2,000,000l. to be subscribed by the Eaft India Company. Subject, therefore, to the deduction of the intereft of the two millions, the total amount of intereft would be 2,110,000l. WAYS AND MEANS. The Chancellor of the Exchequer now proceeded to the painful task of enumerating the various means by which he propofed to meet this heavy burthen. It was, however, no fmall confolation to him, that, in providing for thefe burthens, he had met the general with of the nation, and the Houfe ought not, for any feeling for their conftituents, much lefs for themselves, neglect to give a pledge to Europe, and to our country, that whatever be the event of the ftruggle, the Houfe would not be wanting in the great duty with which it was invested. Having furveyed the whole mafs of revenue, in order to afcertain those parts of it to which it would be moft proper to refort, he had felected the following articles, as the beft calculated to bear additional duties. NEW TAXES. TEA, &c. He remarked, that notwithstanding the additional duty on the above article, it appeared, from the amount of the Company's Sales, laft year exceeded the amount of any former period. It was not his intention to propofe, that the addition fhould affect the pooreft claffes in the flightest degree, as he should except the fpecies of tea purchased by the poor, which was not more than 2s. per lb. India fale price.--Confidering that the fales had increased, and the tax upon tea increafed also, and that the common tea. was excepted, he thought that the committee would not be of opinion, that an additional duty of ten per cent. upon the value was too great. He therefore proposed an additional duty of ten per cent. on tea, which would produce, ac. cording to eftimate, L. 240,000 30,000 On Coffee, 10 per cent (additional) On Bricks imported, 3s. 6d. per 1000 36,000 40,000 With refpect to this article, he faid, he believed that he was meeting the with VOL. LVIII. es of gentlemen, y imposing a large additional duty.-Indeed, he wished he could, without injury to the revenue, impofe a much higher; but the addition he intended to fubmit was, one penny on the gallon of wash, or five pence on the gallon of British fpirits; eightpence per gallon on rum, and ten-pence on brandy. The produce of this tax he estimated at 220,000l. SCOTCH SPIRITS. From Scotland he had received reprefentations from a great variety of refpectable gentlemen, and they concurred in recommending a very high additional duty on this article, as it had a pernicious effect upon the morals and health of the people. In that country the duty was laid on the capacity of the ftill, which was now at 181.. He meant that duty should be trebled, which would produce, according to estimate, 300,000l. The total produce of taxes, therefore, under the head of Excife, would be 856,000l. CUSTOMS SUGAR, COFFEE, &c. Under the head of Cuftoms, there was only one confiderable article, fugar, on which he meant to propose an additional duty of 2s. 6d. per cwt. the estimated produce was 280,oool. On hemp, bar iron, brimftone, and ftaves, he propofed an additional duty of ten per cent. which would produce 40,000l. and on wines, oil, &c. five per cent. the produce of which would be 110,cool. He likewise suggested an increafe on pepper, amounting to 10,000l. and a drawback on plantation coffee to 22,000l. ASSESSED T. XES. The next article on which he propofed an increased duty, was on the affef fed taxes, confifting of two forts-one on houses, amounting to 11,000l.; 10 per cent. on the commutation duty, producing 55,000l.; and an additional duty of 20 per cent. upon the horse duty and on dogs, which would amount to 62,000l. and on windows, connected with the rents of houfes; this might produce between 140 and 150,000l. Total of increafed duty on affelled taxes 290,000l. POSTAGE OF LETTERS. An increafe on the conveyance of let- STAGE 60,000 60,000 120,000 Befides fome new regulations on receipts, obliging every perfon' who receives the money to pay for the ftamp. RECAPITULATION. Tea-10 per cent. additional on all tea above 2s. per lb. Spirits-8d. per gallon on rum A L. 240,000 (India fale price) rod. ditto on brandy IS. ditto on home made 5 per cent. on cuftomed goods, and 10per cent. on brimfione, hemp, iron in bars or unwrought, olive oils and ftaves, (prize goods, wines and coals excepted) Auctions-2d. in the pound on eftates; 3d. ditto on furniture Coffee and Cocoa-10 per cent. Paftage-id. additional on 3d. and fo in proportion Canals-1s. 8d. tell duty on goods carried by inland navigation Stage Coaches-1d. per mile Parcels-2d. on all parcels booked (a ftamp receipt) Drawback on plantation coffee Affeffed Taxes, and new regulations on horfes, 12,000l.; houfes, 150l.; and commutation duty, 128,000l. (each an additional 20 per cent.) 220,000 300,000 280,000 October 1796, could not be faid to be rated at less than 14,120,000l. The next point of importance was the vote of 3,000,000l. as a vote of credit to meet the extraordinary expences of the year. He trufted that this fum would be fuffi cient to defray the expences of the year 1797. He had the fatisfaction to ftate, that, independent of the fame fervices, or any state of the war that may occur, the extraordinaries would not amount to more than 3,500,000l. exclufive of any fupply that may be deemed neceffary to our