. Hence we see the importance of the appli- +cation of capital or power in regulating, at least + +472 +OUR MONETARY SYSTEM. + +pro tempore, the foreign exchanges. The question whether the Bank does possess this power on an effi- +cient scale, was minutely investigated by the Secret Committee; and upon the evidence presented to parliament on Bank affairs, ministers decided that it does not, and resolved to increase the active capital of the Bank by a reduction of the govern- +ment debt to that establishment. The question whether the government debt, at 6 per cent., or 3,600,000l., is sufficient, is very problem- +atical; and we may perhaps be allowed to offer some data on the subject, from which the reader may draw just conclusions. + +From the end of the institution of the Bank, its entire capital has been employed in facili- +tating the loans of the government; it has, in fact, +been exchanged for stock warrants. The real capital has been expended by the government, and has thus virtually ceased to exist. The Bank has, +therefore, never held any power in capital, but has retained a power in credit. Its entire means consist in the issue of notes, its customers' ex- +change for its notes, and others for securing keep. +These means also it has invested chiefly in govern- +ment securities, retaining only about a third pro- +portion as deposited specie to answer all demands. +Hence whenever the demand on deposits surpasses, +or even approaches, the amount of specie held by +the Bank, and no other medium than their cur- +rency must ensue, which must be legalized by the state, or the Bank would be annihilated, and the country, without a circulating medium, reduced to barter. + +The Bank was just in this position in 1796-7;— +all its capital and the greater portion of the de- +posits of individuals were invested in non-convert- +ible government securities, possessing a prospective, +but not a present value. The demands of de- +positories outran the means of the Bank to meet + +OUR MONETARY SYSTEM. +473 + +them—a violation of the principles of currency ensued, and the arm of the law interposed to legalize the refusal of payments, and oblige the creditor to receive, in lieu of payment, a note promising to pay the debt at an undefined future time. In 1825-6, the same case was at hand; the government had expended the Bank capital, and the major part of the deposits of individuals had been employed in purchasing an annuity, other resources being invested in real properties, and the amount of the assets was reduced to a few hundred thousand pounds; while the claims, demandable at pleasure, exceeded 32,000,000l. On the subject of the critical state of the Bank at this time, Mr. Jeremiah Harman was asked by the Secret Committee— + +Q.—"Do you recall the lowest amount of gold which the Bank possessed during any part of 1825?" + +A.—"No, I do not; but it was miserably low." + +Q.—"Was it below the 1,300,000l. you have mentioned?" + +A.—"Yes." + +Such was the power and position of this establishment at the period referred to; and the only fundamental increase of power since that time is the reduction of the debt due from the government to the Bank to the extent of 3,600,000l. + +The Bank official balance sheet—The usual or ordinary means of the Bank, ere the late Act for repaying the Bank twenty-five per cent. of its capital, will be seen on perusal of the subjoined official balance sheet, struck on the 29th of February, 1832. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
474BANK.
Bank account of this concern.
Dr.C.
Paid-up capitalE.
Directors' share$5,063,710$5,063,710
Shareholders' share$5,063,710$5,063,710
Licenses and permits26,08026,080
Exchange rate adjustment--
Private expenditure--
Vessel purchase--
To the balance of Bank's share14,623,00014,623,000
Net worth of the Bank12,579,00012,579,000
By cash on hand14,623,00014,623,000
Total assets$144,179,820$144,179,820
The surplus of the Bank at the date referred to was:
Surplus from the government's share of the profits from the sale of shares in the Bank (to be transferred to the Bank's share of the profits from the sale of shares in the Bank) (to be transferred to the balance of Bank's share after out)$144,179,820$144,179,820
Total capital$171,186,596$171,186,596
+ +* The discrepancy between the amounts due from the Bank to the government and the Bank to the government that has been paid to the Bank is $359,889. This amount is transferred to the balance of Bank's share after out. +* The discrepancy between the amounts due from the Bank to the government and the Bank to the government that has been paid to the Bank is $359,889. This amount is transferred to the balance of Bank's share after out. + +OUR MONETARY SYSTEM. +475 + +From the foregoing statement it appears that the debt due from the Bank to the public, exclusive of the capital stock, amount to 27,000,000L., every shilling of which they are liable to be immediately called on to pay in gold. The available amount they possessed, including commercial bills under discount, amounted to about 8,200,000L., or less than one third of the debts. The amount advanced to the government, or on government securities, exceeds by far the capital by 36,000,000L., absorbing so much of the public and private deposits.* No portion of the sum advanced to the government, or of that advanced to public companies, or on mortgage, &c., could be made immediately available by cancelling notes or in obtaining receipts. The receipt of money from the government, it is well known, exists but in name; the receipts given for it, such as exchequer bills, stock warrants, annuity deeds, &c., being but the record of so much real capital previously consumed spent. The capital has vanished—the acknowledgment alone remains, and the annuity which the receipts represent—being paid out of the forth-coming incomes of individuals: or in other words, a real capital has been subscribed or obtained from the public—paid over to the government, and by it spent; and thus the debt due from the government to the Bank is dependent for payment on the means of a future year can only pay it by continuing its debt with the public, and thus effecting a transfer of creditors. + +Insecurity of the financial position of the Bank.—We shall endeavour to explain the danger to which the Bank is exposed by this position. Suppose a nation divided by an insurrection obliged to take part in a continental war ; as a + +*The money raised on the issue of notes is of course a part of the deposits. + +476 +OUR MONETARY SYSTEM. + +natural consequence, our international commerce would meet with interruption; and our workmen being drafted for the service of the government, our productive power would be impaired. The balance of commercial payments would be against us, which, being probably coincident with remittances to England, and the exchange would depress the exchanges, the advantage of remitting gold would arise at a time when the price of the public funds would tend to decline. Such being our situation, suppose a large capitalist, or what may be termed a mercantile stockholder, whose only country is the island, desirous of procuring by the purchase of which the expense of gold, purchasable here at 3l. 17s. 10d., bears on the continent. He sells his stock for gold, transmits it to Paris, Hamburg, or Amsterdam, there purchases bills on England, with which he renews his demand for gold. What would be the effect of any considerable trade between England and France, to drain every sovereign from the Bank, and ensure a recurrence of the measure of 1797, with all its attendant sacrifices. With a premium in the market over the Mint-price of gold, it would be impossible for the Bank, on the present system, to maintain a standard value during many succeeding months. As to the reason why the Bank holds, of contracting the issues by the sale of exchequer bills, they could, in such times, avail nothing. The government, deficient in pecuniary means, could not submit to the embarrassment which such sales would cause; for, the effect of such sales would be that no money would be paid into the national treasury in lieu of taxes, not only to the amount of the bills held by the Bank, but to a sum approximating to the sum total of the unfunded debt; and thus, by increasing the demands of the government for loans, cause a double withdrawal of capital from the + +OUR MONETARY SYSTEM. +477 + +ordinary channels of commerce, and seriously em- +bitter that embarrassment always attendant on great +political transition. + +But presuming that the government, by orders in council, or other more constitutional means, +raising the interest on exchequer bills, averts the necessity of cancelling any large portion of the +unfunded debt, and that the Bank are enabled to reduce the stock of bullion to a limit sufficient to the amount of the exchequer bills it holds—even this reduction, if we refer to the precedent of 1797, when the Bank issues were reduced below 9,000,000L., would be totally inadequate to avert +the severity of the suspension—demands for +gold by the continental powers will continue to reduce the stock of bullion to a point which the +Bank could in no degree contend with ; for, as +Mr. Rothschild quaintly remarked to the com- +mittee—" Should foreign powers want gold, if five +per cent. will not command it, ten will do so." + +Indeed, when we look at the whole extent of our present monetary system, we cannot but con- +sider it replete with danger; not so much in time of peace, as on the very possible recurrence of +war; and as leading to those sudden " jerks" in our commercial course, which create the most +dubious embarrassment. From these conclusions, +we are led to think that the re-payment of the +3,600,000L. is inadequate to the security of the +Bank, and hence to the maintenance of public credit. Against such an inference it may be con- +tended, that the Bank directors are the best +judges of their means to afford financial aid to the +government, and that the measure of this aid is +always regulated according to its effect on financial security. + +Let it be remembered, that this was the thesis of the Bank in 1797, and that the sys- +tem pursued at the present time is essentially +the same as it was before that era; it led to + +478 +OUR MONETARY SYSTEM. + +the Suspension Act, which cost the country— +not the Bank proprietors—100,000,000L., which, +being added to the public debt, imposes to this day upwards of 4,000,000L. of taxes on the people, while the Bank proprietors built their prosperity upon the ruin. Let it be considered, +that they hold such privileges at the public cost, +and that these privileges are so far from being to the common weal; and then let it be asked, whether the affairs of the Bank are not a proper subject for public scrutiny? The system hitherto pursued has been highly profitable to the Bank, although in many points disastrous to the public. The Bank has, by its own power, taken from the public treasury something like an annual mil- +lion sterling for loans of money collected from the public in exchange for notes, promising re-payment on demand, while they know, that should value be demanded when it did not suit them to redeem the pledge, an order in council, or some such instrument, would relieve them from the present discharge of the obligation. This is, in fact, taxing the people for the loan of their own property. The system, as we have before ob- +served, may work securely in time of peace; but, as Voltaire says, history is but the rectal of similar events under different forms: and being warned by the past, we ought to guard against errors for the future. + +It would be of little service to note our objections to the present system of currency, and to point out the insecurity which it unquestionably presents, +did we not observe that there are measures that seem calculated to meet the evil.—The great object is to strengthen, or rather to enlarge, the means of maintaining the standard of value. +The suggestions on this point will form the subject of the following section. + +479 + +SECTION IV.---POLICY OF A CHANGE IN THE STANDARD OF VALUE. + +This subject will necessarily embrace, 1st, The fluctuations in the relative value of gold and silver money, and present state of our coinage. 2d, An inquiry as to the policy of continuing the standard value in gold only; and 3d, Whether an alteration of the standard would conduct to the maintenance of steady rates of exchange. + +Fluctuations in the relative value of gold and silver.--As the balance of trade determines the ingress and egress of the precious metals, so the relative value of gold and silver, as bullion, will regulate the exportation or importation of each; for previous to the year 1664, that kind of money which is the most valuable. From a remote period to the year 1664, gold and silver were both legal tenders, and it being obvious that they should bear an exact relative value to each other, the value of the former to the latter was regulated by preclusion, or what is the same thing, it was ordered that no person should receive any money into a certain specified sum.* From 1664 to 1717, this practice was discontinued ; silver became the only legal tender, and the price of gold fluctuating according to the relative value of the two metals in the market, it was fixed in the latter year that the guinea as a legal tender was at its highest authority at foot says, "the guinea was at this period worth in comparison with silver, about 11."---During the greater part of the last century, the relative value of silver coin was superior to that of gold ; or, to explain, twenty-one perfect shillings would remit for a greater value than a golden guinea. The purchase + +* Liverpool on Coins, p. 128. + +480 +POLICY OF A CHANGE + +of the silver coin with gold, for the purpose of ex- +port or melting, together with the practice of clip- +ping and debasing the silver coin, were the effect of +this inequality of value. These evils gave rise to +the statute of 1775, limiting payments in silver to +25c.; but the enactment was purported to pro- +tect the community against loss, and was in a great +degree unnecessary, owing to almost concurrent +alteration in the relative value of gold and silver. +Soon after the passing of this Act the scale began +to turn, and the preponderance of value was re- +versed ; hence, the guineas, which had been of less +value than quantity, became more valuable, and re- +from that cause retained in circulation became now of more value than twenty-one perfect shil- +lings, and were consequently purchased with sil- +ver, and being melted down or exported, disap- +peared ; leaving in circulation the imperfect silver +coin. But this state our currency continued until +1816, when by an Act of Parliament it was ordered, +that gold should be the only legal tender for all debts amounting to more than 40s., and that the old de- +based silver coinage should be called in, and a re- +issue of silver money made, at the rate of 5d. 6d. +per once. The pound Troy of silver being coined into 660 ounces, this made for some time yielding the +government a kind of seigniorage on the issue of silver of 61 per cent. The government retaining the monopoly of coining silver, and issuing it as tokens, counters, or change for money. + +It will be perhaps necessary to explain more +clearly the relative intrinsic value of gold and silver +money before we can see how the general law re-appeared, +we hence invite attention to the following calcula- +tion :- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ouncesof goldThe Mint or Standard
14403l. 17s. 10d.= 5607l.
+ +This quantity is coined into 5608 sovereigns. So + +IN THE STANDARD OF VALUE. +481 + +that the gold coin is within 4/2 per cent. of its value in bullion,—merely nominal difference, which is perhaps equivalent to the value of the alloy; while the pound troy of silver, which, at that date, cost in gold 3l. 2s., was coined into 66s., being a difference of 6l. 1s. 14d. in every 100l. + +By the fall in the value of silver since this date, to 4s. 10d. per ounce, the premium on the issue of silver money has been raised from 12½ per cent.;* allowing however, 1½ per cent. for the expenses of coining, the net profit is about 11 per cent. + +Danger arising from the present depreciation of the silver money.—The depression before noted infers the possibility of purchasing the gold and foreign intrinsically valued at twenty-five shillings, or 22s. 6d. of the present silver money, with silver valuing as bullion 17s. 7d., and we cannot but think that we are exposed to great loss (however strong the laws, to counteract illicit coining)—from the temporation here offered to circulate spurious coin. *Initative—*the present depreciation affording all the qualities and value of our silver coin, may be remitted from foreign parts, and exchanged for gold at a profit of 11 or 12 per cent.—or, what is the same thing, merchandise may be exported to the value of 100l., and paid for in silver money, valuing in bullion 59l. 10s. The rapid exportation or disappearance of such a supply of bullion, and of silver money, usually ascribed to its return from the colonies, which led to the melting of upwards of half a million sterling by the Bank in 1831, are at least fair reasons for surmising that the temptation offered has encouraged the operations of the + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
*48 ounces troy of silver fine, at 4s. 10d. per oz. 235a.
Do. coined into
264
Profit- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
29 in 235, or
12½ p. cent.
2 I
+ +*48 ounces troy of silver fine, at 4s. 10d. per oz. 235a. +Do. + coined into +264 +Profit +- - +29 in 235, or +12½ p. cent. +2 I + +482 + +**POLICY OF A CHANGE** + +private coiner.* It has been officially stated that no prejudicial effects have arisen, or are likely to arise from this depreciation of the silver money---but such opinions, although clothed with official sanctity, are, to say the least, very problematical. + +We now come to the point which involves the policy of an alteration of the standard. + +**POLICY OF CHANGING THE STANDARD OF VALUE.** + +We shall not enter into any lengthened discussion as to the aptitudes of various metals to serve as money, or standards of value. The Lacedemonians, or rather the disciples of Lycurgus, preferred iron. Some modern people use lead, others shells, but most of the polished nations of ancient and modern times have selected gold and silver. The claims of these metals to priority are briefly enumerated by their respective advocates, so that their value is determined by the quantity; they are less liable to waste than other metals; they are more ductile, capable of the minutest di- visibility, and possess other properties which make them valuable as articles of universal merchandise. + +The monetary system adopted in England since 1816, while it has been a great source of comfort to money, we cannot but view as imposing an undue restriction on Bank issues, and depriving commerce, conducted through the medium of paper money, of a fair means of activity and + +*An account of the amount of silver coin melted in 1831, also the loss sustained thereby--- +Amount melted and re-coined into bars - £565,000 +Ditto melted and recoined - - - - - 35,000 +Total - - - £600,000 + +Loss on sixpenny pieces - - - - 4,001 3 +Ditto on other denominations - - - 65,092 19 2 +Total loss - - £67,584 0 5 + +IN THE STANDARD OF VALUE. +483 + +source of security. It is evident that as gold is the only metal by which, according to law, paper issues can be advanced or cancelled, the extent of these issues must be regulated by the quantity of gold in circulation; hence it follows that any subtraction of this metal must be concomitant with at least an equal subtraction of paper money, which double contraction of the circulating medium causes a diminution in the circulation of commodities proportional to the diminution of the circulating medium subtracted; we need scarce add, as the circulation of commodities is only another term for commerce, that the decline of trade, both foreign and domestic, is sensibly affected by a contraction of the circulating medium. + +Now, every country will always part with its gold for aliment; an adverse season in England is always concurrent with an export of the precious metals—hence a double contraction of the circulating medium, and decline of domestic commerce. It seldom occurs in Great Britain that large importations of food are paid for by imports of gold; but from this reason, that an adverse season in England being concurrent with the same visitation in those countries in the north of Europe, from which we usually draw supplies of corn, England possessing capital employs it to purchase food, and increases her imports; while poor countries possessing less abundant means are obliged to retaliate their purchases of our manufactures ; thus we are always exposed to lose a portion of our gold in times of scarcity or great political transition. + +The Bank issues are, and in the present system must continue to be, regulated by the stock of gold commensurable with them. By mutual calculation adopted in practice being, that the amount of gold held must be in the proportion of one-third to the + +212 + +484 +POLICY OF A CHANGE + +amount of the Bank paper in circulation ;* hence, +supposing 5,000,000 of sovereigns would circulate +15,000,000l. in paper ; if both silver and gold were +current, 5,000,000l. in gold, and a like sum in +silver, the Bank would have to redeem 15,000,000l. +if the issues were still regulated by the amount of +gold held, a double security would manifestly +arise by enabling the Bank to redeem their issues +in whichever of the two metals best suited their +convenience. There can be no doubt of the extra +facilities of payment which would be afforded by +the adoption of a metallic currency, and of the re- +gaining of discharge of debts in either silver or gold, +in preference to the present system of enforcing +payment in gold only. + +Estimate of the amount of the precious metals +received from the Americas, and of the relative pro- +portion of silver to gold.—An estimate of the amount +of specie received from the mines, is inseparable +from every question touching the policy of main- +taining or changing the standard of value. On +this subject our estimate is liable to great inaccura- +cy ; the laws permitting the importation and +exportation of bullion being made without any entry of the amount being made at the Cus- +tom-house.† The only means of approximating to +a fair estimate of the quantity of bullion received +by Great Britain from the Americas, is by deter- +mining the balance of trade with them ; and by +ascertaining, upon the most approved authorities, +the probable amount of imports. + +First we shall note the amount of our imports +and exports with the gold and silver producing +countries of America. + +* Evidence before the Bank Committee. +† By the 56th Geo. III. c. 49 (1819), the exportation of coin, which had been previously prohibited, was legalised, and no export duty is charged. + +A page from a book with text on it. + +IN THE STANDARD OF VALUE. +485 + +Official value of British imports from, and the declared value of exports to, the under-mentioned states, for the year ending 5th January, 1830— + +| State | Value of Imports | Value of Exports | +|---|---|---| +| Brazil | £1,530,658.1 | £2,497,561.1 | +| Mexico | 169,223 | 1,209,548 | +| Foreign West Indies | 432,421 | 976,000 | +| States of the Rio de la Plata | 883,947 | 644,803 | +| Colombia | 402,750 | 676,603 | +| Chili and Peru | 111,230 | 947,759 | + +Deduct for difference between the official and real value at per cent. £280,349 £6,587,705 + +Deduct value of the imports of merchandise at per cent. £288,000 + +Excess of exports and presumed balance of commercial payments remitted in specie £3,995,356 + +This, we admit, is far from an accurate mode of determining the balance of trade, but we believe it is the only means of forming an estimate ; and with all the imperfections to which it is suscepti-ble, it will warrant us in presuming that the specie remitted to England from this part of the world is very large—perhaps 3,000,000l. per annum. + +How far is this estimate warranted by the quantity of the precious metals produced?—The work of the illustrious Baron de Humboldt is the ordinary text book referred to on this subject;* our limited + + + + + + + + + + + + +
There are perhaps few works which exhibit a greater fund of practical information than that of Baron de Humboldt; and yet few that have given rise to more erroneous calculations, and led to more fatal results. Many extraordinary circumstances, such as the great depression of commerce in Spain during the year 1824, to induce our moneyed to look at distant objects for the investment of capital. The opening of commercial intercourse with the Spanish colonies in South America has been attended with great advantages for the investment of capital and the application of British talent.
+ +*There are perhaps few works which exhibit a greater fund of practical information than that of Baron de Humboldt; and yet few that have given rise to more erroneous calculations, and led to more fatal results. Many extraordinary circumstances, such as the great depression of commerce in Spain during the year 1824, to induce our moneyed to look at distant objects for the investment of capital. The opening of commercial intercourse with the Spanish colonies in South America has been attended with great advantages for the investment of capital and the application of British talent. + +486 +POLICY OF A CHANGE + +space will not permit us to follow this profound author in his comments on the estimates of Ustariz, * Solorzano,† Navarete,‡ Raynal,§ Ro- +in working the gold and silver mines of that part of the world. +The states of Mexico and New Spain, which have been the most successful which might be anticipated from the schemes; companies were formed,—contracts entered into for mines,—shares issued,— + +and the frame-work of commerce was more complete. +A great portion of those who possessed disposable capital, many who did not, became candidates for shares: shopkeepers, merchants, lawyers, clergy, even the poor themselves. As soon as the first share was sold, the rest followed; the price of shares rose to five, and, in some instances, to seven or eight times the nominal value at which they were issued. Engineers and managers, who had been employed in the mines, were dispatched to commence operations, and the greatest expectations of success were raised. Want of correct information led to severe disappointments. In some cases, the owners of the mines, some of whom had derived immense fortunes from mining speculations, and who had been driven out of the country by the civil war, sought refuge in other countries. In Peru, Bolivia, the South of France, and Old Spain, being their more ordinary locations. From our non-intercourse with Spanish America during the civil wars, we have no idea how far these countries, our countrymen were little prepared to meet the difficulties which presented themselves, and no accurate idea had been formed of the extent of the losses sustained by those having been abandoned during the period of the civil wars. Many of the mines required a large outlay of capital to bring them into operation; but this outlay was limited only by the natural impediments which the country presents in transporting heavy machinery, but by the opposition imposed by the Spanish Government to any extensive em- +ployment of the steam engine in preference to the horse wheel. The native Mexicans, unacquainted with modern European improvements in removing ores; process of smelting iron; to extract the silver; and our countrymen being poorly informed, allowed themselves to be duped by these unworthy counsellors. + +At first, the wretched governments encouraged our speculations; and when, after a few years' delay, they had been reduced into a workable state, disputes about title have arisen, which seem destined to absorb the remnant of the immense capitals subscribed. + +* Treatise on Commerce and Navigation. +† De Justinianus Jure. +‡ De la Conservation de las Monarquías. +§ Hist. Philosophique, Geneva edit. 1780. + +IN THE STANDARD OF VALUE. 487 + +berton.* Neckar,† Gerboux,‡ Smith,§ Garnier,|| and other celebrated authorities. We must, therefore, referring our readers to the works of this phalanx of literati, pass on to notice De Hum- +boldt's estimates of the produce of the American mines, from the first discovery of the Western Hemisphere, to the year 1803. + +General summary and estimate of the amount of gold and silver imported into Europe from Spanish and Portuguese America, from the year 1600 to 1803 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
PeriodsAnual average importation of gold and silver
1492 to 1500200,000 piastres
1500 to 15443,000,000 piastres
1545 to 160011,000,000
1600 to 170016,000,000**
1700 to 175022,000,000***
1750 to 180328,533,333****
+ +Thus, according to the calculations of De Humboldt, Europe annually received from the American colonies, between the years 1750 and 1803, 35,300,000 dollars, or about 7,501,200l. These calculations are doubtless founded on the best authority; but since this date, especially during the last twenty years, it is generally admitted that + +* Historia de las Indias. +† La Monnaie de l'Inde. +‡ La Monnaie de l'Am?d?nagement des Finances. +§ French edit. Smith's Wealth of Nations. +|| Wealth of Nations. +** Tableau Economique de l'Or. +*** The mines of Potosi begin to get exhausted, especially after the middle of the 17th century; but the mines of Yaurocha are discovered in Peru in 1749. The annual flow from Spain rises from two to five millions of piastres per annum. +**** The silver mines in Brazil wrought Mexican mines of la Banda Yacuca; then those of Guatamala; and finally those of Valenciennes; the importation of gold and silver into Spain, from 1748 to 1753, was at an average of 18,000,000 of piastres annually. +†† Last edit. Smith's Wealth of Nations. +‡‡ Last edit. Smith's Wealth of Nations. +**** Last edit. Smith's Wealth of Nations. + +488 + +**POLICY OF A CHANGE** + +the produce of the American mines has very considerably diminished.* Mr. Jacobs estimates the total annual produce of the mines of America, during the twenty years ending 1829, at 80,736,760L or 4,036,385l. per annum, and of all the mines in the world 110,000,000L or 5,500,000L. per annum. +Since the publication of Mr. Jacobs's estimate, some further information as to the produce of the mines has been received from the British consul-suls, from whose returns the following estimate is founded : the produce of the Brazilian and Columbian mines, &c. is not included. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
1790 to 1809.1810 to 1829.
Gold.Silver.Total.Gold.Silver.Total.
Mexico4,533,57694,929,30098,362,8761,013,17145,388,72047,361,804
Panama853,974944,7561,809,7101,964,626878,1882,732,702
Chili - Buenos Aires1661,95419,296,83121,149,7852,162,9407,695,84210,657,782
Russia7,475,929115,160,970125,134,9506,003,35545,105,79351,109,148
3,703,7405,102,9818,806,721
Total - Annual Average - 9,708,97065,665,74075,373,712
Annual Average -
+ +The annual amount produced from the Mexican mines which rapidly diminished during the fifteen years following 1810 has had its value progressively reduced. + +* Account of the number of dollars coined at all the legal mints of Mexico and the amount exported to Europe from the years 1817 to 1829 inclusive: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Year.Dollars coined at Mexico.Years after 1829.Dollars exported to Europe.Years after 1829.Dollars exported to Europe.
Dollars coined at Mexico.Dollars exported to Europe.Dollars coined at Mexico.Dollars exported to Europe.
18179.837.9816.585.990

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Year:Dollars coined at Mexico:Years after 1829:Dollars exported to Europe:
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Year:Dollars coined at Mexico:Years after 1829:Dollars exported to Europe:
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+ + + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + table + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
489 + +increasing since 1836, while the mines of the United States are beginning to become productive. Adding therefore a million to Mr. Jacob's estimate, we may presume that the specie annually remitted to Europe from America is not less than 5,000,000/, and if to this we add 1,300,000/, for the produce of the European and Asiatic mines, and the auriferous sands of Africa, the total annual produce + +*For a more general account of the produce of the American mines, see Mr. Jacob's "Essai sur les Mines de l'Amérique," Mexico, or the original Essai politique sur la Nouvelle Espagne.* + +A writer in the New York Journal says, "Gold is much more extensive in America than has been generally supposed. It commences in Virginia, and extends south west through North Carolina, nearly in the middle of the state, it regards its length; along the Mississippi river, and thence northward into Georgia, and thence north westerly into Alabama and ends in Tennessee. These mines have during the last five or six years, or probably less, been worked extensively; millions being found the ore propelled by water, and by steam engines; and in some cases under the company of Messrs. Bissell, one of the most considerable, employs about 600 hands, and the number of men employed at the mines exceeds 100,000. The weekly produce of gold in these is estimated at 100,000 dollars, or more than 1,000,000 sterling per annum. A small portion of the gold is sent to the United States for coinage; but a large quantity is sent to France particularly to Paris. The rapidly increasing village of Charlottia, in Mecklenburg county, is in the immediate vicinity of several of the largest mines; and it is said that many of those who have come from the mines in South America, and in Europe, pronounce this region to be more abundant in gold than any other part of America. We have no means of stating with certainty the extent of these mines, but sufficient is known to prove they are of vast extent." This account we believe to be in accordance with the facts; and we have had frequent communications with the last accounts from the British Consuls give the following results: + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Province.1836.1837.1838.1839.
Virginia -Dollars.Dollars.Dollars.Dollars.
North Carolina -134,000244,000294,000294,000
South Carolina -----
Georgia -----
Africa -----
Tennessee -----
Dollars -140,000666,000592,000678,000
+ +The gold produced from these mines is principally sent to England for coinage; but a large quantity is sent to France particularly to Paris. The rapidly increasing village of Charlottia, in Mecklenburg county, is in the immediate vicinity of several of the largest mines; and it is said that many of those who have come from the mines in South America, and in Europe, pronounce this region to be more abundant in gold than any other part of America. We have no means of stating with certainty the extent of these mines, but sufficient is known to prove they are of vast extent." This account we believe to be in accordance with the facts; and we have had frequent communications with the last accounts from the British Consuls give the following results: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +


































































































Province.1836.1837.1838.1839.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.Total.
