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t or and prudence c r "'hl do, to guard against fill possible iutotc dnnsrer*. And. fi st “ e must look to the-greatest of Sill evils, the prott act on of that dreadful visit ation of war, which may’ he ex tended for a time tj’rnost inc.efi rite, level in such a cast, be trusted the country had *he means not only of maintaining as it had hern maintaim'd..bn , il possible with increased vigor. He should then proceed to take a general view ol the finan cial state of the country. He did not think that there would be any occasion for him to conceal unv part of his opinions on the sub ject of ‘he finances of the coun try, whether they were favoura ble or urfavourable. He should begin with a view that might ap pear in some degree unfavorable. Instead of stating that new taxe3 Could always be found to meet the exigencies o; the times, his surprise was-that the f.yvem of taxa'ion had been able to go so far as it had. In 1/81 the pet mfl uent taxes amounted to only Jen ■millions annually, and thin that great statesman (Mr. Pin) who was theft at the head of the Ad ministration found it very diffi cult t: find out newtaxts,and was obliged sotnetitr.es to abandon those tl at he had first chosen. Such howcvt i had been the grow ing pioaperitv ol the country, that the produce of the permanent taxes at the conclusion of the last war was 28 ini lions, and now a niounud to near 32 millions. It was impossible not to feel the most lively satisfaction at finding that the prosperity of the country in every respect had kept pace with the incteaseof its burdens. Although every Minister who held the si utuion lie had then the honor to fill, had uuilo.mly ex. pressed the ‘difficulties they fit m adding to the burthens of the countiy, yet he by no means meant to sav, that new taxes could not he found to meet the interest nut onlv of the Loan for next year, but for many years. ‘I in re was nothing in the present circumstances ot the country w iie.fi tendered it immediately* necessai* to abandon the old sy stem oi i “yjng i e.th taxes to cov et die ant.. team'-, although those luxes in,ist produce s>iiie harem hips and additional pleasure tO indi\. 1* ilials. In iook.ig tor ward to the fo rme pro jnc.s ot t'l9 c<Hiiv.rv there was no rational mm who could c. icula e ;i[ on the icuun oi peacr ; it all events, it would be nec.ss.irt to look to the possi bility ot a long protracted war. It w.i eheic ioie neces-aryto con* auUrvihn menus and resources v. e possess tot such a contest, lie conctiwd that U was an ob_ jeetoi the fust consequence to r -i eve the subjects ot this coun ts v’ Irom accumulating b mile ns ol lresh I’axes, and thrlclore he thought it was derivable that the pel influent 1 axes should not be inert used beyond what they were at present. It would be therelore extiemely desirable that the pub lic expenditure should Le. provid ed tor, without either anticipat ing the resources ot future years (a principle which appeared to him unjust) or without sacrific ing any ot those principles, which have been sanctioned by the o pinion of the nation, on which the public fault and the security of the public creditor depend. Much as he wished to relieve th public from fresh taxation, \ et he would not do t at the sacrifice of any principle of national faith, lihe resources of the country wcie sufficient to uphold its ho imi a. it had huherif beer.upheld. Its prospesity had increastu in .. most unexampled manner, and that prosperity had not been ow ing to foitune, or to any oi those casualties, which sometimes give u nation ud\ uuuige, buv a ua* itie regular and gt sound rtsuii oi toia sigi.i, ot couiage, aid o’ pru clt liCC* Ai. Wdi il Oi#l dll enu mere.is tug sprit of i.tai.->iry , and from the progress ol liberali ty . mi so rwlcuge. ine Vvr i axe* and the Sink. Jug Tirrd. were *he two bases up* on Which clone je meant to r‘t, ,t ~ p]-n that he should have jl-e honor of r nbrnlttirp to the Committee. It won id therefore he necessary for him to state the origin anil jo ogress ot which he considered to be th.e two gtat ard promment features of the political and financial Mut ation of the coutitrv. Ih e Smt.- ing Flint! was created by Mr. Pitt in the sear 1786, anti in mentioning the author of it, he felt peculiar satisfaction in ex pressing bis cntiie approbation of iliat measure ; and it gave him pleasure to acknowledge that this erasure of that great States man was one of the mo t valua ble and important which had ever been adopted in this country. It was a matter of pleasing recollec tion to him, that this was a mea sure fully approved of by a Right Hon. Friend, (Mr. l*ox) whose los9 they had more recently to regret. Those two great and dis tinguished Statesmen died with in ihe same \ ear ; and although their opinions on many subjects difl’eicd widely, and some would naturally prefer the one, & some tile other, yet now they weie dead, all would agree that the\ were truly great and eminent men, the ornaments of the ( ntm tr\, and o< the times in which they lived {haul and ies ol hear hem ! J) am ail pi ‘ls of the Louse.) Ihe origin ol the Sinking Fund was marked !