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Fair Payment No Spunge: OR, SOME CONSIDERATIONS ON THE Unreaſonableneſs of Refuſing to Receive back MONEY Lent on PUBLICK SECURITIES.

AND THE Neceſſity of Setting the Nation Free from the Inſupportable Burthen of Debt and Taxes.

WITH A View of the Great Advantage and Benefit which will ariſe to Trade and to the Landed Intereſt, as well as to the Poor, by having theſe Heavy Grievances taken off.

LONDON, Printed: And ſold by J. Brotherton and W. Meddows at the Black Bull in Cornhill, and J. Roberts in Warwick-Lane. 1717. (Price One Shilling.)

THE CONTENTS.

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CHAP. I.
THAT Now is the Time, and that it is abſolutely Neceſſary to begin it Now, to rid the Nation of an inſupportable Burthen, whatever other Difficulties are upon us. Pag. 1
Chap. II.
Of the Nation's Circumſtances, as far as they may ſerve for an Objection againſt redeeming or reducing the Publick Debts. p. 15
Chap. III.
Of Parliamentary CREDIT, and the true Extent of that Word, as it reſpects Juſtice and Honour due to the People of Great Britain, as well as Loans of Money and Funds. p. 20
Chap. IV.
Of Parliamentary Credit as it reſpects the Publick Debts, and of the Juſtice of a Reſolution to redeem the Publick from the Burthen. p. 27
Chap. V.
Of our Neighbour Nations, and with what Diligence they are applying themſelves at this Time to diſengage themſelves from their Publick Debts. p. 33
[] Chap. VI.
Of the Nature of raiſing or falling the National Intereſt of Money, and the Natural Juſtice that all Publick Loans ſhould riſe and fall with it, with ſome Obſervations on the Reverſe of the preſent Caſe. p. 37
Chap. VII.
Of the Juſtice of Lowering the Intereſt of Money in general, and what may be the Advantage of it at this time. p. 45
Chap. VIII.
Of applying the Intereſt which ſhall be abated from the Loans to a ſpeedy Diſcharge of the Funds. p. 51
Chap. IX.
Of Equality of Taxes, and the Juſtice due to the People in directing Taxes, ſo as that no Part be oppreſs'd, but every part of the People charg'd by ſuch juſt Proportions, as may make the Burthen be borne without Injury to one another. p. 60
Chap. X.
Of Inequalities in Taxings as they relate to the preſent Caſe. p. 70
Chap. XI.
Of the taking off of Publick Taxes, and the Effect it would have upon Houſekeeping, Trade, &c. p. 75

INTRODUCTION.

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WHEN we come to ſpeak of paying the Nation's Debt, a thing that (one would think) every Body ſhould rejoyce at, and the very Notion of which ought to be receiv'd with Thankfulneſs and Acknowledgment; It's wonderful to find every Attempt, every Eſſay ſurrounded with Cavil and Clamour, all poſſible Objection and Obſtruction thrown in the way, and even the very People who are to be delivered by it, oppoſing it with all their Power.

Even the Friends of the Deſign, diſcouraged by the SEEMING Difficulties, and the Dangers of the Attempt, appear willing to deſpond and to ſit down where they are.

I call them SEEMING Difficulties, for they are no more: The Schemes that have already been laid down, and offer'd to our View by ſeveral Hands, beſides what are ſtill behind, are evident Proofs that the Difficulties are no more than Shadows, that the Oppoſers conſiſt only, or chiefly, of a few Bullying STOCK-JOBBERS, Gens d'affaires, as the French call them; Men who ought to look into France, to the Chamber of Juſtice, and ſee there what they deſerve; and to look up to Heaven, and be thankful that they live in a Country, where [] as they cannot be puniſhed, but by Law, ſo they go free, not for their Innocence, but becauſe their Crimes are of a kind that our Anceſtors never heard of, and therefore could make no Laws againſt.

I can liken the preſent Temper of our People, in their Backwardneſs to this Great and Neceſſary Work, to nothing ſo well as to that ſcandalous Cowardice and Indolence of Solomon's Sluggard, Prov. xxii. 13. He was certainly call'd out to ſome Publick Work, that requir'd him to go boldly and briskly abroad, and attempt ſomething for the good of the City, in ſome publick Place, (perhaps like Exchange-Alley) where the Heads of the Enemies of their Country were ſure to be aſſembled; no ſays he, ſhrugging up his Shoulders, I care not to meddle with it; there is a Lyon without, I ſhall be ſlain in the Streets: Tho' perhaps had he gone boldly and reſolutely out in Defence of his Country, he would have found nothing but a Mobb of empty ratling Inſolent Phariſees, dreſs'd up in broad Phalacteries of Bear-Skins, who would have ſlunk away from the Face of Truth. But the Man was lazy and unperforming, terrify'd and deſponding, and ſo his Country's Deliverance had none of his Aſſiſtance; and juſt ſo it is here.

At length the happy Time is come, that the Fall of this Great Diana is inevitable. They have, like Vultures, prey'd upon the Vitals of the Nation, and devour'd the [] People with Uſury and Extortion for above Twenty Years, and they ought to think the Nation very kind to them that they are permitted to go off without being oblig'd to refund.

And let them go, let them Account in the next World for their Frauds and Extortions; thoſe eſpecially who ſubjected their Country to ſuch a Condition of being ravaged by Uſury; I ſay let them go; our Buſineſs is to deliver our Native Country from the inevitable Ruin which would be the Conſequence of theſe things; and to joyn our Endeavours with all thoſe that deſire to ſee Great Britain once again a Free Nation; for, by the way, It is in vain to talk of the Liberties and Privileges of a Nation that is in Slavery to Creditors, and chain'd down to the miſerable Conſequences of an inſupportable Debt: No Liberties can be long ſupported, when the Means of reſiſting the Power of Enemies is out of our Hands; For while the Nation is overwhelm'd in Debt, ſhe lies bound Hand and Foot, a Prey to every beggarly deſperate Invader.

The following Diſcourſe is adapted to clear the way to this great Undertaking, to remove the Rubbiſh which lies in the way, to prove the Deſign practicable and feazible as it really is, and the Objections frivolous and trifling, as they really are; that we may not ſtumble at the Threſhold, and that all thoſe diſcourag'd [] People who ſit down in their Fetters deſponding and out of Hopes of their Deliverance from the black Proſpect that is before them, and the Difficulties in the Performance, which they ſay they cannot ſee thro', may be rouz'd and animated to ſet their Hands to the Work, and aſſiſt in the freeing themſelves and their Poſterity from a Burthen which they are not able to bear.

When this is done, the People encouraged to the Work, and the Enemies ſilenc'd in their popular Objections againſt it: The Schemes for the Performance will be ſhort and eaſie, and the Parliament, who are ſo happily mov'd from the Throne to engage in it, will find it very eaſy to make a beginning, and to put the whole Affair in ſuch a Method, as that, as was ſaid of a thing much more Improbable, The Scheme ſhall Execute it ſelf.

[1] Fair Payment No Spunge.

CHAP. I. That Now is the Time, and that it is abſolutely Neceſſary to begin it Now, to rid the Nation of an inſupportable Burthen, whatever other Difficulties are upon us.

THAT what I am to preſs with ſuch Vehemence, and perſuade People to with ſo much Earneſtneſs, may not come headlong upon their Hands, and be as it were cram'd down their Throats by the Power and Multitude of Words without Reaſoning; I demand of the World to clear up the Way to it before I begin.

We are all intent upon reducing the Nation's Debts, and delivering our Country from the Embarraſments of Twenty Years Wars, and the unſufferable Burthen of innumerable Taxes; the Thing is become Popular, every one talks of it, the King has Recommended it, the Parliament have engag'd to conſider of it, Writers [2] and Projectors have prepar'd Schemes for it, and made Propoſals, and the Nation longs to hear whether they may flatter themſelves with the Hopes of it: But ſome Men come and offer an Objection againſt it in the Groſs, and in the Name of all that are on the other Side; and this Objection I meet with very few who have either attempted to remove, or perhaps enquir'd whether they are able to remove it or no.

The Objection is this.

‘'The Project of reducing or redeeming the Nation's Debts is attended with great Difficulties, will pinch hard in many Caſes, ſeems to be touch'd with Oppreſſion in ſome, and even with National Injuſtice in others, at leaſt many pretend ſo; and cry out of Ingratitude, Diſregard to the Exigencies the Publick was in when they borrow'd their Money, and the hazard the Lenders run at that time whether ever it ſhould be re-pay'd or no: likewiſe the time is not ſo long till many of the Funds will expire, the Exchequer Bills will be all ſunk in Ten Years Thoſe Funds given for 32 Years have ſome of them but 25, others 27, and the longeſt 29 Years to expire, when the Continuance of the ſame Taxes for a little longer will redeem all the reſt, ſo that in about 35 Years at moſt, the Nation may be out of Debt by the courſe of Things; whereas by the Methods [3] which are propoſed it will not be done under 22 Years; the Queſtion then is, What abſolute Neceſſity are we in to puſh the Government upon a thing of ſo much Difficulty, and attended with ſuch Circumſtances, and at ſuch a time of prevailing Danger as this is alſo, and when ſuch great Demands are upon us on other Publick and preſſing Accounts?’

It's hop'd if this weighty Objection, or rather Body of Objections can be removed, what is farther to be ſaid of the Eaſineſs and Profitableneſs of the Deſign will be much better receiv'd and be liſtned to with the more Attention; and therefore in ſtateing the Objection, I have endeavour'd to do the Objectors all the Juſtice they can deſire, ſtateing the whole Sum of their Cavils in their own Words, and as fully as they could deſire to have them expreſs'd.

The Sum of the Queſtion is this, What Neceſſity there is of this Attempt at this time? The Anſwer is clear.

It has already been too long that the Nation has groan'd under the heavy Burthen of inſupportable Taxes; the People call Now aloud to their Repreſentatives to be relieved by them. The Oppreſs'd labouring and Trading People, for they are the particular People who, I ſay, groan under the Weight, and to whom it is really inſupportable, at the ſame time that they are rejoyceing at the Return of King George, and receive [4] His Majeſty with Acclamations and Teſtimonies of their Satisfaction at his being placed upon the Throne; at the ſame time, I ſay, they ſtretch forth their Hands to him for the Eaſe of their Burthens; for the lightning the Oppreſſions of his Anceſtors, and ſetting them Free from the Task-Maſters who in Swarms devour their Labour by rapid Exactions upon their common Neceſſaries, ſuch as their Fuell, their Soap, their Hops, their Shoe-Leather, their Salt; they can neither enjoy Day-light or Candle-light, but they pay for the Holes one ſhines in at, and the Wicks the other ſhines out from. 'Tis for this they look upon King George to be their Deliverer, and 'tis this will Rivet his Memory in the Hearts of the Ages to come; this ſhall Record the Illuſtrious Race of Hannover in the Minds of the Common People in a Character more indelible than that of Hiſtory, and in a Tradition never to be worn out till it turn by length of Time into Fable and Romance. When the Name of George may not Occur to the Ignorant Tongues of ſome, he will be remember'd by the General Character, and be referr'd to under the Deſcription of that Good King that took away the Taxes. This is the Reaſon why it ſhould be done now, and no doubt as Queen Anne ſaid of the Union with Scotland, ſo would His Majeſty [5] ſay of the Delivering his People from this Bondage, That he ſhould account it the greateſt Glory of his Reign if it might be ſaid this Great Work ſhould b [...] finiſhed in his time.