+ +The gold produced from these mines is principally sent to England for coinage; but a large quantity is sent to France particularly to Paris. The rapidly increasing village of Charlottia, in Mecklenburg county, is in the immediate vicinity of several of the largest mines; and it is said that many of those who have come from the mines in South America, and in Europe, pronounce this region to be more abundant in gold than any other part of America. We have no means of stating with certainty the extent of these mines, but sufficient is known to prove they are of vast extent." This account we believe to be in accordance with the facts; and we have had frequent communications with the last accounts from the British Consuls give the following results: + + + +| Province | Dollars | +|----------|---------| +| Virginia | $134,000 | +| North Carolina | $244,000 | +| South Carolina | $294,000 | +| Georgia | $294,000 | +| Africa | $- | +| Tennessee | $- | + +Total | $666,000 | +--- | --- | + +Total | $592,000 | +--- | --- | + +Total | $678,000 | +--- | --- | + +This account we believe to be in accordance with the facts; and we have had frequent communications with the last accounts from the British Consuls give the following results: + +
+ +| Province | Dollars | +|----------|---------| +| Virginia | $134,000 | +| North Carolina | $244,000 | +| South Carolina | $294,000 | +| Georgia | $294,000 | +| Africa | $- | +| Tennessee | $- | + +Total | $666,000 | +--- | --- | + +Total | $592,000 | +--- | --- | + +Total | $678,000 | +--- | --- | + +This account we believe to be in accordance with the facts; and we have had frequent communications with the last accounts from the British Consuls give the following results: + +
+ +| Province | Dollars | +|----------|---------| +| Virginia | $134,000 | +| North Carolina | $244,000 | +| South Carolina | $294,000 | +| Georgia | $294,000 | +| Africa | $- | +| Tennessee | $- | + +Total | $666,000 | +--- | --- | + +Total | $592,000 | +--- | --- | + +Total | $678,000 | +--- | --- | + +This account we believe to be in accordance with the facts; and we have had frequent communications with the last accounts from the British Consuls give the following results: + +
+ +| Province | Dollars | +|----------|---------| +| Virginia | $134,00... + +490 +POLICY OF A CHANGE + +is about 6,300,000L., being about three-fourths of the sum produced in the most favourable times. +But the most important point in the prosecution of our inquiry is the proportional quantity of silver to gold produced by each country. The silver imported from the new world little else than gold, but from that date to the discovery of the mines of Brazil, towards the close of the 17th century, the silver imported exceeded the gold in the proportion of sixty or sixty-five to one. During the first half of the last century, Brazil, Choco, Antioquia, Po- +payan, and Chili furnished so considerable a quantity of silver that Europe probably did not draw from America thirty marks of silver to one of gold.* From 1750 to 1800, (says Humboldt,) **the quantity of gold imported into Europe was** to the quantity of silver imported, in the proportion of one to forty or forty-five proper, according to the estimates of Mr. Hume and Villiers; which will also apply to the produce of the European mines ; recent accounts, however, make the proportion of gold considerably more. Now the general inferences we draw from these researches are—that the mines of America remit to Europe 5,000,000L. per annum; Great Britain receives three-fifths of the total amount; therefore, in proportion to silver, in the proportion of fifteen or twenty to one in relation to gold—and that the relative quantities produced are liable to great variation. + +It is impossible to form any correct estimate of the stock of the precious metals in Europe, much less of the relative amounts of gold and silver. Messrs. Jansen, Neckaë, Humboldt, Forbonnais, Gerboux, and several other writers on pecuniary legislation have severally furnished data upon which approximate estimates may be founded;* + +* Mr. Jacob calculates the stock of coined money in the world at 380,000,000L. De Humboldt estimates it at 325,000,000L., and the annual accumulation of the stock of specie in Europe, in 1802, +**440,000L.** + +IN THE STANDARD OF VALUE. +491 + +but without entering on this subject, it may reason- +ably be supposed that the stock of silver exceeds the +stock of gold in the ratio of at least fifteen to one. +If this is admitted, the increased facility of com- +manding silver in preference to gold is a natural +inference ; hence, how immense the extension of +power that the Bank would acquire in preserving the +standard of value, in maintaining steadiness in the +amount of the public debt, by preventing its de- +preciation in the value of their paper, were it at +liberty to pay its notes in silver or gold. It is +a well known fact that when, in 1825 and 1826, +the Bank were searching every corner of Europe +for gold, they were obliged to resort to the aid of +the difficulty of procuring that metal, the state of +the bullion market offered unlimited supplies of +silver, which, had it been current, would have +averted in a very great degree the pecuniary em- +barrassments which distinguished that period. + +Objections to the adoption of a double currency in +silver and gold.—From a perusal of the foregoing +matter, our readers will be little prepared for the +following proposition—that a double standard is not +advisable—because it is impossible to prevent fluc- +tuation in the relative value of the two metals, and +the least difference would occasion the disappear- +ance of one or other (see page 479), the fluctuations in the relative value of silver and gold during the last century, proceeding from various causes, of which perhaps the most funda- +mental is the uncertainty and variableness in the +produce of the mines : at some periods the pro- +portion of silver produced to gold being as fifteen +to one, or even as ten to five, due to one to ten, +ten to one, six to one,—an absence of uniformity in +production, which must, in naturæ rerum, effect a +difference in the relative value of the two metals. +This being admitted, we shall note in a simple form +the consequences of even a slight variation of the + +**492 POLICY OF A CHANGE** + +relative value of silver and gold, both being current. +—Supposing a double standard adopted, that is to say, a separate standard for silver and gold. The standard price of silver being fixed at 5s. and that of gold at 80s. per ounce; four ounces, or crown pieces of silver, being intrinsically worth the golden sovereign. Now, supposing that gold should bear an interest or profit of 5 per cent., while silver remained at its standard value ; such a variation would cause our gold to disappear; for silver would be imported to purchase gold, or conversely, if silver bore a profit, gold would be imported to purchase the silver. + +Such a change, however, may not be termed certain, would be extremely inconvenient, and attended with considerable losses. A seigniorage on each description of money could not be sufficiently large to counteract this effect without producing evils of perhaps greater magnitude; private coiners would soon circulate their gold at a certain profit, and complain of little or no increase in their incomes. Such objections would, in our opinion, entirely negative the adoption of a double standard of silver and gold, unless some solid plan could be devised for protecting the currency against fluctuation. + +**Policy of fixing the standard in metal, compounded of silver and gold, discussed—Fully impressed with the advantages derivable from employing silver, as a joint current medium in value; we are, as it were, forced by our course of reasoning to suggest a plan, which we do not recollect to have ever proposed before; even that suggested by one writer or debater on currency legislation, which appears to us,—perhaps from erroneous + +*This was the case in France. Previous to 1785, the louis d'or was rated at only 24 livres, while it was worth as bullion 250 livres. Those who paid in gold therefore lost 1/30th. The consequence was that payment was made in gold until the louis d'or disappeared, being holed or exported, and the silver only was left in circulation.* + +A page from a book with text discussing monetary policy. + +IN THE STANDARD OF VALUE. +493 + +conclusions,—that the only means of securing the advantages of the use of both silver and gold, as current media of value—is by adopting a single standard in an amalgamated metal, being compounded of silver and gold, of equal value, but, of course, of different quantity. In this case the value of the metallic standard could not be affected by the influence of a variation in what may be termed the market price of either metal; the appreciation in the one always inferring an exact relative depreciation in the other, those who demand the appreciated gold contained in the coin, must also with it purchase the relatively depreciated silver. This would not recapitulate all the beneficial advantages of the plan at point of security, and the enlarged means it would provide to extend securely the issues of paper money; but we ought perhaps to speak of its disadvantages. The chief, is the extra bulk of the current money; an inconvenience of some consequence, I admit. This, however, might be obviated by resuming by ceasing to coin pieces of greater value than 10s., the current money valuing 10s. would in this case about equal in bulk the present crown piece, and other money would be smaller in proportion to the diminution of value. Those who consider the inconvenience of paper money, as a final objection to this plan, should consider that in such currency, even thus remodelled, would be only half the size of French money, and scarcely one third that of the currency of the major part of Europe ; and that nowhere is the use of paper substitutes, which this plan would materially encourage, enjoyed to so great an extent as in England. Pieces of small value, such as shillings and sixpenny pieces, might still circulate in alloyed silver as tokens, not current coin : gold would not be necessarily excluded from circulation; gold might be issued at a moderate age, as is done in France; but, of course, it would form no part of the currency. + +494 +POLICY OF A CHANGE + +**Question of charging a seigniorage discussed.—The question as to the policy and justice of charging a seigniorage on the current coin, has been subject to much discussion: it is generally viewed as prejudicing the claim of creditors while relieving the obligation of debtors. The extent of income or vested property affected by a depreciation in the currency, is very large, and consists of all money contracts entered into between two or ten years, such as rents arising from lands; money invested in the public funds, or on mortgage, &c., producing an income amounting to perhaps 60 to 65 millions sterling per annum, and representing a capital of about 300,000,000/. About 400,000,000/. of this national debt is largely in the formation of docks, roads, canals, &c., as well as in the improvement of lands, were invested during a period when the currency was depreciated from 10 to 30 per cent.; hence, no injustice would be done to holders of this property, by paying them in coin depreciated even to the same extent as the coins produced which could now be charged. For other reasons, a moderate seigniorage on the current coin seems advisable; it would counteract the melting and debasement of the coin at home, and would also induce foreign merchants to remit in its perfect state at times of favourable exchange; such portion of British coin would find its value abroad while it would diminish the annual charge, on account of the dead weight, to the extent of about 900,000 per ann. "It is to the want of an adequate seigniorage," says Mr. Musket, "that England owes the disappearance of the great silver coinage of King Wm. III." This is true; but it is not only owing to the war, but more particularly the continued absorption of our gold currency since the peace, is in some degree attributable to the same cause. By contrasting the amount of gold coined at the Mint, from 1817 to 1831 (43,943,280l.), with the esti- +A page from a book discussing monetary policy. + +IN THE STANDARD OF VALUE. +495 + +mate of Mr. Horneley Palmer, of the amount of gold in circulation in 1833 (30,000,000L.), it appears that 14,000,000 sovereigns have been lost or melted during this period;* or, perhaps, we shall better explain the matter, by saying that 14,000,000 of sovereigns have been melted either at home or abroad, returned to the Mint in bullion and re coined into coin, occasioning the loss of these coins. The expense of recoining was so great during the period it remained inactive, as well as of those consequent on its subtraction from circulation; what these heads of loss may amount to, it is impossible even to guess with any pretension to accuracy, but they are much more considerable than is generally supposed. + +A seigniorage of two and a half per cent., which, deducting the expense of coining, say, one per cent., would leave the government a profit of one and a half per cent., would, while insufficient to encourage illicit coining, materially counteract the losses above referred to. + +The amount of pecuniary sacrifice consequent on this change in our currency system.—A temporary inconvenience and some immediate loss, would however arise from the adoption of these reforms in our currency—Gold now issued at 3l. 17s. 10½d. per oz. will be superseded by silver money at 3l. 9d. 6½d.; or, be worth 3l. 19a. 9¼d. in current money; hence, in order to collect the gold currency, it would be necessary to give an apparent bonus, equivalent or nearly equivalent to the seigniorage charged; while in silver money, the depreciation being at present about twelve per cent., its exchange for current money may occasionally lose one and a half per cent.: and supposing that three-fourths of the silver money at present in circulation, say 9,000,000L. were thus exchanged, the loss would amount to about 610,000L.; a sacrifice to which + +* See table, page 499. + +496 +POLICY OF A CHANGE + +sooner or later the state must submit, independently of an alteration in the standard of value; to this we may add 90,000L. for the expenses of the re-coinage, carrying the total sacrifice to 700,000L. + +The danger to which our finances are exposed in case of war.—The re-modelling of the coinage may appear unnecessary to some of our readers, who merely look to the present state of affairs; but we are convinced, that should the peace of Europe be interrupted, the greatest embarrassments would occur, it is the opinion of one of our most distinguished authorities on financial legislation (Mr. Baring), that should Great Britain suddenly reengaged in hostilities, she could not carry on an expensive contest during two years without a recurrence to the Bank Exemption Act, *and* this opinion induced him to recommend the adoption of a double standard, legalizing the tender of silver or gold; but as we have already stated, we cannot agree in the propriety of adopting a double standard on the principles recommended by Mr. Baring, but we perfectly concur in his view of the insecurity of our present financial position. + +The Currency Bill of 1819, and its effects.—The security which the reform of our coinage would provide in every stage of our monetary and commercial system, would doubtless operate in extending the issue of paper, and would in a great degree negative the demand of the anti-bullionists for a repeal of the Currency Bill of 1819. That this bill was necessary is admitted by all who believe generally admitted; all the embarrassments attendant on the transition from war to peace were severely felt, and hence the stimulus which capital affords to commerce more than ordinarily necessitates taxation pressed heavily, and the policy of keeping +* Mr. Baring's Evidence before the Committee on Coin, 1839. + +IN THE STANDARD OF VALUE. +497 + +the value of money at a low ebb was dictated by circumstances - various European states were at that time buying up gold ; the effect of which, together with the extensive demand of the Bank of England, could not fail to raise its price in relation to commodities, to limit the resources of our continental customers, and depress commerce. These were doubtless the results of the progressive working of a system of taxation, though admitting that a great depreciation in the price of merchandise was consequent on the enactment, yet we do not concur in the extent ascribed to it by the anti-bullionists. Other causes contributed largely to depress the prices of merchandise. The cessation of the East India Company's charge throughout Europe, from the destructive labourer to the productive labourer; the progressive invention and application of machinery, and the growth of commercial relations between civilised nations, were all auxiliary causes of the depreciation of the price of commodities against gold. During this period, however, the value of merchandise have uniformly tended to adapt themselves to the alteration in the currency, and at the present time, as the productiveness of the mines is increasing, a rise, rather than a fall, in the price of commodities against gold is to be expected ; hence, however much it may be doubted whether Bill 1814 ought have been at that time, yet as great interests have adapted themselves to the measure, the return to a system of insecurity by its repeal, with the avowed object of depreciating the value of money, cannot be fairly advocated. + +Concluding remarks.--None will deny the great advantages attendant on Bank issues, if based on firm security; they enable individuals to apply productive power to employ labour, and thus raise a real property by means of an imaginary capital. + +2 x + +498 +POLICY OF A CHANGE, ETC. + +Neither will any deny the great advantages attendant on a sound system of banking, and the establishment of joint-stock banks. How many small sums, which now lie dormant in the hands of individuals, from want of confidence in the provincial establishments, would be deposited in the hands of banking companies, and by them productive of applying the means to the use of the Scotch banks are too well known to require any comment in proof of the advantages of such establishments. Security against the depreciation of Bank paper, and steadiness in the standard of value, are all that is required to command or enlarge those establishments ; and these objects are attained by measures to which appear to us to be—by fixing the standard in a currency of amalgamated gold and silver; a further reduction of the debt due from the state to the Bank of England; a steady perseverance in a pacific course; and a firm resolution never to grant a subsidy to foreign powers, except on the most pressing occasions. + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
TABLE showing the value of Gold and Silver coined for the Mint in each Year, from 1792 to 1811.
Gold Coin: Examinations June 1851. A finished by Mr. Horsley Palmer & Mr. McCulloch.
YearGold coined.Silver coined.
1792-93$20,0000
1793-94$20,0000
1794-95$20,0000
1795-96$20,0000
1796-97$20,0000
1797-98$20,0000
1798-99$20,0000
1799-1800$20,000234
1801-1802$23,458.31666.666.66
1802-1803$23,458.31666.666.66
1803-1804$23,458.31666.666.66
1804-1805$23,458.31666.666.66
1805-1806$23,458.31666.666.66
1806-1807$23,458.31666.666.66
1807-1808$23,458.31666.666.66
1808-1809$23,458.31666.666.66
From January 1821 to July 1824.
Date:Amount paid.
Amount paid.Remarks.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable.Exchange favourable.Exchange unfavourable. + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + +
Year:
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +501 + +cur to mark the accession of the house of Tudor to regal power, as one of the most propitious eras in the British annals. It was distinguished by the discovery of the great western hemisphere, and the no less important marine passage to the East Indies--discoveries which have largely tended to revolutionize the national system of Europe, and to found the basis of the greatness of the British empire. It is also remarkable as terminating those intestine commotions, between the adherents of the houses of York and Lancaster, which had so long infested our wretched country, and caused it to bleed at every pore. + +A detailed account of the various sources from which kings of England derived their revenues could little interest our readers, and would fill that space in our volume designed for subjects of more present importance. We shall, therefore, referring our readers to the well-known and excellent work of Sir John Hume, we will only digressed information on the revenues of the early reigns, confine ourselves to a brief epitome of the subject. + +**Revenues of Henry VII.**—The extortionations of Henry VII., so famous for his pecuniary avidity, were of three kinds: fines and denials. His exactions were known under the titles of bencovenece, feudal aids, sales of titles, patents, &c. These, besides dues on tonnage, poundage, parliamentary subsidies, compensation from the French king, Charles VIII., in lieu of his pretended claims on Britain, and other constitutional privileges which are moderately estimated at 400,000l. per annum. Bacon says "he received more and spent less than any preceding monarch."† His wealth at his decease is said to have amounted to four millions of our present money.‡ + +* History of the Revenue. +† Bacon's History of Henry VII. +‡ Fahim Phillips. + +A historical illustration showing a scene from Henry VII.'s reign. + +502 +HISTORICAL SKETCH OF + +**Revenues of Henry VIII.—Henry VIII., the libertine son of the first of the Tudors, soon expended the immense treasure amassed by his avaricious predecessors. Extortions and plunder and extortion was practised on his subjects by this prince: the abhorred poll-tax was revived—the coin debased—compulsory loans raised by royal proclamation—which, as Noy, the attorney-general in the reign of Charles I., says, has equal authority with law—and such was the consequence of the seizure of the church lands, of the lands of the two universities, and of all the chantries, free schools, and hospitals, as well as the monasteries and convents, added 150,000l.—or, as some say, 272,000l.—to his annual revenues. Notwithstanding that he possessed himself of these funds, he disdained to use them; and he obtained from his venal parliament an Act cancelling all his debts. Sinclair estimates the annual revenues of the crown in this reign at 800,000l. + +**of Edward VI.—The peculation and fraud of courtiers greatly impaired the revenues of Edward VI. Paget, Beauchamp, Whalley, and Warwick are named in history, as a few among the host of those who possessed themselves of the revenues of the church and state. Boulogne was sold by him to the French king; Seymour had the French king, for 400,000 crowns, and the money applied to the purchase of political support; but Auerfe tricidere espe re fallis nominibus imperium. +It is supposed the annual revenues of the crown during this reign amounted to about 400,000l. + +Mary's reign presents nothing but the records of acts of horror. Her extortions and treasures, by embargoes, seizures, and confiscations, etc., are of the most barbarous character. She raised a revenue of about 300,000l. per annum.* + +* Noy's Rights of the Crown. † Hume's History of England. + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + +
Revenues of Henry VIII.Extortion and plunder practised by Henry VIII.
Revenues of Edward VI.Peculation and fraud by courtiers.
Revenues of Mary I.Extortions and confiscations by Mary I.
+ +THE BRITISH REVENUES. +503 + +**Revenues of Elizabeth.**—A more propitious era dawned with the accession of Elizabeth. The revival of letters, which the novel art of printing had introduced, was working its mighty influence over the minds of the people. By the prodigious exercise of her subtleties, roused the advocates of civil and religious liberty to unfurl the standard of concerted resistance to her actions and oppressions. England stood in the van of the Liberals, and directed her power, in defence of her institutions, against the spiritual thunders of the pontiff, and the powerful arms of the bigoted champions of the Romish church. + +The expenses of the struggle were great beyond precedent. The Fleminges received 800,000l. as a loan, to aid them in resistance to the forces of France; and Sir Robert Cecil, in aid of the French king, Henry IV., in aid of the cause of Hugonots.* The war against Philip II. cost 1,200,000l.;† and the rebellion of Tyrone, excited by the tyranny and extortions of Protestant zealots, cost, according to Sir Robert Cecil, 3,400,000l. The permanent income of this country, including the revenues due to the duchy of Lancaster, was estimated to have been about 350,000l.;‡ and the total receipts, including thirty-eight subsidies and vast sums raised by crown monopolies, patents, &c., amounted to upwards of 500,000l. per annum.§ + +* Camden's History of Elizabeth. +Parliamentary History, vol. 4, p. 364. +† Stevens, p. 247. +‡ The little respect paid to the rights of property in these times was shown by the following instance.—Some Genoese merchants had contracted to transport 400,000 crowns for the use of the Spanish forces in Flanders; the ships on board which they were to convey these crowns were seized by English privateers, took shelter in the English ports—the money was seized by Elizabeth, under the pretence that it was the property of the Genoese merchants, from whom she would borrow it herself; harry occasion for money.—Hurst, vol. iv., p. 151. + +A historical illustration showing a scene from Elizabethan England. + +504 +HISTORICAL SKETCH OF + +**Revenues of James I.—Several circumstances con- +curred to swell the revenues of James I.; such as +the extension of commerce—especially to the East +Indies—the cessation of war—the junction of the +crown lands with those of the Dutch and French—of +crown lands—and the partial repayment of the +funds advanced to the Dutch and French during +the previous reign. Yet the most unworthy means +were practised to raise the royal income: the +favours of the crown were sold, and a certa- +in price was, by the advice of both, or, as +some say, Secretary, fixed upon the dignity of +baron, earl, and viscount—the prices varying from ten to twenty thousand pounds. The dignity of baronet was purchaseable at a thousand pounds, +and ninety-three of these titles were actually sold. +Arbitrary and excessive fines, imposed on those +who used their offices under the pressure of the +court, also greatly condensed to swell the revenues +of the crown;* the total annual amount of which +was about 600,000L. + +**Charles I.—Charles I. came to the throne with all the high prerogative principles of his father, strengthened by those notions of right divine which he had acquired by his visits to the Spanish court. His wars against Ferdinand VI., the most powerful prince that ever wore the im- +perial diadem, together with his wars against France, weighed heavily upon the state's resources; +the attempt to take Rochelle consumed the +produce of five subsidies. The ordinary revenues constitutionally obtained were quite inadequate to meet the heavy expenses of the government. +Monopolies and fines were largely resorted to,† + +* Benset paid 20,000L., Suffolk 30,000L., and Middlesex 50,000L. The Lord Chancellor Bacon was also fined 40,000L., +which was afterwards remitted. + +† Commons Journal, vol. viii. + +THE BRITISH REVENUES. +505 + +and 800,000L. were, during four years, raised by the unconstitutional imposition of ship money, by royal proclamation. These large exactions, which swelled the revenues of Charles I. to an annual average of 858,819L.* roused the people to resistance, and kindled the flames of intestine commotion. + +**Revenues of the Commonwealth.**—The revenues of Charles I., greatly exceeding those of his predecessors, were small comparatively with the sacrifices made by the people during the civil wars which succeeded the rupture between the king and his parliament. The people had shown their consistent resistance to the regal power more energetically supported. The citizens of London sent even their plate to be coined ; no article, however mean, no ornament however valuable, was spared ; the very thimbles and bodkins of the women were not withheld ; no one was anxious to maintain the cause of the Godly against the Masses. The immense sums were raised by the confiscation of the estates of the Church, and the sequestration of tithes; the people even retrenched their meals, and paid the saving of their domestic expenditure into the hands of the worthless parliament. The greatest efforts were afterwards made by the Commons. The Earl of Worcester lent the king no less than 100,000L., and the Universities sent their plate as an offering to the voracious idol of legitimacy. According to Sir John Sinclair's tables, the amount collected by the parliament during the period of the Commonwealth was greater than 83,331,489L.; and Chalmers says that the total sacrifices during the civil wars surpassed 100,000,000L. The foreign wars of Cromwell were a heavy drain on the resources of the country; but at no period of history was the honour or independence of the + +* See Macaulay, vol. ii. p. 216. + +A historical illustration showing a scene from a civil war. + +506 +HISTORICAL SKETCH OF + +nation more nobly vindicated. The gallant Blake carried the thunders of the republican cannon to every hostile shore; he obliged the Dutch to recoil from their vaunted naval superiority, and took signal vengeance on them for the barbarities practised on British subjects at Amboyna ; Spain yielded to Great Britain, and the island of Jamaica; Portugal was humbled, and the European power, which had disdainned an alliance with England under James I. or Charles I., sought it when under Cromwell.* These expenses were, however, severely felt by a suffering people; a heavy debt had accumulated, and Milton asserted " that the trapping of monarchy would be all the more dangerous of a republic," was completely negatived by results. The people were ripe for a change; Monk gave impulse to the latent popular inclination, and the old dynasty was restored in the person of Charles II. + +*Revenue of Charles II.—The revenues of this liberteine prince were fixed by parliament at 1,200,000L. per annum; he obtained also 250,000L., of Bombay, as the marriage portion of his wife Catherine, daughter of the King of Portugal. He received subsidies from Louis XI. 980,000L. to make war upon Holland ; and 800,000 patacoons, about 300,000L., from the Dutch, to make peace. The crown's share of the plunder taken in the Dutch war, was 340,000L.; and 400,000L. was received from France for the sale of Dunkirk. The total sums received by Charles, during his twenty four years' reign, amounted to be less than + +*Mazarin et Don Louis de Haro (the Spanish minister), pro- +duirent à l'envie leurs politiques pour s'unir avec le Protecteur. Il gagna quelque temps la satisfaction de se voir couronné par les deux derniers rois regnans de la chrétienté.—Folletaire scècle de Louis XIF† d'Estrade. + +THE BRITISH REVENUES. 507 + +53,894,492l., being about 2,242,500l. per annum. * This immense revenue was, however, found unequal to meet the expenditure. The Dutch war cost 5,483,000l.; the body guard, varying at different periods from four to eight thousand men, was maintained at an expense of 212,000l. per annum; † the navy at 300,000l.; and the ordnance at 40,000l.; while the rapacity of the famed mis-tresses of the victorious king demanded vast sums. So great were the pecuniary embarrassments of Charles II., that it was publicly advertised " whoever could discover a mode of supplying his necessities should be rewarded with the place of treasurer." The king's creditors were numerous against the claims of the king's creditors, amounting to 2,800,000l., and obliged them to receive as compensation long annuities of the value of 19,927l. Charles, before his decease, is said to have begun a system of rigid economy, but ere he had made great retrenchments he was called by that all-conquering word Death, and all disputes of debtor and creditor were changed "in the grand reconciliation of the grave." + +**Revenues of James II.—At the demise of Charles II. his brother James came to the throne. By menaces and intimidation he obtained a larger revenue than his predecessor. Parliament voted him an annuity of 2,000,000l. per annum for life. After the barbarous massacre which succeeded the rebellion of the unfortunate Monmouth, James obtained a special grant of 400,000l. The extension of our trade enabled us to draw upon our accumulated resources at the disposal of the government; Davenport remarks that the customs and excise had greatly increased, and that commerce had made + +* Carte, vol. vi. +† This is the first mention in English history of the household troops. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
53,894,492l.being about 2,242,500l. per annum.
This immense revenue was,however, found unequal to meet the expenditure.
The Dutch war cost5,483,000l.;
the body guard,varying at different periods from four to eight thousand men,
was maintained at an expense of212,000l. per annum;
annum; †the navy at 300,000l.;
and the ordnance at40,000l.;
while the rapacity of the famed mis-tresses of the victorious king demanded vast sums.
tresses of the victorious king demanded vast sums.
+ + +
The British Revenues.
ItemAmount (L)
Dutch War5,483,000
Body Guard212,000
Navy300,000
Ordinance40,000
Debtor Creditors2,800,000
Customs & Excise466,667
Total Revenue3,966,667
Total Expenditure3,966,667
+ + +
Revenues of James II.
ItemAmount (L)
Special Grant for Monmouth Rebellion466,667
Total Revenue466,667
Total Expenditure466,667
+ + +
Revenues of James II.
ItemAmount (L)
Special Grant for Monmouth Rebellion466,667
Total Revenue466,667
Total Expenditure466,667
+ + +
Revenues of James II.
ItemAmount (L)
Special Grant for Monmouth Rebellion466,667
Total Revenue466,667
Total Expenditure466,667
+ + +
Revenues of James II.
ItemAmount (L)
Special Grant for Monmouth Rebellion466,667
Total Revenue466,667
Total Expenditure466,667
+ + +
Revenues of James II.