>v the most perleot union of all parties in approbation ol Tie tneastire. It came recommended bv Mr. Pin, and supported by all the additional weight that the coil emreiice and authority of Mr. Fox could give. Ihe measure, introduced to Parliament uudei such auspices, has continued ever since to r: cetve the approbatmn of that House, and of the country. When tlie Sinking Fond was first adopted, thy national debt was 233,321,2181. The annual million witch was the first sinking fund, bore to the debt the proportion of 1 to 238. In the year 1792, an ad. and Mount saint ot 400, OCX)!, was ad ded to this loud from ‘he surplus of the prod ice ot certain 1 axes lit the t ear C 79 i, on the break ing out of the wu‘ with France, another sinking fund wasestablisb eil, to bn formed ol an addition of one per cent, to the interest of e v, rv loan : but Mr. Pitt toreseeing that the effects of such a sinking fund might be too rapid, propos ed tli t after it should have incteas vd to four millions a year annual ly, that the surplus should be at the disposal of Parliament. No al teration hud been made in this Rill until the close of the war, and thru anew arrangement took place, which promised to dis charge tiie debt in a shorter time, lu the year 1802, -Mr. Addington, who was then at the head ot the financial department, and of the Administration of the country, proposed that those two separate sinking funds should he eoosoli dated, and from that consolidation they would bv acting together, produce the desired effect in a shorter time. In the month of February, 1803, at the commencement of die present vvar, the amount of the public debt was 480,572, 4701. The finking fund lor he redufcfion of that debt was 6,31 i 6261 so that, in (lead of the proportion of 1 to 238, with which it began, it was then in the proportion of 1 to 77 ofthe debt that was to be .e* duced. l’he propottion ofthe Sinking Fund to tiie debt was, however, greater now than at any former period. The to tal amount ofthe funded debt -.t present w„s 530,351,689'. now unredeemed. The finking Fund, which was to be applied to the reduction of this debt, was now 8,331.709!. being in the proportion of 1 to 63 ; but if the debt was calculated, not a: its nominal value, but at the ieal money value, of about 601. for 3 per cent, then it would appear that the afloat proportion fLat tb.tr Sitnving Fond now bore ?(> the wbo,e debt was at t to 42. As it was on the new mode of application of the War Taxes and of the Sinking Fund that the plan which lie had now to propose would red, it would be necessary for him alio to (fate the origin and pro gress of the War I axes. It was in 1797 that the system firft began. The mode in j which it was firft attempted ap peared to him to he molt mr fair and unjust. Ihe princi ple of it was a very great irr creafeon the Aflefled I axes. This mode of taking the ex*- pences as the abiolute err terion of property, appeared to him to be extremely unfair; and although this increase on the AflcfUd Taxes was fir It proposed merely as a War Tax, yet, fhoitly after, a large portion of the interell of the Loan was charged upon those Aflefled Taxes, this debt was transferred over to the Income Fax, and by this means, the Income became pledged be yond the period of the war. This was certainly a facrifice ofthe principle upon which it was t ailed, which was, that it Ihould merely be a War Tax- In the year 1801 this tax was charged with no less a futn titan 56,000.000!. It was, there fore, to have lubfilled, riot only until it had redeem ed these fifty-fix millions, hut also until it had paid the annual inteit-ft of that him, a mounting to 1 700,000!. an’ nuaily. in the year iBo, however, there was no farther loan charged upon the In come Fax : and Mr. Adding ton, who was then Minister, looking wifely at the system, and conlidering in the firft place the relief of the country from the pre flu re of this tax, and, fecondlv, to free i:s re sources, so that it Ihould he better ab'e to support another comest, did molt wifely and providently relolve to take the bold measure of repealing the Income Fax, and of finding in one year new taxes fuffi ctent to pay the interell of all tiie lums for which it was pledged. This was effcQed in one year, and by one blow, and tiie country by that means gained additional relources to maintain the prtfent war. At the commencement ofthe pre kin war, iullead of an Income Fax, the lax upon property was resorted to, and flill con tumid. Me did not pretend to fay that .he Property Tax was perfectly cquai in its ope ration. 1 his was a thing not to be expected in any human inlLtution. It was morally imt.ofliblc. The fame thing would apply to law as to taxa tion. The wife ft laws that e* ver were framed could not be exafctly equal in their opera tion. If from the lentence of criminal law any corporal pu nifliment was ordeied to be in flicted, from the difference of conllitutions and tempera ments, the fame puniflirnent would not effect all persons equally. He therefore could not pretend to deny but that the Property ‘Fax, like every other general measure, mult, m foine particular cases, bear bard upon fome individuals. It was, however, as he con ceived, much better than the old Income Tax. It got rid ot many vexations, and uar ticniar'v’ the inc[i!r{;torial pow* erthat wa>’ lb much complain ed of. Ii was to ibis tax that the attention of the Houle was principally called in the lafl feflion. The expences of the country had increaled about seven r*>illions, while the levc tine had only increaled one million. It was therefore tie du • ty of government to propoie a considerable addition to the War taxes ; and in dtlcharge of that duty he had in (he lad feflion propoied that irscreafe. Although it was a confidera b’e increase to tfie burdens of the country, yet, as he felt it to he his duty, he did not shrink from it. I lie property Tax had coniiderably increased in its produce, rot so much from increased burdens, as from the removing those evasions which had formerly