Imagens da página
PDF
ePub
[ocr errors]

་་

SIR, we ought to look back to what former Princes and Parliaments have done. I will take the confideration only from the glorious æra of the Revolution, and I will ftate it fairly and fully. The Civil Lift was not granted to King William for life till the year 1698, when 700,000l. a year was fettled on him. The distractions of his Government, and of all Europe at that period, are well known. His moft generous views for the public were thwarted at home, during the greater part of his Reign, by the Tories. Queen Anne had the fame annuity settled on her. She gave yearly 100,000l. for carrying on the war, a war against France, besides 200,000l. at least towards the building of Blenheim-House, and above 100,000l. for the support of the poor Palatines. It is on the Journals of May 13, 1715, and in the following. "Resolved, "That the fum of 700,000l. per annum was fettled upon his « late Majesty King William during life, for the support of his Majesty's houfhold, and other his neceffary occafions; and, "at the time of his Majefty's demife, after the deduction of 3700l. a week, that was applied to the public uses, was the "produce of the Civil Lift Revenues, that were continued "and fettled upon her late Majesty Queen Anne during her "life." The deduction for public services at 3700l. a week, or 192,400l. a year, from that part of the Civil Lift Revenue called the hereditary and temporary Excife, was first made in the last year of King William. Notwithstanding this deduction, the Civil Lift Funds produced in that very year 709,4201. In the first of Queen Anne, the fame funds with the fame deductions were fettled on her for life, and declared to be for raifing 700,000l. a year for the fupport of her houfhold, and the dignity of her Government. In the ninth of her Reign the old Poft-Office Act was repealed, and a new General PoftOffice with higher rates were established; in confideration of which, another deduction was made from the Civil Lift Revenue of 700l. a week, or 36,400l. a year, and both these deductions have ever fince been continued,

[ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

George the Ift had the fame Revenue fettled upon him as Queen Anne; but if 300,000l. paid him by the Royal Exchange and London Affurance Companies, and a million granted in 1726 towards paying his debts, are included, his income will appear to have been nearly 800,000l. per annum. In the firft fpeech to his Parliament he took notice, "That "it was his happiness to fee a Prince of Wales, who may, in "due time, fucceed to the Throne, and to fee him bleffed "with many children." Yet the establishment of the Civil Lift, at the beginning of that Reign, was only fettled at 700,000l. a year. It was not till after the great expences confequent on the rebellion of the Earl of Mar, and the other perjured Scots, who, although they had taken the oaths of allegiance to his Government, traitorously waged open and impious war against a mild and juft Sovereign, that the Parliament paid the King's debts. In the Reign of George the Ift, the Prince of Wales had an Eftablishment of 100,000l. per

annum.

George the IId had a very numerous family, and 800,000l. was at firft fettled upon him, with whatever furplus might arife from the duties and allowances compofing the Civil Lift Revenue. In 1726, that part of the hereditary and temporary Excife, which confifted of Duties on Spirituous Liquors, was taken from the Civil List, in confideration of which 70,000l. was transferred to it from the Aggregate Fund. The income of George the Ild, including 115,000l. granted in 1729, and 456,7331. in 1747, towards making good the deficiencies which had arifen in the Civil Lift Duties, was 810,7491. per annum for thirty-three years. His late Majefty likewife had in his reign a Scottish Rebellion, carried on by many of the fame traitors who had been pardoned by his father. The expence of that Rebellion to the King and Kingdom was enormous; for it was not confined to the extremities of the Ifland, but raged in the heart of the Kingdom, and the rebels advanced to within a hundred miles of the capital. Such an event, Sir,

not

not unforeseen, because foretold, was a juft ground for the Parliament's discharging a debt, contracted by fecuring to us every thing dear to men and Englishmen.

