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1799, and of income duties of
1799. A confiderable part of
thefe duties having not yet been
paid in, it was impoffible to judge
how much of them might be ul-
timately fatisfied; therefore, he
thought the best way would be to
compare the affeffment, deduct-
ing the charges of management,
with the fums which had been fa-
tisfied, and to provide for the de-
ficiency; and for this purpofe he
fhould propofe to vote a fum of
1,350,000l. The next deficiency
for which he had to provide, and
the most material one in point of
amount, was the deficiency in the
eftimate of the growing produce
of the confolidated fund, voted for
the fervice of last year. In ad-
dition to this, there were certain

fums included in the produce of the confolidated fund, which had not been realifed; fuch as the intereft due from Grenada, &c. He thought it would be the moft proper to adopt a line of conduct which was adopted upon former occafions, and to vote the whole of the deficiency, which, under these heads, would fall due on the 5th of April following. He fhould therefore propofe to make an effectual provifion for it, by voting the fum of 3,000.000l. for the payment of thefe exchequer bills. would alfo be neceflary to provide a fum of 460,000l. for the intereft of the exchequer bills.

It

He then flated the charges which belonged exclufively to England, that is,

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To make good the deficiency of the income tax 1,000,000

for the last year . .

Discount upon the loan and lottery
Deficiency of malt duties of 1799

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To pay off exchequer bills ilued on the credit
of the affefled taxes of 1798, the imports
and exports, and the income duties of
1799 .

Intereft of the exchequer bills

For the finking fund

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To pay off exchequer bills iffued on the con-
folidated fund

200,000

400,000

1,350,000

460,000

200,000

3,000,000

Making altogether the fum of £. 6,610,000

Great

ways and means.

The whole charge of the two next submit to the committee the countries for the fervice of the year, then would amount to 42,197,0001. which would be divided between the two countries thus : Britain for its fifteen-feventeenths of the joint expence, and thofe charges which belonged feparately to her, would have to defray in round numbers 37,870,000l.; and the charges falling upon Ireland would be 4,324,000l. Having ftated the fupplies of the year, he should

The first article he had to ftate was the fubftitute for the land-tax, or thofe on fugar, malt, and tobacco, which he should eftimate at the usual fum of 2,750,000l. The next was the lottery, which he estimated at 300,000l. The next was the duty upon income, which he had eftimated at 6,000,000l. From this, after deducting the amount of the intereft of loans charged thereon,

which

which amounted to the fum of 1,740,000, there would remain a fum of 4,260,000l. applicable to the service of the year. The next was the duties upon exports and imports, which were eftimated at 1,250,000l. The next was the produce of the confolidated fund from the 5th of April 1801 to the 5th of April 1802, which after deducting the charges of the civil lift, and fome other charges not relating to the public debt, would leave a fum applicable to the ways and means of 3,300,000. In order to explain to the committee how this fum arofe, he would fhortly state that the estimated income of the year ending the 5th of April 1802 was 22,044,500/., and that the permanent charge was 20,144,500l., confequently leaving a furplus of 1,900,000l. The taxes of the laft year, from the short time they had been in operation, could not be fuppofed to have reached their full amount. They were eflimated at 350,000l. for the three first quarters; they were likely to produce lefs than the estimated amount, but in point of fact, 280,100/. had been received, and he did not think he expected too much when he calculated the remaining fum to be received, at 100,000l. The committee would recollect, that, in confequence of a glut in the market of Weft-India commodities, there was a remiffion of duties granted for a time;