taken place. The great and permanent foun dations for providing for the increased expcnces,and again It the accumulation of debt, were firlt, the Sinking fund which now produced 8,300,000!. Sc the war ta>jes which amounted to 21,000,000!. It was there, fore a fubjefct of national exul tation and pride that we now poffefTed a clear income of near 30,000,000 k The great quellion (hen in finance was, how those means were to be made mod applicable lo the nectffary expendituie of the country. Although fome far ther increase in our expences might be made necessary ei ther by the increased price of naval dores, or by future sub fidies to foreign powers, yet with such a free income war might be carried on (if necessa ry) for an almod indefinite period without the neceifity of large loans. The expence of the coun try for the next year he had dated at 40,527,065 b The Ways and Means would ex ceed that sum by about 500* 0001. From the expence. however, of the present year, in calculating our annual ex pence, there fhouid be deduc ed one million and a half sub sidies, 358,000 k of payment on account of the Loyalty Loan, which was a circurn’ dance that would not again oc cur, and this would reduce it to 38,677,000!. The Loan, which he fhouid date for this year at 12,000, 0001. was to be charged on the interclt of the War Taxes; and ihe Loans which were to be raised in the succeeding pe riods of the war, would be also charged on different portions of the War Taxes. It was proposed for every Loan to take a proportion of the War Taxei, amounting to 10 per cent, on Loan, and that one half of this fhouid be applied as a Sinking Fund to the re duction of the debt so charged upon the War Taxer, and to let them free. Fourteen years would be fufficient to redeem any Loans to bemadein future. He thought it would be the best way to consider what would be the effect of this measure, as ap plied to the loan of the present year. The loan being 12,000, 0001. l.:>.00,000l. would be de. tached from the war taxes, in or der to meet it, and to form a Sinking Fund for its redemption- This Sinking Fund would, in the course of lourteen years, redeem the loan ot the present year, and m she same in&nner the loan of I every preceding year would also i>e redeemed iu the course ol the next fourteen years. If he were tc look to a pei iod of fourteen vears of war, d !r . . H | the la- 1 ten yea-s , increase from tiv,.],, millions; hat a. t !-„ fourteen years the 1 , K present year h , V H and as evetv would also rt-dei ;n 3 one year, it would IV!, even a war of such H would not. exhtur t uis r . r H r 's ‘ho country, h u t |,, H would he perpetually r en | and unimpaired. A1 loans should !> e char-- ci i H War 1 axes geneta’h ,v t : tc ® he easily arranged i n s qc ; 1: ’ ■ ner that the property tax | nut be fettered a mo mcil , ■ the peace. The taxouirh„B in variably applied accorii-M i>s original institution, ■ during war. For tin, carrying this system into tion, it would be n-reuvfl have a small Supplementary | every year equal to that p :l | the war taxes which shv,il detached to meet the iaurcfl the loan. | For the present year V;| plementary loan would L, | si .il, only 200,0001. | In the years 1807, 18ml 1309, annuities would fal| which would make it a ; )-(h| unnecessary to impose any | tax by way ofcoveringiiic il esto! those supplementary |,| In the year 1807 annuiti w | fail in to the amount of r;g| I' l the year 1803, of 85u;j| > n the year 1809. to the air.| of 173,8431. which math- a | in the three years of 2t9}| which would he more than ,| cientfor that purpose. Tiie| plus of this sum over the itv.cH of the supplementary loans d® next three years might besa| tributed among the next s® years, that even if me wars'll® last for ten vears, the new tal at the end of that period col only amount to 385,5151. tvl there were no surplus tonrr® that necessity. If, hmveva® the one side, it was sup® that the expences of future 1 ® would be greater than th® the present, on account oIH increased pric<* of naval stefl and other articles, i: must I same time be recoliccnd I the produce of the taxes w® be greater also. 9 It was a pleasing reSecti® think that the war might b; I lied on with eq ml, if not I greater vigor than it has kithl been conducted, without rqß ing anew tr,x for r.lie next uB years; and that if then weshoß not arrive at peace, hut thitl war was even to be proincß for seven years longer, the B taxes then would be merely lB ling, supposing die necessity I isted of laying on new taxes; B that there was every reasoß imagine, that even in case I vvar should he protracted t!iH ‘j would be no necessity for B j taxes. Supposing even thaß I the end oi ten years, the B should be protracted lor I years longer,even then, althoß the supplementary loans nmsß course increase, yet sti l at I end of that period the new tafl could not e.-iceed 3,459,00<8 this was taking almost as unlaß rable a view of the case as >B be had, when he supposed I vvar to last for 20 years. I Such would be the result! transferring the interest c I loan to the War taxes. I should now proceed to what■ had stated as the other basal the measures that he intended propose. When the ns "V 3 ! lrg Fund was established) - Pitt foresaw the inconvenient the mischief which might ar from ihe extinguishing at a very large portion ol onal Debt. If the two Funds had been allowed to cumulate to their full cX£etll ’, mischief would have lo > that at one and the saitw 11 immense capital would l‘ ait destroyed. In fact b_. all their capitals to the ■ of stock, capital cease to be of value, an *■ ••