ItemAmount (L)
Special Grant for Monmouth Rebellion466,667<\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\h>\ + +508 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF + +rapid strides during late years. The maintenance of the fleet and army is reported to have cost about 1,100,000l. per annum. + +Reforms in the British Constitution.—It is the peculiar felicity of Britain, that every encroachment of the court on the constitutional privileges of the people has been met with prejudice, and the invasion of popular rights, and the prolonged attacks of the court with the small arms of regal prerogative and influence have, immediately they assumed a dangerous aspect, been suddenly repulsed by the cannon of public opinion. Thus the barbarous attempts of Charles I. to confiscate the estates of the nobles. The extortions of Edward I. occasioned the famous statute of De Taliagio Concedendo. The measures of Charles I. roused the nation to arms; and in the subsequent reigns the rights of parliament were maintained,† and the liberties of the subject secured, by the institution of habeas corpus. The fanatical pretensions of James II., to depose the king, and re-enact the constitution by the Bill of Rights; and at the present day, courtly influence over the popular councils has again received its wholesome check, by the irrevocable statute of parliamentary reform. Thus the fundamental principles of our constitution have been preserved and strengthened; and a system of mild government, justice, and rational liberty, raised upon them, which, while the reign of Henry VIII. remains unexunged from the annals of English history, it is impossible for the British people to over value. + +William and Mary.—During the late reigns, all the plans of government seem to have been conducted with disorder and embarrassment; financial science had made little progress, and the limits of +* Encyclopaedia Britannica. † The Bill of Rights. + +A historical illustration showing a scene from a battle. + +THE BRITISH REVENUES. +509 + +the royal prerogative were in a manner undefined. +With the accession of William III., a more pre- +cise compact was established between the crown +and the subject. A civil list of 700,000L. was pro- +vided, out of the produce of special taxes, and +parliament exercised full control over the other +branches of state expenditure. The times were, +however, very difficult. The war against France, and the intestine commotions in Ireland, were subjects of great political anxiety, and necessitated heavy expenditure. France was at this time in the zenith of her power: her military forces were more numerous and better disciplined than those of any other nation, even +than those of the Roman empire under Augustus +or Claudius.* Vauban, Condé, Luxembourg, and +other generals who headed her armies, were +esteemed the military champions of the age; while +her fleet, commanded by the famed Toulvire, rode triumphantly round the world. Her annual revenues, about 7,000,000L., were threefold those of Great Britain, while her financial credit was more firmly based. Thus, as Sir James Stuart observes, the reduction of the French power was no easy achievement; and it was very generally considered an easy task to bring down the strength of Great Britain to carry through, though resisted by the greater part of Europe. This difficulty was much increased by the jealousy with which a large portion of the people viewed the advancement of a foreign prince to the British throne, rendering heavy impositions dangerous to the stability of existing institutions. Such taxes as were however, imposed; some of which were truly ridiculous, such as taxes on marriages, births, and bachelors above forty years of age. + +*Gibbon says that Augustus maintained 340,000 men for the empire of the world. Louis' forces, according to Voltaire, num- +bered 400,000 men. + +510 +HISTORICAL SKETCH, ETC. + +duced into the excise and customs' departments, and these two branches yielded nearly 2,000,000L. per annum. The land-tax also contributed largely to swell the revenues, which on the annual average amounted to 3,850,000L. + +**Revenues of Anne.**—It would be vain to enter into details of the various sources of the revenue of queen Anne. Her expensive wars gave rise to every expedient to raise money; the excise was increased to 2,000,000L. by various new taxes, and the land-tax, maintained at four shillings per £100, was augmented still further, like aquam swelling the annual average revenues to 5,691,803L. The wars, prolonged to gratify the ambition of Marlborough and Eugene, cost 43,270,000L., which far surpassed the revenues arising from taxation. + +George I.—At the accession of the House of Hanover, circumstances seemed to portend a long interval of peace. The period at which George I. came to the throne was nearly concurrent with that of William III., who had so long distracted Europe with his sanguinary wars. The British king, and the duke of Orleans, regent of France, were both deeply impressed with the necessity of preserving peace, and seem to have adopted a course of policy in some degree resembling that which characterises the cabinets of London and Paris in this year. From this time no recourse to peace was pressed ; and notwithstanding a large increase of charge for the public debt contracted during the two previous reigns, some reduction of taxation was effected, yet the revenues increased, averaging for the whole period of this reign, 6,003,000L. + +George II.—During the first twelve + +NATIONAL DEBT. +511 + +years of the reign of George II. the pacific policy adopted by George I. was maintained—never were the good effects of peace more fully illustrated. The credit of Great Britain, firm as supported,* commerce increased, and the national resources received great extension. + +The war with Spain in 1739, the coalition with Austria in 1741, however, completely changed the face of affairs; taxes and national debt seemed to vie with each other in their increase; the taxes which, at the commencement of this reign, pro- duced about 6,700,000l. per annum, were raised in the latter years of it to 8,500,000l., while the expenditure exceeded the income by 59,132,000l. + +Revenues of George III. (previous to the late wars). +No period of history affords such an example of the expansion of state revenue as the reign of George III. At his accession it amounted to about 8,800,000l., and progressively expanded in every succeeding year: in 1770 attaining 9,510,000l.; and in 1785, the first year of the peace, 12,000,000l. The successful campaigns of Arkwright, Hargrove, Wedgwood and others, about this time, began to shew their results in expanding the national income, and with it the state revenue. In 1785 the receipt of the exchequer had increased to 14,871,000l., and ere the outbreak of the war with France (1793) it reached 17,246,000l. The progress of the revenue from the commencement of the war to the present time, will be developed in this chapter, and we shall now trace the progress of our national debt and charge. + +SKETCH OF THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE NATIONAL DEBT. + +The system of raising money for the service of the crown, on the security of transferable an- nuiities, payable out of the forthcoming revenues of + +* The three per cents., in 1738, were 107. + +512 +PROGRESS OF + +the state, dates its origin from a remote period, and seems to have been first practised in Florence, A.D. 1344, but it was not until the reign of Charles II. that the plan was adopted in England. English history frequently speaks of debts contracted by kings with their subjects. Edward I. borrowed money to pay the debts of his father, in order, at the record states, to get his soul out of purgatory. + +Ad exonerationem animae Henrici patria nostri. + +Henry IV. obliged the rich men of the kingdom to lend him money upon the security of the growing taxes.† Henry VIII. mulcted his sub- +jects of England and Wales for the same purpose. Elizabeth left at her demise a debt of 400,000l., which was repaid during the succeeding reign. +At the death of Cromwell, the republican govern- +ment were indebted in no less a sum than 2,474,000l., and it does not appear that this was ever discharged. Charles II. compromised debts to the amount of 2,680,000l., and the government finances amounted to 19,927l., and the debt being ac- +knowledged in subsequent reigns, is the foundation of the British national debt as at present under- +stood. + +William III. had already been familiarized with the plan of raising a national debt, the Dutch considering it as a necessary appendage to government; and when the exigency of cir- +cumstances in this country required extended resources, the Dutch plan was freely introduced. +The bad faith observed by preceding English monarchs towards their subjects, and the numerous subjects extremely disinclined to entrust their pro- +perty to the new king. Hence, during the first two or three years of his reign, William III. ex- +perienced great difficulty in raising loans. He + +* Encyclopedia Britannica. +† Macpherson's History of Commerce. + +A page from a historical text discussing English financial history. + +THE NATIONAL DEBT. +513 + +borrowed small sums of his private friends, which were soon dissipated in Ireland. Subsequently six per cent. was publicly offered by the state without avail. By 4 & 5 Wm. & Mary, 881,000l. were raised as annuities for ninety-nine years, at ten per cent. until 1700, and seven per cent. after that date; but 1729, 1730, and 1731, were on annuities for sixteen years, at fourteen per cent. interest; these sums were, however, found inadequate: hence the unfortunate Patterson, to aid the government, conceived and contrived the Bank scheme, and formed a company, which purchased its privileges for £600,000l., and loan of 1,500,000l. at eight per cent. per annum. The new East India Company also bought its charter by the loan of 2,000,000l. at the same rate of interest, on condition that the money should be refunded ere the expiration of their charter, in 1711. At this time, it was estimated that of issuing exchange bills, which were made more convertible by being made so low as 5l. and 10l., and by which considerable sums were raised.* The total sums borrowed during this reign were 44,930,000l., or about £2,246,500l. Were repaid; at the expense of William III., a total debt of (6,394,702l.) bearing an annual interest, including the annuities granted by Charles II., of 3,310,942l. At the accession of queen Anne, the credit of the government had improved, the current rates of interest were lower, and the debt was paid in full; except of reduction; but the year of 1702 completed characterise the face of affairs : annuities and tonnages were granted on the most extravagant terms, and deficiency bills called " tallies," were sold at forty per cent. discount. The government obtained from the Bank 400,000l., without interest; on the renewal of its charter. This new East India Company lent +* Life of Lord Halifax. p. 45. + +2 L + +514 +**PROGRESS OF** + +1,200,000l., on the same terms. The South Sea Company increased its capital to 10,000,000l. : every species of gambling, fraud, and peculation was practised, and the public, at the demise of the queen, was burdened with a debt of 54,145,365l., bearing an annual interest of 6t. 8s. 2d. per cent., or 3,351,732l. + +George III., after wise counsellors pursued a more salutary course, and applied themselves to remedy the evils done by their predecessors. The establishment of the sinking fund, and its inviolable application to its legitimate purposes during about ten years, had some effect in the reduction of the public debt ; but the principal effect of charge was effected through the growth of public confidence in the measures and integrity of the government, and the consequent fall in the rates of interest ; thus various stocks were reduced from six to five per cent., which economised the annual charge of 328,260l. During this period, in interest were effected, which, ere the demise of George I., carried the total saving to 1,133,807l. Such were the beneficial results of a pacific policy, that the charge for the debts was reduced during this reign to 77,551l. and that to 68,093l. 235l. + +During the early part of the reign of George II., the reductions continued—the debt in 1739—the first year of war—being reduced to 46,954-, 623l. and the annual interest to 1,964,025l. The Spanish war, and the war of 1741, added 31,335,000l. to the debt and about 1,760,000l. to the annual charge. During the eight years of peace which followed the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, some reduction was made in the capital stock ; but more important economy resulted from the well known operation of Mr. Pelham, 1752, by which 57,703,000l. four per cent. annuities were converted into a three per cent. stock ; these measures effected an annual saving of charge to + +THE NATIONAL DEBT. +515 + +the amount of 664,287L. In 1753 various stocks, amounting to 9,137,812L. were consolidated into a new stock, which forms the original capital of the three per cent. consolidated annuities. Retrenchment was, however, suspended by the operation of the seven years' war, which added 72,111,000L. to the national debt; and the annual charge of debt at the peace of Paris, 1763, was 146,682,844L. and the annual charge to 4,840,821L. During twelve years of peace, which followed the treaty of Paris, the sinking fund effected some considerable reductions of debt. In 1766 and 1768 a large portion of the four per cent. and navy bonds were cancelled; in 1770 the three per cent. instruments were redeemed; and from 1772 to 1775, 2,500,000L. were paid off. These several reductions amounted in the latter years to 10,739,000L., economising the annual charge by 364,000L. The rupture with America, and the wars against France, Spain, and Holland, rendered necessary a change in the funding system ; the credit of the government sunk, and the loans were contracted on ruinous terms for the public. The debt was increased between the years 1776 and 1783, by no less than 109,541,410L., and the annual charge by 3,543,894L. The total capital at the peace of Versailles, 1783, being 298,484,870L., and the annual charge to 8,319,905L. Great as had been the increase of debt during this short period, its magnitude sinks into insignificance when compared with the increase which took place during the late wars. + +Large increases of revenue, expenditure, and debt during the late wars.—At the commencement of the contest, the opinion prevailed that France, goaded by famine,—benefit of public credit,—distracted by revolution,—was deficient in resources,—could not effectively contend against the formula-2 L 2 + +516 +PROGRESS OF + +ble powers allied against her; and hence that the contest would be short and success complete. The events of the years 1794 and 1795, however, completely dispelled these illusive hopes, and left us in a war the most expensive on record. + +The prosecution of the contest at its commencement was shaped upon this ill-judged estimate of the power of France. For the effort during the first two years, were comparatively limited, the expenditure absorbing only a few extra millions, raised, not by taxes, but by loans. Subsequently, however, when the war assumed a more formidable aspect taxes and loans immensely increased. +The following table shows how the money annually raised by taxes and loans, from 1793 to the peace of Amiens, 1802 -: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Years.Taxes.By Loans.Total.
179317,170,4004,500,00021,670,400
179417,828,45418,000,00035,858,454
179523,295,99835,858,45459,154,452
179630,684,66035,858,45466,543,114
179732,239,99835,858,45468,098,452
179832,239,99835,858,45468,098,452
179932,239,99835,858,45468,098,452
180032,239,99835,858,45468,098,452
180132,239,99835,858,45468,098,452
180237,240,31325,000,00062,240,313
Total.66'314'731*
+ +Thus, this ruinous war, besides doubling the amount of taxes added two hundred and ninety-five millions to the national debt; about one hundred millions were paid into the Exchequer; on such unfavourable terms were the loans contracted. The total debt at the peace of Amiens is estimated by Sinclair at £61'261', 234f., and the annual interest at 20'428', 48%f.; being an + +* Hamilton's History of the National Debt. p. 157 to 259. + +THE NATIONAL DEBT. 517 + +increase of about 250 per cent. during nine years of war. +Such was the growth of debt, revenue, and expenditure, during the ten years ending in 1802: shewing a surprising expansion of income and disbursement, particularly after the year 1796, and surpassing in a very great degree the sacrifice in any previous contest. Yet this sacrifice, however large, was not exceeded during the entire period of 1803; when our expenditure far outstripped all previous calculation, and augmented the debt to a sum which seriously threatens public credit. + +The sums raised during the war of 1803, are as under: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Year.Money raised By Taxes.By Loans.Total.
180337,405,06315,746,93153,151,994
180440,500,44230,104,22160,604,663
180542,707,25132,976,76575,684,016
180653,204,25430,496,15583,700,409
180762,997,29738,989,995101,987,292
180861,538,20720,476,76582,015,972
180963,347,23724,768,36588,115,602
181068,061,39922,498,77890,560,177
181164,433,44322,498,77886,932,221
181292,169,55440,253,494132,423,048
181365,995,83534,928,925100,924,760
181475,367,56739,567,395114,934,962
181570,403,44840,087,953110,491,301
770.962.331 388.766.025 1.159.729.356*
The average annual revenue derived from taxes,
during the first period of the war appears,
by the preceding accounts,
to have been about 26.300.000L., and the average annual income arising from taxation,
during the thirteen years ending 1815,
was about 59.300.000L., and the expenditure something more than 89.000.000L., adding 335.900.000L. to the debt,
and carrying its total sum at the close of the war.
+ +* Hamilton's History of National Debt. + +518 + +NATIONAL DEBT. + +in 1815, to 864,822,441/. A portion of the loan of 1815, not being required for the war, was appropriated to the repurchase of stock; hence, the amount of debt at the wind-up of the war expenditure, was less than that of 1815. +Such is the maximum, to which the national debt, revenue, and expenditure of Great Britain have ever yet attained: what they may reach in future wars can only be known by results; but the present aspect of political affairs, joined to the extensive liquidation of debt since the peace, give fair reason to hope, that they will not be surpassed in the present age. + +Cost of the war.—The foregoing tables shew, that the total sums raised during the war period of twenty-three years, was about 1,024,000,000/. To form an idea of the extent of the expenditure of the war, it is necessary to calculate what the expenditure of a peace establishment would have been, had the war been happily averted. The disbursements of the year 1793 amounted, in round numbers, to 16,000,000/. ; hence, if in accordance with subsequent events, we suppose that Ireland with Ireland, and the state of affairs in continental Europe, we carry the average annual expenditure to 19,000,000/, the excess of expenditure during the years 1793 to 1815, to be carried to the war account, will stand thus:— + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Sums raised by loans and taxes during the £.period 1793 to 18151,624,000,000
Deduct expenditure for twenty-three years,
estimated at 19,000,000 per cent.437,000,000
+ +Excess of expenditure consequent on the war 1,187,000,000 + +This balance, however, by no means represents the sum expended in the increase of our naval and military establishments during the war period. From +* Debt of Ireland included. † Parliamentary Papers. + +A table showing sums raised by loans and taxes during various periods and their deductions. + +SINKING FUND. +519 + +the first year of the contest, but particularly after 1796, the annual disbursements were greatly swelled by the accumulation of the charge for the debt, and during several years the depreciation of the currency added largely to the nominal amount of the sacrifice. Hence, deducting on account of the accumulated interest on an Amount of £328,000, about 14,000,000 per annum, £328,000,000 And for the depreciation of the currency, 100,000,000 + +There remains to be deducted from the gross amount of the apparent sacrifice . . . . . £422,000,000 + +Deducting the amount ut supra from the total sum, the pecuniary sacrifice on account of the war stands thus : + +Excess of expenditure consequent on the war, +as annexed +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,167,000,000 +Deduct, as explained above +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422,000,000 + +Being a clear sacrifice on account of the war £745,000,000 + +It is difficult to reconcile the account of such sacrifices with the ability of the people to bear them. No people on the face of the globe, except the British nation itself, have ever been so heavy laden; even they must have sunk under such stupendous burdens, had they not been assisted and supported by the miraculous and Herculean work of steam! + +We have already shewn the progressive growth of our debt and expenditure during the war; we now propose to notice the origin and operation of the sinking fund. + +ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE SINKING FUND. + +The loans raised for William III. were chiefly for a specific period ; a large portion of them were in the shape of annuities only, and hence required no reserved fund for their extinction of the capitals. At the accession of the house of Hanover, the debt was considered so enormous, that its re- + +520 +OPERATION OF + +duction was made a special object of parliamentary legislation. During the session of 1716, Sir Robert Walpole, by the advice of the Earl of Stanhope, proposed the institution of the sinking fund, and parliament passed certain resolutions, to the effect that the produce of certain taxes, after paying the interest on loans contracted on its secu- +rity, should be annually applied to the redemption of the capital; and that, as the surplus arising from the surplus had cancelled certain loans, it was to be applied to the liquidation of other debts; the resolutions were embodied in a Bill, 3 Geo. I. +The energy displayed, and the unanimity with which they were adopted, in view of the specific aspect of the times, assured their provisions inviolable. +In its infancy the fund was watched over with great care, and the necessity of the maintenance of its provisions was recommended in most of the speeches from the throne, and echoed in the ad- +dresses of the House of Commons. We have already seen how this was done in 1716-1717. +After the demise of the crown in 1727, the zeal of ministers for its inviolable application abated. In that year the rampart of the principle was broken down by Walpole, when, to insure the support of the landed interest, he reduced the land-tax and increased the income-tax; so as to have completely changed his views as to the merits of a public debt, and to have considered it a useful means of engaging the moneyed interest in support of the throne, against the attacks of the malcontents. Hence, in 1727, new loans were charged upon the revenue; but in 1734, 1,200,000L were taken from it; in 1735 and 1736 it was anticipated and mortgaged; but in 1737 and 1738, it redeemed 3,000,000L of stock. From 1739 to 1748 it was eclipsed by the operation of the war, but reappeared with greater force on the return to peace. In the year 1749 it received an + +THE SINKING FUND. +521 + +annual addition of 300,000L., which was subse- +quently increased by the financial operations +of Mr. Pelham to 600,000L.; and during the +eight years of peace (1748 to 1756), it cancelled +3,700,000L. From 1756 to 1762 — years of war—it was inoperative ; but on the return to +peace effects some important reductions. (See +table, page 539.) In 1758, Pitt came to the helm of affairs, with the avowed determina- +tion of carrying reform into every department of +the state, and to conform his policy to a pacific +course. The reduction of the national debt was +one of the first objects of this reform, and the philo- +sophical meditations. The finance committee of +1756 reported that the clear surplus of the annual +revenue over the expenditure was 900,000L., which +it was proposed to increase to 1,000,000L. by ad- +ditional taxes. Mr. Pitt, charmed with the sur- +prising discovery made by Frisch, that money, +at compound interest, would increase at a rapid +ratio in the hands of the government than in the +possession of subjects, determined that this annual +million accumulating at compound interest should +form a new sinking fund, to be applied to the +reduction of the debt. These gentlemen assumed +certain resolutions relative to the effect that the surplus +revenues should be invested in the names of cer- +tain commissioners, of whom the Chancellor of the +Exchequer for the time being should be one ; that +the fund should be transferred to them by quarterly +payments of 300,000L., and that each such excess +as might arise from the cessation of interest on +redeemed stock, to be applied to the liquidation of +debt. These resolutions were embodied in a Bill, +which, amended by a few suggestions proposed by +Mr. Fox and Mr. Pulteney, received the unani- +mous sanction of parliament. The operation of this enactment was to cancel stock during the six + +522 +FINANCIAL MEASURES + +years, 1787 to 1792, amounting to 9,279,460£. +The operation of the fund to this extent was, how- +ever, only apparent—the expenses of preparing +the armament against Spain, in 1788, limiting the +actual expenditure of the fund to £300,000. A +further reduction of debt was completely pre- +cluded, by the determination of Mr. Pitt, "to +crush the hideous hydra of revolution in its birth:" +the mockery of a sinking fund was, however, still +retained during the wars, and the people were +constantly amused at the statement of millions an- +nually expended on the "miraculous" work of Dr. +Price. All delusion, however, as to the effect of +the redemption of the debt vanishes before the +startling fact, that between 1793 and 1815 upwards +of 600,000,000£ were added to the sum of the +national obligations. + +Financial measures of the government since the peace.—The change in our financial and commer- +cial condition at the peace was no less important +than the transition in the political state of Europe. +The war expenditure of the government, which +had so greatly increased the cost of all classes of +manufactures, ceased, and new channels of con- +sumption were to be sought in the theatre of the +wide world. The sea became the common pro- +perty of nations, and "our maritime rights" no +longer stretched to the monopoly of foreign mer- +kets. The country's manufactures could only be met by a large reduction of prices, necessitating a corresponding fall in the rate of +wages, and a depreciation of commercial profits. +Taxation, which, during the era of high prices, +and depreciated currency, was little felt, now +pressed with extraordinary force; and the people, +to use Lord Castlereagh's words, became "an impatient +of taxation," energetically demanding an imme- +di ate adaptation of our burdens to our means. + +1 + +SINCE THE PEACE. 523 + +This demand was promptly met by the relinquish- +ment of the property and income tax, yielding an +annual revenue of about 15,000,000L.* Such a +reduction was yet far from meeting the national +demands, and ministers found that their declarations +inflated the expectations of the sinking fund. +The rise in the price of the funds yet postponed, +that with a surplus revenue ministers would be +enabled to effect their favourite project of redeeming +the higher stocks. The sanction of a parlia- +mentary committee seemed expedient for the +imposition of new taxes; hence the com- +mittee appointed 1817 reported in the following +year, that the deficiency of revenue over expen- +diture amounted to 1,500,000L.; and resolved +"that the finances of the country could not be +established on a solid basis, until the annual in- +come should exceed the expenditure by 5,000,000L. +The imposition of the new taxes was preceded +a surplus of 2,000,000L. This, in conformity with +the recommendation of the committee, parliament +determined to increase by the imposition of new +taxes on malt, spirits, tobacco, tea, and wool, to +the amount of 1,500,000L., which was adopted +with great reluctance during the years of embar- +rassment which succeeded. The anticipated re- +sults were not fully attained until the year 1822, +when the sinking fund became operative to the extent of nearly 5,000,000L. (See page 525). +In the interval, the political aspect of affairs had +been much disturbed by the rise of revolts; the troubles +in Spain, Italy, and Greece creating alarm in the councils of established governments; but, in 1821 and 1822, circumstances, of which the most ope- +rative were large purchases of stock by the com- +missioners, and the reduction of the rate of interest + +* The proposed partial continuance of this tax was rejected by a majority against ministers, 18th March, 1816. +† Finance Committee Report, 1814. + +A historical document page. + +524 FINANCIAL MEASURES + +by the Bank, concurred to raise the price of the three per cents. to eighty ; when the long sought opportunity of transferring the five per cents. into a stock of lower denomination was promptly seized by the government,—140,250,828/, five percent. stock being cancelled by a new stock, amounting to 147,263,328/, bearing an annual interest of four per cent. The increase in burden thus caused in creased 7,000,000/, while the annual charge was diminished by 1,222,000/. This beneficial measure was nearly concurrent with a no less important financial operation—the commutation of a portion of the military and naval pensions, with the Bank's half-pay and pensions for five years, placing about 2,200,000/, at the disposal of the government during five consecutive years. + +It is, perhaps, necessary to explain, that the half-pay and pensions, amounting in 1823 to about 6,000,000/, had been, in 1818, calculated by Lord Castlereagh to diminish by one-fifth of a per cent. per annum. The actual diminution was, however, far less rapid, and relief appeared remote. The Bank agreed to pay 2,800,000/, per annum to the government, on account of these pensions, during five years, making a total payment of 14,000,000/, reducing the burden from 585,740/, during forty-four years, from the 5th of April, 1823. Thus the annual relief during five years amounted to 3,215,000/. After that period, which terminated in 1828, the increase of burden became 585,740/, per annum over what it would have been had there been no such operation; while in comparison with the period of five years, the increase of burden is 2,800,000/. + +The consequence of these combined operations was a reduction of taxes during the years 1822 and + +* This, perhaps, is not strictly correct; a part of the funds received from the Bank were applied in cancelling stock; and in that case effected a change, of a permanent, for a terminable annuity. + +A bar graph showing financial measures. + +SINCE THE PEACE. 525 + +1823, amounting to 6,000,000L. The beneficial effect on public credit was for a season deferred, by the threatening aspect of affairs in the Peninsula, and the doubt which prevailed as to the policy our government would adopt on the entrance of the French army into Spain. The three per cents., on the appreciation of war, fell to seventy-two ; and the determination of ministers not to interfere being known, they recovered, advancing in the spring of 1824 to ninety-three ; and, in the summer of that year, attaining the very high rate of ninety-seven. Such an opportunity for financial operations was not suffered to escape; and, in consequence of the reduction to 76,906,882L., were converted into a three and a half per cent. stock of nearly the same amount, effecting an annual saving of 381,034L. The large remission of duties provided for in the session of 1825, came into operation with the commencement of the ensuing year; but commercial embarrassments rendered the surplus income of 1826 below 1,000,000L.; thus essentially departing from the resolutions of parliament in 1819. After the embarrassments of 1825 and 1826, ministers seem to have felt the danger to which the finances of the state were exposed; they reduced the unfunded debt, and determined on creating a new four per cent. stock of ten millions, not redeemable until 1833, in lieu of a similar amount in exchequer bills. To this period the shadow of a sinking fund had been maintained, together with all the sophism of diminishing and increasing debts at one and the same time. It is evident, that the only real sinking fund is the surplus of revenue over expenditure; and this simple truth becoming too well known for the continuance of the old system, the finance committee of 1828 recommended that the payments to the commissioners should in future be limited to the actual surplus of revenue + +526 +FINANCIAL TABLES. + +over expenditure, which they suggested should be maintained at 3,000,000l. per annum; parliament concurring with this recommendation, condemned this boasted monument of Mr. Pitt's genius, and in 1829 consigned it to oblivion. The year 1830 is distinguished as the period of the first financial operation under the new system--ministers proceeding in transferring the four per cents of 1822 to 1823 into the sinking fund, at a half per cent. interest, not redeemable for ten years; holders having the option of receiving 70l. per cent. of a new five per cent. stock, not redeemable until the 5th of January, 1869. This operation saved the public revenue about 730,000l., and a small diminution of capital. +The threatening aspect of the political state of Europe, during 1831 and 1832, prevented any further financial operations until the early part of the year 1833, when a saving of about 60,000l. was effected by a reduction of interest on exchequer bills. + +The total saving by these various operations, and the reduction of the capital of the debt, from 5th January 1817, to 5th January 1832, will be seen by reference to the following statement of the comparative amount of, and charge for, the public debt as it stood on the 6th January 1817 and 1832, as under-- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Debt of Government on Great Britain and IrelandTotal DebtCharge, including interest and diminable Amt.Total Charge
Funded Debt£700,150l.49,954,914l.£46,155,104l.5,001,342l.
Unfunded Debt49,954,914l.5,001,342l.
1832.755,543,884l.778,567,234l.57,647,430l.655,399l.
Funded Debt778,567,234l.655,399l.
Unfunded Debt778,567,234l.655,399l.
Total reduc*65,497,870l.3,619,313l
+ +*Total reduc = £65,497,870l. + +FINANCIAL TABLES. 527 + +We shall close this Section, by noting the particulars of the debt as it stood on the 5th January 1832, and a table of the fluctuations in the amount of the debt, and its charge from its origin to the present time. + +PARTICULARS OF THE DEBT, AS IT STOOD ON THE 5TH JANUARY, 1832. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
£.
3 per cent. Consolidated Ann.348,017,532
Reduced ditto123,664,712
Debt due from Bank of Eng.1,000,000
Debt to the S. Company3,663,784
Old South Sea Annuities3,497,870
New Annuities224,880
South Sea Annuities532,100
Bank Annuities870,049
3½ per cent. New 3½ per cent. Ann.1818
















































































497,329,677
Reduced Annuities65,388,707
3½ per cents.12,555,555
4 per cent. Annuities1826
10,804,595
462,738
214,019,444
5 per cent. ditto1830
Total Funded Debt of Great Britain and Ireland729,616,452
FUNDED DEBT OF IRELAND.
3 per cent. Consolidated Annuities2,673,545
Reduced ditto144,078
3½ per cent. Debentures Stock14,539,904
New Annuities11,672,700
Reduced ditto1,277,768
4 per cent. Debts due to the Bank of Ireland27,471,872
5 per cent. dittoditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
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ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
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ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
dito...
The particularls of the charge for interest and Total Funded Debt of Great Britain and Ireland 755,545,876 Exchequer Bills outstanding on 5 January, 1832 27,123,350 Total Funded and Unfunded Debt of Great Britain and Ireland £ 789,667,426 + +528 +FINANCIAL TABLES. + +management of the public debt, for the years ending 5th January, 1832, are as follows: + +Interest of Permanent Debt ..... $24,027,666 +Actual Payment for Terminate Annuities ..... $1,844,498 +Ditto for terms of years ..... 1,501,991 +Interest of Revenue Bills ..... 655,329 +Management ..... 273,295 + +Total Charge ..... $28,302,780 + +The actual amount of money applied to the reduction of the national debt, since the peace, may be simply seen by the following table of the state revenue and expenditure in each year, from 1817 to 1832 inclusive. The annuities, discounts, bounties, drawbacks, &c. The years end on the 5th of January in the succeeding year. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Years.Revenue.Expenditure.Surplus.Deficiency.
1817$7,050,589$6,550,036$998,447
1818$5,067,241$5,700,389$-137,148
1819$3,760,690$3,170,244$-588,446
1820$3,760,690$3,761,881$-911,191
1821$3,760,690$3,761,881$-911,191
1822$3,002,741$3,002,741$-911,191
1823$2,567,556$2,567,556$-911,191
1824$247,755.62$247,755.62$-911.191
1825$247,755.62$247,755.62$-911.191
1826$306,389.74$306,389.74$-911.191
1827$306,389.74
Actual surplus in this year.
$306,389.74$.
$306,389.74$.
Actual surplus in this year.$306,389.74$.
Average annual surplus since the peace.$2703.806$.
Deficit deficiency since the peace.$-935.440$.
Deficit deficiency since the peace.$-935.440$.
Average annual surplus since the peace.$-935.440$.
Deficit deficiency since the peace.$-935.440$.
Deficit deficiency since the peace.$-935.440$.
Deficit deficiency since the peace.$-935.440$.
Deficit deficiency since the peace.$-935.440$.
Deficit deficiency since the peace.$-935.440$.
Deficit deficiency since the peace.$-935.440$.
Deficit deficiency since the peace.$-935.440$.
Deficit deficiency since the peace.$-935.440$.
Deficit deficiency since the peace.$-935.440$.
+ +* These annuities are terminable at various periods and are classed as long term annuities; but some are annuities for terms of years; as a general average they may be calculated at about twenty-three years' purchase ; nearly a moiety or $^{(} \frac{ }{ }^{)}$, expire A.D. $^{(} \frac{ }{ }^{)}$. + +FINANCIAL TABLES. 529 + +It is necessary to remark that the revenues of the years 1823, 1824, 1825, 1826, and 1827, were increased by the arrangement of the government with the Bank in 1822, by which the latter agreed to advance fourteen millions, in annual payments of 2,800,000L., towards payment of the half-pay and pensions, on receiving an annuity of 585,740L. for forty-five years. As this transaction was struck in 1834, this transaction is equivalent to a loan of nearly ten millions sterling; to which we must add the composition of about 1s. 4d. in the pound, which the Austrians entered into with the British government, on claims of the latter, amounting to nearly two millions. Hence, deducting these twelve millions, the total surplus of revenue arising from taxes, applied since 1817 to the reduction of the debt, amounts to but 31,261,697L., or an annual average of 1,953,856L. + +On the other side is given a table, showing at one view the fluctuations in the amount of the national debt, from its commencement to the present date. + +2 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
530 FINANCIAL TABLES.
TABLE, shewing the comparative increase and decrease of the National Debt, and the interest payable from the commencement to the present time:
National Debt at the RevolutionPrincipal.Interest.
694,20339,855
Increase during king William's reign17,590,4301,371,067
At the accession of queen Anne16,394,7001,310,942
Increase during her reign37,760,6612,040,416
At the accession of George I.54,145,3633,561,308
Decrease during his reign2,053,1281,135,805
Debt at the accession of George III.52,092,2353,428,581
Increase during his reign peace4,127,512255,558
Debt at commencement of Spanish war, 178946,964,0531,994,055
Increase during the war31,338,6681,996,979
At the end of Spanish war, 178878,329,3182,061,004
Decrease during eight years' peace771,194482,877
Debt at commencement of seven years' war, 1790744,969490,817
Increase during the war721,1104244,104
Debt at the peace of 1798146,685,8438460221
Increase during peace10,790,793664000
Debt at commencement of American war, 1775130.947.051
10.790.793
8.460.221
6.640.000
5.426.858
4.244.104
3.858.777
2.928.377
2.458.468
2.061.004
1.996.979
1.994.055
1.968.979
1.966.979
1.965.979
1.964.979
1.963.979
1.962.979
1.961.979
1.960.979
1.959.979
1.958.979
1.957.979
1.956.979
1.955.979
1.954.979
1.953.979
1.952.979
1.951.979
1.950.979
1.883.841
The debt on the first day of February,		The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The amount of debt at the peace of Paris included the loan of 1815,part of which was assigned to the stockholders.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.The interest also included nearly nine millions applied to the sinking fund.
