46 ed, as, upon Mr. Burke's bill, the oath of a fecretary of ftate, that the money iffued was for fecret fervices, effectually fecured the minifter from all refponfibility, and precluded all inveftigation. Here Mr. Sheridan repeated what had been obferved before, that the last parliament was not a meritorious parliament. He afked the minifter what he himself must have thought of that parliament, when out of the alarmifts who had feceded from the ranks of oppofition, he had fent fo many to fhelter themselves from danger upon the higher ground, and to hide their heads in coronets from the storm which they affected to dread? Surely, if he had entertained a very high opinion of thofe gentlemen, he would not have removed fo many of them from the fcene of action. Mr. Wilberforce defended the measure of fending money to the emperor as advantageous and juftifiable. Sir William Pulteney, on the contrary, contended, that the conduct of the minifter ought to be marked with the diftinct difapprobation of the houfe. Mr. Fox clofed this debate with an animated and forcible reply to all the arguments which had been advanced on the minifterial fide of the houfe. He took the imputation of hoftility to government, and to the parliament that had fupported that government, as a compliment paid to himself. He gloried in having been hoftile to a parliament that ipent above one hundred millions of money in fubjugating America, and in being hottile to the laft parliament, who fupported the minifters in undertaking a war unneceflary and unprovoked. The houfe divided on Mr. For the purpose of giving a com centrated view of the financial proceedings of the whole year, we fhall once more deviate from the order of time, and state the contents of the fecond budget, which was brought forward in the fpring of 1797. On the 24th of April, when the house had refolved itself into a committee of fupply, the chancellor of the exchequer obferved, that on that day he had barely to state, that the heads of fupply which were then to be voted were three: firft, an additional fum towards defraying the expences of the navy; next, a fum to make good the charge on the growing produce of the confolidated fund for 1796; and, laftly, to make good the exchequer bills which had been advanced on the vote of credit of 1796. The largest of these fums was for the navy. The money then voted for that fervice already amounted to 7,600,000l.; befides which, the houfe would recollect, he had laid before them an estimate of two millions and a half more, which was not then voted; the fum then which he had to call for, was not all to be confidered as a new demand, fince thofe two millions and a half were to make a part of it, and circumftances required a larger fum than had been eftimated. The fum therefore which he proposed to be voted was five millions, which, added to the 7,600,000l. already granted, would make the fum of 12,600,000l. This fupply was voted, alfo 1,110,000l. to difcharge the exchequer bills advanced on the vote of credit of the preceding year, and the fum of 2,177,000l. to make good the 3,000,000l. charged in the preceding fellion on the confolidated fund. Mr. Mr. Pitt, on the 26th of April, brought forward his fecond budget. While he regretted, he faid, the calamities and expences with which the prefent juft and unavoidable war had been attended, he thought it his first duty to come forward with a firm and manly fpirit, in which he trufted the houfe and the country would concur with him, to convince the enemy that however great our preffure might be, we were determined to contend with them as long as we were able, rather than fubmit to haughty and dishonourable terms. He obferved, that the very able and impartial statements of the first report of the felect committee of finance had greatly diminished the labour of arranging the plan which he was about to fubmit to the confideration of the house. He then proceeded to ftate, with his ufual precifion, the amount of the fums already voted, and the fums remaining to be voted. The aggregate of his two budgets made the whole fupplies for the year amount to the enormous fum of 42,786,000l.; an annual expence unprecedented in the annals of finance. For the navy service of the current year there had already been voted 7,661,000l. in addition to which the committee of fupply had, a few days before, voted 5,000,000l. more. Although he estimated the expences of the navy department at 7,661,000l. he had at the fame time ftated his intention of proposing a further provifion of 2,500,000l. in order to remedy an inconvenience which had arifen before, that he might thereby have 10,161,000l. in cafh, towards defraying any excefs of navy debt. Such however had been the extraordinary expences of the war, that there then remained an unfunded debt of the navy unprovided for, to the amount of four millions. The feket committee had estimated the navy fervices at 12,900,000l. which was fhort of what he had stated them to be. He had estimated a floating navy debt of 1,500,000l. the felect committee had fuppofed one of 3,000,000l. The next head of fervice was the army, for the fervice of which there had been voted the fum of 10,913,000l. but on account of fome army expences being incurred in 1796, which then remained unprovided for, it became neceffary to require the further fum of 3,387,000l. for the outstanding army debt. It is here to be obferved, that the extraordinaries of the army were now, for the first time, brought forward by way of eftimate; at leaft, they were never done fo fully till the prefent war, but they were paid out of the money granted for other fervices, leaving the provifion for thofe fervices deficient for another year. In addition to this, there had been advanced to the emperor, by way of loan (and which would be due from his imperial majefty to the public) 1,200,000l. and the fum of 900,cool. advanced to the merchants of Grenada and St. Vincents, which would alfo be returned. To the expences of ordnance he made no addition to those stated in the first budget. Under the head of mifcellaneous fervice there had been voted already the fum of 378,000l. and if he proceeded, he faid, by the estimate of the felect committee, the fum of 929,000l would be required instead. The head of national debt was not augmented by the fecond budget. The fum to fupply the further deficiencies of land and malt was 900,000l. above what was ftated in the firft hudget. Under Under the head of repayments to the bank, he propofed the fum of 1,054,000l. and the fam of 1,370,000l. to discharge exchequer bills iffued on the credit of the confolidated