_Thoughts on the Mechanism of Societies._ 1
_A general View of the present State of Great Britain._ 3
_A more particular View of the same Subject._ 12
_Clear Savings of the Manufactories, Trade, and other Branches
of Industry._ 17
_Thoughts on Impost and Reimbursements. The Accumulation of
public Treasure considered as the Means of preventing Taxation._ 27
_On the grievous, but necessary Part of the Impost._ 36
_Of the Part of the Impost which is more useful than grievous._ 41
_Objections of another Kind against paying off the national Debt._ 51
_In what Manner the Interest of the national Debt will be probably
paid off._ 59
_Reflexions on the two foregoing Articles._ 76
_A Thought substituted to that of a Reimbursement._ 83
_General Balance of Trade in ~England~._ 93
_Reflexions on some private Balances of ~England~, both of the
favourable and unfavourable Kind._ 111
_Balance between ~England~ and ~Holland~._ 116
_⸺ between ~England~ and ~France~._ 123
_Further Reasons why all Ideas of a favourable Balance different
from that which I have supposed should be rejected._ 126
_Equilibrium necessary in all Things. Of the surest Means of
establishing it._ 130
_Various Causes of the Alterations in the Prices._ 137
_On the Influences of the national Prices on the Sales in foreign
Markets._ 151
_A necessary Principle of Trade considered both as direct and in
competition._ 159
_Reflexion on a Letter from ~Philadelphia~ inserted in the
~English~ News-papers._ 170
_Under what Point of View Premiums and other Encouragements of
Exportation may be considered._ 182
_On the Influence of the various Kinds of Taxation upon national
Prices._ 188
_On the Object of all Ministers of Finance in laying Taxes._ 192
_Effects of a general Poll-tax._ 193
_Effects of a Land-tax._ 196
_Reflexions on the foregoing System._ 203
_Effects of an Impost exclusively laid on Luxury._ 208
_Effects of a merciless Tax upon all Articles of the most general
Consumption._ 218
_Effects of compound Taxation._ 223
_Some Doubts on the supposed Impossibility of laying all Taxes on
Consumption._ 231
_Recapitulation of the foregoing Thoughts on Taxes, and their
Effects._ 242
_Further Considerations on the Necessity of a Correspondence
between the Prices of Agriculture and those of Industry._ 248
_Of a Cause little suspected of high Prices._ 257
_The happy Issue of a desperate Combat between Monopoly and some
private Interests._ 265
_Reflexions on a very strange Revolution in ~France~._ 270
_The pretended Balance of ~France~ in Point of Trade._ 291
_Exportations and Importations considered as a Game._ 308
_The nominal Value of the generality of Exports considered, with
Respect to its Effect on foreign Correspondence._ 338
_On Luxury._ 352
_On Colonies._ 372
_Preface in ~French~._ 399
[Illustration]
THOUGHTS ON THE MECHANISM of SOCIETIES.
The first step that led to civilisation was, probably, some kind of
slavery, whatever might be its nature. It seems impossible that the
strongest and most industrious, following no other impulse than that
of a consciousness of his superiority, should have come to the noble
resolution of sharing generously, with the weak and idle, the fruits of
his own labours and industry; nor can it be supposed that he could suffer
any one, but himself, to pronounce on the prerogatives due to his courage
and his abilities. But the most consummate knowledge of the means which
may have paved the way to despotism, would throw but a faint light on the
various subjects which I propose to take under consideration. The Epoch
which it may be useful to dwell upon, is that, wherein the chiefs of the
different states, being in no anxiety for an authority which is no longer
contested, are the first to acknowledge its limits, and begin at last to
be solicitous for the happiness of their subjects.
Such, in my opinion, is now the prevailing system all over Europe.
The advantage of true freedom is fully felt, and its influence over
all-commanding wealth universally acknowledged. But, in order to compare
the inferences with the principles, to appreciate the measures by their
effects, I shall fix upon that Nation whose avowed maxims, and best known
circumstances, are most likely to furnish me with a train of arguments,
without having recourse to any further suppositions but such as may
appear necessary to clear up the facts that will be adduced in support of
those arguments, and to render the consequences, to be deduced from them,
more lucid and pointed.
I shall begin with the most interesting article in the present situation
of affairs, namely, how far the wealth of a State, and the affluence of
the Subject, may be affected by a NATIONAL DEBT?
_A general View of the present State of GREAT BRITAIN._
Mr. _Arthur Young_’s valuation of the Revenue, in his Political
Arithmetic, is the result of his own private observations. Nothing ever
occurred to me on the subject, that can come up with the minute accounts
he gives us of the different provinces which he has visited in the north,
south, and east of _England_.
I am ready to suppose, with that gentleman, that the joint revenue
of _England_ and _Scotland_ may be computed, the landed produce and
commercial profits included, at 110 millions sterling.
Mr. _Chalmers_ has published a work on the comparative resources of
this country at different periods; a subject, it seems, difficult to
touch upon without examining the state of population. This publication,
according to my judgement, unites to such solid principles as the matter
will admit, a great deal of propriety in the manner of applying them, and
of drawing the inferences.
I willingly acquiesce, taking it for granted, with the author, that
_Great Britain_ contains 9,350,000 inhabitants: but, at the same time,
I apprise the reader, that I do not mean to take any advantage of a
population more or less numerous; nor of a larger or smaller amount of
the revenue. _Data_ I require; but such I will prefer as most nearly
border on reality. There is not a State to which, with a difference in
the numbers, one may not apply what I have to say concerning _England_,
in those which I have adopted.
It appears from the estimates of Mr. _King_, who, in the reign of
_William_ and _Mary_, proved himself as exact an observer as Mr. _Young_
has done in our days, that the produce of Land alone amounted then to
32,000,000; the latter calculator nearly doubles it, by rating it at
63,000,000. The Custom House books, the exactness of which cannot be
disputed in one of the two facts they vouch to, (_the Burthen of the
Shipping, and the Produce of Exportation_,) will shew that the former,
from the year 1709 to 1773, progressively increased from 289,318, to
775,078 tons; and the years 1697, 1698, 1699, taken upon a medium and
compared with 1771, 1772, and 1773, tend to prove that the gradual rise
of the Exports has been still more considerable, being from 5,612,058_l._
to 16,027,937_l._ (Vide _Sir Charles Whitworth’s State of Trade_).
The foreign trade of _England_ seems therefore to have trebled since the
beginning of the present century. We shall, in the sequel, state the
reasons for supposing the commerce of other nations to have experienced
the same progression.
The annual sum of 110,000,000, divided amongst 9,350,000 inhabitants,
will produce daily little less than 8 pence per head, from the Monarch
down to the meanest subject.
The observations I have made in several parts of _France_, from
documents, it is true, no ways comparable to those of Mr. _Young_,
could not justify my allowing so large a revenue to each individual in
that kingdom. Yet _France_ and _England_ are the two richest and most
flourishing countries in _Europe_.
Mr. _Young_ rates the clear profits of the Manufactories and Trade of
_England_ alone at 37 millions; but as these two objects have apparently
been trebled in regard to the exports, they cannot be supposed to have
exceeded 12 millions in the reign of _William_ and _Mary_. To this let
us add, in a proportion rather exaggerated, 5 millions for the landed and
commercial revenues of _Scotland_; and it will appear, that, including
the 32 millions of landed produce, as computed by Mr. _King_, the total
amount of the revenue, land and trade of both countries included, could
hardly be equal to 49 millions in the beginning of the present century.
Now, from the same author, both kingdoms contained at that period
7,200,000 inhabitants, who, if admitted to a brotherly share, would have
claimed only 4½_d._ each per day. I do not confine myself to a nicer
exactness in the fractions: the object is not to calculate the precise
instant of an eclipse; or at least, that of English prosperity appearing
to me no ways probable, I think myself justified in neglecting every
thing that might impede my operations, without influencing, in the least,
my arguments.
Yet the wages of a journeyman were nevertheless rated then at 8_d._
per day: but let it be observed, that the number of working-days, when
balanced with the holidays, sickness, and want of employment, those eight
pence, distributed in the journeyman’s family, were often reduced to two;
just as the sixteen pence, the present price of labour, according to Mr.
_Young_’s Estimate, commonly amount to 4_d._ only, although the brotherly
share of each man nearly amounts to 8_d._ If any one should be inclined
to call this, injustice, let him consider that this very multitude of
reductions from 4_d._ to 2_d._ and from 8_d._ to 4_d._ from _William
III._ to this present time, has been the only means of accumulating by
degrees that immense stock of 600 millions and upwards, manifestly laid
out by the State in less than a century, and of which the National Debt
makes a part. It is evident that if each individual, from _William III._
had only spent at the rate of 5_d._ per day, there would be no National
Debt; but as each man of the nation could, generally speaking, and upon
an equal proportion, lay out only 4½_d._ per day, the exceeding halfpenny
must have long ago swallowed up the whole principal, the produce of
former reductions.
Not one of the monuments erected since that period would now exist, nor
would a single trace be left of the stocks to which the nation owes
its present wealth: each portion of the national stock, every monument
posterior to that era, prove as many persons reduced in the origin from
4_d._ to 2_d._ and then from 8_d._ to 4_d._ as either of the above two
sums are oftener told in the value of such monument, or such stock as
might be made the subject of inquiry. No country in the world can boast
of a more respectable source of its opulence.⸺This opulence must either
be given up, or the inconveniences that attend it be submitted to. In all
parts of the world the labourer earns a livelihood, and very little above
that: yet this very trifle is sufficient to make him happy, wherever he
cannot be compelled to work without pay. He feels little, never takes the
trouble of thinking, and leaves off work only to eat, make merry, or go
to rest.—Is our lot better, with that fatal degree of reflection by which
our whole life so often centers within a single point?