I might go on to ſay, the Reaſon why this is the Time, is becauſe really the Nation is not able to bear this Weight any longer; and therefore it was that I call'd it an inſupportable Weight; and ſuch no doubt it is, becauſe, as may eaſily be Demonſtrated by ſad Examples, many Families, who were able to ſubſiſt before, have ſunk under the Preſſure, and have been forc'd to give up; Diſſolving into Beggary; which in a Word, ſpeaking of Families, is Deſtruction and Diſſolution; and this proves the Word inſupportable to be moſt Juſt, and to be particularly applicable to this very Caſe, for ſuch Burthens and Preſſures which Families do really ſink under, and by which they are reduc'd to Miſery and Beggary, may very well be ſaid to be inſupportable to them

It has been obſerv'd by ſome who have written judiciouſly on theſe Heads, that the Weight of the Taxes has principally fallen upon thoſe of the People who live not on the Income of their real Eſtates, but on the precarious Fruit of their daily Labour, eſpecially in Handycrafts, Manufactures, &c. and Mannaging and Conducting the [6] Day-Labour of others under them; including thoſe who live by the buying, ſelling, fetching, carrying, and removing from Place to Place the Produce of the ſaid labouring Part. It is moſt juſt to ſay, that theſe are by far the moſt Numerous among the Inhabitants of Britain, and are the People who are in many Reſpects the Strength, the Life, and the Soul of the whole Body; like the Hands and the Feet to the Belly, by which it is filled, and the Body made fat and flouriſhing: As theſe are the Support of the whole, ſo they ſhould be the Care of the whole; and the Nurſing Fathers of the Common wealth ought in more than ordinary Manner to ſhow their Regard to them, and to be careful that they are not diſabled, diſcouraged, and unhing'd from that Labour and that Induſtry which is ſo Uſeful, ſo Profitable, and ſo Eſſential to the Common-wealth as well as to their own Families.

The Labouring and Induſtrious Trades-Men and Manufacturers are not ſo inconſiderable a part of this Nation, as ſome People for want of Conſideration have been apt to ſuggeſt: On the contrary, they are indeed the Life of our Commerce; by their Numbers they make our home Conſumption which ſupports the Landed-Men, make a Demand for the Produce of the Land, keep up the Rents of Farms, and [7] thereby make the Land-Tax produce ſo many Millions. They form our Manufactures which conſumes the Wool, Clothes the whole People, and gives England a juſt Title to the moſt valuable Export of any Nation in the World.

Without theſe, that Plenty which is God's Bleſſing to the Nation would periſh as Dung upon the Ground, and the Corn and Cattle would be our Burthen not our Advantage; till England which is now as the Garden of God would become a Forreſt, and like the Land of Canaan ceaſe to flow with Milk and Honey, not for want of Fertility to produce it, but for want of People to conſume it.

Theſe I ſay are the People on whom the Weight of our innumerable Taxes lye now ſo heavy; who pay for their Malt, Salt, Coal, Candle, Soap, Leather, Glaſs-Windows, and in a Word, for thoſe neceſſary Things which God knows thouſands of them uſed ſparingly before, and are now ſcarce able to uſe at all, till they are brought to bleeding Extremities, and to a Miſery ſcarce to be expreſs'd.

When the firſt of theſe Calamitous Times came upon this Nation, the Poor uſually comforted themſelves with ſaying, That bleſſed be God the Neceſſaries of Li [...] were not Tax'd, and that as the Rich m [...] the War, ſo the Rich pay'd for it; bu [...] [8] was but a little while that this laſted; For Example, it was but a little while that the Calamities of War and the Scarcity of Foreign Countries rather than our own, raiſed the Price of Corn, and that to ſuch a Degree, as that beſides the Hardſhip our Poor ſuffered in theſe Parts of England, it's yet freſh in the Memories of us all, that in the Northern Parts of England many periſhed of meer Want, and in Scotland, then a ſeparate Nation, no leſs than 18000 People, as the Writers of that Nation have declared, dyed of meer Famine, the miſerable Particulars of which are too many to repeat.

It's a moſt prepoſterous thing to ſay the Poor have paid no Tax upon Corn, let it be enquir'd how many Millions it has coſt the middling working Families of this Nation, ſince the beginning of the firſt War, in the ſeveral riſings of the Prices of Corn, ſometimes upon juſt, ſometimes upon unreaſonable, and ſometimes meer imaginary Occaſions, which Riſe of the Rate has oftner happened in theſe 25 Years than in an Hundred Years before; nay, ſo has it been managed that Corn has ſcarce ever been at the moderate middling Rate of 4s per Buſhel two Years together ſince the ſecond Year after the Revolution; and as this has been occaſion'd wholly by the War, ſo the War may juſtly have been [9] ſaid to have been one continued Tax upon Corn, and the poor People I ſpeak of, have felt it very ſeverely, even to the Diſtreſs of moſt of their Families and the utter Ruin of many, to whom it has been no Difference whether the Price was exacted as a Duty and Gabel on the Corn, or by accidental raiſing the Price at the Market, which was the Conſequence of the War, and equally Fatal to the Poor as a Tax.

I am not talking now of the Begging Clamouring Poor, no nor of the meer Labouring-Man who lives by his Hedging and Ditching; but of the Trading, Manufacturing, Induſtrious middle ſort of People, who keep Servants and Families, and employ multitudes of Hands within Doors or without; theſe are the Pillars of the Nation, and the Support both of Rich and Poor, and in a Word the Payers of our Taxes.

Theſe are the Men whoſe Families are oppreſs'd by the National Uſury, and who are cruſh'd and kept low to feed the Voracious Luxury of a few Stock-Jobbers, and enrich'd Mony-Lenders: When Publick Faith and Parliamentary Credit are pleaded, or rather pretended, againſt redeeming the Nation from Ruin, let theſe People be heard; is there no Publick Faith plighted to them? is it not the beſt part of Parliamentary [10] Credit to be juſt to them? Are not theſe Men repreſented in Parliament? Are not thouſands of them Freeholders and Freemen of Corporations, or have otherwiſe a Right to Vote in Elections, and did they not ſend their Repreſentatives to Parliament with an entire Dependence upon Parliamentary Credit, [Mark the Word] for themelves, their Wives and Children, (viz.) that their Repreſentatives would never give them up for a Prey to the Avarice and Cruelty of the Nation's Creditors?

There has been much ſaid among us of Equality of Taxes, I ſhall ſpeak of it in a Chapter by it ſelf; but it is eaſie to make it appear there has been no Equality, nor indeed can be, in the Taxing the common Neceſſaries of Life, becauſe the Poor uſe as much of them as the Rich, or ſuffer diſmal Extremities for want of them, and there is no Equality in paying it.

Take a Family of Honeſt Induſtrious Manufacturers, ſuppoſe of a Maſter-Weaver or any other, who labour hard themſelves, keep Servants, and employ many Hands to get a moderate Living for a numerous Family; examine how much theſe are oblig'd to ſpend in Coal, Candle, Salt, Soap, Leather, Window-Lights, &c. Examine again the ſame Conſumption in a rich Stock-jobbing Uſurer, who has a thouſand Pounds a Year coming in by [11] Bank, Eaſt-India and South-Sea Dividends, out of all which he pays nothing, and in all the Particulars of the above-named neceſſary Things, does not conſume ſo much as the poor Weaver in his Family, the Sweat of whoſe Brows is extorted to make the other Rich: Pray where is the Parliamentary Credit of all this? Where the National Juſtice of it? Is there no Debt due to the publick Safety, and to the Preſervation of four Millions of the People, for at leaſt ſo many will come within the Denomination I ſpeak of, or the general Calculations of our Numbers in Britain cannot be depended upon.

Let any Man that knows what it is to get his Bread, and the Bread of his Family by his Induſtry, tell me what is the Odds to a labouring Family, between the Days of King Charles II. and the Times we live in; when Bread-Corn was not known for many Years to be above 3s. 6d. to 4s. per Buſhel, and the Name of Taxes, other than Exciſe and Chimny-Money, was hardly known; and that Exciſe alſo not above one Third of what it is n [...]w; let theſe be compar'd to the preſent Caſe, when Bread Corn is ſeldom under ſix Shillings per Buſhel, often more, the Exciſe treble, every thing both for Eating, and many for Wearing doubled by Taxes, Cuſtoms, &c. and yet the Manufactures he makes are not at [12] all advanc'd in Price, but rather cheape [...] than ever; nay even many of the Materials of his Manufactures themſelves doubled and heightned in Price, as Oyl in particular to the Clothier, Silk to the Silk Manufacturer, by which, if nothing elſe were the Conſequence, their Stock is narrow'd and ſtreightned, and their Induſtry crippled and ſhackled, and all ſtill by Taxes and Cuſtoms.

Add to theſe the Burthens already mention'd, 5s. per Chaldron upon their Coals at leaſt, a Penny on a Full Pot of ſtrong Beer if they buy it, 4s. a Quarter upon Malt if they Brew their own Beer; a Penny aa Pound on their Candles and on their Soap, 6s. and 8d. per Buſhel for their Salt, and 3d. Half-penny per Pound for their Leather, beſides Cuſtoms doubled and trebled upon the Linnen, Callicoes, &c. and all Foreign things which they uſe for Neceſſaries for them and their Children. As for Wine, Spice, Coffee, Tea, Chocolate, I will ſuppoſe them to be all plac'd out of the reach of thouſands of the poor Families I ſpeak of, by the Extravagance of additional Duties.

Theſe are the People, and theſe the Circumſtances they are reduced to by the Neceſſities of the Times, and ſhall any Man ask whether it is Neceſſary to deliver them, and whether this is a time for it or no!

[13] Let ſuch in the next Place reflect how long theſe poor People have born theſe Weights: How long has Trade languiſhed and the trading part of the Nation even fainted under this Load? Have not ſome part of theſe things been laid on 4, others 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, nay, 20 Years? and are not ſome of them entail'd and made perpetual as it were to us and our Heirs for ever? and ſhall we ſay it is not time! Do not we ſee even Nature failing before it, and Trade in many Parts of it and in many Places of this Nation expir'd and loſt! the Manufacturers diſpers'd and gone! ſeeking their Bread in other Parts, perhaps in Foreign Nations! and ſcarce the Ruins of the Trade left, or any Remains to ſhew it by that it had been there; and ſhall we be ask'd why this is to be remedied now? if Cordials are not to be adminiſtred when the Patient is fainting and ſwooning before you, when ſhall it be thought a Seaſon for it! Certainly the Cry is too great not to be heard, the Complaint too loud not to move the Compaſſions of the whole Nation, and they that would not put their Hands willingly to ſo neceſſary a Work as ſaving ſo many Millions of People from theſe Hardſhips, would ſcarce throw Water upon their Neighbour's Houſe if they ſaw it on Fire.

