of new markets in different parts of the world; and undoubtedly those efforts have been not a little assisted by the additional intercourse with France in consequence of the commercial treaty; an intercourse which, though probably checked and abated by the distractions now prevailing in that kingdom (French Revolution), has furnished a great additional incitement to industry and exertion. But there is still another cause even more satisfactory than these, because it is of a still more extensive and permanent nature; that constant accumulation of capital-that continual tendency to increase, the operation of which is universally seen in a greater or less proportion wherever it is not obstructed by some public calamity, or by some mistaken or mischievous policy. This accumulation of capital arises from the continual application of a part, at least, of the profit obtained in each year, to increase the total amount of capital to be employed in a similar manner and with continued profit in the year following. The great mass of the property of the nation is thus constantly increasing at compound interest; the progress of which, in any considerable period, is what, at first view, would appear incredible. Great as have been the effects of this cause already, they must be greater in future; for its powers are augmented in proportion as they are exerted. It acts with a velocity continually accelerated, with a force continually increased. In 1799 an income tax was imposed. Upon the presentation of the measure, the Prime Minister laid before parliament an estimate of the incomes of the country, which might be subjected to the tax, together with the probable amount of revenue which might be derived therefrom. The estimates made by Mr. Pitt' are as follows: COMPUTATION OF INCOME BY MR. PITT. Deduction for part under $300, which will pay nothing, and part under $1000, which will pay an average of 1-5. Annual Income. Landlords' rents, 40,000,000 cultivated acres, estimated at 12s. 6d. per acre $125,000,000 Taxable Income. 1-5 Reduced to United States money at $5 per pound sterling, 1 Published in Appendix IV of An Inquiry Into the Nature and Origin of Public Wealth. 75,000,000 I-5 15,000,000 60,000,000 60,000,000 60,000,000 90,000,000 148,000,000 50,000,000 140,000,000 $657,000,000 Signifi cance of these figures. Great expansion of foreign trade-Increase of exports and imports from 1697 to 1793. It should be borne in mind that the earnings of the laboring classes are not included in this estimate. Considering the fact that at this time the population of England was less than 12,000,000, and that the vast accumulation of wealth from which these incomes were derived, was made before the industrial revolution under which by the use of machinery, new inventions and processes, the power of man over nature was so greatly augmented, it discloses an industrial activity of much more magnitude than upon first notice would be appreciated by business men of the present time. It was before the age of railroad building, or of steamships. Even the iron and coal mines had not been developed to any considerable extent. None of the great sources from which vast fortunes have been acquired during the nineteenth century were then open to the English people. Their position, however, had been reached by a development of their domestic resources, manufactures and improvements in agriculture, combined with foreign trade. The benefits resulting from the Navigation Laws, which secured their commerce with foreign countries, is shown by the constant and rapid increase of their exports and imports. The steady expansion of foreign trade, from the adoption of the policy TOTAL EXPORTS AND IMPORTS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND ALL $ 216,600 23,661,800 32,610,520 8,948,720 1699 28,538,345 29,686,310 1,147,965 29,850,875 1702 Period of War 1 Published in MacGregor's Commercial Statistics Supplement, Vol. V., pp. 95-97. TOTAL EXPORTS AND IMPORTS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND ALL TOTAL EXPORTS AND IMPORTS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND ALL 57,685,060 57,692,875 63,243,080 7,815 9,181,880 13,373,810 11,730,260 1784 Period of Peace 76,364,385 78,670,310 81,396,995 80,588,245 $808,750 1786 78,930,360 81,529,330 89,020,120 84,348,945 87,361,240 1789 89,106,010 96,702,740 Prosperity of great Britain evi denced by her condi tion during the Napo leonic wars. The reader will note that from 1697 to 1793, a period of nearly one hundred years, the balance of trade was in favor of England, with the exception of two years. During this time English merchants and manufacturers sold to the people of other countries, $1,040, 316, 540 of merchandise more than they purchased of them. This vast sum was drawn from foreign countries, and added to the wealth of the English people. They were constantly outstripping all rivals, both in the extent and in the nature of the trade. As manufacturing increased, the exports from their factories and workshops became greater; while the imports consisted of those raw materials and food products of other countries which England could not produce. External trade of this character is most profitable. It furnishes a constant stimulus to every branch of business and productive industry within a country, diffuses life and enterprise into all channels of trade, and results in that flourishing condition which makes a country prosperous, independent and powerful. The wealth of the English people, their productive powers and resources were brought into prominence by the Napoleonic wars. The growth of agriculture, manufacturing, foreign trade and all those sources for the accumulation of capital, which had been making such progress all through the eighteenth century, gave to England upon the breaking out of the Napoleonic wars in 1793 a pre-eminence, which enabled her not only to withstand the terrible strain on the finances of the country, during the twenty years which followed, but actually to grow rich and prosperous in the midst of the unparalleled destruction of property which was constantly going on. Her productive powers at this time enabled her to meet the exigencies of the war and bear its burden better than any other country involved in the struggle. While every other nation was left ruined, bankrupt and prostrate, England prospered and grew more powerful in the very heat of the conflict, notwithstanding the large drafts that were being made upon her energies, and the enormous debt contracted. When the war first broke out, the English Government placed a loan among the London merchants of $375,000,000, which was taken in less than a week. The national debt was increased by $3,044,661,645. This vast sum was readily obtained from English capitalists. The English government not only sustained its own armies and bore its own expenses in the part taken in this struggle, but loaned $328,507, 145 to other countries between 1792 and 1815. The following is a statement of the foreign loans made to other nations in the wars against Napoleon : General conclu tection the in Great Britain's economic progress. It may be safely said, that no candid and impartial observer can examine the history of the rise and development of the commercial suprem-ion-Pro acy of England, in domestic productions and foreign trade, without chief factor arriving at the conclusion that it is due more to the policy of protection than to any other one cause. It was not until the people of England conceived the idea that they could make their own clothing and implements that the foundations were laid for that vast manufacturing system which has been the chief source of their wealth and prosperity. As long as they relied upon the Continent and the East for these articles, they made no progress. It was not until they imitated the example which had been set by the Venetians, the Dutch and the Flemish, and turned the attention of their own people to manufacturing, that their material prosperity began. They did not cease sending their wool to Flanders to have it carded, made into cloth, and returned with the value of Flemish labor added to the raw material, until Edward III. invited John Kemp with his weavers into England to set up their industry, prohibited the export of wool, and gave the woolen manufactures the protection of the government. By a system of protective tariffs the people of England were turned to a study of the arts and mysteries of manufacturing and to a cultivation of a taste for a high degree of perfection in industrial pursuits. 1 The Condition of Nations, by G. Fr. Kolb, p. 64. |