But is the nation in general as happy in our days as it was in those of
_William III_? Have those causes, which tend to produce a decrease in the
population, no manner of influence on the people’s happiness? And is not
the reality of such causes more self-evident, than the pretended proofs
adduced universally in favour of its increase?
Without entering into any dispute on the merits of the researches
concerning population, which would lead to some truths perhaps unthought
of hitherto; here follow the arguments which will occur to any man who
stands not in need of a fixed and precise number of thinking heads,
laborious hands, and well-digesting stomachs.
1st. It is not easy to conceive how, the landed revenue being nearly
double, there should be a less number of husbandmen; for it is not
with agriculture as we find it in several manufactories, where the
invention of engines, and an alteration in the mode of working, can so
advantageously supply the supposed decrease in the number of hands to
work after the primitive manner. The valuable number of husbandmen seems
therefore, in my opinion, placed beyond even the idea of a decrease.
2dly. It is no less impossible to imagine, that the number of sailors
being nearly in a triple proportion to what it was, and the quantity of
exports probably augmented on account of the burden of the outward-bound
ships, a diminution should have taken place among that class of people,
equally precious to the State, for establishing and ascertaining its
wealth and strength, as the cultivation is indispensable to secure and
support its very existence.
3dly. If, notwithstanding the acknowledged impossibility of proving a
real decrease in the population, any one should obstinately admit of
it, without positive proofs, it cannot at least be denied, that the
produce of land and industry being nearly doubled, some means must have
been devised, to do that with one hand which required two before. In
this case it would be an easy matter to prove, that at the rate of the
supposed depopulation, the few elect, who have escaped its causes, can
boast of enjoyments in a threefold proportion to what they were before,
notwithstanding the difference between the present impost and that which
was paid in the beginning of this century: for, after all, the taxes
under _William III._ amounted to four millions and a half and upwards, to
be deducted from forty-nine millions standing revenue; the balance was
therefore forty-four millions and a half, to be shared amongst 7,200,000
inhabitants, acknowledged by Mr. _King_; that is, very little above 4_d._
per day for each individual. Now, in the year 1779, for I have not yet
exceeded that period, the impost was of about nine millions, which, taken
from an income of 110 millions, left a surplusage of 101,000,000_l._ to
be divided. If we adopt the supposed depopulation at its highest rate,
the number of souls in _England_ is reduced to 4,500,000, each of whom
has 1_s._ 3_d._ instead of 4_d._ allowed in the reign of _William_. It is
then incontestible that the Nation is richer, but, I must own, not more
happy; for they complain and are alarmed at this time, as was then the
case.
It would be necessary to allow the supposition of an increase, if the
intention were to shew that the people are now in a worse condition: nor
could even this be deemed sufficient; for, admitting the existence of
9,350,000 inhabitants, it will appear, that, by the surplusage of 101
millions left, after the discharge of the taxes in 1779, each individual
would be entitled to 7_d._ instead of the groat, in _William_’s reign.
The nation therefore in that year, in spite of its public debt, had
almost doubled its wealth, rating the population at 9,350,000; and raised
it four-fold, supposing the number reduced to 4,500,000 souls: and in
either case, the riches of the State, as well as the national debt, arose
and increased from the daily reductions of 4_d._ to 2_d._ and of 8_d._ to
4_d._ which, since the reign of _William_ to this day, have escaped from
that all-devouring canker, commonly called LUXURY.
_A more particular View of the same Subject._
I wish to inquire more minutely, whether such facts as are known do not
cast a sufficient light over all the others in general, to induce the
most anxious and pressing creditor, and the nicest in point of proofs, to
sleep in the utmost security, till some particular discovery pleads in
justification of his alarms.
The present revenue of _England_ is stated at 63 millions; that of
_Scotland_, at about 7 millions; collectively, 70,000,000_l._ It will
be seen hereafter, that 65 or 75 millions would give the same essential
results: I must however add, if any thing more should be wanted, that,
in his estimate, Mr. _Young_ does not include the horses, hemp, flax,
vegetables, fruit, nor hops, &c. all of which are reproduced annually,
and augment considerably the number of exchanges held out to industry.
This landed revenue is produced by somewhat more than one third of the
inhabitants.
It remains for us now to compute, at the lowest, the income produced
by a second class of people, probably as numerous as the former, since
not less than 1,500,000 persons of both sexes, and of all ages, are
employed solely in preparing and working the wool. (See _Chalmers_’s
Estimates.) But if the labour of 3,000,000 of husbandmen brings in 70
millions annually, why should that of an equal number of mechanics and
handicraftsmen stand for less in the computation? To this reason let the
following remarks be added.
Out of the 70 millions, 20 come to the share of the cultivators, either
as the price of their labour, or for poor’s rates; 12, of these 20
millions, at least, are laid out for the produce of industry: bread, it
may be observed, is comprised in the remaining 8 millions.
Let us state the number of proprietors at 2,000,000, including all
their dependents, under any denomination whatever, women, children,
chaplains, farmers, physicians, strollers, servants, &c. and their annual
expenditure, in the rough produce of the land, at 18 millions, there
remains only 32,000,000, which must be paid by the industry, already in
advance, of the 12,000,000 exchange granted to the cultivator. It is
obvious that I speak here only of that kind of industry which may be
productive of exchangeable commodities, even against those of foreign
produce.
Three millions of mechanics do not live more soberly, nor are they worse
clothed, than the husbandmen: it may therefore be inferred, that out
of the 20 millions, which they likewise receive for their labour, they
lay out in the produce of industry, 12 millions, which, added to the 44
millions I have just mentioned, make, all together, 56 millions.
The manufacturers and principal traders, under every denomination,
with their dependents of all kinds, complete the necessary number of
the supposed population of 9,350,000 inhabitants, that is, 1,100,000
souls, themselves, the idle people supported by them, and their
household included. Supposing their consumption of the rough produce
to be proportionable to that of the proprietor, their expenditure will
be 10,000,000; but then we must square by the same rule what they lay
out for the produce of industry: 18 millions will be the sum, which,
together with the other 56 millions, makes a mass of 74, instead of
the 70,000,000 acknowledged in agriculture. Even this would not be
sufficient, for reasons which I shall give in the sequel; but I shall
observe, in the first instance, that were the population less numerous
than we have supposed it to be, the same consumption of the rough produce
is certainly inadmissible: but the landed revenue remaining the same,
though procured by a less number of hands, it would then become necessary
to estimate the amount of the labours of industry, effected by a number
of handicraftsmen, equal to that of the cultivators, from the ascertained
value of the latter’s productive labour.
I now return to the _deficit_ wanted for the security of a constant
increase of wealth, which may at all times supply all the exigencies of
the State.
The 18,000,000 consumed on the produce of industry, as granted to the
principal traders, seem to raise them to 4,000,000 above their real
value; I mean, that which is acknowledged in the produce of agriculture.
It is not under colour of the supposed interest of the enormous
principal, which gives motion to the manufactures and to the inland
trade; it is necessary that industry should contribute its stock, as
well as agriculture. The principals laid out, by the one or the other,
are a matter of indifference to the state; it can speculate but on their
produce, and pays exactly the interests, when it rates at the same value
the result of the labours of both; but, to the 70 millions assigned as
the indisputable produce of industry, (supposing a laborious man to be as
good as any other equally industrious) we must add the intrinsic value
of the rough materials on which industry hath wrought: This accession,
which is also fair and equitable, will furnish, not only the 4,000,000,
which annually exceed the home consumption just mentioned, but likewise
all the millions necessary to secure, and mean while explain, this
gradual increase, which it would be difficult not to trace in trade, as
it is observable in the landed property. The latter is doubled within the
space of 90 years; from whence we are forced to conclude, that the annual
savings of the farmers, and owners living on the spot and cultivating
their estates on the true principles of husbandry, have sufficed to
discharge, not only the public burdens, and to defray the manuring
expences, but also to double the produce and the general means in the
most important article. It remains now to examine, whether the savings
of the manufacturers, traders, and other supporters of industry, are as
indisputable as those made by the cultivators.
_Clear Savings of the Manufactories, Trade, and other Branches of
Industry._
The riches of a country, and its progress, are established and
confirmed by its savings. Let us consider cursorily such as, from their
self-evidence, admit of no dispute.
Ninety years ago the landed revenue of _Great-Britain_ was computed at
about 35 millions. Let us suppose that 10 millions of specie were then
required to give an effectual circulation to property of all kinds,
(many people will think this by far too little[1]): but the revenue of
landed estates, being now 70 millions, 20 millions at least, instead of
the 10 millions requisite in the times of _William_ and _Mary_, should
be allowed; and consequently a first clear stock of savings amounts
to—10,000,000_l._
The consumer in those days was probably allowed, as is still the custom,
a twelve-month’s credit upon half the articles purchased. Some of them
took a longer time, if others a shorter one; but the stock of credit
being then equal only to 35 millions, and now raised to 70 millions, we
have clearly another mass of savings of—35,000,000.
Then, as in the present time, the preparing, manufacturing, and
delivering, required six, twelve, or eighteen months. Let us suppose the
year, upon an average of the slowness of one operation, and the celerity
with which another was performed, we shall find again, in the difference
of the flock, a third saving of 35,000,000.
If we suppose the value of manufactories, dwellings, warehouses, and all
kinds of establishments, necessary to answer all the exigencies of a
stock of industry and commerce of 35,000,000, to have amounted then to
25,000,000, we must admit that the objects in the same manner necessary
to a stock of 70,000,000, do likewise present us with a fourth clear
saving of—25,000,000.
