N a v a l
Powsa.
Revenue.
The recent c®ndu£bqf maritime 'warjl-hagt-been- crowned - with
&W)|hediftitcefs 5 and whilft th e admirals mult be' a-U'k^fedfft>|ra»v^l/ a n y
n&yal hiftory,- ancient* or modern, ..the /fam eo f’ Spencer has
become .as. dear to ^ fe io tifm as to' literature,
’ “Before th e ’^ y otntion, tt$e1h%MEng o f plfen wasUeginj'eVerif for the
land fem li.? and in
»Juki, ‘i iP ^ k ^ e n ^ ^ p I f e iip f e)1 ecli ‘to? build' f d ^ ^ a ttf e ¥ ,: a r t f t i f w , t |p f
,0 ec1>rktibff,_ afl^'^Renifinging*bt>ys for th'e-dh^peL Amidft a^vrae klif-
foiSjhfof liberty, and that individual fecurit^- V^metris the"jnoft norne-
felt bleffing ^ ^ f^ e d 'h f titu tlo n , it'haMhSenTound ifh^dffible'-fc^i^andoh-
the impreffihg T h e armrhsft&raHy fpp’porjfe dtlel^for. war^
b y producing'a ftagnation of
but the:’'fdahi^h'hiuft be trii&ed'Wcl'-ihured to 'their n'cfcuK^'xUh^ff
and p r d f e f f io n a n d ! the -fervice being‘apfdiiSeely fodifp'ehfaeblef', ,Jirbfe-
comesJ^ smeafnr^<3p political toecefEty I f ‘i^ffid nefea voluntarily.
This unavoidable additional hardlhip i i f ‘df hden,:
fubfett ib many toils and deprivations, Jis! deeply to be i^ g r^ fte d ;
and every endeavour fliouki in juftice be exerted,- to rbnderndfeit litu i-
tid h as comfortable as poffible, and to impart to thehi ’a fhaare of th e
national opulehtje, whiph their vigour -fo zealoufly protfeftsv
J n ancient times, the royal revenue chiefly .atofe,- fo tn i ,thp doimjjnsi
or lantfeappropriated id th e crown > from aijn^rciiments j&MJ ?an,Aj criminal,
which paffed to the fife,- or tre ^ i^ ^ i~ a n d ffimCTftoms qmggons
imported and exported. As in war each i|®aeri_wj.| pimped} Jp maintain
himfelf for a certain time, the ex p en d itu rew as nofa-mujehteito
'efha®./’ LfpcHf extraoerfaeary emer^-nc^es, jit appears
bution wax raifed by the confent o f tbj?- narioh^ejdud&il'. Iti M et
periods, fubfidies jwere granted to the ambu^f o f 'a^fteepth,,;dr Memhj
on th e landed inconie, ‘and a p ro p o rtio n a te rate on., iftoyeable gokpLs.
As fociety ad vance^ faxes begarrfo bp '{1 mp ofedf o n£|th S .materi al s> ,th e m -
fehresj and from a fmafl plant an, enqrmo.us, tree-had arifen, with a
labyrinth o f .roots, which, in the opinion of feme politicians,: under-
mine the ifland, while others believe that, they only produce a more
firmconfolidatidn.
The
./T h e excife forms one of the moft productive branches of the revenuej
amounting to between feven. aiid eight millions. ■ Next ftand the
cuftoms, which produce about half that fum. The ftamps and incidental
taxes, as they are termed, arife to near, three millions- The
land, tax has been recently rendered perpetual, and fold to the proprietors
of eftates, and other individuals,1 a meafure which has hadafavour-
able. effe<3 in raifing the price of flocks. But inftead of thej land tax,
now appear thofe on fugar, tobacco, and malt, amounting to 2,750,
‘^.^i^P^'es^Me'ifponi-jthe; Eafbdp’dia'i .C^hpa^W'.%t t - e r i S In
ist fii>ppbfe^|lt^f
andj_:i^^t|^Fe.d;per|3.eti|a‘l* r t iH ^ g b d I fj\^ ll/ th e^ p e rh ia n p h f| fe r
l b B | l 9 9, it was fpipp'ffed -ajddil
tionabfew^Hai^fdsby Ipans-, &$ft£jveM£i‘fl|e national exppnctit^ to near
LthelpcpBiaifeht' taxes, the greater .part is ‘employed in difehargi-ng
ih^SaCer&ft of the ’ha-rionab 'debtip'which, after the .American* war,
amounted to more than 2i3$&ko,d©b&'’\Vhile' the Intereftfexceeded
1 -M-preferSt^he' nationals debt is abotzt’^flo^MsBj’dVo/.. and
the- ihtbreft- aboMh fyoe'&,oboA /To~ alleviate tbist growing!- Wrtben,'' a
f ir in g fund was irtftitutedplh- iyM, by which betweem 20 and
may be confidered1 a^ already 'redeemed1.
The haridnkl Ifebt began in the4- reign o f WilTfa’m, a!nd‘ grew into
whatphyVe^ltecrr called the Tuhds,‘“orShocks, dn^y fynolnymd|is terms for
t'lfe ppfti’cWebf^;.
'Th'efa^^bave not dnly increased ’the expeirce o f TVery!article;,of
life, b,ut hhvem^^®Tot enqrmd^tn|- f^'Het^tle^StburfCnieht^m^war;
thaf perhaps in a fliort 'time it may:become toer dear a game, 'even for
During/pea%fc(?t|ie nitronkl'' expffieds ar’e gf'pkfly redu'd&d;
* “ “ pytsd-it at ^ZjZ.S&osp/t^lfcut t-he ^eal aaputit was nof caJjajjle o{
. b«»njyWdVffli-;. j .
t In 1790, the national debt was 247,981,927/.; the intereft and charges o f management,
9.469,^7/. - .
t See Mortimer on, the flocks, where the reader will find- a curious account o f ftock-jobbing,
orhu mg againfl time, a fpecies o f gambling In public loans, ib, 172, the ei jager commonly
gams 1 pei cent, while the laws againfl ufury are only put in force in private tranfadlfons.
Hence new loans are greedily filled. .
Rtv
I 2- Thd