[14] As for the Argument againſt the Method, or this and that manner of doing i [...] 'tis not the Subject of this Chapter, the Neceſſity and Seaſonableneſs of doing it NOW is what I am upon, let the Parliament judge of Methods; and if this is not Practicable, that not Reaſonable, another inconſiſten [...] with publick Faith and Parliamentary Credit, let ſuch Methods be laid aſide and others thought on; only let the thing b [...] done, let the Bonds of a Free Nation be knock'd off, let Induſtry and painfu [...] Diligence Things that all wiſe Nations bleſ [...] and encourage, be unſhackled; and let no [...] thoſe that would with honeſt Labour maintain Families, ſupport Trade, and chearfully encourage our Manufactures, b [...] oppreſs'd, ruin'd, and ſent a begging b [...] the Weight of oppreſſive Taxes to ſuppor [...] and carry on a Chimera of Credit; I ſa [...] a Chimera, for certainly breaking Faith wit [...] one to keep it with another, or as we cal [...] it robbing Peter to pay Paul, can never b [...] call'd maintaining Credit, as I ſhall mak [...] plain by and by.

CHAP. II. Of the Nation's Circumſtances, as far as they may ſerve for an Objection againſt redeeming or reducing the Publick Debts.

[15]

THEY are not always the beſt Friends to the Nation's Circumſtances who make the loudeſt Complaints about them, and make the niceſt Enquiries into them. But to apply our ſelves to juſt Methods to mend our Circumſtances, is the beſt Teſtimony of our having a right Senſe of them, and of our thoroughly Underſtanding them; Our Circumſtances are bad enough, but not fully ſo bad as thoſe who complain moſt, ſeem to deſire they ſhould be, and as at laſt they muſt be, if the Meaſures for redeeming them which thoſe Men oppoſe are not thought of in time.

To what purpoſe is it to complain of the Nation's Circumſtances, and not mend them? he that offers the Remedy, complains, like a Friend, to adminiſter a Cure; he that oppoſes this Cure ſhows he's an Enemy, and complains to Expoſe.

The Nation is in Debt, but bleſſed be God the Nation is not Bankrupt; her Creditors have all Security for their Debts; but the Continuance of theſe Securities will [16] ruin the Debtor, and therefore the Friends of the Debtor are for paying off the Principal, and delivering the Debtor Nation) from the miſerable Circumſtance of being eaten up by Uſury; The Creditors, juſtly in that call'd the Nation's Enemies, joyn in crying out of the Circumſtances we are in, but pretend to repreſent them as incurable, and that there is no Remedy but to ſit ſtill and be devoured.

In this I muſt differ from them, even to Indignation and Reſentment; and do affirm, that as the Work is of ſuch Neceſſity as to admit no Delay, ſo even thoſe very Circumſtances which are propoſed as Hindrances are the ſtrongeſt and moſt invincible Arguments for ſetting about it and diſpatching it out of Hand; let's enquire with them into the Circumſtances of the Nation, I doubt not to make it appear that the worſt of all our Circumſtances is this of our being in Debt; others may be fenc'd againſt and prevented, but this like a Wild Beaſt has graſp'd us in its Voracious Claws, and if we are not reſcued from it we ſhall be inevitably devour'd; Nay, this alone renders all Attempts againſt us Dangerous, for what Rebellion of diſaffected Subjects, what Invaſion of deſperate Enemies from abroad, need we apprehend if the Nation was not in Debt at Home? how are we now ſtartled upon all Occaſions of any [17] little Run upon the Publick Credit as a mortal Wound to the Common-wealth, and Stab to the Heart of the Adminiſtration! Whereas, were theſe Scores wip'd off, were theſe Debts and Engagements paid off, and the Nation Unembarraſed from them; with what Vigour and Life would every thing go on? without being put to their Wits Ends for Funds, and Courting the Stock-Jobbers by private Premiums and extravagant Intereſt for Loans! Our Debts are the main Article that darken our Circumſtances, and makes every Rumour alarm us; every Conſpiracy, tho' ſupported but by Beggars and Mad Men, ſeem formidable to us. Were our Debts paid, our Funds clear'd, the Cries of the oppreſs'd People ſtop'd, and the deſtructive Taxes that are ſo ruinous to our Trade, Manufactures, and even to the general Induſtry of our People, were theſe taken off, and ſome leſs oppreſſive leſs grievous Methods found out, to pay off what is juſtly Due, and a moderate Intereſt till 'tis done, were theſe things done, our Circumſtances would mend at once, the Nation would revive and be reſtor'd, like one recover'd from a languiſhing Diſeaſe.

Then we ſhould not be in ſuch an Alarm upon every Motion of the moſt remote and moſt contemptible Power, and [18] think every Armament, however diſtant and improbable, pointed at us; we ſhould juſtly and without Arrogance, laugh at thoſe People who would joyn the King of Sicily to the King of Sweden, and talk of an Invaſion from the Levant, as well as from the Baltick.

But 'tis our Debt that makes us a Prey to every Suggeſtion, and afraid of every Wind that ſtirs; Great Britain, once free'd from theſe Encumbrances, would be the Terror of mightier Kings than theſe; and they would be far from promiſing themſelves any thing from Attempts to be made upon a Nation, who would be able to blow the ſtrongeſt of them out of the Sea, inſtead of being a Prey to 20 or 30 Men of War.

As to our Circumſtances occaſion'd by Diſaffection, and Rebellion among our own People; and Foreign Invaſion from Enemies, who think to make their Market of theſe Diſaffections; let any reaſonable Perſon but take this one part of that Caſe into Conſideration. (viz.) How much has it been the Dependance of the Parties engaged in theſe Conſpiracies, that on the leaſt viſible Appearance of an Arm'd and ſufficient Strength to ſupport or encourage ſuch a Rebellion, a Run upon the Bank, and a ſinking of Stocks, would break our Publick Credit, and put all Affairs to a full [19] ſtop, and conſequently into Confuſion? Has not this been the real Caſe on all Occaſions? nor has their Aim been ill taken; Witneſs the time when the Pretender was ſo near landing in Scotland, when the Jacobites made ſuch an Allarm, and brought ſuch a Run upon the Bank of England, that had it held but a few Days longer, the Bank muſt have ſtopt Payment; and had the Pretender really Landed, tho' with but that Handful of Men who were with him, the Publick Credit had fallen into ſuch Convulſions that had been (for ought I know) more fatal to England at that time, than the Defeat of an Army.

Is it not abſolutely Neceſſary then to Great Britain, to put it out of the Power of her Enemies to throw her into ſuch FITS as theſe? that we may no more be ſubject to a Blow upon our Vitals, when the Enemy who ſtrikes it is yet at Arms end; this is my meaning, when I ſay, the very Circumſtances which our Enemies alledge as Reaſons againſt their putting an end to our State of Debt, and Bondage to Credit, are invincible Reaſons why we ſhould immediately and without any Delay ſet about it.

The King of France during the late War uſed often to expreſs himſelf on this Subject, that he had rather hear of a Stop [20] put to the Publick Credit in England, that of a Defeat of the Confederate Army; Indeed it was this alone made Britain able to ſupport the War, and to make Efforts ſo much beyond what was to have been reaſonably expected, from the moſt juſt Eſtimation of the Power of theſe Nations. How much then does it behove us to put our ſelves out of the Danger of a Stop being put to our Credit, by putting an end to our general Dependence upon Credit at all? The way to do this, is to think of ſome Way to diſcharge the Debts we are already engag'd in, and to put the Nation in a Condition to contract no more; this puts an end to all the Plea of Circumſtances, and our preſent Circumſtances correſpond to make this abſolutely neceſſary to be done, and that, if I ſee right, either now or never.

CHAP. III. Of Parliamentary CREDIT, and the true Extent of that Word, as it reſpects Juſtice and Honour due to the People of Great Britain, as well as Loans of Money and Funds.

WE have of late ſo appropriated the Word Parliamentary Credit to the [21] Stability of our Funds, and the Obligation there is upon the Parliament to make good the Conditions upon which People advanc'd their Loans, that we uſe it now as if it had no other Signification. But the Honour of Parliaments is engag'd in ſeveral Material and Eſſential Points, beſides this; in any of which ſhould the Parliament be deficient, they would ſoon loſe their Credit in every thing elſe.

For Example: How entirely does his Majeſty expreſs himſelf to depend upon the Aſſurances they give him annually, and oftner, in their Addreſſes, that they will ſtand by and aſſiſt His Majeſty againſt all his Enemies at home and abroad. Theſe Addreſſes are but Words, and would be but empty inſignificant Words, nay fatally deceiving Words, and would, like the High-Church Addreſſes to King James II, draw him in to depend upon them to his Deſtruction, were they not Pledges of the Faith and Honour of Parliaments, and was not that Effectual thing called Parliamentary Credit engag'd to make them good: But as the Credit of Parliament is engaged, no King or Queen in our Age has had the leaſt Reaſon to repent their Dependance on that Credit, for the Supplies and Aſſiſtance they have demanded, let the Exigencies have been what they will; and [22] they would have very ill been ſaid to have maintain'd Parliamentary Credit, tho' they made good all their Funds and Deficiencies and diſcharg'd with the utmoſt Exactneſs all the Debts and Intereſts contracted, i [...] at the ſame Time they diſhonour'd their own Aſſurances to the King, and ſhould not perform the Promiſes made to his Majeſty of Supplies, &c.

Again, What is the Security of the Privileges of the People, and upon which we and our Anceſtors ſo effectually have rely'd, and do with ſuch Satisfaction and Aſſurance ſtill depend, but the Credit of Parliaments, that they will not be call'd Conſervators of our Liberties in vain? That they will not give up the Liberties of the People they repreſent, nor betray the Truſt repos'd in them by thoſe who choſe them to be their Watchmen and Protectors?

I might inſtance many other Things which in general make up that comprehenſive Thing call'd Parliamentary Credit; but I forbear to multiply Words where the Caſe is ſufficiently proved: I have ſtated it thus, to clear up what follows, (viz. As Parliamentary Credit contains many Things, and ſignifies ſeveral Things, beſide [...] meerly what reſpects Borrowing Mony upon Funds, with making good the Deficiencie [...] of, and diſcharging the Debts contracted [23] on thoſe Funds, ſo we muſt not make the General claſh with its own Particulars; we muſt not make Parliamentary Credit in one Article, deſtroy Parliamentary Credit in another; make Publick Faith in one Branch inconſiſtent with the Publick Faith in another: For Example, We muſt not puſh the Letter of Parliamentary Acts, where they admit Conſtructions and Explanations, to a height inconſiſtent with the Common Rights and Liberties of the People, which Parliamentary Credit is equally engag'd to ſupport. And this is the Reaſon why it is ſaid, The Legiſlative Power cannot be limited from Expounding, Explaining, Altering, and Repealing all its own Acts. I bring it home to the preſent Caſe with all poſſible Plainneſs.