In order to employ those hands by whose labour the annual sum of
35,000,000 was produced, 10,000,000 were probably sufficient;
whereas 20,000,000 are now required. This shews a fifth clear saving
of—10,000,000.
The annual returns from the _American_ islands was computed, 90 years
ago, at about 330,000, (Sir _Charles Whitworth_’s State of Trade). Half
of this produce was, in all likelihood, mortgaged to commerce; but it
only supposed a stock of 3,000,000 at most lent, it matters not at
what interest. The yearly produce of those colonies, added to that of
the ceded islands, amounts, at present, to more than 2,900,000; more
than one-third of which belongs to the trader, either as purchaser or
mortgagee, and exhibits a sum of about 20,000,000, from which we shall
substract the former 3,000,000; and considering (for a moment) those
colonies as being foreign to the State, we shall find a sixth clear
saving of—17,000,000, (the petition of the merchants in 1775, supposes it
to be 30,000,000.)
The _English_ might perhaps be out of humour with me, were I to suppose
that the continent of _America_, stands on the debtor side, for no more
than 4,000,000; I shall therefore set down this article as—_Memorandum_.
Eighty years ago the amount of exportation from _England_, was estimated
at 5,612,085_l._ In 1773, upon a medium of three years, the same was
increased to 16,027,937: of the exceeding 9 or 10 millions, one part
appropriated to the commerce in _Europe_, another to the _American_, a
third to the _East-India_ trade, remain one, two, and sometimes three
years, before they can be applied to the same objects. These 10,000,000
therefore suppose a stock more than double the same sum, and ought, in
consequence, to be set down as a seventh clear saving of—10,000,000.
The _English_ ships, employed eighty years ago in carrying on the
national trade, presented only a sum of 289,318 tons burden; the number
of tons is now rated at 775,078. This increase of 485,760, together with
the expence attending the fitting out, going and coming, produce a stock
of 5,000,000, which must be doubled, by compensating the voyages of
six and eight months, by those which require two or three years: here,
therefore, appears an eighth clear saving of—10,000,000.
The proprietor of lands should not be considered in this light, in the
use he makes of his yearly profits, but with respect to that part of his
said profits which he lays out in cultivation: In regard to that share of
his income which he invests in the funds, we must consider him as member,
agent, and usufructuary of industry and commerce. Now, if we divide
into three parts the whole of the national debt, one-third of which, if
agreeable, we shall set down as foreign property, and the other two as
belonging to the natives, we must of course acknowledge in the nation a
new sum of clear savings, amounting to 180,000,000. This, in fact, should
not be considered as a real increase of wealth, which it is at all times
easy to appreciate, but as a proof that there exists, in the nation, an
inestimable number of men, who are capable, in the space of ninety years,
to effect a saving of 180,000,000, which government will have it in its
power, within the same space of time, to appropriate to the exigencies
of war, if potentates should continue in a warlike humour; or to lay out
in objects of industry and cultivation, supposing an improvement of the
revenue should be preferred to a state of warfare.
I shall not speak either of the difference which may be observed between
the present state of the Royal navy, and the situation it was in at
the beginning of this century, nor of the public monuments erected
from that period, nor of the _India_ territories, nor of the Colonies
remaining to _England_; provided the objection concerning the money due
to foreigners is not repeated against me, as I am in hopes, by and by, to
find some kind of compensation for it. I shall therefore confine myself
here, to observe, that the above savings of all kinds of industry, some
of them active, the others passive, all equally necessary, assisting
each other mutually, no doubt, and finally amounting to 332 millions,
have been effected in the course of 90 years; not with any sensible
detriment to the landed property, since its revenue is doubled, nor to
the disadvantage of the lower class of people, whose day-work brings in
1_s._ 4_d._ instead of 8_d._ nor to the prejudice of the fine arts, the
rewards of which are perhaps fourfold, comparatively speaking; but solely
according to the common course of things, _restrained, nevertheless, by
a war of 30 years and upwards, out of the 90_, and by all the prejudices
which the present generation begins to shake off, and which probably will
be entirely abolished in the next.
It is no ways natural that the same causes will not be productive of the
same effects. It may therefore, in my judgement, be reasonably concluded,
that, within 90 years from this day, the landed revenue may be increased
to double its actual value, and the population, trade, and industry,
augmented in the like proportion, were even the national debt to amount
then to 476,000,000, instead of the present 238,000,000, which excites so
many complaints and loud murmurings.
In fact, let us suppose the debt arrived at a height so apparently
formidable, _and the price of every thing proportionably increased_;
would the former be less firmly established? Methinks that the very
contrary is demonstrated by calculation, and that imagination cannot
frame any rational objection thereto; at least I am free to confess,
that all my efforts have not been able to produce any combination of
probable circumstances, which might, in any supposition, justify the
dread of that _application of the sponge_ which is so often held out
as a resource that sooner or later must be adopted. Setting aside the
infamy of such a measure, what advantage would accrue from it? Let it
be adopted this moment in _London_, within three days the same step
must inevitably be taken at _Paris_. A manœuvre of this kind would
manifestly indicate either the most hostile intentions on the part of the
_English_ government, or the project of overturning the constitution: the
latter concerns _England_ alone; but in the former, _France_ is deeply
interested. That power would be compelled to put itself in a situation to
oppose an immense and free revenue, to a revenue equally immense without
appropriation. Were, on the other hand, the _French_ to lead the way,
_England_ must inevitably follow; and the unprofitable disgrace would
be the portion of either of the two nations that should have set up the
precedent.
But who will see without grief, 2,000,000 interest due to foreign States!
2,000,000 in specie carried out every year from _England_! _England_
yearly stript of 2,000,000 of her money!!! It will be seen hereafter
in what that money consists. Yet with personal stocks so real, so
considerable, so clear, what can prevent _Great Britain_ wresting from
the foreigner, the share he claims in the national debt? The reason is
obvious: the owner of landed property, or the farmer, who hopes to get
six _per cent._ of the stock which he lays out upon his lands, instead of
vesting them in the funds, envies not the foreigner who is glad to get
5, 4, or even 3 _per cent._ On the other hand, the merchant who trades
by commission, and who has an opportunity of placing in the colonies
his money at 5 _per cent._ interest, which is raised to 8 and 9 by
his commissions for sale and purchase procured therewith, cannot wish
himself in the situation of a stranger, whose stock in the _English_
funds brings him in, not above one half of that sum. It is still less an
object of envy for the manufacturers, or owners of ships, who, from their
manufactories or shipping, clear 10 or 12 _per cent._ of the monies laid
out by them: the projectors of all kinds likewise flatter themselves,
that the stock employed in their undertakings will produce 15 _per cent._
To sum up the whole in much fewer words, the prospect of 3 or 4 _per
cent._ is not likely to tempt any one, who is in hopes of getting a two,
three, or even four-fold interest. And in fine, the public funds, in any
country whatever, will never be more or less than a lucky, _or rather a
providential_, resource for those who have neither talent, power, nor
leisure, to place their money to better advantage.
Now, would the abolishing of such a resource turn to the profit of the
State, even supposing it to be effected by the justifiable means of a
general reimbursement, were the case possible? I have too often reflected
on the subject, too often revolved it over and over, I have viewed it
under too many points, not to be sensible how far above my strength it
is to discuss the matter in all its parts; I shall nevertheless venture
to throw out some thoughts, which to me seem likely to render somewhat
problematical a question which, at first sight, does not appear anyways
difficult to resolve.
This question is not, whether it would be more advantageous to the
State, not to have contracted a debt of 238 millions; but whether, since
it is incurred, it would be profitable to discharge it. To doubt of
the former, would be absurd: 238 millions thrown away almost entirely,
within the space of 90 years, to forward destructive schemes, now no
otherwise compensated than by a double devastation of the same kind,
in a neighbouring kingdom, which by a treble population was able to
support it, would certainly have been better bestowed, in both countries,
either on the lands, whose revenues and number of cultivators would have
increased, or in the improvement of the trade and arts, the stock and
_chef-d’œuvres_ of which would thus have been multiplied. But the debt
being once incurred, let us suppose that the 238 millions, which are
vanished, should return into the Exchequer, would it be proper or not to
pay it off? Thus stands the question.
_Thoughts on Imposts and Reimbursements.—The Accumulation of public
Treasure considered as the Means of preventing Taxation._
The present impost in England, as the case is almost every where,
consists of two parts widely different from each other: the one is
certainly burdensome, but necessary;—of this hereafter. Might not the
other, which concerns the national debt, however grievous it may appear,
be considered as an useful establishment, so long as it shall be presumed
that the increase of the national wealth, and its being divided amongst
a greater number of individuals, is an advantage to the State; “or, in
other words, until it shall appear evidently, that the welfare of the
State requires that each of its members should lay out annually all that
he is able to spend?” Before I attempt to deliver my opinion on these two
subjects, I shall suppose the reimbursement possible, and resolved upon.
Nine millions of taxes, to pay off the annual interest of the debt,
compose nearly one seventh of the landed revenue. These taxes, gradually
laid on such objects of consumption as are supposed most likely to bear
them, must have raised their price by one seventh, or something more; and
that really, justly, and I think necessarily. The reader will perceive
that I speak of the objects of taxation collectively, since some of them
bring to the Exchequer twice their intrinsic value. The reimbursement
being effected, would they fall back to their primitive value?—Yet this
must be, in order to reap the pretended advantage; and this, in my
opinion, would be of no manner of service. I shall endeavour to prove
it; and then we shall examine whether the effect would not be more than
doubtful.