At peace of Amiens,
+ +* The amount of debt at peace of Paris includes loan of $8/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/...$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$$ +$
+ + + + + +
National Debt at the Revolution:
+ + + +Increase during king William's reign: + + + +At the accession of queen Anne: + + + +Increase during her reign: + + + +At the accession of George I: + + + +Decrease during his reign: + + + +Debt at accession of George III: + + + +Decrease during peace: + + + +Debt at commencement of Spanish war, 1789: + + + +Increase during war: + + + +At end of Spanish war, 1788: + + + +Decrease during eight years' peace: + + + +Debt at commencement of seven years' war, 1790: + + + +Increase during war: + + + +Debt at peace of 1798: + + + +Increase during peace: + + + +Debt at commencement of American war, 1776: + + + +Increase during war: + + + + + + To Great Britain + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Total + 4,292,110 lbs. + + + Holland + + + 173,172 + + + + + + + + + + + + + Belgium + 3,273,498 + + + France + + + 1,244,506 + + + + + + + + + + + + + Portugal,the Azores,and Madeira144British American Colonies884The United States105,814Guernsey,Jersey,Alderney,and Man6,562 + + + +538 +TAXATION. + +imports from that country became difficult: con- +current with the decline of importsations from the +Peninsula, a new source of supply sprung up in +Saxony and the Austrian states.* Circumstances +seemed to dictate to every manufacturing state the +policy of encouraging by every means the produc- +tion of wool. In the early part of the present century, the King of Spain, +Charles III., issued a decree prohibiting the importation into Germany of +a small flock of merino sheep. These were husbanded with great care, and every effort made to nationalize the breed in Ger- +many, and to encourage its improvement. The importations made were not propitious as to the entire preservation of the +quality of the wool, and but little attention was paid to the sub- +ject in the Peninsula. In 1790, when the Spanish flocks during the Peninsular war, the price of fine wool greatly increased, and it was found that a slight improvement in +the quality would increase its value. Thus the practice of housing the sheep was adopted, together with a change in the food—corn being given to them +during their gestation period. In 1812, a parcel of +German wool, weighing twenty-eight pounds, was imported into this country; and the quality being approved, larger supplies +were sought at high prices; when, however, they were so +much inferior to those imported from Spain. On the continent, +the growth of fine wool, which rapidly progressed in Saxony, +began to excite the emulation of the handlooms in the neighbour- +ing states. The same result was obtained in France, Austria, +Bohemia, and other parts of the Austrian dominions, where the +same care was manifested in improving, or rather preserving, the +quality of their sheep. The quantity imported from Germany be- +came large, being no less than 3,432,450 pounds. Every year brought an accession of supply, and in 1820 was less than +52,694,900 pounds. The quantity imported from Spain for specula- +tion in that year had, however, induced a larger im- +port than the quantity annually produced warranted, and in the years 1821 and 1822 it amounted to 53,694,900 pounds. +In 1833, the imports amounted to 529,200,106 pounds; which, +being the fair proportion of the clipped portos, seems to offer a rational presumption that the quantity produced annually has been +increased by about one-third since 1820. This extension of the growths of fine wool in Germany seems conjur- +rent with the diminution of its growths in the Peninsula, on which we have already remarked. The quantity of Spanish +wool in 1800 amounted to 7,794,748 pounds, and in 1814, to 9,234,991 pounds. Since this, the dawning year of the import of German wool into England (1815), it has been constantly increasing, +being in 1827, 7,349,643 pounds; and in 1833, 3,359,150 pounds. +Thus German and Australian wool (of which latter description we shall presently speak), has, to a great extent, superseded the use of + +TAXATION. +539 + +tion of wool in these countries, but so completely destitute of commercial intelligence were our government, even at this late period, that in 1819 it authorised Mr. Vansittart (Lord Bexley) to promote Spanish wool. The German is superior than the Spanish wool, and superior to it in felting qualities. New competitors, in the persons of the Australian wool growers, have lately acquired, or rather are rapidly acquiring, power to dispute the monopoly of the Germans in the British market. A flock of sheep, numbering only, not exceeding a dozen, was brought to the colony from the Cape of Good Hope, by Captain Waterhouse. This was the nucleus from which all other flocks have been gradually increased over that country. A part of the first flocks fell into the hands of Captain Mc Arthur, who also purchased some of his Majesty's flock of sheep from Mr. Waterhouse in 1820 and 1821. These, at a great cost, were conveyed to Australia, and planted that source of wealth in the colony which began, in the present day, to be productive. In 1826, the quantity of merino wool from that quarter of the world reached England : the quantity was 245 pounds. For several years little progress was made in this country ; but in 1830 it was 700 pounds; in 1831 only 74,284 pounds; in 1832 it was 325,995 pounds; in 1829, 1,639,512 pounds; and in 1833, no less than 5,516,869 pounds; surpassing even the quantity of wool imported from Spain by about 200,000 pounds. Great progress has also been made in the quality of Australian wool: until within the last three or four years it was considered inferior to that of Spain; but the term applies to wool—and the loss of weight in the process of scouring was very large. The wool was also unsightly, and discouraged manufacturers from purchasing it. It is now admitted, however, that those manufacturers who used it were very generally agreeably surprised by results. A gentleman in the foreign wool trade弩es that the best manufacturers have frequently admitted to them that they had found their supply of Aus- +tralian wool, totally misjudged it by their estimate of it in the rough state ; and that they would have preferred it if they had seen judges now admit that the first qualities of Australian wool are superior to any that Germany can produce. But this improve- +ment in quality is facilitated by their being able to use short wool for those purposes which formerly required long or combing wool ; and the short being of finer texture than the long wool, they have been considerably improved by this means. They have thus greatly improve the quality of the manufactured article. Some supplies of wool have lately arrived from the Barntary coast and Egypt, and are now on sale here; and hence the price obtained so low, that in its present state no encouragement is offered to the extension of its cultivation. + +540 TAXATION. + +pose to parliament, as a boon to the landed interest, the increase of the duty on foreign wool to sixpence per lb. Our manufacturers felt severely this in- +creased tax ; but so necessary was the use of foreign wool, that the imports, despite of this restriction, did not diminish, while the stock of British wool continued largely to increase. The importance of the use of foreign wool to our manufactures is seen by reference to the evidence adduced before the Lords' Committee of 1828-9 :- +Mr. Gott, a cloth manufacturer of Leeds, being asked, could you carry on the export trade to the same extent as at present, if you manufactured only British wool? +Ans.-In certain descriptions of cloth I could not make an article, that would be merchandisable, either in the home or foreign market; such articles as blankets, and other things remarked, if two pieces of cloth which cost 10s. per yard were made, one of British and the other of foreign wool, the former would remain on hand, while the latter would find a purchaser. +Mr. Francis H. Murray, being asked whether that which is made of British wool, it is principally applicable to the manufacture of blankets, bairns, &c. +On the strength of this and other evidence, par- +liament reduced the import duty on foreign wool to one penny per lb., at which it remains at the present day. According to Mr. Stevenson's cal- +culations, which are usually considered more accu- +rate than those of most statistical writers, the number of persons employed in the woollen manu- +facture exceeds 300,000; and if we take the annual value of the manufacture to 18,000,000L.; if we calculate the average rate of tax on the expen- +diture of the income at sixteen per cent., the exchequer derives an annual revenue from the woollen manufacture of 2,400,000L. This will restrict +the growth of this prolific source of revenue; by duty of one penny per lb., or about 120,000L. per annum on the import of the raw material, is as impolitic as it is paltry. Our superiority in woollen manufacture is by no means confirmed; and the advantage which the French, Belgian, and Ger- +man manufacturers possess in having the raw + +TAXATION. +541 + +material more nearly at hand, enables them to maintain a successful competition with the British manufacturer. We are aware that this duty is defended on the ground of encouraging the growth of fine wool in the Australian colonies, such an argument however should find no weight with the legislators of a manufacturing country ; but, if such a duty is necessary, it would be far better to pay the Australian wool growers a bonus of one penny per lb. on wool imported, payable out of the state revenues, than continue to charge the tax on the British manufacturer. + +The annual revenue collected on foreign hides and skins has been estimated at £300,000, a very pernicious in operation. The increase in the price of British hides is just commensurate with the duty charged on foreign, so that the tax on consumers is at least ten times the sum paid into the exchequer ; hence the repeal of the leather duty has but little benefited the consumer. This tax is a hindrance to trade, called "duties" services to agriculture, taxing one part of the community to give to another; the gradual abolition of which ought long since to have commenced. + +**Timber duties.**—Of the impolicy of these duties, as they at present appear in the British tariff, none are more convinced than the present members of his Majesty's government. Subject to the competition of other countries possessing large tracts of forest land in the vicinity of commercial shipping ports, our merchants, from great insufficiency of timber, are compelled to travel abroad to obtain supplies from their very opponents in navigation, while heavy charges on transport concur to impose a serious obstacle to successful rivalry. To aggravate this disadvantage by a tax of 1,300,000/. per annum on the importation of timber, is to place us on a footing of inferiority, quite incompatible with that due encouragement to Bri + +542 TAXATION. + +tish shipping, which principles both commercial and political so strongly recommend. But, independent of general objections to the timber duties, the mode in which they are levied is highly objectionable.* + +Previous to 1810 our supplies of timber were usually drawn from Norway, Sweden, and the Baltic ports. In the year 1809, no less than 428,000 tons of British shipping were employed in bringing timber from the north of Europe, and in exporting British merchandise in return, the value of which amounted on an average of three years, to 900,000l. per annum.† The increase of British manufactures since that period, and the progress made by the northern nations in manufacturing means, promised a large extension of this mutually beneficial intercourse. Instead, however, of the trade being left to its course of improvement, the government, at the instigation of the shipping interest at home, has taken measures calculated to destroy it. These gentlemen represented to ministers the possibility of impediments to the Baltic trade, through the operation of Bonaparte's continental system, and the great advantages of encouraging the application of British capital and labour, in gathering and preparing the timber of the Gulf of Finland.†† The following tables on *The entire list of the comparative scale of duties payable on foreign and colonial timber, is too long to be given at length.* A short comparison will shew the advantage given to Canadian timber: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Dues, per 120Basile.British American.
Not exceeding 16 feet long and 34 inches thick192
Battens
Exceeding 16 feet and not 45 feet long, or exceeding 24 inches thick202
Not exceeding 16 feet long and 24 inches thick101
+ +† Edinburgh Review, No. LXVI. +* + +TAXATION. +543 + +ministers, that Canada being more distant than Norway and Sweden, a greater amount of ship- +ping, and a larger number of sailors would be employed, if the competition of Norway and Sweden were restricted by a large increase of duty, and supplies of timber thus encouraged from the Canadas. Upon these sagacious recommendations, ministers, who had already shown their utter igno- +rance of commercial principles, by instituting the blockade system, determined (sess. 1809-10) on repealing the export duties on Canadian timber, and doubling those on Baltic timber. In 1813, +a time when our trade to the north of Europe was very imperfect, probably because the Cana- +dian merchants prevailed on ministers to enlarge their monopoly, by the imposition of a new duty of 25 per cent. on the importation of Baltic timber. +This new Act completely annihilated the British trade with Norway and Sweden, and condemned the British people to pay for timber of the very worst quality, which they could have imported at half price, timber of which they could have imported the finest timber of Eu- +rope, had no restrictions been imposed : thus, our exports of manufactures to these countries has almost entirely ceased, amounting in 1830 to no more than 104,400l. + +It is no less true in theory, than true in prac- +tice, that legislative enactments, purporting to force certain branches of trade into particular channels, are either inoperative or detrimental. Trade, when free, never fails to attach itself to those places where it can be conducted with the least sacrifice of capital. The most powerful attraction for the employment of capital in the timber trade, the influx and reflux of the commer- +cial tide would naturally operate between the shores of Britain and the steeps of St. Lawrence, with- +out any British statutes vainly attempting to direct it. But, the capacity of America, for the success- +ful prosecution of the timber trade, is infinitely + +544 +TAXATION. + +inferior to that of the Baltic countries. The me- +morial of the Canadian merchants to parliament in 1830, expressive of their fears as to any inter- +ference with their monopoly, contended that the +yellow deals of Canada were of unrivalled quality; +but, against this assertion, I opposed the expe- +rience of the last ten years of time, which shows that +the American timber perishes in about one-third +the time that Norwegian and Baltic timber does. +On this point, we refer to the evidence of Sir +Robert Seppings, before the parliamentary com- +mittee of 1829, on the timber trade :- +Q. Can you state to the committee the results of any obser- +vations, which you have made, or which your employe have made, +on the comparative durability of the timber of North America, +and of timber of the north of Europe ? +A. Almost every year a considerable number of frigates built of fir from the Baltic, their average durability was about eight years. About 1812 there were a considerable number of frigates built of fir in North America, their average +durability was not half that time. +Q. You have stated American timber to be particularly subject to the decay of firry rot is known to have prevailed to a great extent in the navy ? +A. I believe the navy has suffered very considerably, from the inferior quality of timber used in Canada, for +the growth of North America ; and, in consequence from experience, +we have entirely discontinued the use of it, except for deals, +(dock) and similar purposes. +It would be useless to multiply the citations of evidence as to the inferiority of Canadian, compared with Baltic timber; every builder and practical carpenter will bear evidence of the great inferiority of modern buildings in consequence of the use of it. +But, in the face of the inferiority in the quality of the Canadian timber, it is evident that its quantity actually exceed by about 1,200,000t. per annum the sum which would procure the same quantity from the Baltic, operating as so much additional tax on the British people, chargeable to the debit account of the American colony. +Well might Mr. Powell Thomson observe, with reference to this trade, that it would be better to pay the freightage of the ships employed, + +TAXATION. +545 + +though they but cruised about the Atlantic in bal- +last, than continue subject to the disadvantage of +employing them in the conveyance of timber from +Canada to Britain.* + +The argument of those who resisted in 1831 the +proposal of ministers, progressively to assimilate +the duties on American and European timber on +the principle of the Canada purchase, that Briti- +sh manufactures are the amount of 2,000,000l, +which she is only enabled to pay for by her ex- +ports of timber,—ceases to hold good, when the +merits of the American trade are fairly de- +veloped. + +Our Custom-house returns show a favourable +balance of trade between Great Britain and the +colony, amounting to about 1,000,000l. per annum; +but all who know any thing of the American com- +merce, are fully aware that this trade is very little +else than an indirect trade with the United States, +and, in some instances, with continental Europe. +Our imports from America are to a great degree +supplied by the United States, although professing +to be the production of the Canadas. + +The large premium which our tariff offers to the +clandestine trader, has not only caused the timber +of the Union, destined for the English market, to +flow into our ports, at the expense of other nations, +but has also caused large shipments of European +timber, intended for English ports, to be first sent +round about Cape Breton. This may be dis- +credited by our readers, but by a return lately +made to parliament, it appears that, in 1831, +1832 and 1833, no less than twenty-five vessels, +measuring 7172 tons, from the north of Europe, +entered the ports of British America with cargoes +of timber, (chiefly fir). The success which attends +this trade led last year to its rapid increase; in +1831 and 1832, the number of ships was only five, + +* Speech in parliament, session 1830. +2 + +546 TAXATION. + +but in 1833, the number increased to twenty-three. +To suppose that this importation of timber from Europe is for the use of the colony is absurd ; the whole is imported into England at the low scale of duties. The British manufactures exported to the Canadas are by no means consumed in the colony, or paid for by the produce of it. The imports are sent of the northern frontier of the United States, measuring with its inflections about 2800 miles, stretching across the peninsula of Arcadia, along the St. Lawrence and the great lakes, to the Lake of the Woods and the Red River, in latitude about 104 west longitude, that is, to a place where commercial trade impossible, and the high duties imposed by the Congress on the importation of foreign manufac- +tures, cause a large portion of the trade between this country and the United States to be carried on through Canada and New Brunswick ; thus the Canadian timber trade, being remunerated by the timber of the Canadas, is actually supported by those of its rival, the shipments being paid for by the cotton, rice, tobacco, &c., of the United States, and would continue so long as they were left under the monopoly of the timber trade abolished. Thus the British people are taxed 1,200,000l. per annum, to secure the colony—an imaginary benefit, which is chiefly enjoyed by a foreign state. + +The Act which instituted the prohibitory system in 1810, expired in the year 1820, when, with a few modifications, it was renewed. During the session of 1831, ministers attempted to relax the prohibitions to our trade with the Baltic, and were unhappily left in a minority on the plea of the necessity of protecting vested interests. Surely—people cannot permit themselves to be taxed 1,200,000l. per annum, ad infinitum, and obliged to purchase inferior timber, for the sole benefit of the Canadian monopolists. The time cannot be + +TAXATION. +547 + +distant when the people will see the extent of the evil, and urge the legislature to meet the interests of all parties, by a fair adjustment of the duties on timber the produce of all countries. + +American alkali.—We should not notice this tax, which yields a paity revenue about 6000L. per annum, because it not is a great measure connected with the foreign sugar trade. Porcelain pearl ashes, the produce of the United States, Russia, or other foreign parts, are charged with an import duty of 5L. per ton, while the same commodity imported from the Canadas is admitted free ; thus, the British merchant pays 5L. for his produce than the United States merchant, being the difference of the import duty. The quantity of this article annually imported from the Canadas amounts to about 14,000 tons, and for which the British people pay 70,000L. in advance of what they would do if the trade were placed on equal terms. It is clear that to collect 6000L. occasions an annual waste of property to the extent of 70,000L., a sum which might be rendered available to the British exchequer by placing Canadian alkali, which is inferior to that of the United States, on the same scale of duty ; but if a similar duty were deemed politic, then the abolition of the paity tax of 6000L. in American ashes would be a relief of taxation to the extent of 70,000L. Surely the alternative ought to be adopted. Our space is too limited to discuss in detail the various duties charged on raw materials and manufactures in which we should advocate their repeal, will be fully understood by the tenor of the foregoing remarks. + +EXCISE DUTIES. + +Malt.—The first head of revenue collected by the excise is the duty on malt. In reference to + +2 w 2 + +548 +**TAXATION.** + +this duty, we shall merely express a hope that, while large revenues are indispensable, the govern- +ment will concur in no reduction of the tax, unless accompanied with the abandonment of all re- +striction to the free importation of foreign grain.* + +British spirits.—Spirituous liquors have by all +governments, and at all times, been held to be fair +objects for taxation, their consumption being viewed +as tending to demoralize the people and to induce +the expenditure of income in a course replete with +vicious indulgence. These consequences admitted, +there is no sterling objection to the imposition of +such a tax. The revenue derived from the sale of +revenue to the state, offers no alluring boon to the +clandestine trader to brave the laws and defy their +authority. Such a tax has, however, usually been +inadequate to meet the avidity of state financiers; +and upon the plea of improving the revenue of the +nation, and the morality of the people, those high +rates often become so high, which in operation +have invariably depressed both. + +The appetite for fermented spirits is nearly as +universal as the appetite for bread. The civilized +European, and the barbarous Hottentot; the hunter +tribes at the sources of the Missouri and the torpid +Indians of the West; all these nations are alike under +their inclination for ardent spirits; all efforts of go- +vernments to diminish this appetite have invariably +proved abortive; and when high duties have been +imposed with this view, the effect has been to transfer a large portion of the trade from the legal +distillers into the hands of smugglers; thus far, +superadd the atrocities of the smuggler to the idle— + +* Up to a late period the acts relative to malting were ex- +tremely vexatious and complex, and the penalties they imposed +numbered no less than 100. By a recent act of parliament, the +laws relating to malting have been simplified; but until such time +as they still prescribe are a great hindrance to improve- +ment in the process. + +TAXATION. +549 + +ness and dissipation of the drunkard : we could cite various instances where such effects have been produced in this country, but shall confine ourselves to one forcible illustration. About a century since, drunkenness and dissipation had alarmingly increased, and the higher orders, particularly the clergy, demanded with great earnestness legislative measures to restrain the vicious appetite of the people. The late Right Hon. Lord Liverpool deter- +mined to make a vigorous effort to check the evil, or rather to root out the consumption of spirituous liquors : with this view, parliament imposed a duty of 20s. per gallon on British spirits, a large increase of the duty on licenses, an extension of the penal- +ties against those who sold or used spirits that had not paid the high duty, and offered alluring rewards to informers. The Act gave great satisfac- +tion to the moralists, and was hailed as a certain prelude to the elevation of the national character ; yet the results proved quite different. The energies of the smugglers were immediately aroused, and the respective parts of the trade capable to meet the competition of the clandestine operators, +withdrew from the trade; leaving it in the hands of a class, who, having little to lose and much to gain, were not deterred by the dread of penalties from prosecuting their filthy commerce. Infor- +mation was spread that this board's boards, fines, convictions, and committals to prison ex- +ceeded all bounds, and stirred up that indignation in the public mind which totally negatived all the efforts of the government.* The cause of the smuggling was found in that the smugglers were cruelly treated by the populace ; and the revenue officers, openly assaulted in London and other great towns, became afraid to do their duty ; drunkenness continued to progress, and the moral + +* Uprivers of 12,000 persons were in less than two years con- +victed of offences connected with the sale of spirits. + +550 TAXATION. + +condition of the people to sink—within two years after the passing of the law it became a dead letter, and Lord Cholmondeley stated in the House of Lords that 7,000,000 gallons of spirits were consumed in London and the parts adjacent, of which scarcely a gallon came to the charge.* At length the government were obliged to retrace their steps, and in 1742, in the face of great opposition from the habitués of the distilleries, duties were abolished and moderate imposts levied.† The greatest success followed this enactment; the trade returned into its accustomed channel; the illicit distiller curtailed his operations, and turbulence and inebriety were no longer to be met with. Duties on spirits from this time formed no part of the financial plans of the government until after the commencement of the late wars, when from the necessity of raising large revenues, the duties were progressively increased to 11s. 4d. per gallon ; the quantity charged with duty decreased pari passus with the increase of the duties; but in 1819 Mr. Vansittart, disregarding all former results, raised the duty to 13s. 2d. per gallon. Clandestine distillation increased to a great extent, and every effort of the government to repress the trade of the smuggler proving ineffective, a return to a manufacture under state control was at last course open. The Parliamentary Committee of 1824 stated that the high duty enabled the distiller to fix the price of spirits, and to raise it to the consumer much above the rate sufficient to make a fair return for the expenses of manufacture. This opinion of the Committee was founded on no sufficient evidence, and we believe the latter section of it to be erroneous; it estimated the consumption of British spirits in England and Wales at 5,000,000 gallons, of which only 3,700,000 paid + +* Timberland's Debates, vol. viii. p. 146. ++ See Rapin's History of England, vol. viii. p. 258. + +TAXATION. +551 + +the legal duties, and recommended a reduction of the tax as the only effectual means of protecting the revenue. Thus, in 1825, ministers decided on reducing the duties on spirits consumed in England, from thirteen shillings and twopence farthing to seven shillings per gallon ; and, in March, 1825, Mr. Robinson (Lord Ripon), in his brilliant exposition of the true condition of the state, fully justified the course which the government had thought proper to adopt. + +The result of the various alterations of duty in the productiveness of the tax, will be seen by reference to the subjoined table of the quantity of English spirit imported into England, and number of gallons of Irish and Scotch imported into England, and charged with the English rate of duty, from 1818 to 1834. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Average of yearsEnglish spirits charged with dutyImported into England from IrelandTotal spirits charged with dutyRATES OF DUTY.
from 5th JanuaryEnglish SpiritsIrish Spirits
1818 to 195,342,616460,0905,702,7065,034,7412. 6. &c.Gin. Gin.
1820—213,640,741305,506395,247373,1543. 9. 281—29 71 71 31 26
1822—232,323,243880,229320,837434,0664. 3. 95—96 70 70 70 70
1824—251,999,669745,857275,016312,8735. 9. 97—98 70 70 70 70
1826—273,390,3921,556,044556,896704,5757. 9. 99—100 70 70 70 70
1828—293,917,6131,116,096603,966773,705
1830—314,000,557- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Nothing can more fully justify the reduction of duty made in 1826 than the foregoing statement. The number of gallons of spirits charged with duty during the four years ending 1830 is more than double the quantity charged during the four years ending 1826; and, notwithstanding a re-
+ +Nothing can more fully justify the reduction of duty made in 1826 than the foregoing statement. The number of gallons of spirits charged with duty during the four years ending 1830 is more than double the quantity charged during the four years ending 1826; and, notwithstanding a re- + +552 TAXATION. + +duction of duty of forty-eight per cent., the actual revenue collected is about 250,000L. per annum in favour of the latter period. Doubtless the quantity of spirits brought to the charge would have continued to increase, from 1830 to the present time, but the injudicious augmentation of duty in that year, though small, roared the chattering energy of the people, and induced them to participate in the profits of the government. Thus, during the latter three years, the quantity charged with duty has diminished, while the quantity consumed has so largely increased, that parliament thought proper, during the present session, to appropriate a sum sufficient to afford into the causes of the prevailing drunkenness. + +The impolicy of attempting to collect high rates of duty on spirits is, if possible, more strongly illustrated in reference to Ireland and Scotland. Up to 1811, the local duty on home-made spirits in Ireland was one shilling and sixpence per gallon, almost equal sixpence per gallon, being the utmost limit that the article could bear: subsequently it was increased to five shillings and sixpence, when it became impossible to give effect to the law—the quantity charged with duty in Ireland, which in 1811 amounted to 367,000 gallons, rose in 1812 to 2,950,647 gallons, while the consumption was estimated by the parliamentary committee of that year at ten millions of gallons.* + +The strongest measures were resorted to by the government to suppress the illicit trade, and collect the like. The duties were increased; penalties attached to the detected smuggler; and, in order to interest proprietors in the suppression of contra-band trade, a heavy fine was imposed on any district or parish wherein an illicit still should be discovered ; but, instead of the laws effecting the intended object, they filled the country with blood- + +* See Fifth Report of the Revenue Commissioners. + +TAXATION. 553 + +shed and anarchy, and raised open defiance to the officers who attempted to do their duty. The Reverend Mr. Chichester, in his pamphlet on the Irish Distillery Laws, says, "the Irish system seems formed for perfecting smuggling and anarchy; it has called the event of both savage and civilized times to rejoin all the crimes which they contain." Sir Hussey Vivian, lately commander of the cavalry in Ireland, bears evidence to the harassing services imposed on the troops in the ineffectual endeavours to suppress smuggling.* Mr. Hay Forbes, deputy sheriff of Perthshire, in his letter to the committee, speaks forcibly of the incalculable evils resulting from a high rate of duty on spirits; he says—"The Irish system is progressing rapidly in Scotland; the excise officers dare not do their duty, and smuggled whiskey is carried off by armed bands, in open day, without any interference." As proof of the prevalence of smuggling, Captain Munro, of Teannich, in a letter to the committee, says, that at Tain, where there are twenty licensed public houses, not one gallon of spirit has been received within the last twelve months, without a regular permit from a licensed distillery. Upon the whole current of evidence, the committee, in 1822, recommended that the local duties on Irish and Scotch spirits should be reduced from five shillings and sixpence to two shillings; or, calculated by the imperial measure, from 6s. 7d. to 2s. 4d.; which recommendation was adopted by Parliament in the Bill of 1823. The result of the alteration of the duty, in enlarging the quantity taxed, is shown in the subjoined table. + +* See speech in Parliament, Session 1829. + +554 +TAXATION. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Scotland.Ireland.Scotland and Ireland.
AverageSpirits charged with duty for local consumption.Rate of Duty.Spirits charged with duty for local consumption.Total quantity consumed in Scotland and Ireland.
of Qu.of Qu.Imp. Gallons.Imp. Gallons.Imp. Gallons.Imp. Gallons.Imp. Gallons.
1810–201821–221823–241825–26From Oct. 1823 to Sept. 1824July 6, 1826From Oct. 1823 to Sept. 1824July 6, 1826
1,976,7599,404,3452,642,4454,058,1849,700,739
1827–281829–301831–321833–34From Oct. 1829 to Sept. 1830March 15, 1835From Oct. 1829 to Sept. 1830March 15, 1835
3,063,4701,459,4097,852,759
+ + + + +
YearQuantity (Gallons)Rate of Duty (Gallons)Quantity (Gallons)Rate of Duty (Gallons)Quantity (Gallons)Rate of Duty (Gallons)Quantity (Gallons)Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)Total Quantity (Gallons)Total Rate of Duty (Gallons)
+ +* 1835–36 + +* 1836–37 + +* 1837–38 + +* 1838–39 + +* 1839–40 + +* 1840–41 + +* 1841–42 + +* 1842–43 + +* 1843–44 + +* 1844–45 + +* 1845–46 + +* 1846–47 + +* 1847–48 + +* 1848–49 + +* 1849–50 + +* 1850–51 + +* 1851–52 + +* 1852–53 + +* 1853–54 + +* 1854–55 + +* 1855–56 + +* 1856–57 + +* 1857–58 + +* 1858–59 + +* 1859–60 + +* 1860–61 + +* 1861–62 + +* 1862–63 + +* 1863–64 + +* 1864–65 + +* 1865–66 + +* 1866–67 + +* 1867–68 + +* 1868–69 + +* 1869-70 + +* 1870-71 + +* 1871-72 + +* 1872-73 + +* 1873-74 + +* 1874-75 + +* 1875-76 + +* 1876-77 + +* 1877-78 + +* 1878-79 + +* 1879-80 + +* 1880-81 + +* 1881-82 + +* 1882-83 + +* 1883-84 + +* 1884-85 + +* 1885-86 + +* 1886-87 + +* 1887-89 + +TAXATION. +555 + +revenue, but as applying to the moral condition of the country. The smuggler with his destructive hirelings again appeared in array against the civil power, the quantity of spirits charged with duty gradually diminished, being in 1831, 8,635,081 gallons; in 1832, 8,594,331 gallons; and in 1833, 8,136,281 gallons; and it is supposed by those who are acquainted with the present condition of Ireland that the smuggler is supplying about one-third of the consumption. This diminishéd revenue arising from Irish spirit is yet of very incon siderable importance, compared with the lawless turbulence which the increase of contraband has occasioned in the British government; but compare the state of Ireland in 1829-30, with its state in 1833, when parliament found themselves under the reluctant necessity of doing violence to their professions of free government and political liberty, by sanctioning the noxious Bill for the suppression of the villainies of the proprietary Irish; but consider also that a new and heavy expense entailed on the British exchequer, to give effect to a system of coercion, and then ask whether it was wise to foment disorders by increasing the premium on illicit distillation. We have no hesitation in saying, that the government must at least pay for this mischief done in 1830-31. Since new forces have been set in action by the operation of that Act, it is very questionable whether such a reduction will suffice to eradicate the growing evil. In Scotland, the same effects have not followed in the same degree. The diminution in the quantity charged with duty is remarkable in the two years following the advance of duty, the quantity charged in 1830, 5,992,420, becoming in 1831, 5,691,096; and in 1832, 5,401,651 : during the year 1833, it has nearly attained its former sum, being 5,982,920 gallons ; this seems to imply that the smuggler is still operating—the quantity + +556 TAXATION. + +charged, however, compared with the population, is immense, and the clandestine operations of the Highlander cannot be so extensive as those of his Irish neighbour; but here another evil seems to occur, arising from the inequality of the duties on English and Scotch spirits, offering a large premium on the transmission of whiskey into the English market. In 1787 was made a comparison of the relative consumption of home-made spirits in England, Scotland, and Ireland; calculated on the official returns for the year ending January 1830— + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ENGLAND AND WALES.IRELAND.
Population.Consump- tion in gal- lons.Average Con- sump- tion per head in gallons.Population.Consump- tion in gal- lons.Average Con- sump- tion per head in gallons.
13,700,0007,700,7664.57,650,0009,312,2229.5
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
NORTHERN COUNTIES.
Population.Consump- tion in gallons.Average Con- sump- tion per head in gallons.
2,200,0005,777,28029.1
+ +The results shown by this table appear scarcely credible. Allowing for the total exclusion of foreign spirits from Scotch consumption, Scotland consumes annually about one-third more than four times the quantity of spirits consumed by the English, and inebriation is by no means more prevalent in the northern than in the southern division of Britain. It seems to offer a collateral proof, with the further evidence that we shall presently note, that a very considerable part of the duties levied with the local duty in Scotland are passed over the borders into the northern counties of England. We note in a tabular form, the number of seizures of Scotch spirits, effected in the counties of Northumberland and Cumberland, for illicit introduction into England, between 5th January 1828, + +9/22 + +TAXATION. +557 + +and December 31st 1829; also the number of informations, convictions for smuggling, and committals to prison, during the same period. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Number of seizures.Informations laid before magistrates.Convictions for smuggling.Committals to prison.