but as circumftances no longer required that remition to be continued, there would be duties coming to the public on Weft-India goods bonded, which duties would amount to 338,000l. The deficiency upon the article of beer had been above 400,000l.; but upon every inquiry he could make, he had no reason to think that the quantity confumed this year would be lefs than the average quantity of former years. Great facility had been given to the brewers by permitting them to ufe fugar, and therefore he thought the produce would be as much as in former years. On malt and fpirits the deficiency had been very great; he would only ftate their produce at 500,000l. These fums made together the fum of 3,238,000l. From this there was to be deducted 2,891,000l. for the grant remaining unfatisfied, as per estimate for one quarter to the 5th of April 1801, which would leave 347,000l., in round numbers 3,300,000l. To this was to be added 300,000l. applicable to the public fervice. The next article of the ways and means was, the money which was, granted last year for fubfidies, and which was not iffued. It amounted to 500,000l. The next article was, the furplus of grants for 1800, amounting to 60,000l. He should for the fake of clearness recapitu late the

WAYS AND MEANS.

Sugar, malt, and tobacco....
Lottery...

Income duty, deducting the intereft with which it

ftands charged...

Duty upon exports and imports...

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1,250,000

Surplus of the confolidated fund in round numbers.. 3,300,000

To be provided for by Ireland..

Sum not iffued for fubfidies..

Surplus of grants..

4,324,000

500,000

60,000

£. 16,744,000

C12

There

There would then remain a fum of 25,500,000l. to be raised by way of loan. There was actually a rivalfhip between two great parties, which should take the loan. Eftimating the ftocks above the market price, they had taken it without premium or bonus, except the discount upon prompt payment. The terms upon which the loan was made were, 125 confols for every 100l. and 50%. 15. reduced. The difcount to those who might be in a fituation to make prompt payment was 31. 12s.. therefore, upon the whole, they had taken it at a profit of not above two per cent. At a time like the prefent, when difficulties could not be disguised, and when refources ought not to be forgotten, he had a right to congratulate the committee and the country.

He next propofed to provide per manent taxes for the whole of the loan.

He hoped that the new taxes which he should lay upon the country would not be found likely to interfere with the public profperity, nor to bear hard upon the lower claffes of the community, whose interests were always guarded with a tender concern by the houfe, and never more than at the prefent period. The addition which he propofed to make to the articles coming under the Ercife, would, he thought amount to 586,000l. The firft article was that of tea. He fhould propose to lay the tax upon teas of a higher fort, which were really articles of luxury, and that the price of that kind of tea which was ufed by the lower orders of the community fhould not be increased. If the committee fhould agree with him, even after the impofition of this tax every cottager and perion of inferior order would have their tea cheaper than they had twenty years ago. After what he had

ftated, the committee would, he hoped, not think it improper to lay on an additional ten per cent. upon all teas which were above 2s. 6d. per lb.; and this additional duty would, he eftimated, produce 300,000l.

The next article he meant to propofe was to double the duty at prefent paid on all defcriptions of paper; except paper used for hangings, thofe ufed in the export trade, glazed paper, and the like. He meant to allow a difcount on the paper ufed in newspapers, which were become extremely interefting to gentlemen of all defcriptions. He eftimated this duty on paper at the fum of 132,000l. The next duty he meant to propofe was an addition of 2d. per yard on all printed cottons paying 3d. per yard at prefent, allowing drawbacks on whatever was exported to foreign ports: this tax he estimated at the fum of 154,000l. The next article came under the head of Customs.

To the article of fugar he propofed to add is. 10d. per cwt.; and alfo that the convoy duty should be made perpetual, and the temporary one ceafe: he estimated this to produce 166,000l.

To timber he proposed to add one-third of the prefent duty, which he thought would yield 95,000l. It would be an increase of about 4 per cent. upon the price of the article. The next article was pepper, the whole exportation of which was, in fact, in the hands of the country: he propofed that upon this article there fhould be impofed on the home confumption 3d. per Ib. and upon all exported 6d. ; which he expected would produce 104,000l. Befides this he meant to lay a moderate duty upon raifins, which would amount to 10,000l., and upon lead, which he cftimated at 12,000l.

He

He next propofed a tax upon pleasure horfes. Where only one was kept, there should be impofed a duty of 10s. which he expected would produce 63,000l. On all above one, 20s. which would produce 73,000l.