One Parliament Entails a Debt for a certain Number of Years upon the Nation, on Conditions and with Intereſt, as are or may be expreſs'd in the Borrowing Clauſe.

No Act can with Juſtice diſſolve the Debt it ſelf, becauſe the Morality of the Obligation is founded upon the Superior Laws of Juſtice, (viz.) Right and Wrong; which no Parliamentary Power can diſſolve; no nor indeed, No Power on Earth.

But a ſubſequent Parliament may judge thus, that obliging the People of England to a Bondage for Years, for Debt and [24] Ʋſury is the worſt ſort of Bondage, is a Breach of the Natural Liberty of the Subject, and they may conſider of Juſt and Equitable Ways of Delivering them; becauſe Preſerving the Liberty of the Subject is a Part of the Natural Duty of Parliaments, and a Branch of Parliamentary Credit, as above As to what thoſe Equitable Ways ſhall be, that is not my preſent Enquiry.

Again, If formerly a Parliament has laid a Tax, which in proceſs of time, whether it was then ſo or not, becomes grievous to one part of the People more than it is to another; or lighter to one part of the People than it is to the other; a ſubſequent Parliament, to whom it is an indiſpenſable Duty ſo to diſpoſe the common Burthens as that they may be born with Equalities and juſt Proportions, and that no part of the People, as near as poſſible, may be preſs'd heavyer than another, much leſs be preſs'd heavyer than they can bear; I ſay, Subſequent Parliaments may rectify thoſe Inequalities without doubt, and bring all Perſons to ſuch Proportions as Juſtice and the Nature of the Thing requires; whether it be for laying Taxes upon Things formerly agreed not to be tax'd, abating Intereſts where Intereſts were agreed not to be abated, or any other Thing of that Nature. What [25] Obligation the Parliament will think themſelves under to give the Equivalent, or what Amends they will think themſelves obliged to make to thoſe who may ſuffer in their private Gain by ſuch Things, is not the preſent Queſtion: I am not debateing the particular Caſes now, but the Right of Power.

Certain it is the Legiſlature cannot limit its ſelf from what it has a Native Right to do; but Subſequent Parliaments may undoe all that Antecedent Parliaments have done, who had no more Power than themſelves: And therefore, as a late Author ſays, Laws in Britain are only Precedents recommended to Poſterity for their Government; if they like them they let them ſtand as they find them; if not, they Enact others, or Clauſes of others, with this Authoritative Sanction at the End of them, Any Thing in any former Law to the contrary in any wiſe notwithſtanding.

If in ſuch new Laws, or Amendments to Laws, any private Perſon, or Place, or Body, or part of the People are aggriev'd, they are always, on their Petition, heard by their Council at the Bar of the Houſe, before the Bill paſſes; and if the Houſe ſee Cauſe they concern themſelves to make up the real Loſs to the Petitioners, if any [26] ſuch Loſs appears, or otherwiſe to determine as Juſtice and Equity requires.

This Parliamentary Method is ſo unexceptionably juſt, that I ſee no Reaſon why it ſhould not reach the Caſe of the Funds now in queſtion, as it has, and may, all the Caſes that have, or ever will come before them of that or any other kind; and that therefore it is not for us without Doors to ſay that this or that they cannot do without deſtroying Parliamentary Credit. 'Tis a Part of Parliamentary Credit to maintain Parliamentary Authority; for without Parliamentary Authority they would ſoon have no Parliamentary Credit; let firſt their Power be ſettled, and then 'tis Time to enquire into the Juſtice of their Proceedings, and to ſpeak as we find.

For Example, to bring it nearer to the Caſe, It is true that the Parliament have ſettled Funds for the Payment of Intereſt on the ſeveral Sums of Money borrow'd, and the ſaid Funds are appropriated to the paying of ſuch and ſuch Annuities, as the Intereſt of the ſaid Loans amount to. No Man will doubt but that the Parliament have a Right, if they ſee Cauſe, to ceaſe or alter the Tax which is the Fund for that Payment, and order ſome other manner of Payment of the ſame Money; for the Juſtice due to the Lender is, that his Money [27] be paid, and 'tis equal to him whether the Fund be the ſame or another, his Security being not ſimply in the Fund, but in the Parliament which gave that Fund, which is always the ſame; and this is what we call Parliamentary Credit in particular as to Loans.

CHAP. IV. Of Parliamentary Credit as it reſpects the Publick Debts, and of the Juſtice of a Reſolution to redeem the Publick from the Burthen.

[28]

SPeaking of Parliamentary Credit as it reſpects Money borrow'd, it leads to many Proſpects that are now before us; but I wave them all to that of paying off the Nation's Debts. There can be no Objection againſt the receiv'd Maxim, That it is the Part of an Honeſt Man to pay his Debts; but our Caſe, as a Nation, unhappily differs; for the Nation has ſome Creditors whoſe Language is, We will not be paid; you bargain'd with us to pay us our Intereſt for 99 Years, and we cannot be oblig'd to take our Principal whether we will or no.

This is a hard Caſe, I confeſs, to the Nation, and makes us reproach the Memory of thoſe Miniſters of State, ay and Parliaments too, with Breach of Truſt, and want of a faithful Diſcharge of their Duty to the People; who inſtead of preſerving ſacred the Liberties of a Free People with which they were Entruſted, and which, as before, it was a part of Parliamentary-Credit [29] to have preſerv'd, ſold them to Ʋſury, the worſt of Bondage, for almoſt an Hundred Years, and never took care to put in, as was afterwards done, the Words redeemable by Parliament.

BUT ſome, who have much greater Experience in theſe things than I, have anſwer'd in Defence of the Parliament and Miniſtry of thoſe Times, that it is a Miſtake, that we have given a Sanction of Unalterable to thoſe Acts, which neither the Nature of the Acts, or the Uſage of Parliaments would allow; that all Acts of Parliament are to be underſtood in the true Conſtruction which the Nature of Acts of Parliament allow, viz. to be ſo durable and unalterable as Acts of Parliament can be, and no otherwiſe. Nil Dat quod non habet. That for any Parliament of Great Britain to make a Law, with Condition that no ſubſequent Parliament ſhall alter or repeal it, is to make ſuch a Law as the Parliament it ſelf had no Power to make, and therefore that we cannot believe either of that Parliament, or that Government, that when the Term of 99 Years was fixt, as ſome certain Term muſt of Neceſſity be, that therefore it was to be underſtood, that whenever the Parliament of Britain ſhould think fit to pay back the Principal Money, and full Intereſt, it [30] ſhould not be lawful for them to redeem their Fund, and ſet the People free from a Tax, which it was no longer Neceſſary to pay.

The ſame Gentlemen ſay, that it was rather a Miſtake in thoſe People ſince that, who put in thoſe needleſs Words into ſubſequent Acts for Funds, viz. redeemable by Parliament; Words, ſay they, perfectly uſeleſs, ſeeing no Parliament can lay an unredeemable Fund, any more than they can paſs an unrepealable Law.

If this be ſo, and I confeſs I ſee no Reaſon againſt it, then all the Pretences which are raiſed againſt the Juſtice of redeeming the Annuities for 99 Years are taken away, and the Diſtinction we make of redeemable Funds and not redeemable, is really Unparliamentary, Ignorant, and indeed in the Language of ſuch things Nonſenſical.

But to leave this Point, till we ſee ſome Anſwer to what is thus alledged, I come back to that Part which the Lenders themſelves own to be otherwiſe.

All the Funds for Annuities for 32 Years, all the Exchequer Bills, all the South-Sea Stock, Eaſt-India Stock, Bank Additional Stock, &c. upon which are founded the Claſſes and Courſes, and other Lotterie, and which amount to many Millions. [31] Theſe it ſeems they will conſent may be paid off when the Parliament pleaſes; that is to ſay, if the Parliament thinks fit to pay them off Principal and Intereſt, they will vouchſafe to take their Money; leaving them therefore concedeing this Grace to the Public, I ſhall make a ſhort Tranſition from the Loan to the Fund, and ſee how the Caſe ſtands with reſpect to a kind of Juſtice due to the People.

The Juſtice due to the Lenders is ſeen in a narrow Compaſs, they muſt be paid their Debt Principal and Intereſt to a Farthing, no Parliament can diſpence with that Part, neither is there any Pretence to, or Deſign of any thing leſs, as is ſaid already.

The Juſtice due to the Borrower is of two Kinds.

  • 1. To the Publick, That the publick Debts being clear'd off, the Nation may be reſtor'd to a State of Defence, and to a Capacity in ſome degree proportion'd to the Figure it ought to make in the World; of which more at large by and by.
  • 2. To the People who pay the Taxes. Of thoſe it may be ſaid there is not only a juſt Reaſon, but in a Word an abſolute Neceſſity, to relieve them; their [32] Cries are too loud, not to move the Pity of the Government; it was of theſe no doubt that his Majeſty was pleaſed to ſay the Burthen was Inſupportable. I may be free, for I will not call it bold, to ſay, that theſe Taxes are a Yoke which neither we or our Fathers have born; for I believe no Hiſtory can give a Parallel Time, whether in juſt Reigns or Uſurpations, under juſt Kings or Arbitrary Tyrants, that ever the like Load of Taxes lay upon the Backs of the People of England, much leſs were entail'd to them and their Poſterity; as Men would perſwade us thoſe Taxes are.

Well will King GEORGE deſerve the Name of the Deliverer, and the Father of his Country, if he ſhall ſo eſpouſe the Cauſe of his poor oppreſſed Subjects, as to deliver them from the greateſt Burthen of Taxes that ever the Nation groan'd under.

It is the higheſt Juſtice in the World, that the People ſhould be relieved in theſe Taxes, becauſe they pinch us in ſuch ſenſible Parts as cannot bear them, lying heavieſt and hardeſt upon that Part of the People, who in all Caſes, till now, our Parliaments have ſpar'd, I mean the middle Sort as they are deſcrib'd before, upon [33] whoſe Induſtry and Application to Buſineſs our Trade, our Manufactures, our Navigation, in a Word our Proſperity depends. Theſe are the People that as I ſaid are ſold to Uſury, and Juſtice calls upon us all to endeavour to redeem them.

CHAP. V. Of our Neighbour Nations, and with what Diligence they are applying themſelves at this Time to diſengage themſelves from their Publick Debts.

FRance is the firſt, tho' not the only Inſtance of this National Sagacity. I ſhall not be accuſed of Raſhneſs if I ſay, that I take France to be at this Time the beſt circumſtanc'd Nation in Europe, and more likely now to grow too great for all her Neigbours, than ever ſhe was by the Power of encroaching Ambition, in the moſt flouriſhing and ſucceſsful Years of Louis le Grand.

She has been reduc'd Low, and to the Gates of Deſtruction; but having ſlipt cunningly enough, (to ſay no worſe of it) out of the Embarraſement of a dangerous [34] War, ſhe has loſt no Opportunity to ſtrengthen her ſelf by New, and, to her, Beneficial Alliances; to guarrantee and ſecure the Peace ſhe had gain'd.