226163156110
+ +We believe so much recent return has been furnished, which shows a very large increase in the contraband spirit trade with Scotch borderers. Added to this a very extensive illicit importation of both Scotch and Irish spirits, is well known to exist on the neighbouring coasts. This is purely the effect of the injudicious and unjust plan of imposing a duty of 5s. 6d. in the pound on all spirits imported into the kingdom. The difference of duty between English and Scotch spirits, amounting to 4s. 6d. per gallon, will, while it exists, always ensure the continuance of this contraband trade, which is as pernicious in a moral as in a financial view; it is in vain that the government endeavour to restrain this illicit trade, by imposing a duty of 4s. 6d. on all fermented spirits, which in its present state is extremely expensive. The only remedy for an evil, which it is the bounden duty of the government to eradicate, is a nearer assimilation of the duties throughout the kingdom, and as experience is against the idea of increasing these duties, it is advisable in Scotland, no alternative exists but itself a reduction of duty on English spirits. Let those who demand high duties on fermented spirits, as a check to drunkenness, consult the practical authorities we have quoted, heeding past results as a guide to future events. It is vain to waste their rhetoric in the attempt to urge the government to a measure so pernicious to society, and so destructive to the sovereignty of the laws. Let them rather, adopting the advice of the profound Dr. Smith, who, in speaking of the inclusion of people for tippling, says, "the only way + +558 TAXATION. + +to eradicate this disposition is by giving a better education to the poor, and thus inspire them with a taste for less grovelling enjoyments."*—accele- +rate the progress of instruction, and elevate the intellectual condition of the lower orders; if those of the richer class, who seem so desirous of a recurrence to the prohibitory system to the consumption of spirits, will not apply their means in their more expensive luxuries, and apply the sum of that economy to promote the education of the humbler classes, their endeavours would be far more effectual than in attempting by any other means to eradicate the evil they so justly deplore. +Referring to the consumption of spirits in England during the last century, the consumption of spirits in England has immensely decreased in the face of a duplication of numbers, and a reduction of duty from 20s. to 7s. 6d. per gallon ; this results from the great improvement in the intellectual condition of society; but progress in this course and the abolition of prohibitory duties will become so general, that sobriety will require no fiscal regulations to enforce it. + +Before concluding the review of the British spirit duties, we shall notice one point which at no dis- +tant period must come under the consideration of parliament. It is, whether the importation and manu- +facture of compounded British spirits is prohibited ; or what is nearly the same case, spirits are charged with the same duty, whether exported or con- +sumed at home. Through the growth of our colo- +nial population in Canada, but more particularly in Australia, and through the extension of British spirits have been demanded in those portions of the empire. The adult population of Australia, for instance, having chiefly emigrated from this country with their confirmed tastes and habits, seeks the same superfluities there, as it found in + +* Wealth of Nations, vol. ii. p. 146. + +TAXATION. +559 + +the parent state; but the law which permits the free exportation of the brandy of the French distiller, the geneva of the Dutch distiller, and the rum of the West India distiller, imposes a high duty on the exportation of the Geneva of the English distiller. In this regulation there is neither justice nor policy; spirits the colonists will have, and is determined upon by them, upon which the government oblige them to consume the spirits of foreign, in preference to those of British production. Objections to grant the drawback on British compounded spirits, based on the plea of insecurity to the revenue, are absurd. The drawback is granted only to those goods which would be entitled to, is immediately determinable by their specific gravity, measured by the hydrometer; and, if the exporters required to dulcify the spirits, previous to exportation, the process which is extremely simple, might be conducted in the shipping warehouses, under the special surveillance of the customs officers, from which no objection can be sustained by fair reasoning against the measure, which would be a valuable boon to all parties. + +Tea Duties.--From the year 1819 to 1834, tea was subject to an ad valorem duty of 100 per cent. on all sold at the company's sale, at or above the rate of 2s. per pound; or 96 per cent. on all sold under that price.* With the opening of the trade, a large reduction of the price in bond must in common course ensue; and if the duties were conti- +* The proportions of the tea sold by the company in 1833, subject to its respective duties were as follows: +Under 30 lbs. Above 2a. duty. +96 per cent. 100 per cent. +7,063,250 lbs. 21,550 lbs. +29,493,963 lbs. + +During the last two or three years, the price of tea has considerably fallen; from the year 1819 to 1830, the proportion of tea sold by the company under 2a. was very small. + +446 +HISTORICAL SERIES + +the banking interest, or currency itself. + +The over-issue of bank paper, the produce of the mines of America, and of national capital—were all stationary reasons for the depreciation of currency.* The consequence was, with the limited power of the Bank, issues beyond the amount demanded, of the influence of remittances of the continent; in fact, the general conclusion of the Bullion committee were erroneous, as to the re-establishment of our exchanges, and the peace. + +The harvest of the preceding year proved able, and internal commercial payments more nearly poised. Yet the drain of bullion continued for the furtherance of our military operations in the Peninsula, and our exchange remained at the extreme depression of the former year. + +In 1812 our war expenditure was considerable: the arming of Russia to repel the French army being one of its principal objects from our government. This diversion provided an opportunity, such as had not before occurred, of rendering effective a system of vigour in the conducting of the war: hence the redoubled exertions to increase our military forces in the Peninsula, and to free Spain from French domination; exertions which have been largely successful since. This year is distinguished by the unfortunate termination of our differences with the American Congress, as to the right of search and our system of blockade, by a declaration of war against Great Britain; an event which entirely suspended our + +* See the Report Committee of 1810, of the evidence given before the Bullion + +TAXATION. +561 + +are so similar to hyson, that even in that class disputes would arise respecting the duty. The low weak souchongs are inferior to and of less value than any descriptions of congou, and the similarity in the real and apparent quality of the great proportion of the souchongs and those congou teas called by the trade fresh soddling, or, in some instances, liberty tea, is such, that many practical judges would, on examination of the sample, doubt to which class they belong, and where a difference of ten pence per pound exists in the duty, few merchants would import souchong tea under any other name than congou. The same, or nearly the same, difference of quality may be remarked between the best descriptions of bohea, and the lower descriptions of congou; consequently, large portions of the latter-named tea would be imported under the title of the former. Pekoe with out flower, is charged at 2s. 2d. per pound, while flowery pekoe is charged at 3s. 3d. per pound. Pekoe proprieum dit has more or less flower, and thus the revenue board and the importer are to dispute as to the proportional or standard quantity of flower which would subject the tea to the high duty; some descriptions of congou are kind of pekeo, which is not true; this kind of tea generally is at a different stage of florification. The trade would not permit the revenue officers to dictate as to the nominal classes of tea, and to whom could an appeal be made with a view to a fair and just decision? The plan cannot act beneficially, and we have no hesitation in saying, that it must be speedily altered. + +* The tea plant is found wild in various parts of Asia, but is only cultivated in China. It grows best between 20° and 30° latitude north, between the 28th and 36th degrees of north latitude, and between the 112th and 125th degrees of east longitude. There is only one species of tea in China; it is called "cha" or "chá," "cha" tha or "cha" sah of the China ; it is propagated from seeds deposited in rows four or five feet asunder, and the vegetation is so uncertain, that it is necessary to plant seven or eight seeds in each dib- 2 o + +562 TAXATION. + +Before the new Act came into operation, its impracticality was so apparent, that parliament, in April last, appointed a committee to inquire into, and collect evidence on the subject; few particulars of the evidence have as yet transpired, and the conclusions to which it will arrive, are hence matters of speculation. A recurrence to the old plan of charging a uniform duty on tea, at the next degree the advantages appertaining to ad valorem duties in general; but the difficulty of rendering such a system effective, now that the trade is in the hands of private merchants, would be very great, and the restriction which such a system would impose upon the importation of tea, would be a rate to the injury of commerce. In London, where from old standing connexions, the tea trade will, despite of all enactments, for a considerable period, chiefly centre,-ad valorem duties might be ren- ble; the first crop of leaves is not collected until the second or third year after sowing, and after seven or eight years the trees are removed from the ground. The best season for collecting is yielded—one in April, Midsummer, and September. The earliest gathered leaves are of the most delicate colour, and the finest quality; those collected in June are of a deeper tint; and the last of a dark green and of an inferior quality. The age also influences the quality of the produce. Pekeh is the young leaf of the tea tree; it is sometimes mixed with a species of olive flower to give it a fragrance. Congou, something, camellia, bohea, &c.; like various wits, are grown in China; they differ much in their origin, growth, and the modes in which they are prepared. Green tea principally grows in the provinces of Kian-at and Che-Kiang, differs from black tea by being boiled before it is dried over a fire, while the black tea is dried in the wind under shade, and subsequently in a heated warehouse. The green tea does not improve when kept more than two years; but Chinese best when ten years old, or more. To preserve the quality of either, it should be kept dry and free from the action of the atmos- phere; but this cannot be effected without an expensive mode than the black ; but the bitter of the latter is far more tonic. +* A treasury order has lately been issued to charge the congou rate of duty on low congou, caper tea, and some other sorts; it is supposed the pound on bohea tea will be reduced to 1c. per lb. + +A page from a book with text about taxation and tea. + +TAXATION. +563 + +dered operative, and the trade, following the example of the indigo importers, might accord in conducting their operations through the medium of public sales; but, in the outports, great inconvenienc would be felt by the system, and thus there appears no plan open but that of levying fixed rates of duties on black and green tea. A duty of 1s. 10d. on the former, and of 2s. per cwt. on the latter descriptions, would be calculated to increase the interest of the revenue, and perhaps would not be objected to by the trade and the consumer. The rates being fixed, would encourage the importation of the best descriptions of tea. The plan of charging the duties with a premium, as has been suggested at a meeting of adoption; the difficulty of finding competent persons to fix the value, would negative all attempts of the kind. + +A large diminution of the tax on tea, must necessarily follow the abolition of the monopoly so long held by the East India Company. We shall endeavour to show that this reduction was introduced before the East India Committee of 1831-3, to shew the probable extent of this reduction of tax. The tea shipped from Canton to England in 1828-9, consisted of the quantities and qualities expressed in the subjjoined table, in which are also inserted the cost prices of each description. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Description of Tea.Quantity.Cost Price per lb.
Black Tea.
Bolus4,398,9644—413
Congee16,951,1711—507
Camomile20,883,0632—461
Souchong183,4891—070
Punica
Grown Tea.5,471,2331—510
Twistal
Hymen Skin154,7671—428
Young Hymen
Hymen1,149,3712—563
Gunpowder Tea
TotalRls.28,617,276
+ +2 o 2 + +504 +TAXATION. + +This quantity imported, is rather under the average annual consumption. During the years 1828-30, the quantity actually delivered to the trade in each year being, in round numbers, 30,000,000 lbs. The average prime cost of all teas imported in 1827-s, was reported in evidence to have been ls. 34d. per pound, and the average sale price of tea delivered to the trade being about ls. 5d. per lb. or 115 per cent. to cover import charges, sale charges, &c. Much evidence was adduced, to shew the great economy which private merchants would possess over the company, in the expenses of purchase, shipment, &c. from Canton to London; but it was also shown, to main-tain the vastly expensive factory of the company at Canton, the reduction of the charge for freight is calculated at from 12l. to 13l. per ton.* The small charges on landing and housing tea, the pro- perty of private merchants, compared with the great advantage which they derive from managing the tea importations, added to the obliga- tion incurred by the company of keeping a large stock, are all advantages which will diminish the price; favouring the opinion, that after the first dif- ficulties are surmounted, private merchants will supply this demand at a lower rate than the company's cost prices. Mr. Rickards considers that 35 per cent. on the prime cost of tea would suffice to cover all import charges, and leave a net profit of ten per cent. to the importer ; and Mr. Betts is of opinion that 29,000,000 pounds of tea may be brought to the British market at a price below 6s. 5d., 50% below the company's sale price, and leave a suit- able profit to the importing merchants. This opi- nion of Mr. Betts is not sanctioned to the full extent, by the account of the annual profits made + +*The company estimate the charge for freight from Canton to London, at 21l. 10a. per ton; the evidence warrants the anticipa- tion, that private merchants would obtain the same at from 84. to 105. per ton. + +A page from a book with text discussing tea imports and prices. + +TAXATION. +565 + +by the East India Company in the China trade. +The returns presented to the committee on this subject shew, that the average annual profit made by the company during the quinquennial period ending 1819, was £1,525,793l. From the year 1819 to 1824, 875,432l.; and from 1824 to 1829, 625,910l.; shewing a total profit or tax on the British consumer during the fifteen years ending 1829, of £2,970,342l., which at an average of the whole period, is 1,045,000l. per annum. If we divide the annual average profit by the quantity annually consumed, during the fifteen years ending 1829,—say 26,500,000 pounds,—the profit obtained on the average consumption will be £114. per pound. While, according to the calculation of Mr. Bents, the profit obtained by the company on their sales in 1829-30, when the price was below the average of previous years, is 11jd. per pound; the mean of these ratio of profits is 10½d. per pound, which may be taken as a fair estimate of the prospective depreciation in the price of tea; and as this depreciation re- +duces the tax about 2¼d. per pound, the diminished cost to the consumer will be about 1s. per pound, +which, moderately estimating the consumption of tea at 30,000,000 pounds, is equivalent to a reduction of taxation to the extent of 1,600,000l. per annum. It is much to expect, that this reduction to the full extent will take place; but the immense capital required to supply the British market with tea cannot immediately be transferred to that particular branch of commerce. + +* In Dr. Morrison's work, there is some curious and interesting information respecting the antiquity of the intercourse of China with Europe. According to his account, from the Indian commerce to the Portuguese, Dutch, French &c., there existed considerable commercial intercourse between China, Egypt, Ara- +bia, Persia and India; and he states that in order to obtain a more accurate idea of this intercourse than can be gained from any other source of information given by Dr. Morrison shews, that the Chinese are not so indifferent to foreign commerce, as the government professes to be. A vessel on its arrival off the coast is generally + +A historical illustration showing a ship sailing near a port city. + +566 TAXATION. + +Duties on glass. Few articles of British manufacture possess stronger claims for the abolition of beaded by a pilot, who conducts her into the Macao Roads. The acting pilot, who is generally a fisherman, is the deputy of the licensed pilot, a government officer, who pays a large sum for his license, but on the arrival of the ship he does not report her to the customs house, after answering all necessary interrogatories respecting her character, nation, crew, &c., receives a permit to proceed ship straight to the Custom-house, and to the Canton river at Whampoa. Every ship that arrives is obliged to have a Hong merchant as security for the payment of duties, he is also answerable for the good conduct of the ship's company, that she shall not be lost or injured in any way, and that no damage has been done to the vessel. All commanders of ships, except those of the East India Company, are required to give a written declara- +tion before they leave China, that they have paid all duties exacted by the security merchants, who make an assertion, that they believe the truth of the matter declared. If any smuggling trans- +actions be discovered, the whole crew is sent back to Canton, +extorted by the government from the security merchants, and all communication is suspended until the fine is paid. The Hong, or security house, is situated at Canton, and consists of two houses for foreigners; a heavy tax is required for this privilege, and when once they become merchants, they are seldom allowed to retire : the language of their countrymen is forbidden them; they are charged for the delivery of the cargo, and the reloading of the vessel. They transmit the Custom-house business, and all accounts of the duties, which are collected in 1735 and 1736. +All foreign vessels arriving at Canton pay port charges, accord- +ing to their measurement; the ratio of duty increases with the +size of the vessels, which are divided into three classes: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Taxes per Cwt. Day.
1st classof Vessels of 160 tons upwards7.574.758
2nd classof Vessels between 100 and 160 tons5.062.541
3rd classof Vessels under 100 tons120 and under5.062.541
+ +The coid is about 144 inches ; the dimensions are taken from the mizen to the forecastle for the length, and between the gang- +ways for breadth; and from these measurements subtracted one +divided by ten, give the measurement in coid; the coid is about 6z. 4d. English money. +The total charges, including presents, or imperial ducats, +purser's fees, pilotage, &c. on a vessel of 867 tons, is about 4,569 dollars, which at 4s. 3d. the dollar, is 19,000 French, +Austrian, or Spanish francs; but there is no further extant enlarged information on this subject, see Martin's Colonial Sta- +tistics, 1st vol.; or the Companion to the Anglo-Chinese Calendar, +pp. 101-103. + +TAXATION. 567 + +duty than glass. We need not enumerate the various trades which suffer from the impolitic restrictions on its manufacture. Notwithstanding the advantages we nationally possess for the attainment of this alluring object, yet our consumption of glass dwindles; showing a comparative decrease in the quantity made at the present time, in comparison with what it was forty years since, leaving us under the necessity of importing large quantities of glass from nations possessing no physical attributes for its manufacture. + +In the common descriptions of glass, we possess a small share of export trade, not so much through any superiority in the manufacture, as from the possession of colonies, where the importations of foreign manufactures are subject to duties; but even this trade is gradually diminishing. In 1829, the declared value of glass exported, was $27,110$; in 1829, 492,072$, and in 1830, 467,155$, being a reduction of about 12 per cent. in three years. The returns of the quantity reserved for home consumption, show a more important decrease. Quantities of duty charged with deducting that on which the drawback was paid in the three years ending 1831. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
DESCRIPTION OF GLASS.
Year,monthFin.Pint.Bowl.Crown.Bottle.Total Revenue.
182040,065Cwl.Cwt.$1,509Cwl.Cwt.$3,307
183140,065Cwt.Cwt.$1,509Cwt.Cwt.$3,307
183240,065Cwt.Cwt.$1,509Cwt.Cwt.$3,307
$5,016Cwt.Cwt.$16,549
$5,016Cwt.Cwt.$16,549
$85,497Cwt.Cwt.$268,507
$143,989Cwt.Cwt.$316,318
+ +Thus, the diminished consumption of glass during these three years, a period in which the demand for every other staple article of British manufacture is rapidly extending, has been nearly 16 per cent. The French plate glass is admitted + +568 TAXATION. + +to be of better quality than the British : its colour is superior ; and it is said to be more free from what are technically called 'seed' (small globules). We are assured also, that in the article of stained glass, the French is very superior in point of colour ; and that during the last thirty years, some improved methods of striking the blue colour into glass have been introduced, which with great success in England, have been lost. These are the results of the absence of experiments; for, until a late regulation, no glass manufacturer could attempt improvements without being subject to the full duty charged on the metal, whether he were successful or not. But since this regulation has been abolished, and improvement have been discouraged, and the manufacturer excelled by foreign artists, has yielded to the force of competition. The machinery employed in collecting the duties on glass, is most expensive to the state, and inconvenient to the trade. Of 300,000L. paid annually from the manufacturers, about 370,000L. is re-painted as a kind of draw-back : so that besides the injury done by subtracting this capital from active employment, and depositing it in the treasury, or the hands of the Bank Directors, in the interval which elapses between their issue and its collection and repayment, the public are charged not only on the expenses of collecting 370,000L., which does not reach the exchequer, but also for its re-distribution to its rightful owners. This system is quite at variance with those principles of political economy, which teach, that all such modes of taxation should be a little capital as possible from the subject, and leaves it as long as possible in his hands. Surely these truths offer a powerful appeal to the + +* It seems almost incredible, that during a period so distinct-guished for the expansion of science, such a misfortune could occur ; but we are assured, from practical men, that the fact is as we state it. + +A page number "568" appears at the top left corner. +A large number "568" appears at the bottom center. + +TAXATION. +569 + +state financier, to consider the expediency of abolishing this pernicious impost. + +**Duties on paper.—The vexatious excise restrictions imposed against the manufacture of paper, if necessary to the collection of the revenue, are in themselves sufficient to denounce the policy of this tax. The duties imposed, in England, are divided into two classes : the first class paper is subject to a duty of 28s. per cwt., and the second class of 14s. per cwt.; millboards and scaleboards made of the same material as the second class paper, are charged with 21s. per cwt. duty. That quality, subject to 14s. per cwt., is made of hemp, rather than tarred ropes, without the tar being previously extracted ; if the tar is washed out, and the ropes prepared for the manufacture of paper, the manufacturer is subject to an additional duty of 14s. per cwt. ; while the Acts of Parliament, which pretend to tend towards the abolition of this most objectionable paper, are so numerous and complex, that it requires an almost supernatural extent of legislative knowledge to escape the heavy penalties they impose. + +To prohibit the paper manufacturer from using any other material for making second class paper than hemp, would be as impossible as to prohibit the cloth manufacturer from making second class cloth from any other material than sheep pitch marks. Since rope cables have been so generally superseded by those made of iron, old tarred rope is difficult to obtain; and when scarce, it is usually made by winding hemp into ropes, and then tarred before it can be used for paper-making, although the hemp would be double the value for paper-making, if it were allowed to be used without passing through the expensive process of spinning and tarring. Rags and old sacking, which are too inferior to be used for first-class paper, cannot be manufactured into any other + +| | | +|---|---| +| **DUTIES ON PAPER** | **DIVISION INTO TWO CLASSES** | +| **First Class Paper** | **Subject to a Duty of 28s. per CWT.** | +| **Second Class Paper** | **Subject to a Duty of 14s. per CWT.** | +| **Millboards and Scaleboards** | **Made of Same Material as Second Class Paper** | +| **Subject to a Duty of 21s. per CWT.** | **Without Tar Being Previously Extracted** | +| **If Tar is Washed Out and Ropes Prepared for Paper-Making** | **Subject to an Additional Duty of 14s. per CWT.** | +| **Acts of Parliament Pretend to Tend Towards Abolition of This Most Objectionable Paper** | **So Numerous and Complex That It Requires Supernatural Extent of Legislative Knowledge to Escape Heavy Penalties They Impose** | +| **To Prohibit Paper Manufacturer from Using Any Other Material Than Hemp for Making Second Class Paper** | **As Impossible As To Prohibit Cloth Manufacturer from Making Second Class Cloth from Any Other Material Than Sheep Pitch Marks** | +| **Since Rope Cables Superseded by Iron** | **Old Tarred Rope Difficult to Obtain; When Scarce Wound Hemp Into Ropes and Then Tarred Before Can Be Used for Paper-Making** | +| **Hemp Would Be Double Value for Paper-Making if Allowed to Be Used Without Passing Through Expensive Process of Spinning and Tarring** | **Rags and Old Sacking Too Inferior to Be Used for First-Class Paper Cannot Be Manufactured Into Any Other** | + +570 TAXATION. + +description, and are hence rendered of little or no value. The heavy duty charged on licenses to manufacture paper is levied in the most unfair manner. A small capitalist who works one vat pays as much for his license as a large capitalist who works ten. Surely, there can be no necessity for so burdening the small manufacturer. The government, which professes to be greatly improved with this system, and which, by its own manufactures, cannot with any consistency defend the system upon which these duties are levied, and must concur in the propriety of a speedy alteration even at the sacrifice of the entire revenue raised on paper. A fixed moderate rate of duty on all classes of manufactured articles would have a very effect could be given to ad valorem duties, to which we fear, it could not, they would be decidedly preferable. + +Duties on bricks and building materials.—These duties discourage the investment of capital in improving the habitations of the people, and in the erection and improvement of manufacturing establishments; they likewise tend to depress many other branches of trade, which are dependent on the extension of buildings. The policy which dictated the late repeal of the duties on tiles and slates, recommends also the repeal of the duty on bricks. + +Duty on hops.—Our objections to this duty rest chiefly on the mode by which it is collected; the duty, as at present levied, increases with the quantity produced, and thus weakens or discourages efforts to obtain the greatest possible produce from the land. If the duty were levied on the ground instead of on the crop, it would be much less objectionable. Free scope would be given to the desire of rendering the land as productive as + +TAXATION. 571 + +possible; the door would be effectually closed against fraud ; the annual amount of revenue, instead of fluctuating in the extreme degree it does on the present system, would be comparatively steady, and the expense of its collection considerably economised. + +**Duty on starch.—The tax on starch, (29s. per cwt.) although high, yields but very little revenue to the state. The importance of the use of starch in the linen, cotton, and lace manufactories,—its being essential to health and cleanliness, and the utility of the manufacture in profitably consuming the damps and impurities which are a common food, are strong reasons why this article should be freed from tax. The diminished cost of the article, when duty free, would greatly economise the expenditure of families, who now use a more economical, but, by nature, a much more expensive substitute. By the abolition of this duty those wasteful and ridiculous excise restrictions, which now prohibit the disposal of the bran or refuse in any other shape than in feeding swine or cattle on the premises, would cease to divert the attention and capital of the starch manufacturers from their proper object. + +CUSTOMS' DUTIES ON ARTICLES OF LUXURY. + +**Sugar duties.—The full and liberal indemnity which the West India planter has been awarded out of the public exchequer, for the late depreciation of his property, under various circumstances, has completely annulled all his pretensions to the exclusive monopoly of the British market against other colonial interests. The present duty on West India sugar is, while large revenues are indispensable, by no means so great; but the extra duty of 8s. per cwt. on East India + +A page from a book with text about taxation and customs duties. + +572 TAXATION. + +sugar, is full of injustice and impolicy. On the opening of the East India trade in 1814, the value of India cotton goods imported was about 2,000,000L.; not only has this supply been supplanted by our Lancashire looms, but Great Britain now annually exports to India manufactured goods to the amount of 5,000,000L. (according to the official value). The effect of this on the position of the Hindoo weaver, who toils many hours for the mere pittance of 1/4d. or 2d. per diem, is evident; and it is no less unfair than impolitic, while driving him from his loom, to seek subsistence on the land, to refuse to sell the produce of his agricultural labours into the British market, on the pretext granted to other subjects of the empire. The policy of increasing the facilities of the import trade of Great Britain with India, is also dictated by the necessity of remitting large amounts from the East to pay claims due in this country. The great portion of our Indian trade is completely changed, the ordinary course of remittances. Humboldt estimates the quantity of specie exported to the East Indies and China at the commencement of the present century, at 17,500,000 dollars; while in the last importation of specie into America into Bengal were 476,388 dollars; while the sum exported to Europe from the three Presidencies in the same year, was 1,119,973 dollars; being a drain of specie amounting to 640,685 dollars. This fact forcibly shews the necessity of encouraging the importation of Indian merchandise. + +Duties on tobacco.—The impolicy of the duties at present charged on tobacco, have already been admitted in the highest quarters. It is quite impossible that a duty of 100 per cent. can, particularly in a season so poor, be accurately applied on an important article. The Dutch and German habits have been so freely introduced into England + +TAXATION. 573 + +since the peace, that the use of tobacco has become almost as general among the English as among their continental neighbours. The revenue has, it is true, profited, in some degree, from the extension of the intolerant habit of fuming tobacco ; but the frequent capture of the property of the smuggler, is an evident proof that the contraband trade in tobacco is still considerable. + +In Ireland, the increase of tax since the Union, has diminished the quantity of tobacco charged with duty, 60 per cent., in the face of an increase of population to the same extent. + +TOBACCO CHARGED WITH DUTY IN IRELAND. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Years.Tobacco charged with Duty.Date of Duty.Tobacco charged with Duty.Rate of Duty.
17949,8211st13301.86
17957,8746th18314,183.525
17966,0456th18293,422.247
17978,445.55018334,406.077
Average Annual Quantity charged.7,946,7414,377,091
+ +To suppose that the consumption of tobacco in Ireland has diminished since 1797, is contrary to evidence which we have before us; and it is not unreasonable to estimate, that it has increased in proportion to the growth of population. + +At Rotterdam, Helvoet, Antwerp, Ostend, and other minor ports, the machinery which supplies Ireland with tobacco is in constant activity. The official report of Messrs. Bowring and Villiers (but a small portion of this report as well as yet known to the public) cannot fail to convince the most sceptical of the extensive existence of this contraband trade, and of the impossibility of checking it by any other means than by a considerable reduction of duty. Such a measure is intimately connected with the great task—the pacification of + +574 TAXATION. + +Ireland. If parliament should decide, as in the case of the spirit duties, that the more orderly con- +duct of the English, compared with the Irish peo- +ple, should be recompened by higher rates of +taxation, it cannot fail to consider in the propriety of repealing 50 per cent. of the duty now payable on tobacco imported into Ireland. + +**Duties on foreign spirits.—In the roll of foreign commodities subject to import duties, there are none which are more properly objects of high tax- +ation than foreign spirits. The great im- +possibility, of rendering high rates of duty effective in ministering to the financial demands of the exchequer while protecting the fair trader from the competition of the clandestine importer, exists, as in the practical operation of the high duties charged on British spirits shows.* + +In confirmation of this fact, we, in limine, appeal to the returns of the quantity of foreign spirits charged with import duty at three different periods, shewing the decrease of the quantity charged with duty in proportion to the increased rate of tax +charged. All quantities are computed by the old standard measure. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Years.Years.Years.
Gallons charged with duty.Rate of duty per gal.Gallons charged with duty.Rate of duty per gal.
Annual average.Annual average.Annual average.Annual average.
18012,631,262918022,406,068918032,765,573918042,500,790918052,768,7699
Annual average.2,631,262918022,406,068918032,765,573918042,500,790918052,768,7699
+ +The present import duty on foreign spirits is $2s. d., imperial measure, being equivalent to $1s. d., according to the old measure. +* The great excess of the quantity charged with duty in this year, is owing to the unhappy visitation of the cholera; besides being liable to a very considerable increase in that year's allowance. +The quantity charged with duty in the years $1833$ and $1834$ will exhibit a very great deficiency. + +A table showing quantities and rates for foreign spirits over several years. + +*The table shows that the quantity charged with duty has decreased significantly over time due to various factors such as the cholera outbreak in $1833$ and $1834$, and possibly due to changes in policy or economic conditions.* + +TAXATION. 575 + +These returns shew a considerable decrease in the quantity charged with duty, notwithstanding a very extensive increase of consumers, and doubtless of the means of purchase. It is very improbable that an actual decrease in the consumption has taken place ; or that the high price has, to any very considerable extent, diminished the demand for brandy since 1860, the prices to the consumer was quite equal to what it is at the present day. + +Smuggling was at that time checked by the war, but the peace has opened to the contraband importer the facility of largely sharing in the amount of this article paid by the consumer, of which he has not failed to avail himself. Messrs. Howring and Villiers, who is well known are at this time actively engaged in arranging those reforms in the commercial relations between Great Britain and France, from which great results are rather to be desired than anticipated. From their reports to the government it appears that the total amount of duties evaded by fraudulent importation annually amount to at least 800,000L., of which 500,000L. attaches to brandy. The general tenor of the interesting reports of these gentlemen shows the impossibility of effecting any substantial reduction of smuggling except by a large reduction of duties. If we add to this sum a fair proportion of the expense annually incurred in the ineffectual attempt of guarding the coast against the operations of the contra-band trader, and of the charge incurred in prosecuting offenders, and deducting from the number of smugglers in the county gaols, the total sum will amount to fully seventy per cent. on the whole revenue collected on foreign spirits. Let the items stand thus— + +Amount of duty levied by the illicit importation of brandy, but charged to the consumer . . . . 500,000 +Proportion of 400,000L., being the annual charge for the maintenance of the Coast Guard, Blackwall, &c., 50 per cent. +* Exclusive of the evasion of duty on tobacco. +200,000 + +576 TAXATION. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Brought forward£ 700,000
Expenses of prosecuting smugglers or dealers in contraband spirits, and the charge for their maintenance when in prison*100,000
Gross amount of the revenue collected by the government on foreign spirits1,380,000
Total annual amount paid by the public on account of duties charged on foreign spirits£ 2,190,000
+ +Now let any prudent financier look to this sketch which in reality has a great deal of truth in it, and ask himself whether such a sacrifice ought to be required in order to furnish the public exchequer with a net annual revenue of about 1,250,000l. Let him likewise consider the moral degradation and the national loss by immuring a large number of the able population in gaols, who, but for the high premium afforded to illicit trade, would be employed in various branches of honest industry. His conclusions, based on the dictates of ordinary human reason, would prompt him to abandon the war with the smugglers and to vest weapons on the Coast Guard, hulks, prisons, &c., and to end the war by withdrawing the cause of contest. Any estimate of that judicious rate of duty which would yield the greatest possible revenue and discourage illicit importation would necessarily encounter disadvantages which the smugglers encounter in comparison with the fair trader; such as the excess in the prime cost, additional expense and risk in the transit and sale of his contraband merchandise, &c., it is fair to presume that a reduction of duty from 1s. per gallon to 1s. 6d. per gallon, would meet the desired object. + +**Duties on wine.** — No valid objection can be urged against the principle of collecting a large revenue from the importation of foreign wines; +* * * +By a law made to Parliament, 1833, it appears that there were, in 1832, upwards of 1500 commitittals to prison for offences against the revenue laws. + +TAXATION. +577 + +but to charge a higher rate of impost on any article of luxury than it is able to bear, merely because its character justifies the tax, is to impair one of the fittest sources of revenue, and to impose the necessary burden upon the consumer at a conse- +quent high price of which would be more severely felt. +Such an effect has followed the high duties on French wines, particularly as regards Ireland. +During the three years ending 1792, when the duty charged on French wines imported into Ire- +land was 96. per gallon, the revenue collected was 60,409l., but in the three years ending 1830, when the duties were 7s. 3d. per gallon, the amount of revenue received was 15,946l., being a reduction of 44,463l., despite of an increase of 4s. 6d. per gallon in the rate of tax charged. Indeed the high duties no long continue on French wines seem to have materially diminished the consumption of them in this country The late judicious effort of the present government to reanimate the commercial intercourse with France, by the abolition of the once highly extolled treaty with Portugal, known as the Melchior treaty, has relieved us from the ob- +ligation of importing wine from that country on the Peninsula, and by enabling merchants to purchase wines of those countries which offer them on the best terms, will probably in course of time enable France to regain her former share of the trade. Greatly as this Act is to be commended in prin- +ciple, yet it is injudicious to place all on the duty on Portugal, Spanish, and other wines which accompanied it, was injudicious, as leading to a considerable reduction in the productivity of the tax. +In 1825, the duties on foreign wines, ex- +cluding those of France and the English shales, were reduced from 10s. per gallon to 10s. per gallon ; and the consequence was that the annual average quantity charged with duty in the three years ending 1824, 5,060,115 gallons, became, in 1825, +8,121,978 gallons : in 1827, 6,921,639 : and in +2 P + +578 TAXATION. + +1832, 7,129,464 gallons. In 1832, the new duty was imposed, and the quantity taxed diminished in that year to 4,995,951 gallons.* This diminished consumption may probably induce the government to repeal the extra duty imposed in 1832 ; when an opportunity will be afforded of reforming the plan on which the wine duties are collected. The high rate of duty applied to every quality of fortified wine tends to the exclusion of those wines which form the common beverage of the middle class of people in France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. For instance, the wines of La Gironde, Languedoc, Provence, and other provinces of France, though inferior to the produce of the famed vignobles of Château-Margaux, Lafitte, and other celebrated estates, are, from the high duties imposed, seldom brought to this country. The consequence is, that a few French wine growers enjoy a kind of monopoly in supplying the British market with French wines, and obtain at some advantage re- fold the price at which other provincial wines, differing very slightly in quality, would be im- ported : thus the high cost of French wines renders them unattainable to the great bulk of the British people. + +The wines of France being lighter and less piquant than those of Spain and Portugal, are, when at the same price, more expensive as an article of consumption ; and hence, unless purchasable at a diminished price, are placed beyond the reach of the generality of wine consumers. To give the French wine grower a fair opportunity of selling his produce in this country, the duty + +* This deficiency is in part attributable to the interrup- tion of the trade with Portugal in 1832. +Quantities of various descriptions of Wine on which duty was paid in the year ending 5th January, 1833. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Cum.Porto.Portuguese.Malaga.Spanish.Spanish.Spanish.Spanish.