It would be no easy matter to assign, for certain general facts, any
other cause than the force of Nature; who, in the end, gets the better
of all the regulations that thwart her. But let any one examine whether
there be a single untaxed object, which, from 90 years back, or, to speak
more to the purpose, from the origin of the national debt, is not raised
more than one seventh, above the nominal value it had at that period.
It is therefore sufficiently probable that the taxes have been felt, not
only by the consumer of the taxed commodities, (according to the laudable
intentions of Government) but also by the whole nation, by all the
individuals that compose it:—And this, in my opinion, is equally just and
unexceptionable.
Yet, it may be urged, that this increase in price is to be ascribed to
the greater quantity of specie in circulation. Granted. In this case, a
falling-off in the prices, accruing, as it is supposed, from a decrease
in the taxes, which is represented as the effect of a reimbursement,
cannot then take place:—besides, as the sequel will show, the taxes
unavoidably bring in, one way or the other, even in the first year, the
whole money required to pay the same. I shall argue on both suppositions.
Is the increase in the prices owing to the taxation? It appears,
evidently, that the taxes bring in the sums necessary to pay them, since
they are actually and annually paid:—This money, then, must be withdrawn
from the circulation, in order to lower the prices. Is this increase the
effect of an augmentation of the specie? Then it will be necessary, in
order to ascertain the primitive price, to recall from the circulation
all the money which has been introduced since, and in spite of the taxes.
Now if, in spite of the taxes, a country abounds with money, how should
it not be so, supposing no duties had been laid?—How can the abolition
of the taxes prevent the introduction of cash?—How will it come to
pass, that the mass of specie being increased, the prices shall not be
raised?—And if all of them augment, in a fair proportion, who will gain
by it, who will suffer?
Be it supposed, nevertheless, for this is my main object, that the
abolition of the taxes will lower the price of the mass of taxed
commodities.—The same force of nature, which, without the intervention
of any one, had raised the generality of untaxed objects up to the rate
necessary to balance the imaginary value, which the tax added to the
others, would operate in a contrary sense, and diminish, insensibly, the
price of those articles which might have been overlooked:—What would be
the advantage accruing to the State from a general and proportionable
decrease?—Let us not think yet of the pretended profit that would result
therefrom, in favour of trade, with relation to foreign competition: this
matter requires a particular article. The only business now in hand,
is to examine, whether, in case the reimbursement should be effected,
this general decrease of prices, which I have just granted, could be
effectually obtained.
The reflections which I have hitherto laid before the reader, suppose
that the refunded 238 millions would irrevocably be transferred from the
Exchequer into the hands of those unfortunate individuals who might have
been forced to receive their reimbursement. But one must live. Government
could not carry injustice so far as to compel them to bury, or cast into
the deep, that precious metal, ripped up at so great an expence from the
bowels of the earth. What consequence would then ensue, if that immense
sum put into circulation, not in _England_ alone, where such an addition
of specie would, in less than six months, occasion a six-fold rise of
prices, but over all _Europe_, where probably treble that stock never
was in circulation?—The price of every commodity would treble, or at
best double, perhaps universally.—What advantage could the State, or
individuals, derive from such unavoidable, general, and proportionable
rise?—Were the reimbursement practicable, instead of effecting it, I
should vote for laying out the 238 millions in erecting a colossus of
gold and silver, to be a standing monument of public gratitude towards
those whose œconomy and confidence have served the State in its needful
circumstances.
The absurdity which might be imputed to such an idea I shall partly do
away, by stating the effects of laying up treasures, as has been the
fancy of several princes, and which is supposed profitable by Mr. _David
Hume_, who, methinks, ought to have been one of the first to rest assured
of its inutility, after his excellent observations on money.
I shall suppose that the _English_ government had preserved, seven years
ago, the 60 millions and upwards, expended during the last war; and that,
instead of laying those taxes so highly complained of, they had annually
laid out of the Exchequer, the 12, 15, 20,000,000 sterling, which
successively produced the last debt: what might have been the result?
First, If the very useless prohibition of the exportation of specie,
however it _might_ be profitable to those who could export it, could
have possibly been put in force, 60 millions of real cash added, in
a country where 20 millions perhaps are sufficient for circulation,
must have doubled at least the price of every thing; a consequence
diametrically opposite to what it was intended to effect. Would it not,
in some respect, have ruined the Bank, by rendering useless its nominal
stock, in lowering the interest of its real one, and reducing, in fine,
its abilities so much below the level of public wants, when the general
prices, two-fold increased, would have raised, in the same proportion,
that of every engagement?
Secondly, The evil would have been less fatal than I describe it, if the
prohibitory law, as all those that militate against justice and common
sense, had been evaded; but the gold hoarded up heretofore, and now
supposed to be circulated over _England_, would, by succession, have
passed into _France_: and the latter, in order to continue the war, would
have borrowed, even of the _English_, at four, and presently at three
_per cent._ the monies which she could not procure at less than seven or
eight _per cent._ Now money growing more common in _France_, the prices
would be, as in _England_, and soon after every where else, increased
in the same proportion; for it is essential to observe, that those two
nations are too rich, their correspondence too extensive, their activity
kept up by too many branches of industry, for them not to regulate
the markets all over _Europe_: it is probable that both are now too
enlightened any longer to refuse receiving it, not one from the other,
but from Nature herself, who, constantly provident, ever above the reach
of untoward regulation, at all times unbiassed in bestowing her favours,
or equipoising one by the other, would settle, only a little later,
notwithstanding all efforts to the contrary, that equilibrium necessary
to the general good of Society, of which it is glorious enough for those
two countries to constitute the preponderant parts.
Thirdly, Independent of this general and inevitable repartition of the 60
millions laid up heretofore, the 10, 15, and 20 millions, which _England_
has found yearly, during the last war, in the purse of her subjects,
were, beyond doubt, that portion of capitals, which the circumstances
of such a war as the last was, would have rendered useless in the hands
of the lenders, had government found in the Exchequer those sums which
were obtained by way of a loan. Can it be doubted but that this portion,
useless in _England_, in the supposition of a prior accumulation of
money, would equally have been sent into _France_, on the first prospect
of placing it to advantage?—It would have been carried there, just
as the _Dutch_ had formerly sent into _England_ the dormant part of
their capitals, and would send it any where, at all times when sure
of benefiting by it, were it even against the interest of the _United
Provinces_, saying with _Camilla_, in _Corneille_’s Tragedy of the
_Horatii_,
“Rome, si tu te plains que c’est-là te trahir,
“Fais toi des ennemis que je puisse haïr.”
It will appear by the sequel, that I am as far from cutting off such
resources, as are deemed infallible, and dictated by prudence, in order
to support with vigour a necessary war, as I am from raising the least
doubt concerning the right of waging war, be it ever so unprofitable
and unjust. My only intention was to prove, that treasures hoarded up
in time of peace, and scattered afterwards during a war, in order to
avoid taxation, would raise much higher the prices of everything, than
taxes of any kind whatever could raise them. And I do now say—make war
as long as you please, but do not accumulate for the purpose of waging
it. Your monies, locked up in your strong chests, could not be sheltered
from every kind of accidents; and whilst you can boast of subjects
equally brave and industrious, you will never want money, nor means to
carry on any war you may undertake: but then you must submit to that
augmentation of prices, which must naturally follow. I flatter myself I
shall be able to prove, that this very increase is subject to no manner
of inconvenience.
_On the grievous, but necessary part of the Impost._
Which part of the impost is truly hurtful to the wealth of nations?
A standing army of 50,000 men in time of peace, both for the sea and
land-service, and 50,000 more employed, either upon the different
objects relating to those services, or to maintain good order and public
tranquillity, or intrusted with the collection of the revenue, are
evidently 100,000 men, taken in _England_ from that last class which,
though _last_ in point of rank, is nevertheless the sole instrument of
the national riches. Now, out of the _given_ number of 9 millions of
inhabitants, 6 millions only constitute this precious, this productive
class; the other 3 millions consist merely of consumers: from the 6
millions, allowed in the productive class, deduct 4 millions of children,
old people, and women, half of whose life is taken up with the cares
and incumbrances of a domestic nature; of this truly profitable class
3 millions only will then remain. A hundred thousand men, all stout,
vigorous and skilful, constantly withdrawn from that class, occasion a
vacuum of about a twentieth in the productions of the land, and of the
arts, that is to say, (for there should be no illusion in the case) the
twentieth part of the possible wealth. That portion of the impost, which
is set apart for the subsistence of those 100,000 men, is therefore, in
some manner, burdensome; since society is thus deprived, not only of
the produce of their industry, but also of that part of other people’s
labour which they consume without contributing towards it: but amends
are amply made for those indispensable privations, by the property being
better secured, and enjoyed in full tranquillity. Besides, that part of
Society, which suffers most thereby, does not belong to the productive
class; the latter, as has been already observed, is, in the richest as
well as in the poorest countries, ever reduced to that pittance which
is but just necessary to keep up industry. Nations the most free differ
in this point from those who groan under the most slavish despotism,
only by the insolence with which this scanty pittance, if refused, is
insisted upon in a free country, and the humble manner in which it is
sued for in the others. The difference of natural talents, displayed in
their utmost energy, suffices to establish, sooner or later, amongst the
freest people, that enormous disproportion of wealth which gives offence
elsewhere, only because it is not always the proof or reward of labour,
abilities, and œconomy.