And now ſhe ſits down in Peace, enjoys a perfect Tranquility, looks upon all the Broils of Europe with an Eye of perfect Indifference; ſhe is not ſo much as an Auxiliar in any of the Wars now kindled in the World; ſhe has no Quarrel with any body, and nobody quarrels with her; and the truly wiſe and politick Regent applies himſelf with an unwearied Application to heal the Wounds of a Twenty Two Years War, to reſtore Commerce, revive his Navy, amaſs Treaſure, and pay Debts.

It's true, he has Ways and Means that conſiſt not with us, ſuch as ſuppreſſing Offices, reducing their Funds by cutting off the Principal with the Intereſt, ſqueezing the Thieves of the State, and the like; but 'tis not the Manner we are upon, that's nothing to us; But this is remarkable, That the Regent has already ſunk the Publick Debts above Twelve Hundred Millions, by one Method or another.

[35] In the next place, he has abated the annual Disburſe, by reducing the Royal Houſehold, leſſening the Numbers of the Gardeners, Muſicians, Pages, Horſes, Grooms, and ſuch People, in a prodigious manner; ſo that the King's Family is ſmall, the great and pompous Palaces of Verſailles, Meudon, Fountain-Bleau, and others, lye like Houſes uninhabited, and about Three Thouſand Servants of all ſorts, within Doors and without, have been diſmiſs'd.

Add to this, the Reform of the Troops, of whom above a Hundred and Twenty Thouſand Men have been Disbanded, which ſaves an Immenſe Sum.

And that which appears in the room of all, and which is the Glory of the Regent's Adminiſtration, is this, (viz.) that the Taxes begin to be abated, eſpecially ſuch as the Poor are moſt ſenſible of, as the Taxes upon Eatables, Cattle, Corn, Salt, Fiſh, &c. and upon Fuel and Wine, and they expect farther Eaſements from the happy Adminiſtration of a Prince who gives himſelf wholly up to Acts of wiſe Government, and to ſtudy the Eaſe and Felicity of his Country.

I might enlarge upon the like Prudence of the Dutch in ſetting up Lotteries, [36] reducing their Forces and Penſions, that they may eaſe their People, and recover their Loſſes; and the like in Spain, where the Oeconomy is ſuch as has not been known in that negligent Court in any Reign before Philip the Vth, ſince that of Charles the Vth.

And ſhall all the Nations of Europe give their Poor a Taſte of the Bleſſings of Peace by an Eaſe from their moſt ſinking Burthens, and give themſelves a Breathing time from the continual Encreaſe of Publick Debts, and ſhall we alone ſit ſtill and do nothing but run further in! Where will this end, and what Ruin will neceſſarily be the Conſequence?

It is true, an unnatural Rebellion, and new Threatnings of Foreign Invaſions to foment another, continue to make great Demands upon the Publick, and ſome would give thoſe in for Reaſons why we ſhould adjourn our Thoughts of the Debts paſs'd to another time; but as the Methods for reducing or ſatisfying the old Debt have no relation to what is to come, I think it is eaſie to prove that our new Preſſures are no Reaſon at all why the Work ſhould not now be begun, which is the Subject of the next Chapter.

CHAP. VI. Of the Nature of raiſing or falling the National Intereſt of Money, and the Natural Juſtice that all Publick Loans ſhould riſe and fall with it, with ſome Obſervations on the Reverſe of the preſent Caſe.

[37]

IF there were no other Reaſons for the preſent Argument, of removing our Taxes, than the Diſtreſſes and Exigencies of the People who groan under the Burthen of them, and which Burthen they are able to bear no longer; I ſay, if there were no other Reaſons, theſe were ſufficient; and I cannot think but what has already been ſaid, amounts to a full Proof, that thoſe Burthens can really be born no longer.

But there are other things to ſay to it, which call loudly in Juſtice to the whole Nation to go about it, particularly the Proportions of common Juſtice due to the reſt of the Nation. By this common Juſtice, I mean the Equality of the Intereſt of Money.

When the Loans in Parliament were firſt made, the Intereſt of Money was then current at 6 per Cent, this was called [38] Lawful Intereſt, and for this Reaſon the Intereſts for Annuities granted, were all, or the greateſt part of them, allow'd to be at 6 per Cent. at leaſt, with ſomething over upon ſome of them for Encouragement. Had the Current, or Lawful Intereſt of Money at that time, been at 4 per Cent. and Men had been able to make no more of their Money on other Securities, there is no Man ſo weak, who knows any thing of theſe matters, as to think that the Publick Loans would have been for more, except ſo much as they were then allow'd more than the common Intereſt.

When Money encreas'd, and the Nature of things brought the Parliament, as it were by a common conſent of the whole Nation, to reduce the Intereſt of Money to 5 per Cent. nothing was more wonderful than to think why the Parliamentary Funds were excepted, and the People who had ſo long had the Benefit of their high Intereſt ſhould be ſtill ſeparated from the reſt of the World, and all Mankind's Eſtates ſhould ſink in Value, but theirs.

It might have ſeemed Diſtinction enough, that they enjoy'd thoſe Intereſts Tax-free, which by the ſeveral Acts for [39] charging Moneys upon Intereſt, others did not; but to keep up the Intereſt of the Publick Moneys when the Intereſt of all private Caſh was ſunk by Act of Parliament, was an Inequality which no Body knew how to account for, except that ſome People ſaid it was Politically done to keep the lending People in Humour, leaſt they might have Occaſion for them again.

As to the Juſtice of it, I know loud Clamours have been made by the People concern'd, upon the Notion of having parted with their Money, on ſuch and ſuch expreſs Conditions; I ſhall ſay nothing more to the Ʋnalterableneſs of the Conditions than as before, that if the Parliament made Conditions with them, with this particular Capitulation, that they ſhould be unalterable, they did what they had no Power to do. But I go back to the Reaſon, the Cauſe, and the Nature of thoſe Conditions They had 6 per Cent. becauſe 6 per Cent. was the lawful current Intereſt of Money in the Nation, and they might be ſuppoſed to be able to make ſo much of their Money any where elſe, at leaſt upon perſonal Security; for ſuch Government Securities muſt all be claſs'd with thoſe which we [40] call Perſonal; the meaning of this was, that they were to have National lawful Intereſt; but no Man can think, I ſay, that they were not to riſe or fall in their Intereſt, as the lawful Intereſt of Money ſhould riſe or fall: For Example.

Had the Circumſtances of this Nation, upon what Account ſoever, oblig'd the Parliament to have rais'd the Intereſt of Money to 10 per Cent, as it was in former Times; I deſire to know what theſe Gentlemen, who had lent their Money on Parliament Securities and Funds, would have ſaid, if they had been the only Perſons who ſhould have been left to make 4 per. Cent of their Money leſs than other People: How loudly would they have complain'd of the Ingratitude of the Government, who took their Money at the common Intereſt of the Day when they wanted the Loan, and when 't was a Service to the Nation to lend it, and ſhould now take no care that they ſhould be upon an equal Foot of Intereſt with other People, but ſhould take the Advantage of the Letter of their Contract, and tye them down to receive but 6 per Cent. for their Eſtates, when all other People, even thoſe that had done them no Service, [41] were at Liberty to make ſo much greater an Advantage.

Then how full of Reaſonings would they have been upon the Equity of the Caſe, that tho' 'twas true they did lend their Money at 6 per Cent. with ſome little Advantage for Encouragement, it was becauſe the current Intereſt of Money was then no higher, and every Man that lent Money expected no more in Caſes of other Loans: That the Value of Money was ſo rated at that time by Law; and they ſtood upon a level in the Rate of their Eſtates with other Men, but that they could not be ſuppoſed to lend their Money to the Government, which was an act of Service to their Country; and be forgotten, when a general Alteration of the Face of Things ſhould happen, which might be to their Advantage; that it would be very unjuſt, that others ſhould be allow'd to make 10 per Cent. of their Money, and that they only ſhould be the Men who ſhould ſuffer, and ſit ſtill, and ſee their Eſtates made worſe than other Mens, only becauſe they had lent them to the Government, and had run the hazard of them for the Publick Service; that all ſuch Loans were made by the Rule of [42] the Laws, and that the Intereſt of their Money was ſtated by the Rate of Money at that time; but not to be tyed down, ſo as that the Rate of their Money ſhould not riſe, when the Value of other Mens Money ſhould riſe; or that they ſhould not be kept on a level with the reſt of the Nation, as they were when they lent their Money.

If theſe Reaſonings had not been admitted, they would have gone on with them THUS: That if their Demand of a higher Intereſt, in Proportion to what new Loans were made at, was not admitted, they deſir'd they might have their Principal Money paid them back again, that at leaſt they might be at Liberty to make the beſt of their Eſtates in common with other People; that this was but common Juſtice, and that to deny them this would look like taking Advantage of them, as if the Government had catch'd them, and would hold them; a thing below the Honour of the Publick, and which would make Men cautious for the future how they dealt with them at all; that in Effect it would deſtroy the Publick Credit, make the Miniſtry be look'd upon like Sharpers, that would draw the Subjects in to make [43] a Prey of them, and not give them the due Conſtruction of their Circumſtances, according to the Nature of things; that to borrow their Money at a low Intereſt, and then raiſe the lawful Intereſt of Money in general, was a BITE upon the Lenders; and the Government might now take the ſame Money, and lend it back again, even to ſome of the ſame Perſons; or if not the ſame, to others, and ſo get 4 per Cent. by them, which would be the moſt ſcandalous way of tricking Mankind that ever was heard of; that certainly they had a Right to inſiſt upon being allow'd the common lawful Intereſt of Money, and be put upon an Equality with their Neighbours, or to have their Money paid them back again, that they might make the beſt of it as other Men did of theirs; that if the Intereſt had fallen, as well as it was riſen, there was no doubt but the Government would have thought it very juſt to have oblig'd them to fall with it, or if they had refuſed, would have order'd them to be paid off, that Money at a lower Intereſt might have been borrow'd in the room of it; and that therefore they could not but inſiſt upon it, that they ſhould be either put upon a [44] level with the reſt of the People, in having their Intereſt rais'd, or be paid back their Money and ſent about their Buſineſs.

It cannot be call'd begging the Queſtion, to ſtate the Reverſe of the Caſe in this manner, ſeeing the thing is ſo natural that the Force of the Argument is ſcarce to be reſiſted; in the mean time let it ſtand as it is, (viz.) an Appeal to all the World, for the Juſtice and Reaſonableneſs of the Suggeſtion; and there is ſcarce a Man in Exchange-Alley, who, if he would impartially turn the Tables, would not allow that theſe would be the Arguments to be uſed in that Caſe: Why then the ſame way of Reaſoning ſhall not be good in the preſent Matter, I can ſee no Reaſon to determine. Let every Man judge as his own Thoughts ſhall guide him; but let them be impartial, and ſpeak of it as if they were not concern'd in the Particulars; for there is always a great Difference between our Freedom of arguing when the Caſe is our own, and when it is perfectly indifferent, and we are not concern'd one way or other.

CHAP. VII. Of the Juſtice of Lowering the Intereſt of Money in general, and what may be the Advantage of it at this Time.

