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ground of average. The house divided on this motion, when there appeared for it 23, against it 88.

The house again divided on the claufe which gave a difcretionary power to commiffioners to make out schedules; for the claufe 61, against it 8. The other claufes were then read and agreed to.

The chancellor of the exchequer moved, on the 30th of May, the order of the day on the third reading of the income-bill. He faid he would just trouble the house on that part of the bill which related to the form of schedules, which were to obtain the more accurate information of each perfon's income, and propofe a claufe in the place of that which he wished to withdraw "That it fhould be lawful for commiffioners to put questions in writing, and to receive anfwers thereto in writing, inftead of by word of mouth; and to give the option to the commiffioners, whether they would fend for the party for examination in cafe of neglect or not." Mr. Smith objected to this claufe, as leaving to the commiffioners ftill too large a fhare of difcretionary power. Sir W. Geary thought that the commiffioners fhould be compelled, in cafe of the answers not being fatisfactory, to fummon the party before them for a viva voce examination before they proceeded further. Mr. Pitt, on the fuggeftion, adopted this propofition; and it was agreed, after a converfation on the expediency and propriety of obtaining, in the fairest and moft indulgent manner, the amount of income, that the party fhould be fummoned, in cafe he required it.

The bill then, on the motion of Mr. Pitt, paffed, and was ordered to the lords for their affent.

On the 5th of June, Mr. Tierney

rofe, in pursuance of a notice he had given, to move for what he had called in his notice, a repeal of the income-tax, but which he did not now wish to have understood in those terms. He rather might be faid to rife and move for leave to bring in a bill to limit the duration of the tax on income. He wifhed to have his object clearly understood; for he knew there were many gentlemen who fuppofed he meant to embarrass his majefty's minifters, and prevent the neceffary fupply for the fervice of the year. He had no fuch intention. His intention was merely to fill up the blank in the bill then before the houfe, with the words, 5th April, 1801, and to allow the tax to continue till that period.

Suppofing the houfe fhould adopt his motion, it would ftill be competent, if the circumstances of the country required it, for either himfelf, or any other member in the houfe, to move for its continuance another year; for, although his opinion was, that. this mode of raifing the fupplies within the year was not only difadvantageous, but, even if it were the contrary, its advantages were materially overbalanced by its attendant evils; yet he fhould have no objection to voting its continuance another year as a war-tax. As a war-tax, its operation ought to be temporary. In ftrictnefs, the tax was of the nature of an annual land and malttax, and, in fairnefs, ought fo to be voted. He was actuated by two motives in bringing forward his motion at the prefent moment: firit he withed to have the fenfe of the houfe of commons on fo important a fubject (previous to its feparation) in its collective capacity, and to avail himself of the opinions of the individuals com

pofing it: his fecond and principal motive was, that he might expofe a fyftem of finance wholly defective and inadequate to the purpofe intended to be anfwered by it, and that he might fhow thofe who purchafed into the public ftocks of the country what their real fituation was. To the principle of raising a large fun of money within the year, he was as ready as the chancellor of the exchequer himself to fub. fcribe; but he was inimical to that principle being carried into effect through the medium of an incometax; it was a bad mode of raifing the public money. The chancellor of the exchequer, in the year 1797, had conceived the project of abandoning the old funding fyftem in order to raise the fupplies, and to determine that a new fyftem fhould be had recourfe to, namely, that, in every year, a large fum of money fhould be raised within the year by an arbitrary mode of taxation, determined by the amount of the affeffed taxes paid by each individual. The fum propofed to be raifed originally by the affeffed taxes was 8,000,000l. within the year. The measure had failed of producing that fum. The produce of the tax, with the operation of the different modifications, was four millions and a half, and, with the voluntary contributions, was, he believed, raised to fix millions and a half, or seven millions.

The right honourable gentleman, in the next year, thought fit to adopt a new mode of taxation, and to hift his criterion of property. The former criterion was expenditure; under this new mode, it was income; and the principle upon which it proceeded was, that whatever the income was, each perfon fhould pay a tenth of it towards the public fupplies. The produce of

this tax was estimated at ten mil lions; and, in fact, it was diftinctly ftated that the probability of fuch a meafure being available to the public, as a permanent and folid fyftem of finance, was, that it fhould produce a fum not lefs than ten millions. In 1799, instead of ten millions, which had been stated as neceffary to carry the fyftem into effect, it had produced only about 5,800,000l. In the prefent year the estimate was, that it should produce 7,coo,ocol. Taking the three years 98, 99, and 1800, this tax, which, to have any beneficial effect, was estimated for each year at 10,000,000l., would produce a fum not much above 5,864,000l. exclufive of the voluntary contributions. This was all the advantage the public had derived from the operation of this fyftem of finance.

In 1798, the minifter added eight millions; in 99, fourteen millions, and in 1800, thirteen millions to the debt of the country. Such was the aggregate of the facts. It was in the next place to be confidered, that, on the produce of this tax, there was already no lefs a fum mortgaged than 13,000,000l. The income-tax was a fyftem which could only be carried into effect by fpies and informers, and as fuchunfit for a free country. By a paper laid on the table on Thursday, he found there was to be an addition of ninety-one infpectors to the former, for the purposes of this tax. He wished to avoid harsh expreffions when mentioning those perfons; they were good-looking men, dreffed in good clothes, felected from the tax-office for their activity and vigilance. They were perfons whofe duty it was to go about and fee the number of fervants, horfes, dogs, &c. each man had, and to make a true return; in

this it is their intereft, as well as duty, to be keen and active. Thefe were the perfons that were now to come abroad to furvey and infpect men's properties, and to get at the truth by getting at the fecrets of each man's affairs. Mr. Tierney then repeated, that the country, if fubject to fuch a permanent tax, would not be worth living in. After a long speech he concluded with moving, that leave be given to bring in a bill to limit the duration of the income-tax.