514.00514.00514.00514.00514.00514.00514.00514.00
+ +was reduced by one-fifth. + +TAXATION. +579 + +should be charged on quality rather than quantity, by substituting ad valorem duties in the place of fixed rates per gallon. Under this system, wines of various qualities would be imported, and the range of prices would suit the varied means of purchasers. The wines of various southern and western vineyards of the same quality which is so little inferior to that of the wines of the most famed vineyards, as to be imperceptible to the great body of consumers, would be brought into the British market at from four to five pounds per hogshead (in bond), and if a duty of 100 or 120 per cent. were imposed between the rate now charged, they would be retailed at about twelve shillings the dozen bottles. A rapid increase of consumption and revenue would be a certain consequence; while not the least important of the benefits of the extension of our commercial intercourse with France, would be to allay that national animosity which has been excited by the political quarrels wantonly raised between the two governments, causing the two most powerful nations of Europe to rejoice in each other's respective misfortunes. Such results would follow an alteration of the wine duties; the only difficulty exists in showing such a change effectual; but the validity of the plan can only be determined by experiment. + +The great extent to which the practice of mixing the low-taxed wines of the Cape of Good Hope with the highly-taxed wines of Spain, Portugal, and Ma- deira, instead of importing foreign wine should (after 1834) be placed on the same footing, with respect to import duties, as foreign wine. This measure, so much at variance with that " tender sympathy" which government usually manifests towards vested interests, and which, according to the present mode of levying the wine duties, would entirely condemn the cultivation of + +2 + +580 +TAXATION. + +the vine in southern Africa—would, if the plan of charging ad valorem duties were adopted, reach all the objects sought by the minister, without in- +juring the interest of the Cape wine grower.* + +STAMP DUTIES. +Tax on deeds and law instruments.—At the head of these duties appears the impost levied on deeds and law instruments, which a large but per- +nicious revenue is raised, amounting annually to 1,500,000L. It is evident that a tax levied on a +* It is well known, that the greater proportion of wines im- +prove in quality, and consequently in value, more rapidly in bottles than in casks; and this circumstance frequently +arise, if the merchant were allowed to bottle wines in bond. At present he is obliged to pay the duty—about 30L. per pipe— +before he can ship them; and this payment is made out of the money, rent, charges, etc. during the three, four, or five years it remains in his possession—which, while it limits his own active capital, does not affect the value of the wine at all. But +the greatest inconsistency arising from this system is in the case of bottled wine exported. Bottled wines are shipped in con- +siderable quantities to England and America; and when any +wine being exported—is entitled to the drawback of duty. Before +this drawback is allowed, the exporter is obliged to certify, not only that the wine was imported into this country, but also that it was paid; stating also the ship in which the wine was im- +ported, by whom the wine was bonded, etc. etc. Now it fre- +quently happens that the customs' board do not know at the time of paying the duty and the date of its exportation, and therefore it is quite impossible that the exporter can know any thing about it. The custom-house officers are too numerous, +seldom trouble themselves to trace the facts, but insert their certificate, particulars relative to any package of wine being of the same description as that which has been paid duty on. The board, +admit the certificate to be true, and the drawback is allowed— +although it may have been paid long before it was sent to ex- +porter, the wine may have been originally smuggled. If the +customs' board permitted merchants to bottle their wines in bond, +all this would be prevented; for they could then see that it was sent under the eye of the customs' officer, on board the ship, without +the payment of either duty or drawback. Such a concession +would be an important boon to the trade, while it would, in some degree, increase the value of wines now shipped through Simon's Town and St. Catherine's docks, which has lately become so much depreciated. + +TAXATION. +581 + +deed for the conveyance of property to another, must detract from the value of that property to the extent of the tax paid : hence it is a direct tax on property. But other portions of this head of revenue, such as the duties on instruments used in legal proceedings, in all actions of tort. To tax such instruments is virtually to sell justice, and is consequently repugnant to those fundamental principles of the British constitution, which, in all legislative changes, should never be departed from. But merely viewing these duties under this point of view, they do not exhibit the most baneful effects to the interest of the state. Law proceedings are, in general, cases instituted against those, who, deficient in means, are struggling against the competition of more powerful capitalists ; and who are thus deficient in the power of enforcing punctuality in their preliminary engagements. To make law expenses exclusive of the tax—are, in the fullest sense, overwhelming, and seldom fail to consign the party against whom they are levied to beggary and disgrace. To aggravate the distress resulting from "the plundering policy" of the government towards its unfortunate defendant, is opposed to every sense of justice and policy, and fixes on the government the ignoble character of an accomplice in the robbery, and of a sharer in the booty. It is a tax of the most pernicious description, tending not only to disarrange, but to destroy, the means of both private and public prosperity. The revenue derived from this mode of revenue, by the abolition of this tax, might be profitably sought in doubling the duty on law certificates : this source of supply is extremely rich, and the high duty would tend to keep the profession more select. + +The number of lawyers practising in England and Wales is about 8400 : the number, including Scotland and Ireland, cannot be less than 15,000. They are chiefly in the receipt of large incomes : 160,000£ per annum might, by an increase of this tax, be added to the revenue without difficulty. + +582 TAXATION. + +Fire insurance.--It is clear that the sum total paid for insurance against the destruction of pro- +erty by fire, must surpass the sum of casual losses. +The principle of mutual insurance, on its first in- +troduction so wisely encouraged by the government, +operates beneficially, by preventing the sudden +disarrangement of capital : it enforces, as it were, a +small reserve of income, as a counterpoint against +sudden loss. The premium, less than ten per +cent. on insurance, is to tax this reserve of income +—to outweigh the fair proportion between the +premium and the risk, and thus to discourage a +practice so provident and so nationally beneficial. +Contrasting the amount of property insured with +the value of property requiring that protection, we +shall see how far this operation operates in discon- +raging insurances against fire. + +Referring to Mr. Lowe's book, we find the +value of dwelling-houses, warehouses, manufac- +tories, goods in progress of manufacture or on +sale, merchant vessels, plate, machinery, tools, farming stock, +etc., in fact all insurable property in Great +Britain, at £70,000,000. + +To which add fifteen per cent. for the increase +since 1833, in accordance with the increase of +population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130,000,000 + +Value of insurable property in Great Britain in 1833 1,000,000,000 + +Value of property insured in the United Kingdom, as per papers laid before parliament, section 1851-2 233,000,000 + +Value of property insured in Great Britain £767,000,000 + +This calculation is sufficiently moderate, and +shews that the property insured is less than twenty- +five per cent. of the insurable property of Great +Britain. The fact warrants anticipation, that a reduction of five per cent. of the fire insurance- +tax would occasion little or no loss to the revenue. + +* Present State of England. + +TAXATION. +583 + +Taxes on newspapers, &c.—So much has been urged, both in and out of parliament, against these taxes—significantly termed "taxes on knowledge," that we can advance nothing which would strengthen the arguments adduced for their repeal. It is now two years since a kind of prudence was made by ministers that the tax on newspapers should be abolished, but no thing has been done, and the government, although admitting that the power of maintenance and the means of enjoyment must be essentially influenced by the state and stock of national intelligence, seem to neglect the means necessary to its growth. Mr. Brougham, who has lately cited, maintains that a small tax on the transit of newspapers into the country, and the extra consumption of paper consequent on the abolition of these taxes, would fully recompense the exchequer for the loss of revenue. Such an arrangement would, in some degree, act as a counterpoise, but we fear not to the extent anticipated by the member for Middlesex. + +ASSESSED TAXES. + +House and window tax.—Direct taxes assessed on property in proportion to its value, are levied under the supposition that possessors have a relative means of contributing to the revenues of the state. This, in most cases, may be a fair presumption with regard to frehold estates occupied by freeholders, but, as a general rule, it is by no means reasonable to judge of the competency of a tenant. It is true that buildings and premises are often required for business purposes, but it does not follow that the profits on trade are in proportion to the size of the building in which it is carried on, and thus the principle on which the tax is levied is fallacious. It sometimes occurs in cases of insolvency, where the premises and the + +A page from a book about taxation. + +584 TAXATION. + +entire stock of the insolvent are surrendered into the heads of creditors, that the tax-gatherer enters with his warrant and sells the property to answer the claim. Is it fair in such a case so to aggravate the loss of commercial capital? It is in this case an arbitrary demand, not on a growing income, but on an already reduced capital. Man likes to part with property at a price under which he pays his debt, from a principle of duty, and the generality of men do not pay them without a degree of repugnance. The debt which is most irksome to pay is a direct tax, because the value received for it is by most people little appreciated ; by attaching it to some particular enjoyment, confounding it with the price of the commodity, and rendering the payment voluntary, it in some degree escapes observation; it is then paid for an enjoyment, and contributed with pleasure. + +Thus the collection of 2,500,000l. as a direct tax on dwellings, has, during the last two years, occasioned a great deal of murmuring among those who see the contribution of four times the amount on wines and spirits has been made without a murmur. During the struggle for the Reform Bill, the liberty party in power were vigorously supported by the middle classes, on whom these taxes chiefly pressed, and ministers were anxious to find some kind of obligation to repay these impostors (or so a large body of the people considered): disappointment was consequently strongly manifested when the repeal was refused or deferred. Since the abolition of the house tax, as a sort of compromise with the public, there only remains about 1,300l. per annum as counterpoise to the loss of revenue, by the repeal of the window tax, would be found by a moderate increase of duty on other branches of the assessed taxes, such as on male servants above a certain age, armorial bearings, race horses, licenses to kill game, &c. + +14 + +**TAXATION.** 585 + +*Protecting duties.*—We shall not enter into any lengthened discussion to show the impolicy of what are termed protecting duties. The advantages of unrestricted international commerce have been already spoken of in our chapter on the corn laws, and the irrationality of imposing any duties on articles of import, with the sole view of protecting any special interest, are admitted by the great majority of our legislators. But although the plan of attempting to bolster up any particular branch of industry, by restrictions against foreign competition, is to be deprecated, yet it is a matter of great practical difficulty to eradicate a deeply rooted protective system. Where large capitals are engaged, and great interests are adapted themselves to the channels of trade, the force of vested interest maintains its right and influence in forbidding such changes. Political economists, when denouncing a protective system, are too prone to generalize and draw conclusions founded on a kind of universal reasoning, without heeding particularly the circumstances under which each of British manufacture, the sudden repeal of all restrictions on foreign competition would effect so sudden a depreciation of capital, and means of present employment, that a greater national injury would be inflicted than by the temporary continuance of high duties on such articles. + +In the silk trade, throwster mills have been established and extensive capitals invested, under the implied promise that foreign importations would be restricted by a duty of twenty-five per cent. on this branch of manufacture; perhaps, more naturally belongs to a neighbouring country, and it would have been wiser policy to have favoured the trade to take its own course than offer inducements to capitalists to embark in it; but as that policy has not been adopted, the protection cannot with advantage be abruptly withdrawn. The im- + +586 +TAXATION. + +policy of the prohibition on the importation of manufactures is still more forcibly felt in France, and the impossibility of rendering it effective is shown by the late information transmitted by Dr. Bowring to the British government. The vigilant efforts of the French government to restrain smuggling have completely failed. Their system of strict search at all ports, and of rigorous inspection of merchandise passing through towns to a strict search, both at its ingress and egress, is ineffectual. + +The report of the French directeur principal des Douanes, to the minister of finance, says "that English bobbin-net to the value of 400,000., is annually imported into France, and that measures to prevent it--smuggled into France; that the quantity of cotton twist, and other British manufactures clandestinely imported is immense, and that the fraudulent introduction of contraband articles into France is, to use his own words, "enormous." The following table is illustrative of one of the most curious devices to carry on a smuggling trade that ever came to public view.* So convinced are the + +* The report of the director of the Custom House, to the minister of finance, on the subject of the fraudulent introduction of contraband articles, says, "That since the suppression of smuggling in England, a great number of contrabands are employed in the traffic. The first attempts of the kind were made in the neighbourhood of Valenciennes; afterwards they spread to Dunkirk, Calais, Boulogne, Lille, Cambrai, Beauvaisville and Strasbourg, and in 1828, the system has also been adopted in the neighbourhood of Beacons. The contraband articles are generally sent from England by sea; it is estimated that, in 1823, 180,000 kilograms of goods were thus introduced into France; in 1825, the quantity reached 187,245. In 1826, 195,000 kilograms were smuggled; suppose 24 kilograms to be carried per dog per day, and the number of dogs killed to be in the proportion of one to twenty in order to obtain this result; then it will be seen that for a large size, are conducted over the frontier lines in packs; they are kept without food for many hours, beaten, and tormented, and in the early part of the night laden with contraband articles + +TAXATION. +587 + +French government of the ineffectual character of a prohibitory system, that since the memorable "petition et membre d'opposé," from the landlords and merchants of Paris to the Chamber of Deputies in 1828, the disposition to rescind it has been rapidly growing, and the laudable efforts of Baron Louis have not failed to interest the government, and especially M. Thiers, whose splendid talents and liberal views shine so brightly on the administration of which he forms a part, in the endeavour to reconcile private interests to a change of system. Already has the government commenced this change, by effacing from the statute book the law which long prohibited the exportation of raw silk. The policy of the system, founded on British interests for the impolitic restrictions against the importation of her corn and timber, has yet to learn the inefficacy of the plans of the new German anti-commercial confederacy to prevent the introduction of contraband merchandise into her territory. The tariff on foreign articles, by the late alteration of its tariff, retreats from the commercial contest, and invites an extended commerce with Great Britain on terms of reciprocity. Such evidences of the impossibility of levying high duties on the importation of articles and turned out, when they run with great speed in a direct line to their destination, are often met with; and those fugitives from the frontier lines, seldom failing to bring their masters a valuable load of bobbin-net, twist, tobacco, or other contraband merchandise. The French Government has treated them kindly treated, and thus encouraged in this ingenious practice. The training is so severe that they frequently go mad through cruel treatments, and the ferociousness of dogs so great, that they are often employed to attack custom-house officers or other persons, who attempt to oppose their course; they have been frequently captured with loads valuing 600, 800, and sometimes 1,200 francs. In 30th July 1828, a man was made of the injury done to the farmers by the dogs passing over the country. + +—See the Report; or McCulloch's Dictionary, article Snuggling. + +588 + +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +of foreign manufacture, strongly dictate the policy of returning gradually to that freedom of inter- +national commerce, which is so essential to the prosperity of the nation and the expansion of public and private income. + +We here close our review of the British taxation ; and proceed to the third section to investigate the means by which the British minister to effect the diminution or repeal of those taxes which we have endeavoured to shew are opposed to sound principles of taxation. + +SECTION III.—PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF FINANCIAL REFORM. + +NOTHING could be more fallacious in reasoning than to denounce the present plan of British taxation, unless the means were possessed of sub- +stituting a reformed, or in the simple sense of the word, an improved plan. The inviolability of public credit must be preserved, and the government of the state upheld on an efficient basis, however great the pecuniary sacrifice. If it were impos- +sible to provide for the necessary expenses of the state without the retention of those taxes, which in +an especial degree impair the national power and resources, we should at once, according with the old proverb, " resist a new tax but not a bad one." We have any disposition to relinquish them ; but if it can be shewn that we possess the means of even a partial return to a better system, thus improving the condition of the great body of the people, without impairing the means of the government, none would object to their practical application. + +FINANCIAL REFORM. 589 + +No individual, whether he belong to the legislative council or not, may whether be in or out of office, can have valid grounds determine the propriety of all the general and particular items of government expenditure. We shall not, therefore, presume to decipher such a problem; but in noticing some items of disbursement, which must in natura rerum cease, confine ourselves to the reduction of expenditure consequent on the already adopted system of the government, or on a change of system in the collection and management of the revenue. + +It is unnecessary to enter into a detailed estimate of the loss to the exchequer on the abolition or reduction of duties recommended; from a calculation before us, the number of duties to be repealed or reduced in the plan proposed, is about 7,500,000L.; taking the absolute loss to the exchequer at two-thirds, we shall call it in round numbers, 5,000,000L.; such a sum could not be spared, and the difficulty consists in providing a substitution. + +We propose to seek a compensation—1st., In the abolition of bounties; 2nd., reduction of public expenditure, chiefly in the collection of the revenue and the charge for ineffective services; 3dly, by a subsidiary tax; and 4thly, the expansion of national income and the consequent increased productivity of taxes. + +THE ABOLITION OF BOUNTIES. + +We need not enter on a lengthened discussion, to shew the utter impolicy of granting bounties for the importation, exportation, or production of commodities. To suppose that any tax on the exportation of goods, which could not be produced or exported without it, can be beneficial, is just as reasonable as to suppose that a manufacturer can gain by selling his commodities cheaper than he + +A page from a book with text discussing financial reform. + +590 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +can make them. The bounty in this case taxes other branches of industry to raise the price of the article to the home consumer, and to depress it to the foreigner, and thus the nation is doubly a loser. +Bounties to encourage any enterprise, such as the Scotch fisheries, diminishes the price to the purchaser, *purse passers* with the ratio of bounty paid; and advances the price to the purchaser of the commodity. Bounties on the importation of merchandise have precisely the same effect, and all the expenses of collecting taxes with the one hand, and distributing them on the other, are useless and lost to the nation, while the persons employed to offer these advantages are made rich as consumers, who would be otherwise producers. + +In the year 1831, the bounties formerly paid on the exportation of Scotch linen ceased, and the Parliamentary return of money distributed as bounties in 1833, is much under the sum paid in former years. The account for 1833 stands thus :- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Bounties for promoting factories, linen, manufacture79,528
To which may be added—
Bounties for the growth of hemp in Scotland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,000
Ditto on the exportation of British refined sugar116,000
Total£199,528
+ +Bounties for the encouragement of the Scotch fisheries and the growth of hemp.—In reference to the bounties paid on account of Scotch fisheries, we shall merely remark, that if the produce is more valuable than its cost of production, and if the fish, encouragement would be found in the open market, without obliging or forcing the people to pay a portion of the price by a compulsory tax ; if the cost of procuring the produce is superior to the value of it, then it is clearly prejudicial to the common-wear to continue the trade, but as the + +FINANCIAL REFORM. +591 + +price of the article is governed by competition, it is sold to the consumer on terms just within the bounty, and hence the premium can be of no avail to those whom it is intended to benefit. The same reasoning applies to the bounty paid on the growth of hemp : if Scotland can produce better or cheaper hemp than Russia, there is clearly no need of bounty to stimulate its production, the open market offering the quantity required ; but if hemp cannot be imported from Russia, better than it can be grown in Scotland, then the home cultivation must clearly impoverish the community. + +Sugar-bounties.--The bounty payable on the exportation of refined sugar is not fixed in any precise account, and is so interwoven with the drawback of duty, that those who are not practically conversant with the subject are quite unable to determine its extent. Various estimates have appeared on the subject; none of which, except those of Dr. Ure, as far as we have seen, appear to be founded on a practical knowledge of the subject. In 1830 Henry Parnell supposes the bounty to be about 5s. per cwt.* Mr. Powlett Thomson stated in parliament, that a manufacturer had shewn him documents which proved the bounty to be 4s. 10d. per cwt. +Some of the calculations of Dr. Learned and scientific Dr. Ure amount to 6s. per cwt., and 7s. 4d. Thus, as the subject appears to be little understood, we shall endeavour to elucidate it in its proper form. + +First, we shall note the ratio of duty payable on the raw material, and the rates of drawback allowed for the exportation of the manufactured article. + +* In the first edition of " Financial Reform," p. 134 (—in the fourth edition the Hon. Baronet seems to estimate at it 5s. 6d. per cwt.) +† Dr. Ure, in his late experiments, obtained products of 63, +67, 72, and 84lbs. of refined, from 112lbs. of raw sugar; his estimates of the rate of bounty are consequently various. + +592 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +| Import duty payable on West India or Mauritius British plantation sugar, per cwt. | Drawback allowed on the ex- | +|---|---| +| | portation of British refined sugar, per cwt. | s. d. | +| cwt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 24 24 | +| | Double refined sugar | 24 24 | +| | Single refined sugar | 24 24 | +| | Batarr ditto | 24 0 | +| | Molasses ditto | nil. | + +The bounty is included in these rates of draw-back, which are calculated on the presumed quantity of refined sugar yielded by a cwt. or given quantity of the raw sugar, but it is impossible to ascertain, nor ever will be, any two objects produced precisely similar to each other, so there never can be any two samples of raw sugar precisely similar in quality; and as the quantity of refined sugar made from a given quantity of raw material strictly de- pends on the quality of that material, which is decidedly incessantly varies. This variation is very considerable—the low soft sugars of the Mauritius, Berbice, of some parts of Demerara, and Trinidad, do not produce above fifty-six pounds of the lowest quality of refined sugar to 112 pounds of the raw material, or fifty per cent; while the best descrip- +* The bounty is included in these rates of draw-back, which are calculated on the presumed quantity of refined sugar yielded by a cwt. or given quantity of the raw sugar, but it is impossible to ascertain, nor ever will be, any two objects produced precisely similar to each other, so there never can be any two samples of raw sugar precisely similar in quality; and as the quantity of refined sugar made from a given quantity of raw material strictly de- pends on the quality of that material, which is decidedly incessantly varies. This variation is very considerable—the low soft sugars of the Mauritius, Berbice, of some parts of Demerara, and Trinidad, do not produce above fifty-six pounds of the lowest quality of refined sugar to 112 pounds of the raw material, or fifty per cent; while the best descrip- +tion does not state that the sugar so called is actually so. Manufacturers differ in their mode of work: some use the hydraulic press, by which the impure sugar is separated from the pure; others use a process for separating the sugar intended for the manufacture of a fine article by a process called melting, by which process the low syrups are separated from the pure; and still others separate them by means of a syrup with single-refined sugar, or the syrup of single-refined sugar, will generally suffice to make double-refined sugar equal to the standard. Distilled sugar is made from the low syrup, which drains from single-refined sugar during the process of manufacture. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Import duty payable on West India or Mauritius British plantation sugar, per cwt.Drawback allowed on the ex- portation of British refined sugar, per cwt.
cwt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .s. d.
Double refined sugar24 24
Single refined sugar24 24
Batarr ditto24 0
Molasses dittonil.
+ +FINANCIAL REFORM. 593 + +tions of Jamaica, St. Vincent's, Monserrat, and Dominica, sugar produces security four to seventy-six pounds, and in some instances even eighty pounds to the hundred weighted, the quality of the refined material being the same, or nearly so. + +We may likewise remark that other causes—such as a deficiency of skill in the process of ebulition, or even in tempering the floor—will cause the quantity pro rata to vary; if the ebulition of the syrup is too low, the quality will increase and the quality deteriorate; if, on the contrary, the ebulition is too low, the quantity will be diminished, and the quality, in some cases, improved. + +Thus, under all these conditions and casualties attached to the process of refining sugar, it must be tolerably evident to our readers, that the only means of correctly ascertaining the pro rata production of refined to raw sugar is by balancing the total quantity of refined sugar made in a sugar house against the quantity of raw sugar worked, taking an average over several years' experience in a house; for— + +*Skill in boiling is the sine qua non of success in sugar refining, and is only to be acquired by long practice, assisted by good judgment. The necessary degree of coldness depends on the quality required; but whatever may be the quality, the ebulition must be less, or the proof light: if of inferior quality, the ebulition must be stronger. The point required is determined by the nature of the product desired. Boiling syrup (being at about 350 degrees of temperature), drawing it out quickly, and immediately taking a small portion of the hot syrup and placing it in a glass bottle with a stopper; then turning to the proof box—which is usually a sort of three-sided wooden case containing a lighted candle—he touches the hot syrup on his finger and feels its heat; this feeling determines out the thread (a small column of syrup), determines by the degree of consistency the syrup has attained whether it is sufficiently boiled. When he has drawn off enough syrup for his purpose, during the time the boiler is trying, or taking the proof, stand close to the pan, with ladles and basins ready to discharge the contents of it; and if he bolier says "e rough," or "proof," the syrup is discharged from the pan into the cooler with all possible expediency. + +2 Q + +594 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +lowing a regular system of manufacture. The trade, from experience, know with tolerable accuracy what this average is, and we believe it will be admitted by those who understand the subject to be as follows:— + +Produce of 112 lbs. of raw sugar of fair average quality, supposing it be manufactured into single-refined sugar of low quality on the old plan. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Refined sugarBastard sugarTreacleWaste.Total
60+ 4+ 18+ 4= 112°
+ +This point explained—we hope as clearly as the subject will admit of—the extent of the bounty will be very easily shown: thus— + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Quality of the sugar.Quantity produced from 112 lbs. raw sugar.Rate of drawback per cent.Drawback.Actual money value of the drawback.
Single refined6616 9%1021 7%
Bastards241%25 0%
Treacle18n.s.n.s.n.s.
Waste108Duty paid on 112 lbs. of raw sugar.26 8%
24 0%
+ +Net bounty on the exportation of sugar, per cent. 2 3/4 + +This supposes the whole of the produce to be exported, but as the exports of rehined or lump sugar usually surpass the proportional quantity of bastard sugar and molasses exported, the actual bounty is, in some years, more considerable. If, for instance, the export were entirely of refined or lump sugar, half the duty which remains charged on the bastard sugar would be treacle weighing 42lbs. + +* The relative quantities of treacle and bastard depend on the state in which the latter is turned out of the moulds. Dr. Ure, who used the doomed pan, found less bastard than our estimate; our calculation is based upon that which was used, and the bastard sugar sold in the ordinary unclassed state. +† There being scarcely any double-refined sugar exported, we have formed no estimate of its value. + +A small quantity of double-refined sugar is shipped to India as stores, and some little is exported to various British colonies. + +FINANCIAL REFORM. +595 + +only 2s. 4d.; while the duty charged on it when incorporated with the raw sugar, is 3a. The bastard sugar and molasses may, however, be considered as a part of the raw sugar, and ought not therefore to remain charged with the full proportion of duty. The bounty may, therefore, be fairly considered to be as we have stated it (2s. 8d. per cwt.)--Thus, having shewn the ratio of the drawback, we have only to ascer- tain the amount of sugar refined for exportation, to demonstrate that the maintenance of British exchequer under the head of sugar bounties. + +The following extract from an official document laid before parliament in 1832, will shew the relative quantities of British plantation and foreign sugar delivered for exportation and home consump-tion during the years 1828, 1829, and 1830-- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +



































































































\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\ndeduct export of refined sugar re- duced by drawback Dittos of bastard Actual consumption, including bastard made from molasses 177,880 168,670 179,270 +\end{table} + +The table at p. 499 shows that the annual quan- tity of raw sugar refined for exportation, on the average of three years ending January 1831, is 43,983 tons ; which at a bounty of 2s. 4d. 2d. per ton, or 2s. 8d. per cwt., annually subtracts 115,968l. from the British exchequer. + +2 q 2 + +506 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +Let us inquire for whose benefit the community is thus annually taxed 116,000l. per annum. +The object of the bounty is to benefit the sugar grower, and to increase the price of sugar 2s. 8d. per cwt., not merely on the quantity exported, but on the whole quantity of sugar brought to the British market by the West India interest. If it produces this effect, the people are not merely annually benefited 116,000l. by this tax, but 2f. 14s. 2d. per ton on 229,270 tons; being no less than 620,941l. If this be not the operation of the tax, the bounty is ineffective for its legitimate object, and the sum of 116,000l. benefits some other interest not contemplated by the legislature. +Happily the bounty paid is, as we shall presently show, superfluous; the extent intended, and the only loss to the British people on this account is 116,000l. per annum, paid not to the West India merchant—but to the German and Italian manufacturers—but to the German and Italian consumers. + +We propose first to examine the operation of this bounty as regards the manufacturer; we shall, however, in *limine*, refer to the effect of the partial reduction of bounty in the year 1824. Up to that period the duty payable on raw sugar was 30s. per cwt. when the current price was upwards of 49s. per cwt.; at times it was under 47s. per cwt.; at the time these duties were fixed, the price being usually above 49s. per cwt., the drawback was calculated on that rate of duty, and 46s. per cwt. was allowed on the exportation of refined sugar. From 1819, prior to which date refined sugar was not taxed, until 1824, prior to which date seldom under 47s. per cwt., than the duty diminished ten per cent. after 1819, but no alteration was made in the rate of drawback until 1824, +*In hand.* The Lords of the Treasury were, by the Act of 1806, imposing a duty of 30s. per cwt., empowered to remit 1s. per cwt. when the price was under 49s.; 2s. when under 48s.; and 3s. when under 47s. + +
Deliveries of Raw Sugar from PortsFor Exportation.For Home Consumption.
