thefe two taxes, he did not know that they would be deficient; and they would acquit him of having proposed them as fuch, merely that he might have recourfe to the finking fund: he was of opinion laft year, that they could answer the end for which they were impofed; and he was now of opinion, that fuch remedies might be devised as fhould make them very productive: thefe remedies, he would beg leave, on a future day, to fubmit to parliament. New taxes could arcely ever be fo impofed as to render grafions in the firft or fecond year impoffible: the defects of a law were to be arned from experience; which had enabled him to find out means to defeat the evafions that had been laft year too fuccessful.

When new taxes are to be impofed, a chancellor of the exchequer can proceed anly on conjecture and probability: the bad fuccefs of laft year, and the preffing neceffity for a certain fupply, obliged him to have recourfe to a taxation which he was fure would not fail him : he could tell, almost to a certainty, what the produce would amount to; and that circumstance, and not a want of other refurces, had determined him to adopt the following plan.

To raife the fum of 472,500l. to pay the annuities for the loan of feven milhans, he proposed to lay an additional duty of five per cent. on the full produce Lf the excife and customs.

The average for three years of excife was 5,520,417 1. of customs 2,519,403 1.; a daty of five per cent. on thefe fums would amount to 401,991. This tax was in itself fo light, that it could but very little affect the value of the necefiaries of life; and could not afford the irader a pretext to enhance the price to the confumer. On a pound of candles the increafe was no more than two tenths of a farthing; on foap and hides three tenths of a farthing per pound. On bohea tea it fcarcely amounted to une penny per pound; and also on wine it was not quite a halfpenny a-bottle; on beer and ale it was fcarce two twellths of a farthing on a pint [English]: fo trivial an increase of duty could not raife the price of malt-liquor on the contumer. When parliament impofed a duty of three fhillings a-barrel on beer, the confumers were charged fix; and though the advance did not amount to a farthing a-pot, they were made to pay a halfpenny additional. Nine peace a-bufhel

had indeed been laid on malt; which the brewers had thought proper to pay themfelves, without any higher charge to their customers; but they neverthelefs impofed on them two fhillings and three pence a-barrel more than they were rated at the excife-office. The vintners had likewife taken advantage of the duty impofed last year on wine, and, for an additional duty of only one penny, had charged their customers fixpence : this year he hoped that no fuch impofition would be attempted, as the new duty was too trifling. The brewers had fome years ago fuffered great loffes; but at prefent, from the price of malt, they were enabled to make enormous fortunes; therefore he hoped that they would be content with what they received, without loading the people with a fresh burden. But as he wished to fee the confumers of beer enabled to drink this liquor as cheap as poffible, and that he would be forry to fee the people left at the mercy of the brewers, he would, if the committee thought proper, except beer and ale from the new taxation. Beer and ale were accordingly excepted. He fhould then be obliged to deduct from 401,991 1. the fum of 87,473 1. which would have been brought in by the new tax on porter, and would reduce the firft fum to 314,518 1.

To make up the remainder of the fum of 472,500l. he propofed to tax thofe who travel poft. The convenience of poft-chaifes was very great; and in this kingdom greater than in any other in Europe; and as few but those who were tolerably eafy in their circumstances could ride post, he thought that convenience a very proper object for taxation. By an official inquiry, he had learned, that in England and Wales there were 4021 chaifes, exclufive of thofe in London and Middlesex. To thefe he allowed four horfes each upon an average, which made 16,084 horfes: thefe he fuppofed to travel each one flage a-day; for if they did not, they could not earn as much as would keep them. On each horfe he would lay a duty of 9 d. a stage, which would bring in about 600l. a day, and 219,000l. a-year: but as this was a new tax, and that he had no fure grounds to go upon, he would deduct one quarter, which would reduce the fum to about 164,2501. which with the other taxes of 314,5171. would make jut 478,767 1.; upwards of 8000 1. more than the intereft of the loan. He would

