mass of capital swallowed up and lost under the donomination of the Debt, and which has been dissipated in the ruinous foreign wars and domestic profusion detailed in the last and preceding chapters.

The Sinking Fund-of which we shall, by and by, give a curious history-means a sum of money set apart for the purpose of discharging the public debt. Generally speaking, we mean, by the Funds, those large sums which have been lent to government, the record of which is preserved in the books of the Bank of England, and for which the lenders, or their assigns, receive interest from the public revenue. The term Stock is used nearly in the same sense; but is more strictly applicable to the different branches of the Debt, bearing different or the same rate of interest; as the 3 per Cents Reduced, or the 3 per Cents, and which together constitute the aggregate public debt. It is, also, applied to the sums which form the capital of the Bank, the East-India Company, the South-Sea Company, and other public companies, the proprietors of which are entitled to a share of their respective profits.

Although the public creditor cannot demand payment of the capital debt, the mode of transferring it, even in small sums, is so conveniently arranged, and the dividends so regularly paid, that it is considered an eligible property. The value of the Funds is liable to considerable fluctuation. It depends chiefly on the proportion between the interest they bear and the profit which may be obtained by applying capital to other purposes. It is influenced by the plenty or scarcity of money; and it is impaired by any event which threatens the safety or weakens the credit of government. It is always much higher in time of peace than in time of war; and is affected by every event, and even by every report, in time of war, favourable or unfavourable. False reports are frequently raised by knavish people for that purpose.

In the early part of the Funding System, a separate account was kept of each loan, and of the tax imposed for payment of the interest. This method was afterwards found inconvenient, as the produce of some of the taxes fell short of the expected sum, while that of others exceeded it, and the multiplicity of funds produced confusion. To obviate this inconvenience, the different funds were united, and to each various branches of revenue were appropriated, charged with the payment of the annuities.

Besides the funded debt, is a large sum due by government under the name of the Unfunded Debt. It arises from any national expense, for which no provision has been made, or the provision has proved insufficient, or not forthcoming at the time wanted. During the latter periods of the late war, and for a few years following the return of peace, its amount considerably exceeded fifty millions; in 1815 it was at the highest, and had reached a sum greatly beyond the entire amount of the debt at the accession of George II., being more than 67 millions. Of late years the amount of the unfunded or floating debt has not exceeded half that sum. The form in which it mostly exists is that of Exchequer bills. These were first issued in 1696, and being intended as a temporary substitute for money during the recoinage at that period,

some of them were so low as £10 and £5. There are none issued now under £100, and many of them are for £500, £1000, and still larger sums. They bear interest, at a certain rate per day, for £100; and, being distributed among those who are willing to advance their value, they pass from hand to hand like bank-notes. After a certain time, they are received in payment of taxes, or other moneys due to government; and the interest due on them, at the time, is allowed in the payment.. The Bank often engages to receive them to a certain extent, and thereby promotes their circulation; and the daily transactions between the Bank and the Exchequer are chiefly carried on by bills of £1000 deposited in the Exchequer by the Bank, to the amount of the sums received by them on account of government. New Exchequer-bills are frequently issued in discharge of former ones; and they are often converted into funded debt, by granting capital, in some of the stocks, on certain terms, to such holders as are willing to accept it.

In

Besides Exchequer-bills there are Navy-bills issued from the NavyOffice, to answer any purpose in that branch of public expenditure; and they bear interest after a certain date, if not discharged. Ordnancebills or Debentures are issued from the Ordnance-Office, for supplying deficiencies in that branch of expenditure. Victualling and Transport Bills are issued from the respective offices in the same manner. addition to the principal branches of the unfunded debt, there is always a number of demands on the public for bills accepted by the Treasury, army charges, and miscellaneous services of various kinds. These are daily fluctuating, and their amount at any particular time cannot be easily ascertained.

Our next object will be to exhibit a brief statement of the progress of the Debt, and its successive augmentations and diminutions during different reigns and periods of war and peace, and the total amount at the present time.

SUMMARY of the Progress of the Debt from the Commencement of the Funding System, at the Revolution, to the 5th January, 1831.

Debt at the renewal of the war, in 1803.. 629,467,529 27,043,625

Increase during the war.

Debt at the peace of 1815.........

491,940,407 16,940,954

1,121,407,936 43,984,579

Increase during the peace, to 1819 •

....

Debt, January 5, 1819.

Deduct Debt redeemed by Sinking Fund 389,637,049 15,815,001

The unfunded debt, consisting of Exchequer-bills, amounted, January 5th, 1831, to £27,271,650, the interest of which, added to the interest of the funded debt, and the charges of management make the aggregate annual charge on account of the funded and unfunded debt, £28,349,754.