ally. The debt payable from the merchants of Grenada was 900,000l. which he conceived a valid debt, as the commiffioners appointed to act in that bufinefs by act of parliament, he imagined, acted with that precision, so as to take care that the public should not fuffer by that bufinefs. The expences of the present year was fwelled beyond expectation, by domeftic difficulties, and the fcarcity of fpecie, which would not, he trufted, again occur. Even in this fituation, minifters fhould not be blamed, if they exceeded the bounds of parfimony towards an ally, who was enabled to preserve that independence that added glory to his arms, and rendered fo many effential benefits to Europe. Minifters, in this cafe, were not blind to their 40,000 rifque. But they conceived that an al30,000 ly, whofe conduct fhewed him incapable of committing a breach of faith-whofe conduct evinced fuch a glorious contrast to that of others, deferved their confidence, and had profited, as well as En120,000 rope, by their fupport. Minifters, he 60,000 was proud to say, did not decline to extend their fupport to his difficulty; they 60,000 did not deem it prudent to withhold 22,000 their help when such a procedure might 36,000 184,000 250,000 290,000 L. 2,132,000 Having laid thefe particulars before the Houfe, Mr Pitt faid, he would take a curfory view of the consolidated fund; the fund of credit, taken on the produce of fuch of the property as may arise from the participation of the fuffering merchants of Grenada, by the repayment of the fum of 900,000l. which they had been granted. The amount of the permanent revenue to the 10th of have fruftrated the benefits which they derived from his arms. They had advanced to this Prince, the fum of 1,200,000l. and they were happy to fee, that the elasticity of the powers, and the refources of the country, juftified the measure. He asked the committee, if, to fuch a Prince, it would deny its aid and fuccour; and if minifters, in acting conformable to what their duty claimed, had, in this inftance, forfeited their confidence? Mr Pitt next paid a handfome compliment to the subscribers to the loan, which, he obferved, not only did honour to the spirit of the country, but gave leffons of the great refources of of the nation to the enemy; and, after a peroration, delivered with his ufual e loquence and energy, he moved his feveral resolutions, which were, as ufual, an echo of the taxes. Mr Grey faid, though it was not his intention upon the prefent occafion to difcufs the propofitions of the honourable gentleman at length, he could not refrain from making fome observations upon them. In all former years, we had heard much of the facility of railing mo 2 ney; instead of this, we had now found the threat of a forced loan joined to the propofal for a voluntary one. The proН feffions now held out, of an ample provifion made for all expences, were the fame that had been given on all former occafions of this fort by the right hon. gentleman, and had unvaryingly been found fallacious. In April laft, the right hon. gentleman had stated this fame fulnefs of provifion; yet the Houfe had, within these few days, witneffed, from the excess of the navy debt, the inefficacy of his calculation; a fort of difcory which would continue to be made as long as the mode of demanding supplies for a coming year, before the expences of the laft were afcertained, fhould be perfifted in by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who brought in, by accounts for extraordinaries, what fhould have been laid before the House as estimates. Of the exports, which had been fo loudly boasted of, not lefs than a fifth part confifted of coffee. In the produce of the taxes, there was a deficiency, for the prefent year, of 72,000l. and would be in one in future of 84,000l. No lefs than four millions annnally were to be added to the public burdens fince the commencement of the war; and, according to his estimate, taxes to no lefs than 2,113,000l. for the enfuing year, and probably 2,600,000l. in future, would be neceffary, instead of those fuggefted by Mr Pitt. If gentlemen would examine the papers upon the table, they would fee fomething of the rapid progrefs of this country towards ruin, notwithstanding the many fymptoms of profperity urged by the right hon. gentleman, fome of which he admitted to be juft. But they would perceive from those papers the incorrectnefs of the accounts of imports and exports. The Chancellor of the Exchequer faid, that he was glad to find fome of the fymptoms of our profperity admitted by the hon, gentleman to be juft. His ob fervation, that the accounts of imports and exports were incorrect, was not more applicable at prefent than in any former year; thefe accounts had never been perfectly correct; yet with the fame allowance for imperfection in former years as in this, he might know that our exports were greater now than be fore. Mr Fox faid, that, notwithstanding the weight of the objections urged by his honourable friend, he could not, confiftently with his duty, permit the delufive ftatements now made to the House to pafs without fome notice. If what he believed, relative to these statements, were true, it was an idle boat that England had a free conftitution. The fyf. tem of the prefent government virtually included an abolition of the