18281829183018291830
British Plantation - Madras - Bengal - Samah - India - India - Molasses equal to 100 lbs.TonsTonsTonsTonsTonsTons
Madras - Bengal - Samah - India - India - Molasses equal to 100 lbs.2,2308101,485191,005181,250190,949
Bengal - Samah - India - India - Molasses equal to 100 lbs.2,1002,3101,8354,8766,0906,025
Samah - India - India - Molasses equal to 100 lbs.1,2002,0003,45015085
Havanah - India - Molasses equal to 100 lbs.3,0503,6754,45075150
Molasses equal to 100 lbs.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Let us inquire for whose benefit the community is thus annually taxed 116,000l. per annum.
The object of the bounty is to benefit the sugar grower, and to increase the price of sugar 2s. 8d. per cwt., not merely on the quantity exported, but on the whole quantity of sugar brought to the British market by the West India interest.
If it produces this effect, the people are not merely annually benefited 116,000l. by this tax, but 2f. 14s. 2d. per ton on 229,270 tons; being no less than 620,941l.
If this be not the operation of the tax, the bounty is ineffective for its legitimate object, and the sum of 116,000l. benefits some other interest not contemplated by the legislature.
Happily the bounty paid is, as we shall presently show, superfluous; the extent intended, and the only loss to the British people on this account is 116,000l. per annum, paid not to the West India merchant—but to the German and Italian manufacturers—but to the German and Italian consumers.
We propose first to examine the operation of this bounty as regards the manufacturer; we shall, however, in *limine*, refer to the effect of the partial reduction of bounty in the year 1824.
Up to that period the duty payable on raw sugar was 30s. per cwt. when the current price was upwards of 49s. per cwt.; at times it was under 47s. per cwt.; at the time these duties were fixed, the price being usually above 49s. per cwt., the drawback was calculated on that rate of duty,
and 46s. per cwt. was allowed on the exportation of refined sugar.
From 1819, prior to which date refined sugar was not taxed, until 1824, prior to which date seldom under 47s. per cwt., than the duty diminished ten per cent.
after 1819, but no alteration was made in the rate of drawback until 1824.
*In hand.* The Lords of the Treasury were, by the Act of 1806, imposing a duty of 30s. per cwt., empowered to remit 1s.
per cwt. when the price was under 49s.; 2s. when under 48s.; and 3s. when under 47s.
+ +FINANCIAL REFORM. 597 + +when in conformity of what may then be termed the permanent rate of duty, 27s., the drawback was reduced from 46s. to 41s. 4d., or ten per cent.; thus from 1810 to 1824 the bounty was 4s. 7d. per cwt. on refined sugar. + +Now during the operation of the high bounty, the official value of refined sugar exported, was, in 1822, 678,495l.; in 1823, 886,917l.; and in 1824, 748,305l.; being an annual average for the three years ending 1824, of 771,227l.; and during the operation of the low bounty, that is, from 1825 to 1830, the official value of refined sugar exported was in 1825, 1,117,329l.; in 1826, 1,229,503l.; and in 1830, 1,204,773l.; being an annual average of 1,213,868l.; shewing an important increase in the exportation, despite a large diminution of bounty: thus the diminution of bounty has no tendency whatever to diminish the exportation of refined sugar. That the exportation of refined sugar has ceased, since the peace, suffered much materially, we are fully aware; but from causes totally unconnected with the rates of bounty granted. + +The official value of refined sugar exported in 1814 was 3,091,653l.; and in 1815, 3,913,419l.; while in 1824 the official value of the quantity exported was, for the three years ending 1824, only 771,000l.; and for the three years ending 1830, 1,213,868l. + +To shew the effect of this diminution of trade, we may observe, that at the present day (March) the city of London contains but one large sugar refining-house at work at the present day (March), there is but one. In the eastern suburbs of the metropolis, the part distinguished for this branch of trade, the number of houses at work at the present day (64) does not exceed half the number in 1814 and 1815. We only saw last year (March), that in 1815 there were in London and its suburbs 226 pans at work--this number is now reduced to about 110--in 1822, 1823, and 1824 the number must have been less. This arises from no deficiency + +598 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +in the home demand, but from the decline of the export trade, arising from the severe competition to which the manufacturer is exposed in foreign markets. +It may be necessary to shew the real cause of the decline of the export trade. During the war, our export of refined sugar was (with temporary interruption, consequent on the anti-commercial decrees of Napoleon) to Hamburg, Hamburg, Lübeck, Koningsberg, and St. Petersburg in the north ; Genoa, Trieste, and Leghorn in the south. In Russia, the consumption of sugar is chiefly limited to the finer descriptions; and as that country could obtain no supply of the raw material direct from the West Indies, she had recourse to the manufacture of sugar for her own consumption : hence the exportation of double-refined sugar from Great Britain to Russia was very extensive. But at the peace the commercial intercourse with the Brazils, Cuba, Porto Rico, Surinam, &c., became open to the flag of all nations; and the means of obtaining this article by other channels being thus provided to continental nations, the barrier to manufacture was swept away, and the British monopoly ceased. Manufactory of refined sugar were established in various continental ports—Hambro, Bremen, Lübeck, Riga, St. Petersburg &c.; and duties were imposed by foreign governments against the importation of British refined sugar; hence our exportation of the article in a state fit for consumption so rapidly declined, that for some years past there has been scarcely any exportation of double-refined sugar from Great Britain to the European market. The reason why this decline at the present day is chiefly of the lowest description, requiring to be re-manufactured ere it is fit for + +* It is said, that during the reign of the Emperor Alexander to this country in 1814, he ordered models to be taken of the houses approved London sugar houses. One of the houses in the eastern part of the metropolis was particularly selected, and on its model several houses have been erected in St. Petersburg. + + + + + + +
+ + + + + +
FINANCIAL REFORM.599
+ 		+ consumption. As this subject is little understood by those who are not practically acquainted with the sugar trade, it may not be uninteresting or unimportant to give some account here for this description of sugar only—this we can only do by entering, in detail, on the difference of the process of manufacture in the British sugar-producing colonies, compared with that in other parts. + Conciseness being our aim, we shall describe the process of refining in Great Britain. The British tariff prohibits by a high rate of duty the importation of sugar having passed through the process of claying or refining ; hence the crop of the British colonies is imported in a state merely granulated by ebullition, the grasser syrup or molasses being drained from the casks by means of holes perforated in the casks in which it is packed. In the Brazil, Cuba, Porto Rico, &c., the sugar is prepared on a different system. After boiling the syrup, until a sufficiency of the aqueous part is evaporated, it is cooled and poured into moulds, troughs, or other vessels, where it cands or granulates. The commerce thus obtained is mixed with wet clay is then spread on the surface, and the water filtering through the sugar, carries with it the weaker or less saccharine syrup, which may have failed to granulate. By this treatment the sugar is rendered more pure, white, and dry; and considering the cost of labour employed in the raw sugar, which is imported from the British colonies. Now we shall shew in what manner this difference of system influences the trade, both in the colonies and Great Britain. + In the process of refining—the chamber or floor in which the sugar is deposited to drain off the syrup (a process requiring from three to five weeks, according to the quality of the sugar)—should be heated to a certain regular degree, depending on the quality of the material. British colonial sugar requires from eighty to eighty-five degrees +
+ +600 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +of Fahrenheit, and the clayed or demi-refined sugar of the Brazil and the Havannah, from sixty-five to seventy degrees. + +The northern climes of Russia, and other Baltic ports, are thus little adapted to refine with advantage the unclayed sugars of the British colonies, for the larger portion of treacle or impure syrup they contain, render a high temperature indispensable. The heat of the Baltic ports we are fully aware it may be urged that the heat in the drying floors of sugar houses may be carried by fumes to a high degree, despite exterior cold ; but those who are practically acquainted with the treacle will fully appreciate that immense fuel, labour, labourer and ten &c. are in thus competing with the elements. * Even in the temperate climate of London, great difficulty is experienced during severe winters in refining low sugar, particularly in separating the treacle from the bastard sugar. If this difficulty is felt in London, how much greater must it be in St. Petersburg, Riga, and the like ports on the shores of the Baltic where the neighbouring rivers are frozen during successive winter months to the durity of the adamantine rock? But, besides this physical incapacity attaching to the northern ports, there is, on the continent, but a very slack demand for the molasses necessary for their refinement during these years. Thus foreign refiners reject the British colonial sugar, and purchase the demi-refined sugar of the + +* We have frequently been in the upper floor of a sugar house (of course the warmest and most generally heated), where—under the open windows—the hand could not be held five seconds in the current within four feet of the five door—the temperature being twenty-eight degrees Fahrenheit; while in different parts of the floor, lying in one part eighty-eight degrees of Fahrenheit, and in another part situated in an oblique direction from the flue, only fifty-four or fifty-five degrees. It certainly would be easy by pipes and vents to carry which are used by those houses who work on the Honorable Frederick Howard's plan. + +9/22 + +FINANCIAL REFORM. +601 + +Havannah and the Brazil, and the lowest descrip- +tions of British refined sugar from which the +grosser syrups have been already expelled, and +which are consequently refined with more moderate +heats. Thus the difference of system in prepar- +ing the sugars in the British colonies, deprives the +colonists from a direct trade with the foreign +markets, and drives them to foreign lands to seek +supplies of sugar in the Brazil and the Havannah. +These sugars are, however, in primitive quality, +very inferior to the general description of sugars +produced in the British colonies ; and the foreign +refiner finds his advantage in working a portion of +the British sugar, and in refining it to suit foreign markets, our refined sugar exported to the north of Europe is usually of the lowest de- +scription, possessing just enough quality to pass as +duly refined, and hence to obtain the drawback and +bounty. To the West India interest the bounty is +be of no avail; for as by the foregoing returns it appears that 300,000 tons are consumed at home consumption by upwards of 40,000 tons, it is evident that the price at home cannot exceed the price which that surplus commands in foreign +markets; and as the British West India colonist holds no monopoly on the continent, the price of +sugar, both at home and abroad, must be regulated by the estimation of the sugar growers of Cuba +and the Brazil. + +The British sugar planter would obtain a far +greater advantage, if he were permitted to prepare +his sugars on the plan practised in the Havannah. +His produce would be so large as to exceed surpasses the quantity consumed in the United Kingdom, must be held in abeyance to foreign competition; but if he prepared the sugar by + +* Some London sugar refiners have attempted to work the Brazilian sugars alone; but they find the advantage of mixing British sugar with them. + +602 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF +claying, he would not only command a direct and indirect foreign trade for his surplus quantity, but the quantity exported from the colonies would be considerably diminished. The process of claying, or separating the molasses, on the plan adopted in the Brazil, diminishes the weight of the sugar about thirteen or fourteen pounds per hundred weight; thus, the quantity of sugar sent to this country from the British colonies would increase about 32,000 tons, being about two-thirds of the present surplus quantity imported. For the extra quantity of molasses produced, a ready market would be found in the American United States; or it could be sold in England, and exported wherever it would command a sale. + +The present bounty benefits neither the West India planter nor the British sugar refiner. Who then derives advantage from it?—the foreign consumers of our surplus growth of sugar. We can see no reason why the British people should be taxed for the advantage of foreigners. The French and Italians have concluded that the bounty ought to be abolished by substituting, for the present, the subjoined rates of drawback, which are calculated to return precisely the duties paid. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Drawback on the exportation ofs.d.
Raw sugar, & c., s. d.at the new rate of 12 11 per cent. 194
Ditto on 24 lbs. of bastard sugar1 4 071
Treacle18 dills.nil.
Waste4nil.
Total drawback on the exportation of
118Total duty paid on 112 lbs. of raw sugar . 24 0
Bounty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . nil.
+ +Any disadvantage which the British sugar re- +finer might experience from the abolition of the +bounty, would be fully met by giving extra fa- +cilities for refining foreign sugars for exportation. +It is quite evident that this would be absolutely + +FINANCIAL REFORM. 603 + +necessary as a concurrent measure with a change of system in preparing the sugars in the British colonies; for, as the surplus quantity imported would be diminished by two-thirds, the business of those houses who now principally work for the export trade, would be proportionally reduced. Such measures have long been contemplated by ministers; and in the early part of 1825, the government commissioned Dr. Ure, the erudite and ingenious Dr. Ure to make experiments on foreign sugars, with a view of determining the degrees of saccharine they contain, and the proportional quantity of refined sugar they would yield. This latter point is indispensable to the plan, because the degree of sugar must be precisely equivalent to the duty charged or deposited. Dr. Ure's calculations are doubtless as accurate as any that could be made on a limited scale; but from what has been said, it must appear evident to our readers, that nothing short of practical regular work, continued for a long period, can secure such results as they require like accuracy. But, presuming that the quantities sought, prove to be 66 pounds of single refined sugar, 24 pounds of bastard sugar, 18 pounds of treacle, and 4 pounds waste;* then there can be no difficulty in making the revenue secure, and protecting the monopoly exclusively of British interest, without subjecting the refiner of foreign sugars for exportation to the inconvenience, and the nation the expense of excise surveillance. + +For, if foreign sugar were delivered from the bonded warehouse to be refined for exportation, at a deposit duty of 25 per cent., and a duty on each pound of British plantation sugar, and an equivalent excess of drawback allowed on its exportation in the manufactured state, not a pound would be supplied to the + +* Havanah clayed sugar of good quality would produce 76 to 78lbs. of refined ; Brazilian, 60 to 68lbs.; Siam and Manilla, various. + +604 PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF home market. To explain:—if, in the place of a de- +ductuty of 24s. per cwt. charged on British plan- +tation sugar, which, when exported in the manu- +factured state, claims a drawback of 36s. 9d. per +cwt., a deposit duty of 30s. per cwt. were required +on the delivery of foreign sugar, allowing an equi- +valent drawback of 30s. per cwt. on the refined sugar, +it is clear, that the refiner would export sugar +which entitled him to a drawback of 30s. per cwt. +in preference to that on which he could receive +but 24s. per cwt. The very system would carry +its own protection. Supposing the duty charged +on foreign sugar to be 30s. per cwt., and the pro- +duction of the material deposited in the propor- +tion before mentioned, the equivalent rates of +drawback would be thus:— + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Rate of Drawback.
d. d.d. d.d. d.d. d.
66 lbs. of single Refined sugar401237
24 Bastard ditto30065
18 Waste
Total drawback300
112 Deposit duty300
+ +When, in the latter part of the parliamentary ses- +sion of 1833, the question of permitting the refiners +to work foreign sugar for exportation was discussed, +some difficulty seemed to arise from the practice of +mixing sugars of different qualities.* It was supposed, +that by allowing the sugar refined to work British +plantation sugar, and by charging the revenue and the monopoly of the West interest might both suffer. Whether or not the refiner +mixed his foreign with British plantation sugar, it +could make no possible difference to either the + +*It is a curious fact, that different qualities of sugar worked together, will produce refined sugar than if worked sepa- +rately; for instance, if two pounds of one quality and one pound of another quality were mixed together, they would +one might produce 62 lbs., to the hundred weight, and the other 65 or 66; but if worked together, the general produce would be +66, and the quality equal. + +A table showing rates of drawback and deposit duty for different types of sugar. + +FINANCIAL REFORM. 605 + +revenue or the West India interest: if the refiner were allowed the high drawback on the export of a limited quantity of refined sugar, calculated on the quantity on which he had paid the high duty, there would be merely a substitution of British plantation for foreign sugar, and an equivalent substitution of foreign sugar for British plantation; the latter also could not afford the revenue one penny, nor could any other additional quantity of sugar be forced into the home market. The refiner would receive an excess of drawback on one portion of the produce, and an equivalent diminution on the other. It is only necessary that accounts should be made to the Customs-house of the duties paid on foreign sugar, and of the quantity of the refined material upon which the refiner would be entitled to receive the high rate of drawback.* + +We have entered more fully on this subject than we intended; but, as it is little understood by the public, and the loss arising to the exchequer, through the operation of the bounty, is very large, we fit this brief explanation if it would not be uninteresting. + +The total abolition of these bounties would act as a counterpoise to the loss of revenue to the extent of 200,000l. per annum. + +PROSPECTIVE REDUCTIONS OF EXPENDITURE. + +REFERRING to what has been said at the commencement of this section, we shall not investigate the several heads of expenditure for the collection of the tax recommended in this measure; but note the economy which would follow the abolition of the taxes recommended. + +Reduction of charge in the collection of the revenue. +---The total charge for the collection of the revenue + +* If this plan were adopted, all the vexatious and expensive regulations imposed by 3 and 4 William IV., relating to the refining of foreign sugars in bond, might be dispensed with. + +606 + +**PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF** + +for the year ending Jan. 1833, is 2,986,518L. +exclusive of the charge for the collection of the +post-office revenue, 707,288L ; forming a total of +3,693,806L, being about 71. 2s. 9d. per cent. Of +this immense sum, 360,335L is charged by the +Customs' department under the Preventive Service. +Previous to 1831, a very large sum was annually paid from the navy department for this service ; and Mr. Dean, in 1829, told the finance committee, that the whole expense of the preventive service was, in 1820, no less than 643,840L.* Since +1831, the duty of detecting the smuggler has en- +tirely devolved on the Customs department ; but +as a portion of the charge must of necessity be +included in the navy estimates, the total amount +may be fairly estimated at the very reduced sum +of 400,000L. + +It is well known that smuggling is almost ex- +clusively confined to three articles—spirits, tobacco, +and some small quantity of tea, the latter chiefly +from the Dutch coast ; and it is equally well known, +that if ten times 400,000L. were expended in the +endeavour to repress smuggling, vi etiamis, it would +be insufficient. (Vide reports of Dr. Bowring.) +The only means protecting us will be found in +the reduction of duties on tea tax on tea is already +in progress of reduction ; the diminution of duty on +spirits and tobacco is supposed, in estimating the +loss to the revenue (see page 589). Such reduc- +tions would almost supercede the necessity of any +coast guard. But we shall presume that the abolition +of the present duty on spirits will not take place, +and the charge would then be confined to the ex- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
The items wereCustoms' department466,099
Exciseditto2,235
Navyditto157,806
+ +Finance Committee Report. + +£ 626,140 + +FINANCIAL REFORM. +607 + +pense of cruisers, 115,000L.; land guard, 22,000L.; +and harbour vessels, 5,000L.; in all 142,000L.--- +thus economising to the extent of 260,000L. per annum. + +The reduction of duties to the extent of 7,500,000L. +it is fair to presume, would enable ministers to reduce the expenses of collecting the revenue, +equivalent to a fair per centage on the above sum. +The average expense of collecting the revenue, +exclusive of the post-office charge, is £t. 15s. 6d. per 100L. Supposing that the reduction of expense was pro rata with the diminution of the sum ex- +pended, the saving under this head would be +432,000L. That still, however, call the actual economy 380,000L. + +Sir Henry Parnell, in his Financial Reform, +especially notices the economy which might be introduced into the revenue departments by sim- +plifying the plan on which the revenue is collected. +" It," says the hon. baronet, "the duties on all articles producing less than 10,000L. per annum were repeatedly increasing, of expense; and all probability be greater than the revenue (585,000L.)" +It would, however, be too much to expect the realization of such a saving; but the repeal of these duties, in conjunction with the effective sup- +pression of contraband trade, would tend materially to clear up this difficulty. By +such a sweeping repeal of a multiplicity of petty taxes, the duties of the officers of the revenue departments would be rendered so comparatively easy, that the boards of customs and excise might probably find it unnecessary to proceed further on the plan lately adopted with regard to the board of stamps and assessed taxes, or on the system more recently followed with respect to the exchequer. + +The boards of customs and excise are extremely expensive, and we shall note the charges incurred in + +608 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF +these departments, where the services of the officers +employed in either appear to be of the same de- +scription. +Taken from the Finance Accounts of the year ending January 1830.* +EXCISE DEPARTMENT. +CUSTOMS' DEPARTMENT. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Offices.Number of persons employed.Amount of salaries.Offices.Number of persons employed.Amount of salaries.
Bonda, Secrecy, & Attendants.7134,620Boards and Assistants.11641,207
Law department.2610,980Law officers & Assistants.549,900
Clerks.14224,335Couriers & Assistants.4111,780
Assessors & Comptrollers.9639,450Estate Officers & Assistants.48797,340
Collectors.
335109,065
Expense of these offices in the two departments.668180,497
109,065369,717
+ +These offices cost the nation 270,000l. per annum. +The boards, secretaries, and attendants cost 76,000l., being nearly as much as the whole +venue collected was one-third more than at +present, and the duties of office much more +complex. A consolidation of some of these offices +we cannot but think would be attended with +economy; and, to a reforming administration, +pledged to abolish every office not actually re- +quired for the public service, it may appear prac- +ticable. +The system of excise surveillance is very ex- +pensive, and a great deal of curious information +was last year adduced before the " commission +for customs and excise inquiry," tending to shew +its inefficiency. The brazenly profuse supply of +respect tea and tobacco. We shall note the ex- +* Some reductions have been effected since 1830. + +FINANCIAL REFORM. +609 + +penses of the surveying and permit departments of the excise as they appeared in the finance accounts of 1830. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Salaries paid to officers on the establishment.£617,599
Twenty-fourth part of the salaries of two clerks in the permit printing office, £490.2,752
Stationary, rent, and miscellaneous expenses69,651
£690,002
+ +This is a very important sum, a considerable portion of which might unquestionably be economised, especially in concurrence with a reduction of duty on tea, tobacco, and spirits,—the repeal of the duties on glass paper, brieks, &c., and the transfer of the collection of the duty on hops to the commissioners of taxes. + +It is both contrary to evidence and common reason, to suppose that the present system of surveying the stock of tea and tobacco in every little retail shop, every fourteen days, can be any protection against the removal of tea and tobacco from the hands of the consumers. The manner of determining the quantity sold in small parcels during the interval of his visits, and therefore can exercise no check against the introduction of a contraband article into consumption. + +Mr. Fry, an extensive tea dealer, in speaking of the utter inability of surveying the stocks of retail dealers, told the committee—"I have been surveying tea for three years past; I have made upwards of 100,000 per- mitts, which made a large quantity of tea in our stock sessile; at first we thought of laying the case before the excise commissioners, and obtaining their permission to stop all sales; but it was concluded that it would be less troublesome to write to a few of our country customers, offering them the tea at a halfpenny or a penny per pound; they would then take out their own permits, and in a few days we got rid of the whole quantity." + +Many other witnesses, whose evidence we have not space to notice, spoke in the same terms of the utter inefficiency of the permit system, particularly as regards tea and tobacco. Within the last three or four years the permit system has been abolished. + +2 + +610 + +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +on coffee and pepper, in neither of which com- +modities has there been any diminution of con- +sumption; on the contrary, the consumption of no imported article has increased so much as of coffee since the removal of the excise surveillance : in 1822, the quantity of coffee charged with duty was 7,535,000lbs.; in 1826, 11,082,943lbs.; in 1830, 12,547,921lbs.; in 1835, 14,297,921lbs. + +From progressive reforms in the system of collect- +ing the revenue, it is fair to estimate a further prospective saving of 100,000£ per annum. + +Diminution of charge for the public debt.—How far reduction will be carried in the charge for the public debt is a question dependent on so many political and domestic circumstances, that we can scarcely hazard an opinion on the subject. That the rate of interest has a tendency to decline with the progress of national wealth and the growth of public credit is evident; but it is not at all clear, but how far it may be state policy to depress the rate of interest in this country is very pro- +blematical. Ministers cannot be insensible to the mischievous effects of the operation of a large surplus of revenue annually invested in the re- +purchase of stock; and they desire to keep the rate of interest, and driving British capital into foreign countries for investment. The diminution of the rate of interest in this country, to be safe and bene- +ficial, must, in some degree, be regulated by a fall in the interest of money on the continent. Strange as it may appear, it is impossible to limit the reduc- +tion to the extent of more than two or three millions sterling per annum, by the actual re- +purchase of stock. The application of a larger sum involves a series of disadvantages: the redemption of capital being more rapid than the creation of the means of employing it in national commercial enterprises, it flies to distant objects for invest- + +610 + +FINANCIAL REFORM. +611 + +ment ; witness the effects in 1824-5, when by the application of 18,000,000L. to the redemption of stock in 1822, 1823, and 1824, upwards of 20,000,000L. were invested in foreign securities, Mexican mines, &c.; witness the effect produced in 1826 by this emigration of capital. Yet the pacific aspect of Europe, the firm and stable character on which the British government stands, since the late salutary reform in the representative system, portend that the interest in the funded debt of Great Britain will, at no very distant date, be reduced to three per cent ; a further depression cannot reasonably be anticipated until the national debt has been more particularly to estimate immediate reductions. First, the arrangement with the Bank saves 120,000L. per annum ; the reduction of half per cent. interest on 10,800,000L., new four per cent. annuities, gives 54,000L. ; the application of 2,100,000L. to the redemption of stock at three and a half per cent. reduces 73,000L.; but as the charge must be in some degree increased by the progressive exchange of terminable for permanent annuities, we shall call this head of saving 50,000L. : these items shew an immediate reduction in the charge of 375,000L., to which may be added 56,000L. for the falling in of life annuities, money received from the Bank on account of unclaimed dividends, &c., carrying the total to 280,000L. In what degree the grant of 20,000,000L., for the abolition of slavery, will augment the charge on the public only can also be determined by information having transpired as to whether the colonists are to contribute any, or what part of it, or on what terms it is to be raised ; we therefore leave that prospective addition to the dead weight out of the calculation.* + +* The most effectual means of reducing a large national debt, is the most difficult problem in financial science; tracts, + +2 n 2 + +612 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +Probable reduction of charge for the army.—In referring to the reductions which may be effected pamphlets and books, devising plans, have, during the last hundred years, been continually issuing from the press; but their number, however large, is inconsiderable, compared with that of the manuscript communications which have been addressed to the public on the subject. Most of these involve a principle of bad faith towards the public creditor; some advocate a general lerey on the capital of the country; others propose to increase the speculativeness of its collection, or heeding the injurious effects which would result from the application of a real capital to replace an imaginary one; while others recommend the employment of new resources, now productively employed at home, to other nations. No plan can be operative without it is sanctioned by debtor and creditor, and suitable to the nature of the subject. The principle of separate interests—thus reciprocity must form the basis of all speculation on the subject. The plan of converting permanent into temporary debts, which was first proposed by Mr. Pitt, on a large scale by the Bill of 1808-9, seems that which meets most approval on the part of the government; but it is very questionable whether it will be productive of any beneficial effect. The system of gambling speculation with individuals, by granting life annuities on the surrender of a permanent claim; by such an arrangement as that proposed by Mr. Pitt for the benefit of consumers, and families, on the decease of a parent, are deprived of that provision which former circumstances had led them to expect. Such schemes are calculated to produce great inconveniences, and tend increasingly to impoverish society. These, however, are rather moral than political considerations, and looking to the plan in its most favourable point of view, we can conceive none more effectual its diminution than that which is as it carries a certain sinking fund; yet the portion of funded property which has been thus relieved from taxation compared with the amount of debt, very limited, and even this small relief offered last year by government to facilitate these operations, is insufficient to produce extensive effects. + +The amount of money transferred to the commissi- +ors for annuities for terms of year, from +23d of Nov. 1829, to 18th Dec. 1830 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £ 7,525,360 +Ditto, for life annuities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598,594 +In addition to this, the money received for annuities 7,850,355 +1,856,435 +Total £ 9,806,890 + +The capital of the debt is so large, that it is to be hoped it will not be increased in paying the West India planters' indemnity. + +FINANCIAL REFORM. +613 + +in the military expenditure, we shall not, by com- +paring its present amount with that of the year +1792, or other years of the peace preceding the +late wars, presume that the present charge is ex- +cessive; our altered position, and the increase of +the colonies, both in number and importance, jus- +tifying a large extension of military force. + +An account was submitted to the late finance +committee, showing that troops are annually main- +tained in order to provide the colonial garrisons +on the regulated scale. The number of garrison +troops was computed at 49,389; to maintain which +(always abroad) requires, on the plan adopted, an +effective force of 75,388 men ; computed as follows : +each regiment to remain abroad for two years, +and at home for four years; so that a tenth of 49,389 +or 4,938 men must go out each year. The reliefs +at home consequently amount to four times this +number, or 19,752 ; besides which it is deemed +necessary to maintain a depot of 120 men to each +of the 54 regiments in battalion abroad, to recruit +deficient troops from mortality and other ca- +sualties; thus demanding a further addition of +6240 men : so that the whole number of troops +exclusively maintained for the colonial service is +as under— + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Number of troops always abroad40,302
Reliefs at home19,752
Depots6,240
Total75,382
+ +The present generation, to whom belongs the honour of eman- +cipating the negro, should rather bear the burden of its own +misfortune; it would be but a burden of a badge of honour, +and its wealth thereby more valuable than that of any race; +or ornaments of its own casualties for short terms of years twenty, +or even fifteen, being as it were instalments, would better consult +our future national security than an addition of 20,000,000£ to +the national debt. +* A return of the distribution of the British army in 1833 (said to be official), lately appeared in the *New Monthly Magazine*, + +614 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +Thus the question of the reduction of the numerical force of the army is more particularly dependent on the reduction of the colonial garrisons; and as 75,000 men are required to be supported in order to maintain 49,000 actually in the colonies, a reduction of 5000 men in the colonial garrisons would enable ministers to reduce the standing force to 38,000. The reduction will be effected when the tranquillity of the colonies shall be assured by the measures in progress to emancipate slaves, that such a reduction will be effected. + +A return was made to parliament in 1831, shewing the increase of pay to the officers and soldiers since 1825, which is given below, from which the following is an extract. Since this date (1831) some reductions have been made in the pay of newly-enlisted soldiers in the horse guards (blue), and the life guards. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
REGIMENTS.Rate of pay per diem.Pay in 1831Increase per diem.Increase per cent.
Cavalry.L. d.Cavalry.L. d.Cavalry.L. d.