The establishment of the prefent King, at the yearly rentcharge to the nation of 800,000l. was a measure, at the time, equally pleasing both to the Prince and People. The Minister boafted, that there was not a poffibility of any future difpute about the hereditary Revenues, or concerning accounts fufpected to be falfe, wilfully erroneous, or deceitful, kept back or anticipated, to serve a particular purpose. I am aware, Sir, that the Civil Lift Revenues have been increafing for many years. The mean annual produce for the five laft years of George the IId was 829,150l. and for the first fix years of his prefent Majefty it would have been, had the establishment in the late reign continued 894,000l. In 1775 it would have been 1,019,4501. Near 90,000l. per annum of this great increase has been produced by an increase in the Post-Office revenue, occafioned chiefly by the late alteration in the manner of franking, and by the falling of the cross pofts to the public by the death of Mr. Allen: but these profits would probably, at least certainly ought to have been referved to the public, had the establishment in the late reign been continued. At the foot of one of the accounts on our table, it is ftated, “The amount of 800,000l. granted to his Majesty, from "Oct. 25, 1760, to Jan. 5, 1777, is 12,965,5171. 4 s. 9 d. "The produce as above exceeds the annuity by 2,381,241 l. 9s. 1d. But Parliament granted to pay off the Civil Lift “debt on Jan. 5, 1769, out of the supplies for the year 1769, "513,5111. which being deducted, fhews the gain to the pub"lic to be 1,867,7301. 9s. 1d." The bargain concluded for the public, was of an annuity to the King of a clear 800,000l. fubject to no deductions or contingencies for his life, on a folemn promife of that being made to bear all the expences of the Civil Lift and the Royal Houfhold. It was a fair compact of finance between the King and the fubjet, ratiM 3

[ocr errors]

ficd

fied by both parties. The most explicit afsurances were given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the King's name, that no more fhould be asked; and that now his Majefty could never be under the difagreeable neceffity of importuning this House with meffages of perfonal concern. I have, Sir, carefully examined the accounts laid before the House by his Majefty's command, the eight folio books, and the other papers; and I will venture to fay, they are as loose, unfatisfactory, perplexed, and unintelligible, as thofe delivered in by the Noble Lord with the blue ribbon in 1770, a year after the former demand to pay the debts on the Civil Lift; and more loose, unfatisfactory, perplexed, and unintelligible, no accounts can be. Mr. Wilkes, April 16, 1777.

OUR funded debt is two hundred and thirty millions, and our unfunded debt will amount to thirty-eight millions, without the bottom of the war expences being wound up, befidės nine millions Navy Bills, and other debts, that will make the whole amount to the enormous fum of two hundred and ninety millions; the yearly intereft of which would take fourteen millions to discharge: now our national eftate, including Malt and Land Tax, and the whole of the Sinking Fund, amounts only to thirteen millions two hundred thousand pounds; fo that there will remain eight hundred thousand pounds to be provided annually to make good the interest. This is a very serious fituation, and such as must give every friend to his country great pain to obferve; but at the fame time it is highly neceffary, that fome means or other should be fuggested and taken, in order to extricate us from the difficulties in which our prefent circumstances involve us. One way of lightening our burthens certainly is, by reducing our Peace Establishments even lower than they ftood at the beginning of the war. To fuch a propofition I have not the fmalleft objection; but still fomething more must be done to give the country effectual relief, which can only arife from paying off a part of the na

[ocr errors]

1

tional debt. I wish, therefore, to call the attention of the House to this point, and to fhew them how much might be done by the application of a fingle million yearly. According to a calculation made by that accurate calculator Dr. Price, it appears, that by the laying by of a million annually, and facredly and religiously applying it to pay off a part of the national debt, provided the three per cents. are changed to four per cents. (which are much more eafily paid off than the three per cents.) two hundred and fixty-feven millions might be paid off in fixty years; fo that his present Majefty (if his life should last to about the fame length that many of his ancestors had lived to) will in his life-time have the comfort of seeing his people relieved from all the burthens and expences brought upon them by the American war; and the Heir Apparent, whofe reign it is to be hoped will be a long one, will live to see the whole of the debt cleared. According to the calculations of Baron Mazeres, it appears, that if the plan of laying by a million a year was adopted and pursued for twenty years, and the country then under the neceffity of defifting from it, that those twenty millions, with the money provided to pay the intereft of that part of the national debt, that should be paid off from time to time, appropriated to the fame purpose, would in fifty-feven years difcharge the greatest part of the debt. Mr. Sinclair has very fenfibly and clearly fhewn in his book what might be done, by putting in practice fuch a scheme as I have mentioned; and, in order to carry the plan into effect, Commiffioners ought to be specially appointed.

[blocks in formation]
« AnteriorContinuar »