privileges of the House of Commons, and the crea tion of a dictator, who, during the war, was to expend and levy at his discretion. The right hon. gentleman had hitherto been clear in his finances, and had not wanted praife from him for that clearnefs; but was there any man fo duped as to fay, that the prefent accounts were intelligible? His hon. friend (Mr Grey) had found in the papers on the table a charge of four millions, as well as a deficiency of 80,000l. in the taxes; on some future day, if indeed it were worth while to difcufs any thing relative to finances in that Houfe, this would be proved. The right hon. gentleman had argued, that the produce of the taxes would be greater in peace than they are in war. Then of what ufe were the papers on the table? We lay a burthen upon the finking fund of one million, and leave the minifter to make up 200,000l. in fhape of a regulation, in which fhape he had fmuggled many a tax into that House. But did not this come with a peculiarly ill grace from the minifter, who, as to fpirits, had formerly taken off a duty, and reckoned, very properly, that the produce of the remainder would increase, and who now held that the new duty would increafe during peace, when it was well known that fmuggling was most prac ticable. His honourable friend ftated, that one-fith of our exports confifted of coffee; and it had been fince fuggefted to him, that the amount was four mil lions, though the quantity imported was valued only at two millions; but this difficulty arofe from the different values 6 C 2 plazed placed at the Custom houfe upon im ported and exported articles. The minifter had not stated the particulars of our exports. In his commanding manner, he had told the Houfe, that our exports amounted to thirteen millions, and were greater than before the war. This was a confolation which no minifter had wanted. In the war ending 1749, and that commencing 1756, there was an increase of imports and exports; but he did not know that Mr Pelham, Lord Chatham, or Mr Legge, had ever announced this as magnificently as the right hon. gentleman. When the House had voted fums equal nearly to all the expenditure of former wars, they would fee how properly his hon. friend had faid, that the prefent demands were under-rated at one million. If, laft year, when the minifter boafted of borrowing money at L. 4:13: 6d. per cent. he (Mr Fox) had foretold, that it would be neceffary in the next year to give L.5: 128. ód. should he not have been told, that he had predicted evil for his country; he had now to fay, that, confidering the one per cent. to be added to the finking fund, for the whole of the loan, the country ought to be reckoned to pay 61. 15s. per cent. While the old 5 per cents. were felling at 86, the holder of new might demand one hundred pounds; and though it would be faid, as in the American war, that the bonus was left to pofterity, he never expected to hear fuch an argument from the honourable gentleman. In 1793, the minister thought it better to give exorbitant terms for a loan, rather than leave it to an open one. To what was the zeal of the country for the prefent loan to be imputed, but that they supposed the event of peace, or war, to depend upon it, and would make any exertion rather than submit to the continuance of the war. In October 1795, the right hon. gentleman had taken the navy debt at one million and a half; in April 1796, he affured the Houfe, with the greateft confidence, that it could not exceed two millions and a half; in October, his eftimate was feven millions; in December, eight millions. Could the refources, or "the fortune of any country, fupport a war of which the expences were fo incalculable? Was it likely that the difference had arifen from the increafed price of provifions, when the estimate had been made laft year, during the higheft price of every article, especially of bread corn? The hon. gentleman confeffed, that he had fent twelve hundred thousand pounds to the Emperor, without the consent of Parliament. Would he fay, that any thing else was meant by this, than that he was better entitled to judge what the people of Britain fhould give to the Emperor than the Houfe of Commons, in whom the Conftitution had repofed that truft? If this was the fyftem of the day, the Conftitution was neither worthy to be fought or cared for. As to domeftic expences, it might be true, though lamentable, that accuracy was impoffible; but then the principles of thefe expences were known: in the prefent inftance, Parliament had neither known the expence, nor been confulted as to the principle, and the minister deserved to be impeached, for having fhewn a defign to difpofe of money without the authority of the legal guardians of the public purse. He had aggravated this offence by omitting to difclofe it to Parliament the first day of the Seffion, and by withholding the extraordinaries of the army till the day before the budget. The minifter had argued, for the fafety of this loan, from the gallantry and valour of the House of Austria; fuch qualities might be very well mentioned when a gift was in quef tion; but would the House think their conquefts or bravery a fecurity for Britifh property? Nor did the event even of this campaign, in which the enemy had fecured the important paffages of the Rhine, fupport the