fund for 1796, and paid alfo by the bank. The next fum was 1,110,000l. for the discharge of navy and exchequer bills, raifed by an act of the preceding feffion, upon a vote of credit in 1796 The deficiency of the confolidated fund required the fum of 2,177,000l. The laft fum he alluded to was the vote of credit to the amount of 3,000,000l. As 500,000l. had been paid to the emperor, he wished to be provided with the further fum of 2,500,000l. in order that further advances might be made to him as exigencies might require. Thus the minifter went through the whole of the fupply, all the particular articles of which he obferved it was not poffible to calculate foon enough to infert them in the budget which he had opened be. fore Christmas. For the fake of perfpicuity the following recapitulation of the whole fupplies for the year 1797 is inferted. Navy Army 12,65 12,661,000 6,600,000 Army extraordinaries 3,387,000 Deficiency of land and malt 350,000 Repayment to the bank for advances to the confolidated fund of 1795 1,054,000 Ditto for 1796 1,370,000 Further deficiencies of land and malt 900,000 Deficiency of the confolidated fund To discharge exchequer bills iffued on the credit of the confolidated fund for 1796 2,177,000 1,110,000 Vote of credit for 1797 2,500,000 Mr. Pitt next ftated the ways and means by which this large fum was to be raifed. A loan of 18 millions had already been voted, 2,750,000l. for the land and malt, and 420,000l. for the furplus of grants for the year 1796. He obferved, that of the 18 millions to Total of fupplies £. 42,786,000 be borrowed, one million and a half was for the fifter kingdom of Ireland, of which the interest was to be provided by the Irish parliament; another million and a half was to be lent to the emperor, to enable him to repay the million and a half advanced by this coun try. Exchequer bills Growing produce of the confolidated fund, by estimation 2,750,000 420,000 18,000.000 200,000 3,000,000 2,000,000 16,500,000 Total of ways and means for the year 1797 £. 42,870,000 He then ftated the terms of the new loan of 18 millions as follows: For every 100l. fubfcribed, the subscriber was to have 50 of the 3 per cents. reduced 125 of the 3 per cents. confols 25 400 12 16 4 II 20 of the 4 per cents. ol. 6s. 6d. of the long annuities Every 100l. fubfcribed, to have the value of £. 104 17 From hence, he said, there would be a profit of 41. 175. for every fubfcription of 100l. which, except in a period of fuch, difficulty as the prefent, was larger than he fhould be willing to allow; but this was not the whole of the profit; there was a discount to be added, which he had felt it his duty to make higher than ufual. The common rate was three per cent.; he proposed to make it four per cent. in order to encourage the prompt payments upon the loan; the whole bonus, therefore, would be 61. 178. per cent. to every fubfcriber when the discounts for prompt payments were taken in. The chancellor of the exchequer next proceeded to what he called the unpleasant task of enumerating the new taxes he had to propose for raifing the intereft upon the several fums borrowed, of which the following is a fummary statement. 320,000 The confolidated duties on stamps in general, doubled Tax on property transferred by private contract, at 4d. per pound 170,000 40,000 40,000 An additional duty of 1d. upon the ftamps of each newfpaper 114,000 Increased duty on advertisements 20,000 On attorneys' certificates 15,000 On ornamented plate 30,000 Duty equal to the tolls on all carriages paffing turnpikes 450,000 £199,000 1797. D Here Here the minifter omitted three articles which he fupplied the next day upon a suggestion of Mr. Fox, namely, On bills of exchange Infurance from fire Omitted in the fums mentioned on the produce of the stamps on copies of deeds Thefe fums, being added, the whole produce of the new taxes made the fum of Mr. Fox rofe, and obferved, that however unfounded the financial calculations of the chancellor of the exchequer had formerly been, they were even exceeded in delufion by his ftatements that day, which were altogether unprecedented in the hiftory of finance. He came forward in December laft, and having fucceeded in obtaining a fupply of 18 millions, he came forwards again in April, and repeated the experiment by calling upon parliament for the fame fum. The minifter ought to be reminded, that, on the 7th of December, he told the house, that the 18 millions then advanced were given not fo much with an idea of profecuting the war, as with an earnest hope of enabling him to forward the defirable work of peace, and that he flated that fun to be an ample fupply for the exigencies of the ftate. After making fome obfer. vations upon the ftatements given in, of the produce of the taxes, Mr. Fox contended, that there ftill remained a deficiency of 357,00ol. though he did not from thence argue, that, because the minifter was minus for that fum, he fhould have immediately proceeded to provide for it; but he would contend, that for him to maintain that he had a furplus when he was actually deficient, was an illufion of too grofs and palpable a nature to impofe upon the understanding. But if the taxes of 1796 produced the £. 40,000 35,000 10,000 1,284,000 fum it was intended they fhould, there would then be a deficiency of 88,000l. and that, according to the report of the felect committee, at the beginning of the feffion there was a deficiency of 357,000l. and in October the right honourable gentleman came forward and funded his navy bills, and in December he made his loan; he ought then to have announced that the produce of the taxes was not equal to meet the public exigencies. Inftead of the taxes which had been propofed, it appeared that the fum of 1,800,000l. in taxes, would not have been too much for the various exigencies of the moment. The report of the felect committee, he faid, did not deferve the eulogium which had been paffed upon it: according to their account, the deficiency amounted to 210,000l. whereas he (Mr. Fox) calculated it at 470,000l. He next examined the estimates for the navy fervice. In December the minifter ftated, that the probable increase of the navy debt would be two millions and a half, and this he called a very ample eftimate; next he raised it to four millions; and, laftly, in April, when he brought forward his fecond budget, he called for 8,764,000l. more. The number of men voted for the fervice of 1795 was 110,000, the vote for the current year was for 120,000 men. Instead, therefore, of making the increafe lefs than it had been in the preceding year, the chancellor |