Let any circumstance whatever, either well or ill judged, occur, which
may determine the nation to complete to 200,000 the 50,000 sailors and
landsmen that are sufficient in time of peace; 150,000 more men will be
taken from the productive class, which must, of course, occasion a second
vacuum, viz. the productions with which they would have enriched or
amused their country. But the loss will not end here; other 300,000 men,
many more perhaps, from the same class, constantly busy, during the war,
in preparing the intended destructive plans, will unavoidably occasion
a farther loss of four or five other twentieths in the other enjoyments
of peaceable times, to which, had not other occupations interfered,
they would have contributed: and if the war should last for 3, 4, or 10
years, it is evident that, in the latter supposition, the nation must
lose all that increase of wealth which would have been effected, had the
principal, swallowed up by the war, been differently employed. This loss
is considerable, immense, and never can be retrieved; for what was then
omitted, will never be done; what will be effected, might equally have
been so, without preventing the productions which would already have
taken place.
All these _deficits_ in wealth, occasioned by the war, are a substantial
loss; and the prospect would be dispiriting indeed, were not the
rival nation in the very same predicament. But will this grievous
loss be after the peace active, as it were, and felt by the community
longer than the time required for the 2, 3, or 400,000 men, employed
during the war in forwarding the destructive schemes, to resume their
peaceable occupations; or till the number of them, who shall have died
in _America_, the _Indies_, of the scurvy, or at the fatal tree, be
replaced by the ordinary course of population?—This I cannot conceive by
any means: some of the reasons, which I have to adduce, will be found
in the reflections I am about to present on the second part of the
impost, which seems to me not less useful than the first is necessary:
all my other arguments will appear in the other parts of this work.
If it can be concluded from the _ensemble_, that all the evils brought
about by a bad or ill-fated administration, are naturally, and without
expence, compensated under a wise ministry, and that the most barbarous
and most extravagant of them all could have no other means of ruining
the nation than by destroying the people; then, made easy on the effects
of the national debt, we shall have courage enough to acknowledge,
that it is as sacred in the hands of those, who, having furnished the
value, are in possession of the vouchers, as the crown on the head of
the monarch; and we shall enjoy the freedom of mind necessary to infer,
that although Providence often seems to leave to chance the destiny of
some individuals, yet it is very far from being indifferent to all that
concerns the whole species[2].
_Of that part of the Impost, which is more useful than grievous._
The part of taxation, which now remains to be considered, is that which,
at every instant, presents to any one, a secure and useful employ of all
the capitals at his disposal, and of all the savings which prudence hath
induced him to make. The utility of the public funds, which are nothing
else but the national debt, might seem established by these few words;
but further details are necessary.
I have adopted the estimate by which _England_ is supposed to contain
9,300,000 inhabitants; one-third cultivates the land, one-third is
engaged in manufactures, and of the remaining third, 600,000 at most
share among them the neat produce of cultivation and the arts, in
proportion to the capitals with which they keep in play those two engines
of opulence. All the remaining part of the people, as dependents under
whatever denomination, look, for their subsistence, to the friendship,
humour, pride, or wants of the 600,000 proprietors.
Out of 70 millions, at which the landed revenue throughout _Great
Britain_ is computed, 33 millions are absorbed by the unavoidable
expences, and accessary charges attending cultivation, or annexed to the
property. The proprietors share among themselves 20 or 25 millions; the
other 12 millions go through the hands of farmers, as a very equitable
recompence for their trouble, and as a liberal interest for a personal
stock of 120 millions necessary to the produce of the revenue. (Vide Mr.
_Arthur Young_.) On the best use possible of these last 120 millions,
solely depends the increase of landed profits: but it is only by degrees,
and the concurrence of favourable circumstances, that the landed property
can effectually receive the increase of the capital, which is calculated
to augment that produce.—Does it conduce to the interest of the State,
that, till then, the farmer should keep inactive the capital appropriated
to so material an object, or that he should lay it out to improve the
lands before it is wanted, or that, waiting for the instant of need, he
should employ it in such manner as not to have it at command when the
needful time is arrived?—This question cannot be answered, I think, but
in the negative; and it appears to me, that, on this point at least, I
may assert positively, that an establishment, which puts into the hands
of the farmer, at the very juncture when he wants it, that portion of
his capital which had hitherto been useless, _and which however was,
till then, (owing to such an establishment) advantageous to some one
else_, is, of all others, the most profitable, wherever the object is,
to give to every capital that degree of activity and utility of which
it is susceptible. Therefore, a reimbursement which would deprive the
_capitalists_, farmers, and active proprietors, of a resource equally
safe and profitable, would not only prove fatal to the order of citizens
especially interested in the landed revenue, but to all those who, whilst
the money intended for the improvement of land, is unapplied, make use of
it in some advantageous speculation, which becomes important to the arts,
and to commerce.
We have already observed, that out of the three last millions of
inhabitants, 600,000 _capitalists_ only share among themselves the
neat profits of the arts, and of cultivation. There remain therefore
2 millions 400,000 dependents, who look up, for their subsistence, to
the caprice, the pride, or wants of those opulent men. Now out of that
number of dependents under every denomination, servants, clerks, lawyers,
physicians, &c. several thousands are to be reckoned, who, tired of
their situation, put by constantly, part of the wages of servitude, in
order to secure to themselves and their posterity a more free and less
equivocal existence.—Would the State be benefited, were this class of
men, as essential as any other parts of society, to bury, as it were, the
surplus of their layings-out, till they should have amassed the sum they
might think sufficient for their intended purpose?—Would not the money,
thus lying idle, occasion a chasm in circulation, which would turn to the
prejudice of trade, thereby deprived of part of its resources?—Besides,
if the want of a chest, safe from the attempt of robbers, and other
inconveniences, a chest which is not only a security for them, but
affords an interest for the money therein deposited, should necessitate
them prematurely to embark in some scheme foreign to their occupation,
which must be either abandoned or neglected: would not that knowledge,
which they have derived from experience in all matters relating to their
primitive avocation, be entirely lost to the public?—A reimbursement
therefore which would deprive that part of society, much more wretched
and dependent than either the mechanic or the cultivator, of a resource
which, from its certainty, induces the former to fulfill with more zeal
and exactness, the duties they have imposed on themselves, would prove a
measure as hostile to humanity, as it would be contrary to sound policy.
In the immensity of commercial operations, how many capitals to a
considerable amount, unemployed during two, three, four, and six months,
are indispensably wanted at the precise period! Would it turn out to
the advantage of the State, if a considerable capital, useless for six
months to the holders, and for the like space of time essentially wanted
by those who possess none, should lie dormant in the proprietor’s chest,
till time should give it life, and make it useful?
But it may be urged, a man buying stock in the public funds, would lend
to the seller (were no such funds established) the sum which he gives
for his purchase.—That he might do so, there is not the least doubt: But
could he depend on receiving the money at the time appointed for the
repayment? May not the best man to-day, be a bankrupt to-morrow, and
break for a million; and if the enterprise, to the execution of which
a merchant appropriates, to be paid in six months, that portion of his
capital, which till then has been to him unprofitable, should require
that punctuality which alone could insure its success, will not prudence
compel him to give up six months interest, that his undertaking may not
be left entirely to chance?—Will not the public have lost the fruit which
might have been reaped from that dormant capital, had the owner been at
liberty to dispose of it?—And, will the same public flatter themselves
that the six months interest which the merchant was obliged to sacrifice,
in order to secure the execution of his plan, will not be reckoned in the
expenditure?
Some will say, with no small degree of acrimony, “How many drones
are supported at the expence of the public funds! These are only an
encouragement to idleness.”
But do the persons before spoken of, come within this description? And,
if the man who has laboured in his youth, chooses to repose himself
in his old-age, is this pretended idleness any thing more than that
_otium_, that leisure, so justifiable, and so sweet, after a toilsome
life, when the state of the mind, and of the heart, cease to make labour
necessary?—And, supposing, that after his death his wealth devolves to an
ideot, must the son of an industrious father, who has served the State
both by his œconomy and labour, be deprived of his resource?
It might be objected, that my reasoning derives its force from the bare
supposition of a total reimbursement, the possibility of which no one can
admit; but were it subjoined, that, by acknowledging the impracticability
of the measure, we suppose its expediency;—were it farther said,
that the public papers have often spoken of, and do still point out
as the readiest and surest way to effect it, _the application of the
sponge_;—were it added, that the first geniuses of _England_, _France_,
nay, of all _Europe_, have advanced, and do still maintain, that such
a measure will one day or other become unavoidable;—then we should be
forced to acknowledge, that it would be no inconsiderable service to
humanity, to spare no endeavours to convince the people, that no greater
ease, power, or happiness, would accrue to them, were the nation to
resolve upon its own disgrace.
Nor would it, in my opinion, be a more difficult talk to prove, that from
a real and gradual reimbursement, no other advantage could result, than
bringing about by degrees and more imperceptibly, an evil which would
prove equally unprofitable to all.
I set aside the outcry against the interest yearly paid to foreigners,
as the produce of the sums vested by them in the funds, because I think
ruin impossible, where the money borrowed at 4 or 5, is laid out at
an interest of 6, 7, or even 10 _per cent._ I likewise overlook the
declamatory complaints on the fate of the handicraft and husbandman;
because the laws of _Lycurgus_ should be revived, or the government must
confine itself to protect those two classes of men against every sort
of private vexation, and to secure to them the trifling salary to which
they are every where and forever doomed. In spite of avarice the salary
must be raised, if the prices of every necessary should increase; and
were these to fall in their value, mutiny itself could not prevent a
diminution of wages.
That part of the people which truly deserves, and should engage the
attention of government, is that crowd of dependents, in the other class,
of which I have already spoken: like the cultivator and artificer, they
have no other stock than the passions and wants of the _capitalists_.