claim which the Auftrians might be fupposed to derive from conqueft; and with respect to that mercy which was the concomitant of valour, how had it been exercised towards the Marquis de la Fayette? We had hitherto been told, every year of the war, of the infufficiency of French finances, and that they were going on only from week to week; but the mifcalculation in this refpect, was not equal to that of fuppofing that the campaign would be dull and inactive on the part of the enemy. It must be allowed, that every man was liable to be mistaken; but was he to be always fo? What, if his mistakes had coft the country one hundred and fifty millions of money, and rivers of blood! What must be the feelings of those who knew that their mistake had wafted fuch a fum of human life and happiness? The mistake of fup fuppofing, that when the French made a treaty with the King of Pruffia, they were incapable of maintaining the relations of peace and amity? In the declaration of the Elector of Hanover, the minifters of that Sovereign feemed to join iffue with those of Great Britain. The right hon. gentleman had faid, that the Sovereigns who had made peace were not in a better state than those who remained at war. The minifters of Hanover afferted the contrary; and they even declared, that one reason why they withheld the Roman months was, that to grant them would feem to impeach the fincerity of the King of England, who was in negociation with the French republic. By the operations of this day, the national debt would be increafed to 400 millions Sterling. If the hypothefis of a great and eloquent writer (Mr Burke) were true, and that the voice of the people prevailed in that House, how had their wish for peace, which, fince the depofition of Robespierre, was univerfal, been fo long unheard, and the attempt to negociate for peace fo long poftponed beyond the period, when, it was certain, that we might have obtained better terms than at prefent? Mr Fox concluded by faying, that on another opportunity he fhould difcufs fome of the topics more fully, and fhould make fome inquiries relative to the propofed regulation in the Post-Office. On the resumption of the House, the feveral refolutions were agreed to, and the report ordered to be received next day. 8. Mr Hobart brought up the report of the Committee of Ways and Means, which was read a first time; and on the queftion that the refolutions be read a fecond time, of the Executive Government, without the fanction or authority of Parliament. When he went from the Houfe last night, he had confidered the different articles in the statement with the most minute attention, and reflected that he was to give his vote, " Guilty," or "Not Guil ty." The refult of that confideration' had impelled him to come down to the Houfe this day, determined not to fleep another night without protesting against the measure; and, under the perfuafion that he should be guilty of treafon againft his country, did he vote a fingle fhilling from his conftituents without a full explanation from the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Of late, he said, the House had heard much panegyric on the excellence of the constitution, and of the traiterous defigns against it; but the greatest stabs and the most deadly wounds had been perpetrated by the ministers of the crown, who had adopted meafures in violation of it, and trampled upon the exclufive privileges of Parliament. If it was expedient to fend money to the Emperor, on fatisfying the Houfe of that expediency, it would have been granted; but the traniaction was fo directly in violation of the conftitution, and the rights of the Commons of Great Britain, that it had no parallel in the hiftory of the country. Great part of the money was tranfmitted, too, during the feffion, without the flightest intimation of the propriety or expediency of the measure. The hon. gentleman might think himself a better judge of the exigency than the House. It was not his intention to argue this point on reason, but by authority. The conftitution enjoins, that when fupplies are wanted, the Commons of England shall be the fole and exclufive judges of the expediency. The power was not, therefore, vested in the Executive Government, but in the Commons of Great Britain. To maintain the converfe propofition, would be equivalent to the argument, that an arbitrary government is preferable to a limited monarchy, and that tyranny is preferable to liberty. The danger of fuch a tranfaction was not confined to the prefent day. It might be urged as a precedent, that in 1796, fo far from the fupplies being voted by Parliament, the minifter did not even deign to confult, and that the minister had by connivance, and in contravention of the Mr Fox oppofed the motion. It was not, he remarked, his intention now to enter into a detailed argument on the important subject of finance, as future opportunities would occur for that difcuffion in detail, and he intreated that every individual member would give the ftrictest attention, as the greateft exertion was requifite to put the finances into a train of amelioration. This was not the point at present; the point on which he meant now to animadvert, was the application of 1,200,000l. to the Emperor, announced incidentally last night, in the minister's opening speech, by order Par |