The chancellor of the exchequer faid, one radical error appeared to have pervaded the whole fpeech of the honourable gentleman, that was, that the rax was impofed in a wanton fpirit of oppreffion, and adopted without any grounds of neceffity. But what was the fyftem he would recommend in its ftead? The perfeverance in the funding fyftem-a mode oftaxation infinitely more injurious to thofe middie men, for whofe interest he seemed fo folicitous, than the prefent fyftem. The prefent was temporary. That which he recommended was permanent, both in its amount and its duration. If the tax was not raised upon income, it must be raifed on confumption; in which cafe it would bear harder on men of middling fortunes. They would therefore have an increafed proportion of a permanent tax inftead of a diminution of a temporary one. Such was the relief propofed. The honourable gentleman had ftated, that he (the chancellor of the exchequer) opened the tax as if it were to be only for one year; but he had faid that it was to be in lieu of the affeffed taxes, which he had alfo admitted were to continue during the war, and one year after. How the honourable gentleman

could reconcile the contradictions which these admiffions obviously involved he should wish to dif cover. As to the principle of the tax itself, there was no ftronger proof of its excellence than that of its furnishing fuch refources for carrying on the war, that all the countries on the continent of Europe were now looking up to Great Britain as the inftrument of their deliverance and protection. Previously to the introduction of this new fyftem of finance, ftocks were reduced as low as forty-fix. Now it will be easily feen what the effect of the fifty-fix millions and the twenty-four millions must have been, had it been done by the old fyftem of funding. It might be fairly doubted whether we could have met the preffure in that way; but without going that length, he did not think any gentleman converfant with the fubje&t could fuppofe we could have borrowed within thefe three years at higher than 45. By this meafure then, combined with the redemption of the land-tax, the stocks from 45, had rifen in 1799 to 551, and in 1800 to 62; a difference of 34 per cent. So much for the capital. Now, if the honourable gentleman would look to the rate of intereft, he would find that, inftead of its being at from 91. to 187., it was laft year only 7, and this year 61. 55. 7d. It is fingular enough then, that this meafure, which was to deftroy our commerce and manufactures, and dry up all the fources of national profperity, fhould have raised the ftocks as high as the honourable gentleman fays it could be for the intereft of the country to fee them.

Now, if we looked to the capital, we fhould find that the capitals

which we had borrowed within these three years, were, in 1798, 15 millions; in 1799, 15 millions; and 18 millions in the prefent year, which would be found 24,800,000l. lefs capital created than would have been had not this fyftem been reforted to. The total amount to have been borrowed in the last three years would be 69,000,000l.; and it would be neceffary to impose permanent taxes to the amount of 6,000,000/.; and, therefore, the meafure complained of as inefficacious, had, in the short space of three years, faved a perpetual tax of 6,000,000l. He admitted that, within that time, we had laid on permanent taxes to the amount of 1,200,000l.; but he ftill contended, making full allowance for this, that there was a faving of permanent taxes to the amount of 4,800,000l. He concluded with faying, that he could not retract from the prefent fyftem of fi

nance.

After Mr. W. Smith, fir R. Williams, Mr. Buxton, colonel Elford, and Mr. Manning had spoken, the queftion being loudly called for, the houfe divided-Against the queftion 104-For it 24-Majority against the motion 80.

The income-tax regulation bill was paffed on the 13th of June in the houfe of lords, and fent back to

the commons.

The order of the day for the house to refolve itfelf into a committee of the whole houfe to confider of the accounts of the India Company being read, on the 25th of March, Mr. Secretary Dundas rofe and faid, that, in purfuance of his official fituation, he would, as briefly as poffible, fubmit to the confideration of the committee the proper ítatements which related to

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the affairs of the Eaft-India Company. The accounts, he obferved, went a year further back than he could have wished to have laid before the houfe, owing to the circumftance of the accounts from India laft year not having arrived till fome time fubfequent to the end of the feffion of parliament; he should, therefore, have wished for fome further delay in this business, as he was of opinion that accounts would foon arrive which might confiderably elucidate many of the articles contained in the present statements; the reafon, however, which had determined him to prefer the discharge of his duty at the prefent moment to that of following his inclination, was, that the accounts of the India Company were fo very accurate and clear, that it would not be neceffary for him to take up much of the time of the house. The purpofe of his prefent courfe would be to give merely the figures, with fuch cafual explanations as might ftrike him to be neceffary, in going over the feveral articles. The committee would be pleafed to obferve, that the accounts of the different prefidencies were of two kinds: the one giving the value of the feveral articles in current rupees, the fecond column the fterling value, tending to how the different heads of revenue charges and estimates with the greatest degree of accuracy, the present accounts taking in three years average. And it was his intention to lay before the committee the eftimates of the laft, as well as those of the next year, in order to enable the public and the house to judge what degree of accuracy was to be attributed to them.

Mr. Dundas then read as follows:
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Abtract of Statements relative to the Affairs of the Eafi-India Company,

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