On each horfe kept for husbandry, he would propose the fum of 4s. which he thought would yield...

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Upon all notes and bills of exchange he meant to impofe an increase of half the exifting duty; the fame on policies of infurance; and on all deeds of conveyance, &c. 3d. per fkin,-amounting in all to The last tax was an additional poftage on all letters, and the doubling of the rate of the penny-poftamounting in all to

He would now recapitulate the new taxes.

Paper
Tea...

Printed cottons

Sugar

Pepper

Timber

Raifins.

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350,000

150,000

£. 132,000

300,000

154,000

166,000

119,000

95,000!

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10,000

12 000

306,000

350.000

150 000

Which would make a total of £. 1.794.000

And the fum to be raised as intereft of the loan was 1,785,000l. or thereabouts. He did hope, confidering how the country at large received the idea of the tax upon income, that it would have produced ten millions. But the committee mult confider that this was adopted as a war tax in the firft inftance, and one that was within a moderate time to repay the excels of debt which had been contracted, or debt that went beyond a given amount. For this reafon he would not prolong the period for which that tax was at prefent mortgaged. Let us fuppofe, for example, the

whole amount of the income tax.to be equal to his mott fanguine expectations, there was one cir ftance which rendered it unnecef fary to mortgage it to the extent of the original propofal, o proavce the reduction of the debt, which was then expected as the operition of this tax; that operation was, that the public debt frould never be more than it was at the period of 1798. Now, fir," continued Mr. Pitt, "fince that time there has been difcharged, of the capital of the debt, eighteen millions by the redemption of the landtax; and it does not appear to me

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to be neceffary for us to keep the debt the fame as it was in the year 1798, at all events and under all preffure, especially when we fider the operation of the finking fund; nor do I think it would be wife to mortgage the income tax beyond its original period,"

Mr. Pitt next adverted to the price of the loan. He had borrowed on cheaper terms than he could have obtained if he had proceeded on any other fyftem. The prefent condition of the debt he ftated to be as follows, viz. There would now remain an addition of twenty millions to its capital, beyond what it was in the year 1798; nine millions were paid off in the present year by the operation of the finking fund, old and new: from eighteen to twenty millions were reduced by the redemption of the land-tax; fo that there would remain of course about twenty millions on the prefent year, which, added to the fifty-fix millions for which the income tax was pledged, would amount to feventy-fix millions; which on the calculation of the last year, and allowing for the operation of the finking fund, would not require more than fix years for the application of the income tax, although it was calculated as mortgaged for feven years,

Mr. Pitt then ftated the amount of the permanent taxes, which exceeded, on the 5th of January lait, that of January 1800. He next alluded to the fyftem long fince adopted for the difcharge of that debt. According to the engagement entered into in the year 1786, we had paid off no lefs a fum than $2,000,000l. of the capital. The total amount of our finking fund was now 5,000,000. The exports of British manufactures had rifen to twenty-four millions, as taken from the customs, but amounted in

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He then moved his refolutions, which were carried in the affirmative.

Mr. Bragge on the 19th of February brought up the report of the committee of ways and means. The refolutions were read a firft time; and upon the question that they fhould be read a second time, Mr. M. A. Taylor faid, he withed to call the attention of the house for a few moments to the fubject under confideration.

He faw fome reafons why they should not quite agree with the honourable gentleman who last night opened the fubject, and who feemed to think the refources of the country fo abundant and profperous. He would recommend to gentlemen who reprefented large and populous diftricts, to advert to the fituation of thofe diftricts, and particularly to the state of the poor rates.

He was perfuaded that unless fome relief was given to the poorer and manufacturing claffes of fociety, and fome of the taxes that weighed them down taken off, they would be unable to discharge them. The confequence then would be, that the landed intereft would moft materially fuffer. That unless the country had peace, and the bleffings attendant upon it, they might go on voting fupplies, but would

not

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