These would be much more wretched than the others, if the education
they have received, carrying their thoughts constantly and in spite of
themselves beyond the present moment, government should in a manner
compel them to center them all within that narrow space. The merchant
never has more in the funds than that portion of his capital, which, for
the moment, is useless to his trade. The farmer, and the proprietor who
manages his own estate, _considered under these two heads_, have at no
time in the funds more than that portion of their capitals, the actual
use of which upon the lands they cultivate, might turn rather to their
prejudice than profit. The annihilating of the public funds, or, in other
words, a partial reimbursement, a gradual discharge of the debt, could
therefore affect those three orders of stockholders no farther than to
deprive them of this way of increasing their capitals, without running
any risk; and those are, undoubtedly, the smallest part of the sums which
constitute the national debt. Which is, then, the order of citizens that
receives the larger share of the interest funded for that debt? It is
that multitude of dependents whom the political œconomy of society has
doomed to toilsome occupations useful to that society, or to laborious
studies, of which that very society daily reaps the benefit: it is to
that multitude of widows and orphans of both sexes, whose future support
the unfortunate class above-mentioned thought to have secured by means
of the present privations which they had imposed on themselves: it is to
those children whose elder brothers are in possession of all the family
real estate, and whose parents hoped to have fixed their condition and
settled their fortune by the only means that can effectually obviate,
not the injustice of an unequal division, since it is admitted, but the
inconvenience resulting from the indivisibility of the landed property,
which devolves to the eldest.
Yet if, in a State, we must be father, brother, sister, widow, orphan,
_capitalist_, in fine, or without a capital, but with the faculty of
acquiring one; which, then, is the class of citizens interested in paying
off, either totally, or in part and by degrees, the national debt, when
once it is incurred? Besides, if the reimbursement cannot be effected but
at the public expence, what advantage will the public derive from this
operation?
_Objections of another kind against paying off the National Debt._
The nominal amount of a loan which nothing obliges us to repay, is a
matter of a very little importance; the interest agreed upon for the
borrowed sum, is the only thing that deserves attention. The total of
the interest in _England_ is now about nine millions, three millions of
which could not be procured but by laying taxes on those objects which
had hitherto escaped the penetrating eye of the financiers, and by
doubling or trebling the impost on those which appeared less liable to
the inconveniences attending such an additional increase.
Before I examine in what mode the taxes operate, I shall suppose, for the
satisfaction of the sensible and benevolent mind, that this formidable
burden falls only on the consumer of such objects as are taxed. The only
plausible aim of a reimbursement, is a diminution of the taxes which lie
so heavy on that consumer; but the misfortune is, that the only means of
refunding, is to devise new taxes, or increase the former ones. Besides,
if this increase be trifling, the reimbursement cannot be effected in
less than a century. I freely confess, that in this case, the proprietors
of the public funds would be less aggrieved, having then sufficient time
to think on the less disadvantageous modes of replacing their stock; yet,
I repeat it, not less than a century would suffice to discharge that
very debt; and the public being a little more burdened annually, than
they would have been had not the project of paying off the debt been
started, would have no other compensation for the additional burden, than
the distant prospect of a general release in a hundred years.—If the
intention is, to bring about that release within a period which, to the
fiftieth part of the present generation, gives the hope of enjoying the
effect of it, I agree, that by means of one million of additional taxes,
and some financiering tricks, the whole debt may be liquidated within the
space of 40 or 50 years; and then, that part of the present generation
which may exist at that _most gracious_ period, will, perhaps, bless the
hand by which it shall have been relieved. But would that same hand be,
till then, entitled to the like blessings from the unfortunate who should
be reimbursed, and from those at whose expence this operation would be
effected?
A first difficulty attending the objects under examination, is, that on
every head requiring an explanation, a multitude of questions occur,
which must be previously discussed; yet, with the utmost candour I
confess, that there is not one among them which is not above the extent
of my abilities. I shall therefore offer my thoughts on the subject with
all that diffidence which results from such a consciousness. Partly by
chance, partly from some other circumstance, as little glorious almost,
or as little humiliating, I have been so often in the right, and so often
in the wrong, that I should not be now more surprised at the one than
proud of the other.
Another inconvenience is, that a picture, which, in its _ensemble_,
might hold out, through a thousand incorrections and as many essential
defects, a grand subject which, to become generally interesting, seems
to wait only for the pencil of a skilful artist, viewed, unfortunately,
by pieces, (and indeed it cannot be viewed otherwise,) presents at each
time, nothing but a singularity, an oddity, which will cease to be so
only when brought near to another; and this last, nevertheless, will
require the same indulgence in order to its being rightly understood.
The picture which I have presumed to take in hand is, I think, nearly
of this kind. My wish, and a bold one it is, would be, that no judgement
be pronounced on any of the particular parts, till they have been seen
all together; for there are but few of them which, till another has been
examined, is not liable to very just objections: and under each head I
have answered to those only which it was essential to refute, that the
reader might be able to go through the whole of the exhibition, which,
had the plan of it been presented in the first page, might have subjected
the book to be committed to the flames without mercy, and, indeed,
without much apparent injustice.
I now resume my subject, after a digression that may be looked upon as a
preface, which the reader may perhaps think might have been spared.
In the age we live in, to justify a necessary impost, by the pretence
of paying off the debt, would be, of all state manœuvres, the most
unpardonable. To lay heavy burdens on the people now, so as to liberate
them in the space of a century, is, independent of a great many
more improbabilities, to suppose, in the plan of administration, an
immutability which it cannot give itself, and which does not, nor ever
can exist. To leave the individuals of a nation in possession of all,
that it is not indispensable to take away from them, in order that, with
what they have left, they may acquire that which it will be perhaps
necessary to deprive them of, is a principle, the absurdity of which
it would be no easy matter to evince; but, to crush them under such an
additional weight of taxes as would be necessary to exonerate them forty
or fifty years hence, would be, in my opinion, attempting a measure, some
of the consequences of which have no doubt escaped the attention of the
proposers.
What may be the immediate effect of a considerable reimbursement, which
even solely depends on the produce of taxation, and by no means of a
real increase of specie in the nation? It consists in refunding to the
lenders a sum which must cease to be useful to them, till it is replaced
somewhere else; and obliging them to vest it, without loss of time, on
that portion of the debt which is not yet acquitted.—But this privileged
portion, which, previous to the reimbursement, was supposed only worth
80, and produced four, (it may be observed that, in the numbers, which
I fix upon, I only look for terms to explain my meaning) will be worth
90, and presently 100, yet will not bring in more than _four_. It may
be answered, the stocks rise, public credit increases.—We are not yet
come to this point; but the fortune of the repaid stockholders, which
does not consist in a nominal capital, but in the revenue it produces,
will therefore, in fact, suffer a diminution of one whole fifth. What
will then become of that fifth of the taxed objects consumed by them, and
which they can no longer purchase?—It will, in my opinion, be necessary
either to put a stop to the manufacturing of that fifth, and throw so
many hands out of employment, or else lower the prices, yet continue to
levy the tax, and then the manufacturer will complain of the burden; or,
in fine, this fifth, now useless to the nation, must be exported, and
this adds to the first inconvenience resulting from the tax imposed for
the reimbursement: for, after all, if taxation operates in the manner
it appears at first sight to do, that is, if it diminishes the means
of consumption, then, by laying 1,000,000 of taxes appropriated to the
liquidation of the debt, you have diminished your home-consumption, it
matters not of what articles; you have diminished it, and still more
so by the incapacity, to which the creditors paid off are reduced, of
consuming that which they did consume previous to the reimbursement.
Your exportation, it may be said, is by so much more increased, and
enriched.—Granted;—but at whose expence? Who is to profit by it? In
what manner are the returns to be made?⸺When foreign trade augments
in proportion to the increase of the produce and home-consumption, it
is easily conceived, that if the money imported does not exceed the
proportion necessary to answer that double increase, the progression
being equal every way, each article (money among the rest) will keep up
to its value; but if the number of representatives is increased without
any addition being made to the objects represented, is not the price of
representation thereby diminished? Or, in other words, if you add to the
real stock of money in the nation, at the expence of part of your own
consumption, (which is the object in question) will not the price of the
other parts of that same consumption rise in spite of you?
Besides, by diminishing, in any quantity whatever, the general mass of
home-consumption, (and in the present supposition you may well think
that it has decreased, both by the tax imposed and the reimbursement
made) have the sums appropriated to that part of the consumption,
annihilated by you, been withdrawn from the circulation? If not, then
by adding thereto the increase of that balance in your favour, which
you pretend to receive from abroad, by what means can you prevent a
general rise in the prices, in proportion, not only to the quantity of
that fatal money imported, but also to that cash, which ought to have
been buried under ground, that it might, at least, only prove useless,
after the home-consumption has undergone the diminution occasioned by the
reimbursement and taxes? This is not all; the unfortunate creditors who
have been paid off, already reduced from five parts of what they enjoyed,
to four only, will certainly, soon after you shall have put the said
balance into circulation, become unable, with the _four_ that remain,
to purchase more articles than they could have procured with _three_,
previous to the tax and reimbursement.
Will you pretend to say, that this money does not circulate within
the nation? that it becomes the source of a new trade? and that the
exporters, instead of over-loading _England_ with that specie, send or
carry abroad the value thereof from _Spain_ into _France_, _Germany_, and
_Russia_?—that is to say, after having reduced the home-consumption, the
exporters, who, rightly enough, are not willing to lose, will contribute
to extend the internal consumption of _Spain_, _France_, _Germany_
and _Russia_, and of course _the ways and means_ of these different
nations, as well as the produce of their taxes, in the same proportion as
those objects have decreased amongst you.—Could this seriously be your
intention?
