§ Lord Grenvilleadverted to the observation he had made on a former evening relative to a statement which had gone forth to the public, of the comparative state of the produce of the consolidated fond in the years ending the 5th of January 1811 and 1812, namely, that the deficiency in the latter year, as compared with the former, amounted to only 2,000,000l. He had in consequence moved for the accounts which were now on the table, for the purpose of clearly shewing what the actual state of the revenue was, and it was merely to draw the attention of the House to the arithmetical result of these documents, that he now rose. It surely required very little knowledge of the subject not to be aware that it was a most fallacious mode of considering it, or of stating it, to draw a balance from the mere 687 consolidated fund account, without reference to the items of which the income was made up, or the manner in which they were applied to defray the charge. The real question as to the comparative deficiency was the amount of taxes applicable to the service of the country; and it would be found upon examining the accounts, that the real deficiency in the amount of taxes applicable to the service of the country in the year ending the 5th of Jan. 1812, compared with the year ending the 5th Jan. 1811, was not 2,000,000l. but 3,500,000l.—Such were the diminishing resources of the country to carry on the wild and extravagant projects in which we were embarked. There were, besides, several observations, which arose out of the manner of making up the account of the consolidated fund: 2,752,000l. for instance, was taken credit for on account of interest for Ireland. Had Ireland been in a situation not only to pay her own expences, but also to leave a surplus of revenue, it might have been fair, as a mere consolidated fund account, to place the item in that way; but when it was known that Ireland had unfortunately been unable to pay her own expences, and that this part of the empire had been called upon to defray a proportion of them, it surely was most erroneous so to place this item, when it ought undoubtedly to have been placed on the contrary side. It was in truth of most essential importance, that the real state of the finances of the country should be taken into most serious consideration. Not only the great increase of our Funded Debt, but still more of the Unfunded Debt, combined with the diminishing resources of the country, formed the strongest grounds for apprehension. If the state of our finances was examined with that attention and consideration which the subject most seriously demanded, he feared it would be found that we were little able even to fulfil those obligations which the true interests of the country imposed, much less to carry on those desperate and extravagant projects in which we were so unhappily embarked.
§ The Earl of Harrowbycontended that his noble friend had taken an erroneous view of the subject. The produce of the year ending the 5th of January, 1812, was a mere trifle short of that of the year ending the 5th of January, 1810, but because it was not so great as that of the year ending the 5th of January, 1811, the 688 produce of which was the most enormous of any year known before, his noble friend had contended that the resources of the country were diminishing, and that there was ground for alarm. He, on the contrary, was decidedly of opinion, not only that here was no ground for alarm, but that the finances of the country were in a flourishing and prosperous state. That the deficiency in the year ending the 5th of January, 1812, as compared with that ending the 5th of January, 1811, amounted to so much, was easily accounted for. In preceding years the interest of the loans had been provided for, by appropriating taxes already in their full collection; but last year new taxes had been imposed to defray the interest of the loan, which could not be brought into a state of full collection by the 5th of January, in the present year, and which would thus account for several hundred thousand pounds of the comparative deficiency. There was, however, no falling off in the revenue, with the exception of the customs, a deficiency in which was of course to be expected; but the increased produce of the taxes on general consumption, proved the general affluence. As to the interest from Ireland, it was taken credit for to meet the charge on the other side. With respect to the debt, he contended that no war could be adduced, in which so little unredeemed debt had been incurred. From 1803 to 1812, the amount of the unredeemed debt incurred did not exceed seventy millions, whilst the sinking fund had increased six millions, being now more than double its amount in 1803. From all these circumstances, be contended not only that there was no ground whatever for alarm, but that the finances of the country were in a prosperous and flourishing state.
The Earl of Lauderdaledenied the inference drawn by the noble earl; and maintained, that if the finances of the country were thoroughly examined, it would be found—he did not mean to say that we should be unable to resist a foreign foe, but—that it would be impracticable to carry on those wild projects in we were engaged. Would the noble earl affirm, that if the Bank were to withdraw 5,000,000l. from circulation, that we could go on? Would not, in that case, the Exchequer bills fall to 5 or 6 per cent. discount and be returned upon the government, who would thus receive only their own paper in payment of taxes, instead of 689 money? As to what had been stated by the noble earl, that only 70 millions of unredeemed debt had been incurred, it would be found, probably, that that was owing to the provident cares of others, in some of the years of the war; and that if the latter years of the war were looked into, the expenditure would not redound much to the credit of the noble lords opposite. He was satisfied that the whole system of the finances of the country must very soon undergo a minute revision, and become the subject of most serious consideration.