[45]

LOwering the Intereſt of Money is a Juſtice due to Trade, and is judg'd a Credit to the Nation when it can be done, as the juſt Conſequence of Wealth and Plenty. It is a Help to that great and uſeful Article of Home-Trade call'd Perſonal Credit; and, in general, is a great Reaſon to draw money'd Men into Adventures, Undertakings, and uſeful Embarking themſelves and their Stocks in Manufactures, Diſcoveries, Planting Colonies, and all the Methods of extending Commerce.

For theſe and many other Reaſons it has always been eſteem'd the Honour and Advantage of a Nation to reduce the Intereſt of their Money, as often and as low as Circumſtances would admit: We need go no fa [...]ther than our own dear-bought Experience to prove this, how offering large Premiums and high Intereſt, (viz.) of 7 and 8 per Cent. with Lotteries; the Allurement of high Prizes, &c. brought Men by Degrees [46] to draw their Money out of Trade at the Beginning of the late firſt War, to the irrecoverable Decay of Paper and perſonal Credit, and the irreparable Injury of Trade; which, however it may on ſome Occaſions have reviv'd, is yet contracted in fewer Hands by many than it was before, which in it ſelf is an Injury ſcarce to be recover'd in ſome Ages of Time.

Money is now flowing in private Hands, inſomuch that we find the Reduction of Intereſt to 5 per Cent. is not ſufficient, and the Bank, Eaſt-India Company, and other Bodies of Men, make their Advantage of it, taking in great Sums of Money daily at 3 and 4 per Cent. and may have even what Sums they pleaſe at that rate of Intereſt. This loudly calls upon the Government to cauſe the national lawful Intereſt of Money to ſink another Step.

While it is otherwiſe, 'tis evident, Foreigners pour in their Money upon us, and lend us Money at 5 per Cent. and buy our Funds at 6 per Cent. Intereſt, with Money which, tho' they borrow at home, they pay but 2 and a half or 3 per Cent. for; ſo that we are made to [47] pay Intereſt to all the Uſurers of Europe, and let our Money lye in the Bank, and other Places, at little or no Intereſt at all. Again, if the Public ſhall ſee fit to do Trade this piece of Juſtice, as to reduce Uſury to 4 per Cent. can any Man think it ſhould be juſt, that old Loans ſhould remain diſtinguiſh'd from the reſt, and receive 6 per Cent. or 6 [...] as many do, by which their Principal Sums would advance in Sale, to 23, or 24 Years Purchaſe, which were bought of the Government, at 14, 15, and 16 Years Purchaſe; at worſt, they could but deſire to be plac'd as they now ſtand, (viz.) at one per Cent. above the Common Rate of the National Intereſt, and receive five per Cent. while other People receiv'd but four; but of that in its order.

In the next Place, we ſhould do well to enquire what is the Reaſon, why the low'ring of National Current Intereſt for Money is not complain'd of, as an injurious and unjuſt thing; ſeeing it is an Arbitrary Invaſion of every Man's Property, taking away ſo much of his daily, or yearly Subſiſtence, without giving any Reaſon for it, or Equivalent to it; and is neither better or worſe, than [48] dipping into the Perſonal Eſtates of private People, and taking away a part of the Capital.

There is alſo no queſtion, but it is Grievous, and even Ruinous to many poor Families, and eſpecially ancient People, who have nothing left them to ſubſiſt upon, but the Intereſt of a little Money, plac'd out by the Parents, or Husbands, who left it them, and by which they now live well enough, but will be brought to Miſery for the want of it.

Yet the Reduction of Intereſt is ſo known, ſo unconteſted a Good to the Nation in general, and ſo eminent a Proof of the Proſperity of the Publick, that, generally ſpeaking, no body oppoſes or repines at it; every one ſeems pleas'd at it on the Publick Account, whether they are ſo on their own Private Accounts or no; or at leaſt it is ſo general a Good that none cares to be found oppoſing it. Uſury is the Subject of univerſal Hatred and Averſion, and no Man cares to be the Advocate of a Cauſe which has ſo few Friends.

If lowering the Intereſt of Money is then a receiv'd Good to the Publick, I cannot doubt but it will as eaſily be [49] accepted by thoſe who have lent their Money on publick Security, as by thoſe who have lent it on Private; I am ſure the Juſtice is the ſame, and the Invaſion of Property is the ſame, and no more; it being a real Sinking the Value of every Man's Eſtate, in one as well as in another; and no Reaſon can be given for the One, but will hold good for the Other.

The Advantages of lowering the Intereſt of Money at this Time, are too many to be contain'd in the narrow Compaſs of theſe Sheets, and requires a large Volume to ſet them out in their juſt Deſcription; but I ſhall name a few:

  • 1. The encouraging perſonal Credit; prompting Men to launch into Trade; to ſupport and encourage thoſe who are already in Trade as before.
  • 2. The putting Men of Capital Stocks upon noble Adventures, uſeful Diſcoveries, extending Trade to the remoteſt Parts of the World, and ſearching all the Corners of the Univerſe for the making Settlements and Improvements: All which Men have no Thoughts of, while they can ſit ſtill at Home, and make exorbitant [50] Incomes by the bare Uſe of their Money.
  • 3. The ſupplying national Demands upon any ſudden Emergencies of the State, upon eaſier Terms than formerly, and without ſuch ruinous Entails of Debts, too weighty to be diſcharg'd, or continually charging the landed Men who have already paid ſo much.
  • 4. Aſſiſting to pay off the heavy Debt which the Nation now groans under, without farther charging the poor People with more Taxes, and without grievous and oppreſſive Projects: That the Taxes which now lye on the Nation to the Ruine of the Trade, and impoveriſhing the People, may be taken off, and the Nation may Once more be ſaid to be truly free; which can never be, while they are in Bondage to Uſury, and muſt pay ſixty Millions Intereſt to diſcharge a Debt of ten Millions Principal, as is the caſe of the Annuities of 99 Years.

CHAP. VIII. Of applying the Intereſt, which ſhall be abated from the Loans, to a ſpeedy Diſcharge of the Funds.

[51]

I Propos'd at the entering upon this Diſcourſe, to have ſaid nothing of what ſhall or ſhall not, may or may not be done with the Money, which on a Rebating the Intereſt of publick Money due on Loans, ſhall be done with the Overplus which the Funds produce; but the Publick Diſcourſe on theſe Heads makes it neceſſary: Various Opinions ſpread the Town on theſe Subjects, and wonderful Speculations of Wiſdom occupy the Politicians of theſe Times: Moſt of theſe ſpeaking as they hear, or as they fear, or as they deſire to have it be, but few weighing the Cauſes, Conſequences, and Nature of the Thing it ſelf.

1. Some are of the Opinion, this Overplus ſhould be immediately apply'd to the Service of the Year, to avoid putting the Nation upon farther Exigencies, and [52] contracting farther Debts; this, they ſay, is equally ſerviceable, to the paying off the old Taxes, and that while freſh Occaſions preſs the Nation, and call for new Sums every Year, it would be prepoſterous to pay off old Debts juſt on Purpoſe to contract new. But it is to be hop'd, the preſſing Neceſſities of the Government will not always continue; the Rebellion is ſuppreſs'd, and the Rebels reduc'd to Rage and Deſperation: The Storm they have endeavour'd to raiſe Abroad for this Year, is yet only ſo in Perſpective, and may perhaps be prevented by the Vigilance and Care of the Government; and the World has ſcarce another Quarter from whence any juſt Apprehenſions can be rais'd; and then it may be reaſonable to apply the Money to the Abatement of the old Capital Debt: But to do it now, is nothing but putting Money into the Pocket with one Hand, to take it out with the other; and by raiſing new Funds, and making new Appropriations, to multiply Expences of Management, Charges of Collection, and other hateful Burthens upon the People.

[53] Before I go any farther, I ſhould readily give in to this Propoſal, were it not that, as is obſerv'd, the Taxes already appropriated, are ſuch, and ſo grievous to the poor People, and particularly to Trade, that they are inſupportable; and will, if not ſpeedily taken oſt, be fatal not only to our trading People, ſuch as are mention'd before, but even to Trade it ſelf: And this Neceſſity of a ſpeedy removing thoſe Taxes, becauſe of their grievous and oppreſſive Nature, is ſuch as really admits of no Delay, and is much greater than that of finding other Funds for new Occaſions, as might be demonſtrated by many Things too long to enumerate. But to proceed,

2. Some agreeing to the Neceſſity of taking off theſe oppreſſive Taxes, and relieving the poor induſtrious trading People by an immediate Act of Parliamentary Grace, are for paſſing an Act of Parliament to diſſolve at once the ſeveral Duties upon Coals, Salt, Candles, Soap, Leather, and all thoſe Things which oppreſs the Trade and the Poor to [54] ſuch a Degree as has been ſaid; and to paſs one general Parliamentary Credit for the whole Sum: Cauſing Exchequer Bills, or ſuch Bills of Credit as ſhall be thought fit, to be given for the Money: All Deficiencies to be made good by Parliament, and the Credit of Parliament to be the general Fund. To anſwer all poſſible Objections againſt the Want of an appropriated Revenue, they ask this Queſtion, that ſeeing all Funds are redeemable, all Acts repealable, and every Settlement in Parliament is by the Conſtitution liable to ſuch Alterations, Amendments, and even Diſſolutions, as the Parliament ſhall at any Time think fit; the making one general Parliamentary Act of Credit ſerve to ſupport the whole Payment, is as eſſentially ſecure as any appropriated Fund can be; and this, with one Advantage which hitherto has been little conſider'd, (viz) The abating the Expence of Collection, Management, Circulation, &c. which amounts to an immenſe Sum every Year, all paid out of the Pocket of the Poor, and all adding to the Burthen already inſupportable.

This is a Propoſal in it ſelf lyable to ſome Exception, and requires many [55] Things to be ſaid to clear it from Objections, and yet is in the main, what might effectually anſwer the End propoſed, (viz.) to pay off the Debts by juſt Degrees, yet without continuing the oppreſſive Taxes we ſpeak of, provided ſuch Ways and Means may be found out to levy the Money yearly, without ſuch particular Taxes as have already caus'd ſuch juſt and heavy Complaints among the People.

Yet this muſt be acknowledg'd, that the Parliament engaging themſelves and the Publick Faith for the Payment, is in it ſelf eſſentially as ſafe as any Fund, which the Parliament is able to repeal and diſſolve; and this is all I ſhall ſay to it here.

3. Others, and thoſe ſupported by the more immediate Reaſon and Nature of the Thing it ſelf, enter upon juſt Calculations of the proportion'd leſſening the Debt in general, by applying the one per Cent. which then would remain as a Surplus upon the Funds, to paying off the principal Debts, by yearly, half-yearly, or quarterly Payments; and which, by their Calculations, would diſcharge the whole [56] Debt within Twenty two Years to come.

I muſt confeſs this Application of the Intereſt to the Diſcharge of the Principal is a Method liable to the leaſt Exception, of any Propoſal that I have yet met with, or that I have heard others have yet thought; for if the Reduction of Intereſt is juſt, and the Parliament think it reaſonable to order it to be done, nothing can be more juſt, than that the Money ſhould be appropriated to diſing the principal Debt.