But if it clearly appear, that the execution of the refunding plan would
prove equally pernicious in its immediate tendency, both to the creditors
who would be compelled to accept of it, and those at whose expence it
must be effected, what then might be the case, if the interest of that
debt, which ingrosses so much the public attention, being paid by _all_,
were, in fact, paid by _no one_, but for so long a time as nature,
assisted by all the calculations of individuals, may require to correct
the errors of those upon a larger scale, _made by administration, when
administration is capable of making any_.
_In what manner the Interest of the National Debt will be probably paid
off._
It is the most generally received and best respected opinion, that taxes
should in preference be laid on the articles of luxury. There is not a
man possessed of the least feeling and honesty, who does not approve
of this maxim, and whose wish has not often been that the wealthy only
should pay the taxes. Canting enthusiasts further add, that the expence
and luxury of the rich, prove the ruin of the nation. Be it so. But when
the question is, to define what is luxury, in order to subject it to
a tax, every individual exclaims, that it begins precisely with those
articles which the mediocrity of his means, places above his reach.
Instead of laying a tax on beer, would it not be better to increase that
on hackney-coaches? says a porter who is stopped at a crossing, by one
of the above vehicles; whilst the supposed idler who sits in the coach,
and pays for it, exclaims, at the sight of a gilt carriage, that crosses
and stops his way: What! 500_l._ laid out on a single article of luxury!
Would it not be better to tax the owner by so much, and apply the produce
to the maintenance of fifty poor objects during six months? But, my dear
Sir, the manufacturing of this very carriage has maintained a far greater
number. If you begin with the man who extracted from the mine, that gold,
which, with indignation, you see glittering on the wheels; if it is not
beneath you to notice the child employed in driving away the flies that
might have hurt the gloss of the varnish when first laid on; and if
you end your list only with those who, instead of horses, dragged the
carriage into the coach-house of that stately man, whose pomp gives you
so much offence; would it have pleased you more if all those hands had
been paid for doing nothing? The rich man alone, say you, ought to pay
the taxes: but it is impossible that they should be paid by others, “_if
it be true, that every man, destitute of a capital, can pay nothing but
at the expence of the capitalist_.”
It would be a difficult matter to trace out, with exactness, the
progress of the taxes; but it appears to me, that whatever be the mode
of establishing them, there is not a subject who does not contribute his
share sooner or later, unless nature should annul the burden, even before
the clashing of private interests should have succeeded in settling the
division upon equitable principles.
The downfall of _England_ was foretold at her very first loan. This
prophecy did not destroy the means of funding, on a very solid basis,
in the year 1762, that part of the national debt, till then unfunded.
Now I would ask the man, whom I should know to be most intimately
persuaded of the dreadful effect that must be produced by a debt of
64,234,595_l._ incurred from 1754 to 1762, in addition to a still
heavier one, contracted since the time when the total amount of the
landed revenue was rated at 32,000,000, and the value of the lands only
at 320 millions, that is to say, at about double the value of the whole
national debt as it stands at present: I would ask that man, I say,
whether, between the years 1763 and 1775, he has been able to discover
in any parts of _England_, one single symptom of decay, either in
agriculture or commerce, any diminution of public or private enjoyments,
or less insolence amongst the common people, by which one may surely
judge of the alterations which may happen in their circumstances.
This general observation may suffice to make us look on the period of
1775, as presenting a state of things, which, supposing it had been
prolonged, could not have held out any alarming prospect. Every one
worked or enjoyed, and every body was paid. All this, methinks, might
have continued on the same footing to the end of the world, without any
alteration on the former or subsequent fortune of any one, such only
excepted, as industry, activity, imprudence, and foresight, must occasion
in all countries where justice is blind, and has but one scale.
I readily acknowledge, that at that period a grievous war broke out,
which did not conclude till 60 millions, nominally 100, had been added
to the old debt, or, to come more directly to the point, till the
nation had been loaded, or, if you please, crushed under the enormous
weight of three additional millions interest to be paid annually.
But in what manner will those three millions, so heavy, so dreadful,
affect the interested parties? In my judgement, it will be the same
with this additional burden, as it has been with the six millions which
the said parties were wont to pay before the last war. It certainly
must have been felt at first by every body, except the trading part
of the nation, whose first operation ever was to add to the price of
the taxed commodities, both the amount of the tax, and the benefit
of the advance to the consumer. (AND THIS IS STRICTLY CONSONANT WITH
JUSTICE.) Now these consumers are of two sorts, viz. the proprietor of
lands, and the proprietor of money: the latter must also be considered
under a two-fold point of view, as a capitalist for himself, or as a
dependant who receives the money from either of the two proprietors. The
proprietor of money, from the nature of this instrument of trade, is a
being merely passive; twenty shillings, which he is paid for interest,
can _currently_ enable him to purchase such articles only as _currently_
sell for 20 shillings. If the taxes had increased, by one tenth, the
price of all the commodities which he used to consume before the war of
1755, it is clear, therefore, that in 1763 he had lost one tenth of all
his _possible_ enjoyments: I say possible; for the monied man, I speak
in general, saves enough, annually, to strike an advantageous balance
against the inconveniences _inseparable_ from his capital; I mean that
progressive and unavoidable depreciation of money, so long as there will
be mines opened, and taxes to discharge. But he can effect it with the
greater ease, as his stock often returns 5 _per cent._ whilst the capital
of the landed proprietor brings him in hardly four, and often less.
The _dependent_ proprietor of money had also his resource; he, by
degrees, obtained an increase of salary; (AND THIS IS STRICTLY CONSONANT
WITH JUSTICE.)
Neither was the landed proprietor without his resource: he gradually
raised the price of his goods, and would have increased it to the level
of the whole amount of the produce of industry; (AND THIS WOULD HAVE
BEEN STRICTLY CONSONANT WITH JUSTICE.) But nature very often anticipates
the execution of that very equitable measure, by another operation which
is as infallibly the consequence of peace, as taxes are the effect of
war, ever since the abolishing of personal service. The 10, 15, 20
millions, which government had borrowed during the war, were nothing more
than a part of the capitals which in happier times might have been laid
out in the improvement of cultivation and industry. Peace brought them
back to their destination; an increase in the quantity of the produce
of lands was the consequence; and an equal increase in the demands of
the productions of industry, occasioned by the former, kept up the price
of every thing, _by facilitating to the one, the means of purchasing
what the other wanted to dispose of_, and by presenting an increase of
resources to that increase of population, which as certainly results from
peace and plenty, as mortality does from war and scarcity.
I now return to the three millions interest brought upon this nation
by the last war; and I demand, what reason can prevent similar effects
resulting from similar causes?
Yet, in order to obtain a complete idea of the whole burden of this
_formidable_ debt, we must suppose that the full amount of it was
contracted during the last war; and then we shall see how many millions
of guineas it would really cost _England_ to pay off for ever the
interest of all her successes and miscarriages from the beginning of this
century, if the 9 millions of taxes should be now established in order to
supply the interest of the debt of 238 millions.
It will appear hereafter, that 9 millions of taxes laid on the articles
of consumption, would increase, by about 14 millions, the price or
nominal value of the whole produce of industry, rated upon supposition
at 56 millions. Now it seems to me equally unjust and impossible, that
the total amount of the produce of agriculture should not thereby be
increased in the like proportion: I beg to be allowed this supposition,
until I assign my reasons for it, and bring proofs sufficiently positive
to ascertain the fact.
Be it supposed, then, that the collective revenue of land and industry do
amount to 112 millions, independent of the taxes.
Let us equally suppose that 40 millions sterling, in cash and paper
currency, would be necessary and sufficient for the circulation of the
said 112 millions.
Fourteen millions, in taxes, and in the advanced prices which must
follow, are one eighth of 112 millions revenue, which, by the necessary
rise in the price of every thing, is carried to 126 millions. Now, 5
millions in cash and paper currency, are likewise one eighth part of the
supposed 40 millions necessary for home circulation.—It would then cost
_England_ only 5 millions in cash and paper, once found, to secure for
ever, and in the most permanent manner, the interest of a debt of 238
millions, the very idea of which shook the firm nerves of the _Walpoles_,
the _Humes_, and of the many experienced men, on whose authority it was
no weakness to tremble, before investigating a matter, which nobody, in
my judgement, had hitherto attempted to examine.
All the operations of Nature are slow, gradual, imperceptible; and how is
it possible to trace her out in her progress, when, in the measures which
lead her to the general good, she has recourse only to that multitude of
private interests which seemingly tend to destroy it? Yet, in order that
we may form some idea of her operations in the point in question, let us
execute, in an instant, that which she would effect in half a century,
if it were possible within that space of time to incur a debt of 420
millions, without any augmentation or decrease taking place in the landed
revenue.
_First Hypothesis._
Let us suppose, that, instead of appropriating the capitals that have
disappeared, either to undertakings relative to agriculture and industry,
(which would have trebled the real revenue,) or to those wars, either
successful or grievous, that have left behind them only a frivolous or
bitter recollection—let us suppose, I say, that Government should have,
till this day, thought of nothing but making public establishments,
and that every contributor to the public expence, being permitted at
last to live up to the full rate of his means, should find the fruit of
his former privations, in a multitude of monuments, such as the most
luxuriant fancy can conceive, from the wisest disposal of the capitals,
and of the time necessary to incur a national debt, the interest of
which, added to the increase resulting from the taxes, should amount
to 32 millions, upon an aggregate revenue of 64 millions, in which
agriculture and industry should have an equal share. Such, nearly, was
the state of the nation, under _William_ and _Mary_, as we have already
observed.
