thins, the Honourable Gentleman had faid, the precife time for purchafing the Land Tax was limited to one year. For his own part, he entertained doubts, whether even fo long a period as one year would be proper; but, as the Refolutions stood, the fact was, there was no particular definite time fixed, for, in lead of naming one year as the precife time, within which purchases were to be made, they merely ftated, fuch purchases were to be made by a day to be specified. Another objection the Honourable Gentleman had alfo brought forward, namely, that if a perfon made one or two payments, and afterwards was unable to follow them up, he would forfeit what he had advanced. If the objection had been at all well founded, the Honourable Gentleman might have faid, if, after nineteen payments, the twentieth had not been forthcoming, the whole nineteen would have been forfeited; but, fo far from this being the cafe, the Refolutions exprefsly faid, if any perfon failed in making his payments, not that he should forfeit his depofit, but that he fhould forfeit a fum not exceeding a fum to be afterwards filled up by the Houfe. He should think the fum to be forfeited ought certainly to have fome reference to the fum advanced, that it should be a fum not exceeding one-tenth; but as to forfeiting all the inftalments paid up on account of a future failure, he defied the Honourable Gentleman to produce any words in the Refolutions that contained any fuch idea. The Honourable Gentleman had adverted to the appeal to the Court of Exchequer ufing a fort of double entendre, as if that Court was to be guided by Minifterial influence; but had he reflected what kind of a court it was to which he had alluded? that it was not one where any court intrigue could be practifed; that it was no less than one of his Majefty's Courts of Record; one as grave as any in Westminster Hall, or, indeed, any other court in which the Honourable Gentleman had ever affifted at, or added dignity to by his gravity. He added, that it appeared to him the Refolutions required the greatest confideration; it was important to the country they should be difcuffed; therefore they ought to be read a fecond time; and he was furprised that any Gentleman fhould with rafhly to preclude the country the chance of a measure from which, if any benefit could ultimately be derived, it was our duty to avail ourselves; a measure holding forth the profpect of affording refources which might tend to alleviate the public burdens. Mr. Hobhoufe faid, he felt this fubject deserved the serious attention of the Houfe, and he had endeavoured to understand it; the refult of which was, that he could not bring his mind to affent to this measure. If it could be so altered and amended as to produce at last any probable advantage to the public, he fhould fhould be ready to affent to it; but it appeared to him that no alteration could remove his objections to the plan, because it was, in his opinion, fundamentally erroneous. With refpect to the brilliant ftate of profperity of the country -its increase in trade and commerce-its general affluenceits great increase of all thefe advantages, which the Chancellor of the Exchequer infifted upon when he introduced this meafure to the Houfe, he could only fay, he hoped the picture was fairly drawn; but he should venture, in its paffing, to exprefs a doubt of that fact, efpecially when he obferved that we were now excluded from many foreign markets to which we formerly traded to a confiderable extent. However, this was a topic on which he should not dwell, but he should come immediately to the Refolutions now before the Houfe. He had heard this measure objected to on conftitutional ground; and he owned he had not heard any reafon for changing his opinion, which was, that this measure was repugnant to the spirit of our conftitution, because the Land Tax was made perpetual:-by being voted annually, it was a check against a standing army, which check would be gone when that Land Tax was made perpetual. He admitted the propriety of the reafoning on the other fide, that if more money was made to be voted annually, in another way, in confequence of this meature, there would be a greater check in the hands of the Houfe than that which they gave up. That would be conclufive with him, if the fact were fo; but he thought it otherwife, for the House would not have the fame control over the Confolidated Fund, as it had over the Land Tax. In the one cafe they had a real, in the other only a nominal control; therefore it did not appear to him that the objection taken on conftitutional ground was removed. The Land Tax and the Confolidated Fund differed widely: the one was a varying and fluctuating thing-the other a fixed one; that is, it is now to be made a fixed one; it was not fo originally; and he remembered that in the year 1775, one fhilling was added, and it was then faid that the Land Tax might afterwards be leffened; upon the hope of which, perhaps, that addition was affented to; this measure, in fixing the Land Tax, appeared to him to be taking advantage of the generofity of the country: and for what object? To give to the Chancellor of the Exchequer a facility in negotiating a loan to carry on this deftructive and calamitous war, and for enlarging the wealth of money-dealers. What an alarming precedent was this! What would be the confequences of it? The Chancellor of the Exchequer very fairly faid, that land may hereafter again be taxed; although he admitted that it was not juft that property redeemed should be liable to another impoft; but by and by, as fome people faid, that this war was but but in its infancy, there would be tax upon tax, until the country gentlemen would find, upon examination, they had. bought their own property over and over again. This feemed to him to be a very ftrong invafion of all property whatever. He agreed, however, it would produce the 400,000l. a-year, provided it fucceeded to its full extent; that feemed to him to be a mere queftion of arithmetic, but then it must be accounted for in another way. He believed that an idea had gone forth, that this was a measure merely to raise the funds before the Loan; but it had not that defired effect, for he believed that many men in the city were acting the character of bears, while the Minifter was acting the part of a bull in the alley, and that perhaps was the reason why the funds did not rife. After all, he believed that the hopes of the Minifter, from the land owners purchasing the Land Tax, would be difappointed: generally fpeaking, no perfons had lefs ready money than the land owners; many of them mortgaged their eftates pretty highly, and as to their borrowing any money now at 5 per cent. it was out of the question; the probability was, that they would not purchase. Befides, he believed that this would produce a fyftem of retrenchment in expences, and that would diminish the revenue in a way that would more