have every poft-chaise letter to take out a licence from the ftamp-office, for which he fhould pay 5 s.; and he fhould alfo receive a number of ftamps by way of tickets, which fhould be delivered to the traveller on his hiring the chaife: for expedition, no blank fhould be left in them but for the day of the month; and to make the traveller careful to take the ticket, he should be obliged to produce it at all turnpikes he should meet in his way, (and he supposed that on every ftage there was one turnpike); and if he could not produce it, he should pay the turnpike-man for his own ufe, as an encouragement to make him watchful, 9 d. for every horse. This he thought would be a very good check. The landlord fhould, whenever the collector fhould make his rounds, produce all the tickets in his poffeffion, and the money for thofe which he had given away; and he should be allowed one half per cent. for the money he should pay in. That people might not run on diligences to avoid the new tax, he propofed to tax them at one halfpenny a mile for going out, and one halfpenny on the return, in all one penny a-mile. He had rather rate the new tax at a penny a-mile for each horfe, than nine pence a-flage, if he could have it eafily collected; and he faid he would endeavour to devise fome means for fettling it at a penny a-mile.

As to the candles, foap, and hides, he fhould be glad, for the relief of the poor, to except them, as well as the porter, out of the new taxation; which he could do, by taking off the prohibition on foreign cambric, by which the revenue was greatly injured, and which did not hinder the importation of that commodity under another name. This propofal met defervedly the general approbation of the Houfe, and his Lordship therefore left out the foap, candles, and hides; and for them deducted 32,407 1. which was the fum they were to bring in by the new taxation. In their ftead he fubftituted cambric, which would bring up wards of 36,000 1. per ann. and fubjected them, exclufive of the old duties forinely paid on cambric, to the new one of five per cent.

Mr Burke did not relish the new taxes; that upon horfes he was fure would be vexatious; and it would be improper to establish it, as it would be a check on commerce; the publicans would be opprefied by it, and they fuffered fọ much

already, that in his opinion they were objects for relief more than oppreffion; however, he would vote for the taxes proposed by his Lordship, not because they were good, but because better could not be propofed.

Mr Fox differed from Mr Burke; he would not vote with the Noble Lord because no better taxes could be devised Members of parliament were not bound and, in certain fituations, could not pro pofe plans of taxation; it was the chan cellor of the exchequer's duty, and if h did not discover proper ways and mean to raise the fnpply, he averred he fhoul never have his fupport. The duty excife and cuftoms was indeed an infa lible way of raifing fupplies without ne taxes, as he might every year, for eve lay an additional five pounds on the fan commodities. The tax on horfes he probated, as it would be an interrupti of that speedy intercourfe which cont buted fo much to support freedom trade.

Mr T. Townshend fpoke againft t motion, and Mr Dempfter against ! loan. The latter disapproved of anni ties for ever, when, if they had be granted for ninety-nine years, they wou be determinable, and very little diffe ence would be in the purchase of thei If after the fall of the annuities, the m ney arifing from the taxes were carti to the finking fund, for the liquidati of our debts, he would have no obje tion to them; but he could not but i probate the cuftom of making the ta ferve to fupport a great peace-establi ment, which obliged us to make t molt violent efforts in time of war. T tax upon poft-horfes would be very u equally felt, as thofe who lived mefti mote from the capital, and whose ft tunes were generally small, in proporti to that distance, as his was, would the greatest sufferers.

Mr Cornwall replied to Mr Dem fter; and fupported the motion, becau the objects of the new taxation were, b far, the moft eligible. He was an enem as well as the Hon. Gentleman, to gre peace-establishments, and for the fam reafons. He enlarged a good deal the fubject; and in the conclufion of ferved, that though the gentlemen wh lived fartheft from the capital would to moft the operation of the poft-chaife ta yet, in other refpects, they had the lofs made good to them an hundred fe

by the cheapnefs of provifions, and various other commodities.