The diminution in the annual charge of the Debt, during the seventeen years of peace, may be ascribed, in a considerable proportion, to the reduction of the rate of interest on the 5 and 4 per cent. stocks, and on Exchequer-bills, and to the falling in of terminable annuities. A further diminution was effected in the session of 1830, by the conversion of the New Fours into a three-and-a-half per cent. stock. Altogether, the savings effected by these conversions amount to three millions and a half per annum; and the total reduction in the annuity, payable to the public creditor, amounts to four millions and a half.* It appears, then, the diminution in the annual charge of the Debt has not been the result of ministerial economy and retrenchment, but of the internal state of the country-the redundancy of unemployed capital, which by lowering the rate of interest, and thereby enhancing the price of the funds, enabled government to offer to the holders of stock, of a high denomination, the option of being either paid off at par, or the acceptance of a lower rate of interest.

A desirable fact to ascertain is, the permanent charge entailed on the community by the war of 1793. From the extensive inquiries of the Finance Committee of 1828, this subject may be correctly illustrated. The annual augmentation of the permanent charge of the debt, between 1792 and 1816, was £22,744,360.† To this must be added, the charge for the half-pay and pensions of the army and navy and civil retired allowances, called the dead weight, amounting to £5,363,640 per annum. We must, also, allow for the increase in salaries, in civil and colonial establishments, which were a consequence of hostilities. The results will be best expressed in a tabular form.

Permanent Burthen entailed on the Country by the Revolutionary War, from 1793 to 1815.

...

Interest of the debt contracted during the war
The annual charge for half-pay, pensions, and superannuation al-
lowances, amounting, in 1830, to £5,363,640; but consisting
almost all of life annuities, may be computed equal to a perma-
nent burthen of.....

Exclusive of this last item, the expenditure of the army and navy is
greatly augmented since 1792, partly from the extension of our
foreign possessions, and partly from the augmented military force
kept up in Ireland and Great Britain.-On account of the war,
say

Increase of Civil List, salaries and pensions..
Other charges not enumerated

.£22,744,360

2,250,000

2,500,000

2,000,000

1,000,000

Total......£30,494,360

Viscount Goderich, House of Lords, May 5, 1830.

+ Fourth Report of Select Committee on Public Income and Expenditure, p.20.

Such is the amount of the annual burthen entailed on the country by the last war of the Aristocracy. Yet the Oligarchy have the meanness to refuse £250,000 a year for the purposes of emigration. They have even the baseness to complain of the amount of poor-rates; they grumble to pay a few millions per annum for the relief of the aged, the infirm, and destitute, while they have wantonly burthened the community with a perpetual incumbrance of upwards of THIRTY MILLIONS per annum in war and devastation. Although they have thus mortgaged for ever national resources, happiness, and enjoyments, they aggravate the calamities they have created, by clinging with the grasp of death to enormous salaries, sinecures, and unmerited pensions. Can any one who has a head to think, or heart to feel, suppress indignation in contemplating this unexampled record of infatuation, injustice, and oppression?

PLANS FOR THE REDEMPTION OF THE DEBT.

Having given a general illustration of the nature of the Funds, and of the progress and present amount of the Debt, our next object will be shortly to notice the empyrical projects set on foot and countenanced by the Aristocracy for its redemption.

Although the Sinking Fund, established under the auspices of Mr. Pitt, was founded on an egregious misapprehension, yet, if we examine the subject attentively, we shall find that ministers had similar reasons for adhering to it that they had for adhering to any other branch of expenditure. First, the keeping up of a Sinking Fund was a pretext for keeping up taxation. Secondly, the management of the fund was a pretext for keeping up a certain amount of patronage, fees, and emoluments. Lastly, the Sinking Fund left a surplus sum at the disposal of ministers, ready to be applied to any casual object they might think expedient. They might employ it to subsidize foreign despots, to enter on new wars, or to supply deficiencies in the civil list, or any other department of expenditure. That the money was voted for other purposes formed no security that it would not be so applied; experience having shewn that ministers never hesitated to encroach on the Sinking Fund when it suited their necessities.

These, we apprehend, formed some of the reasons for maintaining the Sinking Fund, long after its fallacy had been demonstrated. Some reluctance, too, was no doubt felt to abandon a scheme of finance which had been panegyrized by many distinguished individuals; and, in fact, the history of the Sinking Fund is the most striking proof of the gullibility of our great men," that can any where be found; and it is chiefly for the purpose of illustrating the superlative abilities of hereditary legislators, that we are induced to devote any space to the exposition of such a barefaced subject.

Mr. Pitt's plan of a Sinking Fund was, to set apart a portion of the surplus revenue, to accumulate by compound interest, and, after the