The tax laid on the produce of industry would double the 32 millions:
this is just; nor can it be doubted; for there is not a manufacturer,
whose goods or produce have just been taxed, but will acknowledge this
truth. Besides, the _British_ Parliament avows it. What remains now,
is to convince the landed proprietors, that by doubling also their
32 millions revenue, they injure no one whatever. It is needless to
prove, that if they act otherwise, if they be only passive when the
manufacturers are so justly active, they must be reduced to plough those
lands that acknowledge them for their lords.
Previous to the tax, the 32 millions landed revenue, used to cost,
annually, to the landlord and farmer, 9 or 10 millions, paid to the
cultivators, and laid out in other expences. Such is the rate; nearly one
third of the revenue, (See _A. Young_’s Political Arithmetic.) Before the
tax, industry must have laid out amongst the handicraftsmen, nine or ten
of her 32 millions.
By doubling, therefore, the price of labour in agriculture and industry,
the labouring people of both, will, under the numbers 18 or 20, have what
they had before under those of 9 or 10; and these two great engines of
national wealth will no ways be clogged.
As for the two _capitalists_ in land and industry, it is clear that each
of them will have exactly the faculty of preparing, buying, selling,
consuming, and saving, under the denomination of 30, 40, 60, &c. all that
they could prepare, buy, sell, consume, and save, under that of 15, 20,
30, &c.
Before we attend to the lender, let us advert to the State; and let it be
observed, that _in the case where 20 millions of cash and paper currency
would have sufficed for the circulation and national transactions of all
kinds, at a time when both revenues amounted to 64 millions, it is enough
to find out 20 millions more, whenever, by the effect of taxation, those
said revenues are raised from 64 to 128 millions; and from the instant
that those 20 millions in cash and paper currency are obtained, you may
flatter yourselves to have established, ~funded~ most firmly and for
ever, the interest of a national debt of 420 millions, the interest of
which, would at 5 per cent. amount to 21 millions_.
It is not yet time to examine what influence so considerable a rise, in
the price of every thing, might have upon the foreign trade; but let
us turn our thoughts to the interest of the stockholder, who has so
generously lent his money. It will be said, that he is evidently injured:
_the interest due to him on account of his loan, was equal to two-thirds
of the landed revenue: the land is mortgaged to the creditors of the
state: two-thirds of the neat revenue belong therefore in fact to the
lender. A few years more, employed in erecting useful buildings, bridges,
causeways, &c. the whole landed revenue must have been absorbed, and the
lender have entered into possession._
Such is nearly the result of Mr. _Hume_’s reasoning on this pretended
_mania_ of supplying the wants of the State, by mortgaging its revenue.
Let me be permitted to urge a few words in answer, on behalf of the
landed proprietor.
Whatever use the sums borrowed are put to by government, in this respect
the nation and the lender stand nearly in the same predicament as two
individuals who should have set up an undertaking at a joint expence:
when it is completed, each of them first takes back his capital, before
they share the profits. In point of national enterprises, is war the
object? The profit is existence and glory, if the war has proved
successful. Are public establishments in prospect? Then the lender shares
in their utility and comfort. Has the employing of the capital been
productive neither of glory, nor public establishments? In a word, is
the State reduced to its primary and bare existence? The capital lent
will not, at least, be lost to the lender, _if administration think fit
to observe how little it costs to be just_; and the lender, on his part,
will reflect, that he should not have been a greater gainer, had he
buried his treasure during the time of national distress and that, had he
lent it to individuals, he might have lost it entirely.
What I have just said, will, I think, suffice to refute the extravagant
pretensions which Mr. _Hume_ is pleased to suppose in the lender. What I
shall add, will also be sufficient, I hope, to quiet the scrupulous minds
of those who might entertain some doubts on the injustice of despoiling
the landed proprietor; I mean, the injustice of any kind of spoliation,
but that which may be the consequence of his own extravagance.
That man who gives up his land for the annual quit-rent of a quarter
of wheat, and two shillings when the wheat was at four shillings only,
supposed he had entitled himself and his heirs to an income of a quarter
and a half of wheat; yet his representatives enjoy, at this day, only one
quarter, and the 18th or 20th part of another.—Will these insist, that
the meaning of the landlord having been to secure, and that of the tenant
to grant, such a portion of the landed revenue, as might be at all times
equal to a quarter and a half of wheat, it is unjust to act in direct
opposition to the intention of the contracting parties? This objection
would appear very forcible, and yet would go no further than to prove,
that, when a proprietor gives up his land for an annual consideration, he
ought to stipulate that it should be paid in kind, if he means to keep up
to the same income; if not, the landlord must be referred to the terms of
his contract.
The state-creditor stands in a far more disagreeable predicament; he
cannot even suppose, on his part, an intention hostile to the general
good. Whoever lends to the State, knows that the latter cannot pay the
interest it submits to, but by taxes, which, in the long-run, affect
every thing alike; and that one must cease to be a consumer, if he would
forbear coming in for his share. Now, whilst the exigency of the State
requires fresh loans, and course additional taxes, whoever advances of
the stock, the interest of which is paid by means of those very taxes,
cannot entertain any hopes of avoiding their effect, unless it be for a
short period, which depends entirely on the adopted scheme of finance.
Some of these schemes extend, others shorten the round such taxes must
go through, before the burden falls equally on every shoulder, _and
becomes null by its universality_. I say _null_, all injustice set aside,
which is inseparable from some sorts of taxes, of which I shall speak
hereafter; but, I add, _strictly null_, even in regard to the lender,
although the price of every article be raised, whilst his revenue alone
continues on the same standard. And I ground my opinion on the following
reason, which appears to me unanswerable: The difference between the
interest of money, and that of landed property, is always a sufficient
indemnity to the monied man for the rise, occasioned by the taxes,
on the prices of the produce of land and industry; but _nothing can
compensate the landed proprietor for that pretended increase of wealth
called Money, or that supposed poverty known by the name of Taxes, but
a proportionable increase in the price of his goods_[3]. A word more
on the lender. One may take the part of that important individual, who
accumulates those savings by which the State is to profit. It is allowed,
I say, to support such a man even against the State, when the State
attempts to reduce him by an useless reimbursement, by an _unnatural_
operation; but he should be assigned his real rank in the State, that he
may not complain of the _natural_ reductions. In this case, I think, we
should be more just, more humane, and more equitable, than Mr. _Hume_,
when, in the continuation of the scheme of national loans, he offers to
the posterity of the present owners of landed estates, no other prospect
than that of serving, as coachmen, the descendents of their footmen,
and no other means of averting the prophecy—but _a bankruptcy_. (_Vide_
_Hume’s Public Credit_, Essay IX.)
_Reflections on the two foregoing Articles._
If it were very true, though upon the first blush rather strange, that
after an operation so simple as that of increasing the price of the whole
mass of commodities, or rather suffering it _naturally to increase_, in
proportion as the taxes and the effects produced by them enhance the
price of all the products of industry, which are to bear those taxes—were
it true, I say, that after so plain, so simple an operation, it would
suffice, in order to secure for ever, in the most efficacious manner, the
payment of the interest on any given national debt whatever, to find,
_once for all_, in cash and paper, a sum which would exactly be, to the
mass of the specie and paper already in circulation, as the interest of
the debt, and the reactions of which I shall speak in the sequel, are
to the mass of the two revenues—were it equally true, that those who
are to be paid that interest, should, _after these two previous data_,
have nothing in the world to dread but the reimbursement of a principal,
the interest of which should appear so oddly secured, it would then be
impossible not to confess, that _England_ has hitherto been a prey to
great uneasiness, with very little foundation.
It would then be necessary to conclude, that all other nations were
greatly in the wrong to think that _England_ had any reason to be alarmed.
It must, in this case also, be acknowledged, that _France_, in 1720,
very unreasonably cut asunder the _Gordian_ knot of her difficulties, by
declaring in substance that she owed no longer 15 millions _Tournois_ of
the debts which she had contracted; since, without so barbarously cutting
the knot, and thereby effecting the ruin of thousands of wretched beings,
she would have secured their fortune by imposing without mercy, or rather
with judgement, a tax of 75 millions on all the produce of industry,
which this tax would not have raised by one twentieth part; whilst an
_Arrêt_ from the council, permitting _then_ the exportation of grain,
which was not allowed till 50 years after, would have proved more than
sufficient to enhance, as it must have done, the price of commodities,
in order to make amends to the landed proprietors for the increase which
they would have found in the products of industry.
Above all, it would be necessary to admit, that no minister, in any
country, could, for the future, without a horrid perverseness, without a
want of judgement bordering upon insanity, propose, neither all together
nor separately, expedients as shameful as they would prove useless;
and that no individual could hereafter dread such measures, without
being guilty of folly. What a security, then, for the Subject! what an
advantage to the State! what a _facility_ for Administration!
Under this point of view, the idea I start deserves to be examined; but I
once more entreat the reader not to pronounce finally upon it, until it
has undergone the full exposition which I propose to give it. Nor shall
I think I have written in vain, if I succeed only in making it appear
so feasible, as to induce some abler hand more deeply to investigate it.
Where is the man who would not wish to find it true? where is the man who
could have an interest in finding it otherwise? I confess, perhaps to my
shame, that it has engrossed my attention for a long series of years; I
apply it to every thing, I square it with every thing; and the more I
consider it under all the suppositions which my fancy suggests, the more
I compare these suppositions with all the facts which it is possible to
ascertain, and which seem to bear any relation to the subject, the more
am I convinced, not only that the matter stands thus, but even that it is
impossible it should be otherwise.