The two only Queſtions that occur here, are as follow: And both are, I think, fully ſpoken to already, (viz.)

  • 1. Whether the Parliament can reaſonably leſſen the Intereſt?
  • 2. Whether they can juſtly oblige them to take their Principal?

I ſay, theſe two are fully ſpoken to already, and I could wiſh to ſee ſome calm Reaſons brought, and in a friendly Manner debated, to convince reaſonable People that it is otherwiſe.

But to give the Adverſary fair Play, and to take them every Way, even by [57] their own Pretenſions, that all Objection may be ſo far remov'd, and every Mouth ſtopp'd that would open it ſelf againſt relieving the poor oppreſs'd Subjects of Great Britain; I ſay, to ſtop their Mouths, and, for Argument Sake, leaving the reſt to future Debates, let us take thoſe only which they call, (however improperly and nonſenſically) redeemable Funds.

The Redemption of theſe they cannot have the leaſt Objection againſt; and they have no more to do than to come into ſuch Conceſſions to the Government for the ſaid Redemption, as the Nature of the Thing calls for, (viz.) to receive ſuch Intereſt for their Money as the Parliament ſhall think fit to make the equal Current national Intereſt, whether 3 per Cent. or 4 per Cent. and to ſubſcribe their Aſſent to doing ſo. In which Caſe, their Money to remain 'till the Surplus, out of the preſent Intereſt, ſhall come to pay them off in Courſe. Or that ſuch as ſhall refuſe, to have their Principal ſo paid off, may have their Sums transferr'd to ſuch Subſcribers as are willing to pay their Money on the Terms which the other refuſe; enough of whom will be eaſily found, when no other Way of [58] lending Money upon a higher Intereſt ſhall be allow'd.

It is true, this to be done immediately, and theſe Funds diſcharg'd, would immediately give ſome Eaſe to the oppreſs'd Nation, by taking off the ſaid Taxes from the Poor, and by giving the People ſome Breathing-time; and let the Parliament alone to aſſert their Right, againſt thoſe who pretend to what they call Funds Unredeemable. If they can carry their Point, if they can maintain that Piece of unparliamentary Engliſh againſt the Houſe of Commons, and perſwade the Nation that they ought to receive 6 and ¾ per Cent. Intereſt, when all the perſonal Eſtates in the Kingdom are oblig'd to take but 4 per Cent. and that the People of Britain ſhall go on to pay Extortion to them for 85 Years to come, 'till they have paid, as is ſaid above, 60 Millions Intereſt for 10 Millions Principal; I ſay, if they think they can perſwade the Parliament to this, they muſt try what they can do.

But the Nation will never be brought to think, but that it is very hard to have the Current Intereſt of Money reduc'd, [59] and theſe Men enjoy an Exception that ſhall immediately raiſe their Annuities to 24 Years Purchaſe; while thoſe equally ſecur'd, (as to the Goodneſs of the Fund) are reduc'd to a Parr. And this brings me to the Great, and yet unexamined Article, (viz.) The Equality of Taxing.

CHAP. IX. Of Equality of Taxes, and the Juſtice due to the People in directing Taxes, ſo as that no Part be oppreſt, but every Part of the People charg'd by ſuch juſt Proportions as may make the Burthen be born without Injury to one another.

[60]

IT is not the leaſt Part of the Truſt repoſed by the People of England in the Breaſts of their Repreſentatives, that they ſhould be duly and equally tax'd: That every Burthen be laid with juſt Regard to the Strength of the Shoulders that ſupport it. But I wiſh it might be ſaid that it has been, as it ought to be, the conſtant Care of the Repreſentative, that Burthens are always thus laid. Had this been duly conſider'd, I cannot think that many of thoſe cruel and unequal Taxes, which pinch and afflict thoſe People chiefly who are leaſt able to ſupport Taxes, had been entail'd upon us.

We hope, from the Juſtice of the preſent Parliament, and the natural Tenderneſs [61] and Clemency of King George, (the common Father of his People) that they will concur with this Maxim; that every Member of the Body Politick ſhould be burthen'd with the common Weights of the Government, in Proportion to their Strength of bearing them; that they may draw equally in the ſame Yoke, and that the united Strength may thereby be increas'd and made ſtronger.

I have ſaid ſomething to this already, but it needs explaining, with Reſpect to the ſeveral Ways of the common People being tax'd with the Gentry and Nobility in this Nation. In laying Taxes, this is true, tho' perhaps not a regularly determin'd Obſervation; When Land is Tax'd, the Rich pay more than the Poor; but when the Product of Land is tax'd, the Poor pay more than the Rich.

In explaining this duly, perhaps ſome Things may offer to our Conſideration which have not often occurr'd before. Let us therefore look more narrowly into it: The Rich pay for their Land becauſe they have it; the Poor pay for their daily Neceſſaries, becauſe they have them not. This is a terrible Inequality. For Example: A Rich Man brews his [62] own Beer, becauſe he has Money, he has Veſſels, he has Conveniencies, &c. and on this Account he pays no Exciſe. The poor Man is oblig'd to buy of the Brewer, or perhaps worſe, of the Victualler, becauſe he has no Money to buy it faſter than his Thirſt preſſes him, or in but ſmall Casks and Quantities; and for this Want of Money he pays Exciſe: And thus of many other Things.

Again, the rich Man eats no more Food, burns no more Coals, &c. than a poor Man; nay, if he is a trading Man, as deſcrib'd before, perhaps not ſo much: A Tax upon Proviſions then, is equal, literally ſpeaking, to the Poor, as to the Rich; but very unequal, in Proportion to their Capacity of paying it.

A Tax in England upon the Neceſſities of Life, is ſomething like the Taille in France, which no Gentleman is to pay; 'tis true, ours pay in ſome Caſes, but, generally ſpeaking, thoſe who live on their own Eſtates, and eat the Produce of their own Lands, pay little or nothing to them. Now the difference lyes here, that the Taille is in France, where the Poor are to be Poor, and the Common [63] People are Slaves, and are uſed as ſuch. But this is in England, where we pretend to value our ſelves upon making the Common People Eaſy, Free, and their Lives comfortable; where we have always been uſed to ſay the Poor paid nothing, where the Commons have their Liberties, and claim to be well uſed; where Equalities in Taxing is boaſted of, as the Care of the Publick, and every one is made able to pay what is Demanded of them. Equalities ceaſe to merit their Name, when, whatever their appearance may be, they preſs harder upon one part than upon another. But what ſhall we ſay to thoſe things, which under the Title of Equalities preſs hard upon thoſe who are leaſt able to bear them, and paſs thoſe by who are really incapable of being Oppreſs'd by them.

The Rich feel none of thoſe Taxes, by which the Poor are made miſerable; and upon the Conſideration of this it is that the Repreſentatives of this Nation always avoided either Taxing the meaner People, or elſe Taxed them ſo lightly, as that they might be able to [64] pay their Charge without Injury to their Subſiſtance.

It was ſeen for ſome Years from the firſt beginning of the War after the Revolution, that great Sums were wanting for the publick Occaſions, and the Miniſtry but ill vers'd in the methods of raiſing thoſe Sums; yet the Parliament always rejected thoſe Propoſals, which ſeemed to pinch the Poorer part of the Nation. Nay, they fail'd not to repeal and diſſolve ſeveral Taxes after they were laid, upon the Petition of the People, when they found them offenſive to the Poor, and Injurious to Trade or to the Manufactures, ſuch as the firſt Tax upon Coals, the firſt Tax upon Paper, the Duties on Glaſs, Earthen Ware, Tobacco Pipes, the Duties on Marriages, Births and Burials, &c.

When they Taxt the Lands they laid it all upon the Landlord, none upon the Tenant; when they Taxt Stock, they Taxt Stock of Tradeſmen and Shopkeepers, but no Stock upon Land, and afterwards left off even the Stock of Tradeſmen.

Such was the juſt Concern which the Repreſentatives of this Nation ſhew'd to preſerve [65] the Equality and juſt Proportions of Taxes, meaſuring the Burthen by the Condition of thoſe that were to bear it; and this was without queſtion the Foundation of that generous Confidence the People of England always had in their Repreſentatives, and made them always give themſelves up, ſo entirely and without reſerve, to whatever was determin'd in Parliament, bearing every Burthen with the utmoſt Reſignation if laid on by Parliament, however afflicting grievous or ruinous in its Conſequence it might be, till they even ſink beneath the Weight.

For I know not by what Fate it has been upon the Nation, we have not all the fine things to ſay of late upon theſe Heads that we had before; whether it is that the Exigence has been greater, or the Care for the meaſure of Burthens leſs. But as if the Poor, the Commerce, the Manufacturer, the general Outcrys of the People, had been of no Weight in the Caſe, ſome of our lateſt Taxes have ſeemed to have been laid on with leſs Concern for the People, leſs Juſtice in the Proportions, and leſs Conſideration of the Conſequences, than thoſe I have ſpoken of above.

[66] As the Effect of this want of Care, we find thoſe things Tax'd of late, which at firſt they would have ſcorn'd to touch; and heavy Duties laid, which it was certain would pinch and oppreſs the Poor and the Trade more than others: Things which formerly were ſufficient Reaſons why ſuch Taxes were always rejected.

If it be ſaid, they were driven to thoſe things by the Exigence of the Times, and by the Poverty of Funds; it is anſwer'd, That would be a better Reaſon, if there was more Truth to ſupport it. But on the contrary, we ſee many Funds have been propoſed, which have been declin'd, and many more might yet be found to ſave the Oppreſſion of the Poor, and avoid laying Burthens.

But to avoid the grand Debate with Stock-jobbers and Projectors, the Anſwer is always at hand, The Parliament is a Fund of FUNDS; and therefore, as I ſaid before, were all the preſent Taxes given up to the People, the Security for the Money lent is the ſame, and the Houſe would be oblig'd every Year to raiſe a Sum of three Millions of Money to be paid by Quarterly Payments, till the [67] Intereſt and Principal of the preſent Encumbrances was fully paid off.

Nor can the Parliament be at a loſs to do this, unleſs ſome far more preſſing Demands come upon them than yet are, or we hope will be likely to come; and tho' this Work is not deſign'd as a Scheme of Projections, yet I may ſay a Word or two to likely Foundations for raiſing any Sum of Money that the Government may want for ſo great and glorious Ends, as thoſe of clearing the Nation of the preſent inſupportable Burthen of Debt, and of Oppreſſive Taxes which it labours under.

I cannot quit this Article of Equalities in Taxing, without mentioning with great Regret the ſcandalous Inequality, which is the Foundation of ſo much Oppreſſion and Injuſtice on one hand, and of ſo much Deficiency to the Nation on the other, in the Collecting our Great and Capital Tax call'd the LAND-TAX; a Tax raiſed with ſo much diſproportion, that, to ſay no more, 2s. in the Pound regularly and equally Collected, would certainly raiſe the full Sum that 4s. in the Pound now raiſes; or 4s. in the Pound compleatly and equally [68] Collected, would raiſe near double the Sum which has been annually raiſed by it.