Mr Bailey obferved, that the five per cent, additional tax would fall particularly heavy upon the produce of the Weft-India islands, they being already taxed beyond what the planter could well fupport: he inftanced his own eftates in Jamaica, which he faid paid at leaft twenty thoufand guineas net into the exchequer, which was more than he got to his own fhare; and therefore, when Lord North described this tax to be only 4 d. per hundred on fugar, now worth 64 s. independent of the duty and note to the planter, and two pence three farthings per gallon on rum, when the felling-price was 8 s. per gallon; it was fallacious, and ferved only to mislead the Houfe: for he muft or ought to have town, that out of thofe prices the planter not only paid the duties, with Tos. per 100 freight, befides an infurance nearly equal to one third of its value; and he fhould likewife remember, that the planters got fo little for their rem, that Mr Bailey offered his Lordfhid to take the contract which he made with Muire and Atkinson, at 4s. 4 d. per gallon Sterling for half the price. He then inftanced the great exertions that illand was making for its defence, which he was informed by the laft advice amounted to no less than an expence of 4000l. per day; and that as Lord George Germaine had given the office of receiver-general to his fon, he was, he apprehended, benefited five per cent. on it, which amounted to no less than 2001. a-day as long as that expence incurred; and therefore he did not wonder at the fondnefs the minifters fhewed for carrying on this unjuft and cruel war against the Americans: but he would have them take warning, and not opprefs thefe flands too far, left they should lofe them, as they effectually had done North America.

The refolutions were all agreed to without a divifion, and were as follows. "1. That an additional duty of 51. per cent. be paid on all excife-duties, except beer, foap, candles, and hides.

2. That 51. per cent. addition be paid on all cuftomhouse-duties.

3. That 5 s. annually be paid for a licence by every perfon keeping a diligence or poft-coach.

4. That for every fuch coach there be charged a duty of one halfpenny per mile, to be paid by the owner,

5. That every perfon who shall let any faddle-horse for travelling poft, shall pay annually 5 s. for a licence, and one penny per mile for the faid horfe travelling poft, to be paid by the hirer.

6. That for every pair of horses hired for drawing a carriage 2 d. per mile, to be paid by the hirer.

7. That every perfon keeping a lottery-office to take out a licence of sol. The faid duties to be under the direction of the commiffioners of ftamps."

He

Gov. Johnstone, in his fpeech at the opening of the budget, Feb. 24. [186.] said, that by a mention of the American war, he felt himfelf called on to deliver his opinion. He had often faid, that the reduction of the Americans was not impoflible, and that we were equal to the task; but then he expected that the war would have been pushed on with spirit and activity; for it was only by that means that we could become victorious. was happy that his opinion was confirmed by the last breath of the Earl of Chatham, who would never confent to give up America. We had at present very pleating profpects before us: the fuccefs in Georgia was flattering, and our feats on the island of St Lucia gave a luftre to our arms. The next accounts from the Eaft Indies, he made no doubt, would bring advice of the deftruction of the French force in that part of the world. The prefent ftate of America fulfilled his prophecies: The congrefs was divided, as much as ever he had foreseen and foretold; the paper money had funk from fix to twelve per cent. in its value; and Gen. Washington had written to the congrefs, to inform, that he could not keep his army together, unleis means fhould be contrived to raise the value of the paper currency. Their Generals Howe and Clinton were in the fame fituation; the French complained of the Americans, and thefe in their turn complained of the French, while both feemed very little fatisfied with their connection. Not to act with vigour at fuch a crifis were madnets. The empire of the fea was at prefent the great object in difpute. Some milmanagement on the 27th of July had prevented us from completely deciding that point: he did not mean to injure an unfortunate man going to trial, but mifconduct there certainly was fomewhere on that day. Now to aban don Canada, Nova Scotia, the Floridas, and Rhode island, would leave the Ame

ricans