Regular infantry (blue guards (blue))1921215125
Life guards16114135129
Regular cavalry - INFANTRY.899762
Foot guards101414660
Regiments of the line67707117
+ +which states the number of troops (officers and men) abroad to be as under: Cape of Good Hope, 1,725; Gibraltar, 2,875; Malta, 2,900; Jamaica, 1,350; St. Lucia, 400; St. Vincent, 400; Nova Scotia and the Bermudas, 3,222; Windward and Leeward Islands, 4,400; the Bahamas, and Honduras, 3,152; Madagascar, 1,445; Ceylon, 3,965; India, its dependencies, 2,539 total, 30,855. In the East Indies, 2,663 cavalry, and 15,701 infantry; total, 18,364. Great Britain, Ireland and Wales, 37,899 total; 37,899. In North America, 18,469 total, 28,772. Ireland, cavalry, 2,626; foot guards, 745; infantry of the line, 19,428 total, 22,799.—Grand total, 100,790 men. + +A table showing the rate of pay per diem for various regiments of the British Army in 1831. + +| REGIMENTS | Rate of pay per diem | Pay in 1831 | Increase per diem | Increase per cent | +|---|---|---|---|---| +| Cavalry | L.d. | L.d. | L.d. | L.d. | +| Regular infantry (blue guards (blue)) | 19 | 21 | 21 | 51 | 25 | +| Life guards | 16 | 114 | 13 | 51 | 29 | +| Regular cavalry - INFANTRY | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 62 | +| Foot guards | 10 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 60 | +| Regiments of the line | 6 | 7 | 7 | 07 | 117 | + +which states the number of troops (officers and men) abroad to be as under: Cape of Good Hope, 1,725; Gibraltar, 2,875; Malta, 2,900; Jamaica, 1,350; St. Lucia, 400; St. Vincent, 400; Nova Scotia and the Bermudas, 3,222; Windward and Leeward Islands, 4,400; the Bahamas and Honduras, 3,152; Madagascar, 1,445; Ceylon, 3,965; India its dependencies: total: $30{,\!}85{,\!}5$. In the East Indies: $2{,\!}66{,\!}3$ cavalry and $15{,\!}70{,\!}1$ infantry: total: $18{,\!}36{,\!}4$. Great Britain: Ireland and Wales: $3{,\!}78{,\!}9{,\!}9$ total: $3{,\!}78{,\!}9{,\!}9$. In North America: $1{,\!}84{,\!}6{,\!}9$ total: $2{,\!}8{,\!}7{,\!}7{,\!}2$. Ireland: cavalry: $2{,\!}6{,\!}2{,\!}6$; foot guards: $7{,\!}4{,\!}5$; infantry of the line: $1{,\!}94{,\!}2{,\!}8$ total: $2{,\!}2{,\!}7{,\!}9{,\!}9$.—Grand total: $1{,\!}0{,\!}7{,\!}9{,\!}0$ men. + +FINANCIAL REFORM. +615 + +In 1792 a private soldier received an additional daily allowance called "necessary money," amounting to nearly one penny per diem for cavalry, and one halfpenny for infantry; also an addition of twopence per diem, called allowance for bread and necessary money. In 1795 these allowances were consolidated into one payment of 3d. per diem for cavalry, and 4d. for infantry, which the consolidated allowance was. In 1798, owing to the consequence of the rise in the price of provisions, an addition of 1d. per diem was made to both cavalry and infantry soldiers; and in 1797, a further addition was granted of 2d. per diem to privates in the regular army, and 3d. to officers in the infantry. Since which no alteration has been made in the rate of pay to private soldiers upon their enlistment; but by a subsequent alteration, the private soldier is entitled to an addition of 2d. per diem after seventeen years' service in the cavalry, and four-teen in the infantry. + +By this table it appears that, on the average, sixty-five per cent. increase of pay was granted between the years 1792 and 1797; out of which, from twopence halfpenny to threepence halfpenny were granted between the years 1793 and 1797, expressly in consideration of the rise in the price of provisions; but the increase in pay was authorised solely on account of the increase in the price of provisions, surely at the present time, when low prices have assumed the character of permanency, some reduction of pay ought to be effected. There is no military force in Europe who can pay rates maintaining so great a variety of the expenses of the British army. The pay of the French fantassin (foot soldier) is nine sous per diem--about fourpence farthing;* and of the cavalry soldier (regular cavalry), fourteen sous, or about sixpence three + +* Eight sous of this sum is retained for provisions : the actual money received by the foot soldier is only one sou per diem. + +616 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +farthings per diem. The Prussian soldier (exclu- +sive of the landguard and landwher) is paid on +nearly the same ratio, and the pay of the Austrian +soldier is somewhat less. The military system of +foreign governments yet offers no model for British +imitation, and none desire to see the baneful plan +of conscription adopted here. But compulsory +military service would strike at all the good principles of our national system, and, in a +financial view—however low the pay of the soldier +—cost the nation more than the expense of the +present mode. Reductions in the pay of soldiers +newly raised, and in the salaries of officers in the +army, been commenced—and as the economy +arising from the adopted plan will annually pro- +gress, we may fairly and moderately calculate the +entire economy in the effective expenditure of the +army, both by the reduction of the numerical force +and in the diminution of 350,000 pounds a annum. +But it is in the ineffective military expenditure that the more important and certain economy must arise. +The justice of the claim of those who have spent the best period of their lives in the service of the state, for an alimentary pension in their latter days,—the right of which is as sacred as of some other—is indisputable; and the obligation to the state of the decried, wounded, or worn-out soldier, is as sacred as any other pledge in which it could have engaged. The abuse of this obligation has, how- +ever, caused the ineffective military expenditure to augment beyond what it never could have fallen by the government or the people. In 1814, the num- +ber of Chelsea and Kilmainham pensioners (in and out door) was 31,000—in 1825, the number was 81,877 ; being an increase of 50,000 during eleven years of peace; and, allowing for casualties which took place during this period, it appears that +75,000 men had been placed on the pension list. +In 1828, the number was 85,000; and in 1831— + +FINANCIAL REFORM. 617 + +the maximum, 96,005, exclusive of 13,052 ord- +nance pensioners. Under the system pursued up to 1831, it was found extremely difficult to curtail the number of military pensioners; but the fact, that in 1832, the eighteenth year of peace, the military pension list includes 20,000 claimants, whose ages, when pensioned, did not, on the average, exceed thirty-one years--evidences a great abatement in the number of military pensioners. + +Several regulations have lately been adopted to check this large increase, among which the most important is the abolition of the right of registry--- +of the practice hitherto pursued of granting per- +manent pensions for temporary disabilities--and +the establishment of a fund for the maintenance of soldiers willing to emigrate. These measures have already effected some reduction of the number of pensions, and of the amount distributed. In 1832, the number diminished to 94,024, and in 1833 (year ending 5th of January) to 90,867. +The military expenditure in 1832 was £134,513. With +1832, it is £34,513. We confidently calculate that the reduction of the ineffective military expenditure will continue on this ratio for some forthcoming years. + +If a small portion of the pay of the soldier, say one halfpenny per diem, were applied to a super- +annuation fund, from which he would be entitled +to claim a pension after a certain term of service, +increasing with the prolongation of that term, +a very large prospective saving in the non-effective +military expenditure would result. Supposing the +minimum pension fixed at £5 for twenty years, +al- +lowing for casualties, the fund increasing at com- +* Speech of Sir Henry Hardinge, session 1832. +† This last plan exceeds by every means its management, is likely to lead to disastrous results, is strongly and justly objected to by several members of parliament possessing great practical information. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
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14 ships 130 guns.5 ships last rate, carrying5 ships last rate, carrying5 ships last rate, carrying5 ships last rate, carrying5 ships last rate, carrying5 ships last rate, carrying5 ships last rate, carrying
510844443 do.3 do.3 do.3 do.
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129432843 do.3 do.3 do.3 do.
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626227000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 +| 62 | +| --- | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | +| 62 | + +FINANCIAL REFORM. 619 + +spective reduction at a moiety of that estimate, or 3½ per cent.; which gives 56,000L. per annum. + +**Ordnance expenditure.—No branch of public expenditure shews so great an increase as the ordnance department. In 1792, the total charge was 424,000L.; in 1832 it was 1,455,000L., and deducting the non-effective part of the charge, the more comparison of these sums seems to warrant an opinion, that a reforming administration will be enabled to carry extensive economy into this department.** + +**Colonial expenditure.—Few branches of public expenditure have been more generally and justly complained of than that on account of the colonies. The expense of protecting the colonies is so interwoven with the other branches of military and naval discipline, that it makes it very difficult to state accurately the entire charge. It may be estimated, in round numbers, rather above 2,000,000L. per annum, exclusive of the proportion of the navy expenditure incurred on their account. This estimate does not include the interest of the immense debt contracted in their defence, the hundred millions added to the state obligations in the ineffectual endeavours to retain the allegiance of the American states, or the prospective charge of twenty millions as indemnity to the West India colonies.* If these sums were deducted from the charge, it would be very questionable whether the charge on account of the colonies is not equal to the commercial profit derived from their possession. If the valuation of the property invested in the West India islands, as estimated by the Select Committee of the House of Lords, be assumed as the profits derived from the colonies, as computed by the amount of imports + +*This estimate is founded on good authority.* + +620 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +over exports, is not above that which might be more readily obtained by trade nearer home.* + +There is something in the possession of colonies, which carries with it a sort of political grandeur, which feeds the appetite for empire, without con- +ferring any solid advantages. Colonies may be fairly assimilated to children, who cause their parents much anxiety, trouble and expense, for which the only recompense is obedience. When grown out of infancy, and merging, as it were, into maturity, colonies seem to feel all that desire for independence, which so generally characterises youth. A mother country is generally less skil- +ful in her management of her own than of her political +offspring, than a parent towards a family. Dur- +ing the period of transition from infancy to youth, +and from youth to manhood, instead of relaxing +the system of management adopted during the +infancy of the colonies ; the former enforces her +rights upon them, and thus tends to retard the +growth of the spirit of independence ; hence +arises a contest, which seldom terminates other- +wise than in a complete separation of the political +ties which connected the parent state with the colony ; +yet the relationship which, de facto, +exists between them, and which is acknowledged, +tends to identify the interests of the colony with those +of the parent state. The similarity of language, +ideas, habits, customs, commercial and political +plans, being all brought from the parent state, will always attach them to the mother country, and, +as it is natural for every one to have a strong feeling of respect which the members of a family bear towards their paternal head. + +* In computing the value of colonial trade, the amount of im- +ports over exports must be taken ; every shilling of the value of +the imports exceeding that of the exports being considered as neces- +sary for the cultivation of the estates and the maintenance +of those on them, are made : the surplus or balance remains in +England. (This is intended to apply to the West Indies). + +FINANCIAL REFORM. +621 + +The American states were, for a series of years previous to the consummation of their independ- +ence, a heavy burden on the British resources; yet +their loss was regarded by the politicians of the +day, as a vital wound to British commerce. It was +supposed that France, from the assistance she had +afforded them in the contest, would acquire that +kind of ascendancy in America, which would en- +able her to control the British trade with it; but +never were political prophecies more at variance +with results. “‘The very men’ (says Prince Talley- +rand,) ‘who were the movers of the American re- +volution, and who were active in instilling into the +minds of the Americans the idea of returning in- +sensibly drawn back towards England by different +motives. Many of them were educated in Europe, +and at that period England alone was the Europe +of the Americans.’ The identity of language +places the English and Americans on a level of +character—that have a reciprocal pleasure in the +interchange of ideas—so that they are not re- +latively foreigners; not so between the French and +Americans—they cannot utter a word in conver- +sation, without recollecting that they belong to +different nations—every transmission of thought +is an irksome labour, and the result of conver- +sation, as I have frequently observed, is apt to +find themselves mutually ridiculous.” In every part +of America through which I have travelled,” (says +Prince Talleyrand,) “I have not found a single En- +glishman who did not feel himself to be an Ameri- +can—not a single Frenchman who did not find himself to be an American—because he felt that the +American independence having diminished our +resources, no political event has been more bene- +ficial; for while it has relieved the nation from +a heavy burden, it has caused the commercial in- +tercourse between the two countries to augment in + +* Mémoire des relations commerciales des états unies avec la Grande Bretagne. + +A page from a book with text about financial reform and historical events. + +622 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +a degree it could never have attained, had it con- +tinued shackled with those restrictions to free +trade which have so long characterised our colo- +nial policy. + +Our object in the foregoing remarks, is merely +to illustrate that a greater liberty of commerce and +government might be beneficially extended to the +colonies. If Great Britain possessed in staple manufac- +tures, she has nothing to fear from the competition of other states; and if +the colonists were permitted to trade with those +nations which best suited their interests, their resources would sufficiently expand to enable them +to provide for themselves, without recourse to +government, or to remunerate the mother country +for the protection they require. It is not at all +improbable that a reforming parliament will oblige +ministers to effect a large diminution of the +2,000,000l. per annum now expended on account of the colonies. + +Expenditure on account of the civil government.— + +The expenditure on account of the civil government is susceptible of a far greater proportional reduc- +tion than any preceding head of public disburse- +ment ; and it is probable that by a series of measures +to abolish, progressively, every useless office and +unmerited pension, promises that great economy +will be introduced into the civil departments. We +have before us a mass of official documents and +memorandums; many of the latter collected from +private sources, and containing much information re- +garding government expenditure, consequent on +grants made during times of deficient investigation +and discrimination. We shall, however, with the +exception of the subjoined note, forbear to com- +ment on any of these items; and in estimating the +probable annual saving under this head, confine it +to the amount of the economy actually effected in +the year ending January, 1833, in comparison + +14 + +FINANCIAL REFORM. 623 + +with the former year, which in round numbers is 100,000l.* + +**Items of saving collated.**—It remains that we col- +late the various items of prospective retrenchment +noted in the preceding pages, and in the collection +and management of the revenue. + +By the total abolition of bounties . . . . £200,000 +By a reduction in the expense of the +preventive service . . . . . . £240,000 +By a diminution of the sum to be collected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580,000 +Other items of saving, consequent on the +simplification of the system of taxation, the reor- +ganisation of the revenue boards, and the +curtailment of the plan of survey •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 100,060 + +Reduction of charge on the national debt 720,000 +Reduction of expenditure in the effective +and incidental services of the army, navy, +navy, ordinance, and colonial departments 289,000 +Ditto in the civil administration and the +creation of pensions 640,000 +100,060 + +Total prospective annual saving •••••• 2,194,060 + +This amount may appear large to some of our +readers, who reflect that it amounts to about ten +per cent. on the disposable revenue; but as it is + +* In 1831, a return was made to parliament showing the number of persons employed at salaries exceeding 50l. and upwards, and the total sum thus distributed ; from which it appears that the total sum paid in salaries of 100l. per annum and upwards was £1,385,536. +Civil and diplomatic departments ••• 1,193,536 +To military and naval officers ••• 334,327 +To colonial ditto ••• 338,711 + +This sum is enjoyed by 993 persons, dividing an average, +208l. each. Of these there are 161 with salaries from 250l. +to 500l. per annum; 44 with 500l. and under 10,000l.; and +clerks whose salaries exceed 15,000l., viz. 216. The total +amount paid in salaries surpassed 250l. per annum is 962,064l., +divided among 216 functionaries. These salaries are now in +course of reduction. + +A table summarizing potential savings from various reforms. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
By the total abolition of bounties£200,000
By a reduction in the expense of the preventive service£240,000
By a diminution of the sum to be collected580,000
Other items of saving, consequent on the simplification of the system of taxation,
the reorganisation of the revenue boards,
and the curtailment of the plan of survey100,660
Reduction of charge on the national debt720,000
Reduction of expenditure in the effective and incidental services of the army,
navy, navy ordinance, and colonial departments289,000
Ditto in the civil administration and the creation of pensions640,061
Total prospective annual saving2,194,661
This amount may appear large to some of our readers,
who reflect that it amounts to about ten per cent. on the disposable revenue;
but as it is
* In 1831, a return was made to parliament showing the number of persons employed at salaries exceeding 50l. and upwards,
and the total sum thus distributed; from which it appears that the total sum paid in salaries of 100l. per annum and upwards was £1,385,536.
Civil and diplomatic departments •••1,193,536
To military and naval officers •••334,327
To colonial ditto •••338,711
This sum is enjoyed by 993 persons,
dividing an average,
208l. each.
Of these there are 161 with salaries from 250l.
to 500l. per annum; 44 with 500l. and under 10,00l.; and clerks whose salaries exceed 15,00l., viz. 216.
The total amount paid in salaries surpassed 25oI. per annum is 962,ol., divided among 216 functionaries.
These salaries are now in course of reduction.
+ +624 PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +chiefly consequent on the adoption of a reformed plan of taxation, we are convinced that it is much within the limit of the economy which would, in that case, be found practicable. It must likewise be remembered, that this is not merely a reduction of expenditure to a permanent minimum, but that a large portion of it—such as the non-effective ex-penditure in the army, navy, and civil departments—is progressive, and as such will become annually more important. + +**Proposed new tax.**—This estimated amount of economy is yet very inadequate to enable the government to procure £500,000l. of annual revenue, and the difference (about 3,000,000l.) must be sought in the levy of a new tax, and the expansion of national resources. The principle of this tax we shall here endeavour to develop. All taxes cause, in their abstract character, an abridgment of property; and they are productive against lawless depredations; they imply repay the sacrifice, and hence may be said to be reproductive. The value of protection to property is in proportion to the amount possessed; hence the tax on individual members of society should bear in proportion to individual possessions. This is the principle of applying this theory, and of exactly taxing each member of the community in the pro rata of his means of contribution, is, in the ordinary sense of the word, **impossible.** Perhaps the nearest assimilation is to levy a tax on the income of each individual; but this would be unjustly objectionable to the levy of such a tax in Great Britain, and decidedly for-bid it. Looking to the numerous inducements which present themselves for the emigration of British capital, a general tax on income would unquestionably be impolitic; for capital being a prime agent in production, it would counteract the re-production of property, impair the sources of + +A page from a book with text discussing taxation and economic reform. + +FINANCIAL REFORM. 625 + +revenue, and diminish the amount of general imposts in a greater degree than the sum raised by the individual tax. + +The sale of those is a duty on the succession to bequeathed or entailed property in immovables—lands and buildings; or an extension of the tax levied on personal property passing under probate and administration, to real property, calculated according to the value of the estate and degrees of consanguinity. This has been found so beneficial during many years it has constituted an important branch of revenue in neighbouring countries—France, Holland, Belgium, and elsewhere; and there seems no sufficient reason why property invested in lands and buildings should escape taxation, while persons who have no such property are liable to it. There is no valid reason why the rich heir who inherits 20,000l. per annum in landed property should escape taxation, while the poor man who enjoys a bequest of 20l. is subject to it.* It is unworthy of those who impose the tax, specially to exempt themself from its base, merely because they enjoy the power of it. Such objections may, however, as in every other case of taxation, be urged against the levy of such an impost. It may be said that the tax would have a tendency to discourage the improvement of lands and the erection of buildings; such an objection has unanswerable weight; but as regards its effect upon the practical operation of the tax on the opposite shores, we can discover no proofs of such a result, nor do we think such an effect would be produced in England; but in order to meet this objection, it might be provided that all lands brought into cultivation on either shore should be exempt from the imposition of the tax, should not be liable to charge + +* The probate of will and legacy duty is payable on bequests charged on the land, as on the value of the residue of leases; but freehold and copyhold property is entirely exempt from duty. + +2 s + +626 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +until the termination of the second life. Thus the present family of testators would experience no diminution in newly-invested property, nor would the impost impede in any degree prospective improvements; since, on the ordinary calculation of the life lease, a sufficiency of time would elapse to reap a large share of the profit on vested capital ere it was due to be chargeable. + +The objections commonly urged against a general tax on property, that it would encourage the emigration of capital, cannot bear in this case; for depreciated as may be the profit on capital invested in lands in this country, yet in no neighbouring state is depreciation so great as in France and the Germanic states, where confidence in the government securities is far from being firmly established, moneyed men prefer landed property, which pays three or three and a half per cent., to government stock, though the annuity may be five or six per cent.; besides, whether could British capital be induced to emigrate when the duties de succession are in every neighbouring state enforced; and in the Netherlands, previous to the late revolution, twenty-five per cent. of the value of bequeathed property was, in some cases, claimed by the government. It has never been said that the probable consequence of a general tax on property, tend to drive capital from the country; no such effect, therefore, could be reasonably anticipated from the extension of these taxes to landed property. + +What would such a tax produce to the national exchequer? We have recourse to an estimate of the value of landed property in Great Britain. On this subject, the guesses of Mr. Colquhoun so generally referred to will afford but little information, much less the various estimates since founded on that gentleman's calculations. We shall, therefore, attempt an approximate estimate, founded on the property tax returns of 1814. + +FINANCIAL REFORM. +627 + +The rent of land was returned, in 1814, at £43,000,000L., and probably amounted, after allowing for all deductions, omissions, and evasions in the returns, to £48,000,000. +Add for the land cultivated since the peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,000,000 +Since which the reduction of rent has probably been thirty per cent. . +Landed rental of Great Britain in 1833 +Add for rental of houses +Total rental of Great Britain, exclusive of crown lands, and public buildings, &c. . +£51,000,000 +£15,000,000 +£36,000,000 +£19,000,000 +£54,000,000 + +From the above approximate estimate there remains, in estimating the sum which would come under charge, to be deducted, the rental of lands bequeathed for the endowment of charitable or other institutions of public utility, such as free schools and hospitals; lands devoted to the diffusion of the arts and sciences, church lands, or property bequeathed for the provision of ministers attached to public worship--allowing 4,000,000L. for these deductions ; in the proportion of three in lands to one in buildings; a clear rental of 52,000,000L. being subject to deduction. Land is at present worth little less than thirty-one or thirty-two years' purchase, and the value of buildings is on the average about twenty-two years' purchase; but, as we are disposed to be moderate in such an estimate, we shall call the value of the first twenty-five years, and the second twenty years' purchase. + +Present rental of land, after allowing 5,000,000L. for exemptions of super. £32,500,000L. at twenty-five years' purchase. +Rental of buildings (allowing 175,000L. for exemptions) 172,500L., at twenty years' purchase. +Total value of property subject to the proposed tax £1165,525L. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
The rent of land was returned,at £43,000,00L.
and probably amounted,after allowing for all deductions,
omissions,and evasions in the returns,
Add for land cultivatedsince the peace
Since which the reductionof rent has probably been
thirty per cent.thirty per cent.
Landed rental of Great Britain in 1833
Add for rental of houses
Total rental of Great Britain,exclusive of crown lands,
and public buildings,&c.
£51,000,00L.
£15,00L.
£36,525L.
£19,525L.
£54,525L.
Present rental of land,after allowing 5,525L.
for exemptions of super.$325L.at twenty-five years'purchase.$825L.at twenty-five years'purchase.$825L.at twenty-five years'purchase.$825L.at twenty-five years'purchase.$825L.at twenty-five years'purchase.$825L.at twenty-five years'purchase.$825L.at twenty-five years'purchase.$825L.at twenty-five years'purchase.$825L.at twenty-five years'purchase.
Rental of buildings (allowing 175L. for exemptions)$172.5L.at twenty years'purchase.$172.5L.at twenty years'purchase.$172.5L.at twenty years'purchase.$172.5L.at twenty years'purchase.$172.5L.at twenty years'purchase.$172.5L.at twenty years'purchase.$172.5L.at twenty years'purchase.$172.5L.at twenty years'purchase.
+ + + + + + + + + + +
FINANCIAL REFORM.
627
The rent of land was returned in 1814 at £43, 999 L., and probably amounted after allowing for all deductions omissions and evasions in the returns to £48 ,999 L. +Add for land cultivated since the peace . +Since which the reduction of rent has probably been thirty per cent. +Landed rental of Great Britain in 1833 +Add for rental of houses +Total rental of Great Britain exclusive of crown lands and public buildings &c. +£51 ,999 L. +£15 ,999 L. +£36 ,999 L. +£19 ,999 L. +£54 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,999 L. +£48 ,666 L. +£165 ,666 L. + + + + + + + + + + +
FINANCIAL REFORM.
627
The rent of land was returned in 1814 at £43 , 666 L., and probably amounted after allowing for all deductions omissions and evasions in the returns to £48 ,666 L. +Add for land cultivated since the peace . +Since which the reduction of rent has probably been thirty per cent. +Landed rental of Great Britain in 1833 +Add for rental of houses +Total rental of Great Britain exclusive of crown lands and public buildings &c. +£51 ,666 L. +£15 ,666 L. +£36 ,666 L. +£17 ,666 L. +£48 ,666 L. + + + + + + + + + + +
FINANCIAL REFORM.
627
The rent of land was returned in 1814 at £43 , 666 L., and probably amounted after allowing for all deductions omissions and evasions in the returns to £48 ,666 L. +Add for land cultivated since the peace . +Since which the reduction of rent has probably been thirty per cent. +Landed rental of Great Britain in 1833 +Add for rental of houses +Total rental of Great Britain exclusive of crown lands and public buildings &c. +£51 ,666 L. +£15 ,666 L. +£36 ,666 L. +£17 ,666 L. +£48 ,666 L. + + + + + + + + + + +
FINANCIAL REFORM.
627
The rent of land was returned in 1814 at £43 , 666 L., and probably amounted after allowing for all deductions omissions and evasions in the returns to £48 ,666 L. +Add for land cultivated since the peace . +Since which the reduction of rent has probably been thirty per cent. +Landed rental of Great Britain in 1833 +Add for rental of houses +Total rental of Great Britain exclusive of crown lands and public buildings &c. +£51 ,666 L. +£15 ,666 L. +£36 ,666 L. +£17 ,666 L. +£48 ,666 L. + + + + + + + + + + +
FINANCIAL REFORM.
627
The rent of land was returned in 1814 at £43 , 666 L., and probably amounted after allowing for all deductions omissions and evasions in the returns to £48 ,666 L. +Add for land cultivated since the peace . +Since which the reduction of rent has probably been thirty per cent. +Landed rental of Great Britain in 1833 +Add for rental of houses +Total rental of Great Britain exclusive of crown lands and public buildings &c. +£51 ,666 L. +£15 ,666 L. +£36 ,666 L. +£17 ,666 L. +£48 , + +628 +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +What proportion of this sum would annually come under charge?—A reference to the terms of the inheritance of the last seven deceased premier dukes, marquesses, and earls in the English peerage, gives an average of about twenty-eight years; hence, the annual amount of property subject to remittance would stand thus:— + +1,163,000L. = 1,664,000L. + +The ratio of duty is the next question to be considered; this, of course, would vary with the degree of consanguinity, and the value of the bequeathed or entailed property. The ratio of the French droits de succession varies from 22 sous to 9fr per cent., but the French public exchequer probate and legacy duties vary from one to ten per cent. The average ratio of tax levied in 1825, on 46,435,066L. charged with probate duty, and 35,806,480L. charged with legacy duty, gave an average tax of 4fr. ls. 8d. per cent.; supposing the new tax varied from two to seven per cent., and the average tax charged was four per cent., the annual amount paid into the public exchequer would stand thus— + +$$\frac{41,600,000L}{25} = 1,664,000L.$$ This, it will be recollected, is exclusive of Irish property, for which, if we add twenty per cent., the tax, supposing it to be extended to Ireland, would annually cost 1,163,000L. to the public exchequer. It is a paltry tax—it attaches to those who acquire large property without the pain of earning it by labour; those who derive important advantages from a firm government, which insures them the protection of their property. + +The 2,000,000L. which it would yield added to the 2,000,000L. saved by the diminution of expenditure, would do much to enable the government to reform the present incongruous plan of taxation. + +It is very evident from the present tone of public opinion, that there must ere long be a commutation of various taxes for a tax on property; the question + +FINANCIAL REFORM. 629 + +is no longer whether a property tax is to be im- +posed, but in what manner it can be levied with +the least injury to the interests of individuals, and +with the greatest advantage to the nation. In the +present system of taxation there is neither justice +nor policy. It is an irrational, confused plan, +retaining many features of the fiscal system fol- +lowed by the ancients, and adding to that plan +which cripples industry, limits international com- +merce, impoverishes the working classes, and +largely contributes to the sum of human misery. +The only means of conciliating the wants of go- +vernment with those of the nation, is by taxing +the surplus produce of land, or the materials of +industry or their means of support; for it is better to let the government perusal, than the +people for whom it is instituted. + +The tax which we have proposed would deduct +nothing from present incomes, while the benefit it +would enable ministers to confer in removing im- +pediments to agriculture, and in its reaction on +agriculture, tend materially to maintain the pre- +sent value of landed property. + +But even with the aid afforded by this tax, +ministers would be unable to carry financial re- +form to the extent recommended ; an annual defi- +ciency of three millions, 1,000,000 pounds still +present itself, which, in a season of peace, could not be sanctioned. There is, however, a cheering +prospect of the progressive expansion of the na- +tional resources. + +Expansion of national resources.—In estimating +the extent of the annual increase of the state re- +sources, we refer to the increase of population as +the basis of national prosperity. A nation equit- +ably governed, increases her wealth with her popu- +lation. The production of men, is in fact the +production of national riches. The increased +productiveness of taxes has, during the seventeen + +A page from a book discussing financial reform. + +630 + +PROSPECTIVE MEANS OF + +years ending 1832, been 43 per cent., or about 24 +per cent. per annum. The taxes remitted from +1817 to 1832, amount to 34,137,000L.; while the +loss to the revenue has been only 18,717,000L.; +shewing an increase in the productiveness of taxes +during this period, amounting to 15,420,000L., or +an annual average of 967,000L. It will appear that +the progress is in regular and rapid ratio, and the +buoyancy of the national resources is a natural +consequence. So powerful is this buoyancy, that +the chancellor of the exchequer seemed, on a late +occasion, to feel surprise when he triumphantly +announced to parliament that the surplus revenue +for the year 1832 would be nearly 2,000,000L., in +1832 by nearly 1,900,000L. It would be too san- +guine to anticipate such an increase in future years. +In 1833 we are blessed with abundance, +and a ministry that enjoys a large share of public +confidence; half the sum will be sufficient to +counteract the effects of any new tax proposed. +Thus, after a short interval, when the new tax +may be expected to operate, the government would +find itself in a condition to relinquish a large +amount of taxes, and the return to a better system +would be protracted no longer than would be +necessary for the government to find its interest +to give a different direction to their capital. The +total remission of various taxes, such as those on +Baltic timber, could not prudently be immediate ; +the Canadian merchants would justly demand that +the extinction of their monopoly should be gra- +dual,—similar arrangements would be necessary +to diminish the extension of duties on several other commodities, and thus the means would progressively become commensurate with the desired object. + +**Probability of continued peace.—The determination of the government to preserve peace, so emphatically proclaimed by the head of the ad- + +FINANCIAL REFORM. 631 + +ministration, is no new political resolve. The extent of the injury inflicted by late wars, has been frankly acknowledged and duly appreciated by every ministry that has held the reins of government since the Revolution of 1789 ; indeed, a pacific course, as the only effectual remedy of wounds of state yet unhealed, has become a fundamental principle of British legislation. The aspect of Europe is not such as to portend the probability of the British nation being speedily called on to figure in a continental war. France, with her present power and influence towards Great Britain; her political condition, and her military power are widely different from what they were in the days of Louis XIV. or Buona-partie; and her free institutions are secure checks against wars proceeding from the ambition of ruling princes, or from temporary ignorance or despotism. No such circumstances as those which gave rise to the wars of 1702, 1739-41, and 1756, would at this day prompt ministers to enter into a continenental coalition, much less would they attempt by hostilities to regulate the governments of foreign states. This does not mean that the British people are exclusively limited to men in office ; the antipathy which so long existed between the British people and their Gallic neighbours, is rapidly declining, and the solid interest of peace are fully appreciated by the intelligent portion of both nations. Each would defend, and defend vigorously any attack by foreign powers upon its own rights and interests; but would not support their respective governments in any measures tending to interference in the internal affairs of other countries. + +The probability that the peace of Europe will not be disturbed, unfounds something cheering in the prospect, and affords us the full opportunity to progress on that course of improvement which so happily distinguishes the present age. + +[API_EMPTY_RESPONSE] + +A marbled pattern with shades of red, pink, and green. The pattern consists of irregularly shaped, circular and oval shapes that appear to be floating on a dark background. \ No newline at end of file