Had this Tax been Collected as it ought to have been, and Two Millions per Ann. been raiſed by it more than has been, the Debt of the Nation had been leſs by above 20 Millions than now it is, and yet the Landed Men had paid no more than they now pretend to have paid.

When we talk of the Landed Men, and what they have done, what large Efforts they have made, and how heavy the Burthen of the War has lain upon them, do we not ſay in their behalf that the Landed Men have paid a fifth part of their Annual Income to the War? But how do the Gentlemen of Two Thirds of England ſmile at us, or laugh in their Sleeves (as the common way of expreſſing is,) when they accept that Compliment, and know very well that it has not coſt ſome of them 16d. per Pound and others not a Shilling in the Pound, and where it has come higheſt is not one with another above 2s. 4d. per Pound.

[69] While in the Midland, and ſome Southern Counties, the Severities have been Great, and the People have paid the utmoſt Penny, nay, in ſome places 4s. 6d. per Pound. A review of this ſcandalous Inequality would be a Work worthy a Parliament that deſir'd to be recorded for the Deliverers of their Country from inſuperable Debts; but of this again in its place.

CHAP. X. Of Inequalities in Taxings, as they relate to the preſent Caſe.

[70]

IF Equality in Taxing be thus the Care and Concern of Parliaments, a Truſt committed to the Repreſentatives by the People of England, whom they repreſent, &c. what then have ſome Parliaments in times by-paſt been doing? and how have they diſcharged this great Truſt placed in them by the People? ſeeing we find the Nation groaning under a Weight of the moſt ſcandalous INEQUALITIES in Taxing that can be imagined, ſuch as are indeed the Cauſe of the vaſt Debt we are now loaded with, and the Cauſe of thoſe Oppreſſive Funds, which are now entail'd upon us, and our Poſterity: Theſe are

  • 1. The Land Tax, mention'd already; which, had it been duly and equally Rated and Collected, would all along have rais'd four Millions inſtead of two, and ſaved the Houſe [71] of Commons the Trouble of raiſing Two Millions more every Year, by a ſcandalous Anticipation, or by Loan upon ſome of thoſe heavy Taxes we complain of.
  • 2. The freeing all the publick Funds from being Taxt, ſo that whatever Exigence their Country was reduced to, whatever Taxes the poorer ſort of People paid, theſe Men alone enjoy'd an Exemption for the greateſt part of the ready Money in the Nation, tho' at the ſame time they receiv'd one per Cent. Intereſt more for it, than other People are allow'd to make of their Money.
  • 3. The Difference of Intereſt of Money, as is ſaid; an Inequality unjuſt in its own Nature, or elſe the Act of Parliament for Reducing the Intereſt of Money to 5 per Cent. muſt be unjuſt, which I will not ſuggeſt upon any account whatever.
  • 4. Not content with theſe Advantages diſtinct from other Men, we find them now claiming an Inequality which would be indeed Exorbitant in its own Nature; and which we do not ſee, I ſay, we do not ſee the [72] Act of Parliament entitles them to, viz. that the reſt of their Inequalities are unalterable, and that the Parliament it ſelf cannot redeem the Funds they have lent their Money upon.

This is the moſt ſevere of all Inequalities, and ſerves very well to ſet forth the Evil Conſequences of the reſt; for if this be ſo, the Nation is bound to pay them an immenſe and prodigious Sum for Intereſt of a Debt which they are ready to diſcharge, when all the reſt of the World are obliged, not only not to give, but indeed not to receive ſuch a rate of Intereſt for their Money.

It is hard to imagine, what any ſingle Man or body of Men can ſay in Defence of ſuch an Unjuſt and Unequal Treatment of the People of England. The moſt that I have met with, from the moſt Arrogant on the other ſide, is, that it was their Bargain; it was the Condition on which they lent their Money, and that they expect it ſhould be perform'd; they have the Publick Faith for it, and they expect the Publick Faith ſhall not be broken with them. I will not ſay, as ſome however [73] do, and think it is with Juſtice too, that the Publick Faith is what the Publick pleaſe to make it: But this I will ſay, the Publick Faith is like the Publick Seal. If the Publick Seal, by the Treachery or Ignorance of the Perſon to whom it is Entruſted, ſhould be affixt to a thing which in its Nature is Unjuſt and Illegal, and which the Publick is not empower'd to Execute, the Action is ipſo facto invalid and will not take place. For Example, ſuppoſe the Publick Seal be fixt to a Grant of Land in the King's Name, which the King really has no Power to Alienate or Grant, the affixing the Seal ſhall be of no force, and the Perſon ſo affixing it will run the hazard of Cenſure by proper Judges for the Offence. In like manner, if any Parliament made ſuch a Bargain as theſe Men call it, to give them unjuſt Advantages and Inequalities, and ſo to entail them; as that future Parliaments ſhould not be empower'd to redeem and buy them back again, reſtoring thereby the juſt Equality in Taxes, which all the People of England claim as their undoubted Right; I ſay, ſuch Parliament did what no Parliament had Power to do, the Action was [74] void ipſo facto, and the preſent, or any ſubſequent Parliament may, and ſome I queſtion not will, do Juſtice to the Conſtitution, by declaring their Right, and cenſuring the Action it ſelf as Injurious to the Nation.

There are Inequalities in the Taxes themſelves, but as theſe are ſpoken to under other Heads, I ſay no more to them here.

CHAP. XI. Of the Taking off of Publick Taxes, and the Effect it would have upon Houſe-keeping, Trade, &c.

[75]

A Man can hardly refrain, after all that has been ſaid, from flattering the Nation with Hopes, that they ſhall once more live to ſee themſelves delivered from Task-maſters, and Tax-gatherers. It is impoſſible to think far into ſuch a thing without ſome Rapture, ſome little Extaſies upon the Felicities of our Native Country. This would be indeed to taſte the Fruits of Peace, and the Hannover Succeſſion. This would be the reviving the Halcion Days, and bringing the Golden Age once more upon the Earth. Then it would be no more a Proverb or by-Word among us, that there is nothing ſure, but Death and Taxes.

Then if Trade did not flouriſh, Manufactures go abroad, Navigation encreaſe, the Poor live eaſie, and every thing go well with us, it muſt be our [76] own Fault. Let me but repreſent now to a Manufacturing Weaver or Clothier, who has a Houſe full of Children, and a Shop or Work-room full of Servants, how it will fare with him; he will have his Coals cheaper by 5s. a Chaldron, his Malt cheaper by 4s. a Quarter, his Bread in all probability cheaper by 2s. a Buſhel, his Candles cheaper by 12d. a Dozen, his Soap by 2s. 6d. a Firkin, his Shoes cheaper, his Linnen, his Callicoe, and all ſuch things in proportion; in a Word, a Family that now ſpends a Hundred Pounds a Year in Houſe-keeping, ſhall live for Fourſcore, and ſo above and below them in proportion.

Even the People whoſe Intereſt of Money is to be abated, may not be ſuch great Loſers as they ſeem to ſuggeſt; for if they loſe ſomething in their Uſury, th y will have it again in the Subſiſtance of their Families, if they have any. Suppoſe a Man has 2000l. in theſe Funds for which he received 6 per Cent. before, and is now reduced to 5 per Cent. he muſt have but a ſmall Family, and make but a mean Figure in the World, if by the Abatement of Prices on Food and Cloaths, he does not ſave double to his loſs, by [77] the taking off thoſe Taxes, which he contributes ſomething to, even by every thing he uſes in his Houſe, or wears on his Back, the home bred Cattle, and home Manufacture only excepted.

And where then is the Oppreſſion of all this? and what Regard can he be ſuppoſed to have for his Native Country, that can ſit ſtill and not rejoyce to ſee his poorer Neighbours partake of the ſame Deliverance?

Let us Examine, what perhaps few think of in this Caſe, viz. what Effect it will have upon Trade: Our Trading Politicians tells us, 'tis all one to Trade, for the laſt Buyer pays it; the Tradeſman neither gets or loſes, it's all one to him cheap or dear, he has his Gain upon what he Sells. But theſe are Diſcourſes which come from the Mouths of none, but thoſe who know little of Commerce: There are two Maxims in Trade, which relate to the Dearneſs or Cheapneſs of Goods.

  • 1. Dearneſs of Goods leſſens the Conſumption.
  • 2. Dearneſs of Goods devours the Tradeſman's Stock.

[78] When Wares fall in Price, not only the People conſume more, but the Tradeſ-man can launch farther into Trade, ſell more in Value, and make a larger Return in a Year. This not only increaſes his Profit, but as it is in a private Man's Shop, ſo it is inthe general return of the Nation, the Trade is contracted, the Conſumption is leſſen'd, and the Demand for Goods ſhorten'd, becauſe the Price by reaſon of high Duties is enlarged.

Leſſening the Quantity of Goods ſold, affects abundance of the depending Branches of Trade; for Example, Navigation is leſſen'd, fewer Goods Imported, fewer Ships employ'd to fetch them, fewer Seamen to ſail thoſe Ships, fewer Tradeſmen to build, and fit them out; all Decreaſes. After Goods are on Shore, Boats, Carriages, Men, Horſes, all feel the Effects of a want of Quantity; ſo that making Goods dear at Market, which is the certain effect of all high Impoſitions, Cramps Trade obliges the Tradeſman to employ more Stock, or return much leſs.

Beſides this, it takes away the Employ of multitudes of Families, that are employ'd, as is ſaid, in removing, fetching and carrying Merchandices from Place to Place.

[79] Let us look leſs on the Melancholy part, and take the happy Reverſe: Upon removing the heavy Impoſitions, the Cheapneſs which will follow of courſe will accordingly encreaſe the Conſumption of all ſorts of Goods, as well Foreign Imported Goods, ſuch as Linnen, Fruit, Spice, Sugar, Tobacco, Wine, Oyl, Silk, Callicoes, Muſlins, Dye Stuffs, Coffee, Tea, Cocoa, and the like, as alſo of our home neceſſaries mention'd already to be ſo heavily Tax'd. By this encreas'd Conſumption, Trade will revive of courſe, Navigation encreaſe, Employment of Men, of Families, of Cattle, of Land, all encreaſes; in a Word, if Taxes were removed, Trade in general would encreaſe, Plenty and Cheapneſs make Families eaſy, and the whole Nation flouriſh.

FINIS.

Appendix A ADVERTISEMENT.

THE Author had form'd a 12th Chapter, containing Schemes of Ways and Means for raiſing Money, to pay theſe Intereſts, and ſink all the Oppreſſive Taxes mention'd before; but was unwilling to take upon him to lead our Superiors: If they may be wanted, he is ready to produce them at Demand.

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Zitationsvorschlag für dieses Objekt
TextGrid Repository (2020). TEI. 4332 Fair payment no spunge or some considerations on the unreasonableness of refusing to receive back money lent on publick securities And the necessity of setting the nation free from the insupportabl. University of Oxford Text Archive. . https://hdl.handle.net/21.T11991/0000-001A-6065-6