than overbalance the profits of this plan. Thefe were the objections that appeared to him in this matter. He was not speaking for the Country Gentlemen ; if it bore hard upon them, moft of them deferved their fate, for they were the great fupporters of this war. He fhould not take any view of the claufes, many of which were ill drawn. He fpoke generally on the outline of the measure. Mr. Ryder thought feveral parts of the fpeech of the Honourable Gentleman, who preceded him, inconfiftent with each other. His objections to the claufes might be done away in the Committee; in which stage, no doubt, many amendments would take place, because it was impoffible to make a measure of this kind perfect in the first inftance. As to the objection against making the Land Tax perpetual, that he had fpoken to on a former occafion; and, therefore, he should not repeat what he had urged already. With refpect to the general doctrine of varying the nature of a tax, he would only afk, what had the House been doing ever fince any tax was impofed? Had they not conftantly exercifed the power of altering, varying, or repealing any tax as they thought fit? And was the propriety of their fo doing ever called in question? The prefent was not the time for confidering the subject in detail, and therefore he should not enter on it. There was one point which came from the Honourable Gentleman, which he could not help taking notice of. He faid, this was a measure to enable the Minifter to carry on this war; it was not to cnable any Minifter; it was to enable that Houfe to enable this country to carry on this war-a war which the Honourable Gentleman only called a calamitous and deftructive war. He did not ftate it to be what the Houfe faid the country felt it to be-a juft, neceflary, unavoidable war. The Honourable Gentleman did not feem to pity the Country Gentlemen; and he feemed almoft willing to vote for this meafure, by way of revenge against them, for having supported the war. The truth was, that this meafure was to enable the Country Gentlemen the further to fupport the war, and to fupport their country. It was a measure that deferved serious attention; and he had no doubt would receive it; nor had he any doubt but it would be amended in the Committee. Sir William Pulteney obferved, that it was always pretended by Minitters, when they brought forward any extraordinary measure, like the prefent, that it was the neceffity of the times that called for fanction, and that they were never wantonly introduced and propofed with a view to anfwer any favourite object on their part. The zeal and fpirit of the country was never wound up to an higher pitch than at the prefent moment; and it was open for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to devife many other far lefs objectionable modes of raising money ; as any he would now produce could not fail of being seconded, and brought into effect by the forward alacrity of the people to furnish every refource which the exigencies of the moment might require. Viewing the measure in the light he did, he would now object to the fecond reading of the Refolutions; because the principle on which they proceeded was, in his mind, highly objectionable; it was alfo to be difapproved as inadequate to the attainment of its profeffed object; it was the avowed object of the Right Honourable Gentleman, in propofing the prefent measure, to raife the ftocks; but certain he was, that it would not be attended with this advantage; but that, while it failed in raifing the funds, it would do much mifchief into the bargain. But it is faid, that it is incumbent upon thofe who pronounce the measure not to be a good one, to prove that it is bad, and to propofe a better in its ftead. This he would deny. On the contrary, it lies with those who affert the meafure to be good, to prove that fuch is its tendency, and that fuch will be its effects; this is clear from the whole tenor of our Parliamentary proceedings, which fhew, that whenever a new measure is propofed, it lies with the propofer of it to adduce the reafons upon which he contends that the measure is a good one, and that its adoption will be followed by falutary ef fects. In the prefent cafe, the Right Honourable Gentleman himfelf himself does not contend that the meafure now proposed to us is abfolutely a good one. He, on the contrary, ventures no farther than faying, that there is a chance of its proving a good one. But, for his part, he denied the existence of fuch a chance. The pofture of affairs, it is faid, may make the immediate adoption of it highly neceffary for the good of the public fervice if fo, then it must be granted expedition is very proper. But, in the confufion of the Right Honourable Gentleman, the prefent fcheme is not expected to produce any immediate good effect; where then is the neceffity of preffing it fo urgently? We are told, befides, that the laws we make today, we may repeal next year. This may be true and fafe in many cafes. But, if a law is paffed for expofing the Land Tax to fale, you can never restore it to where it was before; you may talk of indemnity; but few or none will accept of it, and you thus deliberately get involved in a mifchief, from which you cannot retrieve back your fteps. He would again repeat what he had before infifted on, namely, that it was not the quantity of ftock that tended to raise or deprefs the funds; it was the quantity of money.—When money is fcarce, they are low; when it is plenty, they are high. No; nothing can affect them but money, or fomething thar anfwers all the purpofes of money. The Right Honourable Gentleman fays, alfo, that this fcheme holds out a temptation to buy. But this is a mistake; it will never fucceed. If you endeavour to force things out of their natural channel-thus, if you endeavour to force trade into any particular channel, you do more harm than good. The Right Honourable Gentleman thinks to drive money into this particular stock; but even if he did, it would not increase the quantity of money. There already exifts too strong a temptation for placing money in the funds-fix per cent. is furely a very ftrong temptation, and a temptation that monied men will cafily yield to. Some Landed Gentlemen (thofe who vote for the prefent measure) may perhaps be induced to purchase in this new fund; but while they convert their money, if they can raife any, to this new object, they will only cramp fome more ufeful branches--they have many other calls for their money; they have their farm-houfes to keep in repair; they have their draining, and inclofing, and many other fuch more important objects that demand money, which must be neglected, if they be induced to throw money into this new channel. Thus you fee the measure tends to cripple cultivation, which is fufficient to fhew that the principle of the measure is bad, and that the attempt to introduce it is imprudent and mifchievous. Thofe No. 24. ** 5 Q who |