1 neficial commerce or commodity, tho' that place and all its inhabitants were for ever buried in the ocean.. But tho' this term has never been explained by those who infist so much on the advantages that refult from a circulation, there feems, however, to be fome benefit of a fimilar kind, arifing from our incumbrances: As indeed, what human evil is there, which is not attended with fome advantage? This we fhall endeavor to explain, that we may eftimate the weight which we ought to allow it. PUBLIC fecurities are with us become a kind of money, and pafs as readily at the current price as gold or filver. Where-ever any profitable undertaking offers itself, however expenfive, there are never wanting hands enough to embrace it; nor need a trader, who has fums in the public stocks, fear to launch out into the most extensive trade; fince he is poffeffed of funds, which will anfwer the most fudden demand that can be made upon him. No merchant thinks it neceffary to keep by him any confiderable cash. Bank-stock, or INDIA bonds, efpecially the latter, ferve to all the fame purposes; because he can difpofe of them or pledge them to a banker, in a quarter of an hour; and at the fame time they are not idle, even when in his fcritoire, but bring him in a conftant revenue. In fhort, our national debts furnish merchants with a fpecies of money, that is continually multiplying in their hands, and produces fure gain, befide the profits of their commerce. This must enable them to trade upon lefs profit. The fmall profit of the merchant renders the commodity cheaper, caufes a greater confumption, quickens the labor of the common people, and helps to spread arts and industry thro' the whole fociety. THERE are alfo, we may obferve, in ENGLAND, and in all ftates, which have both commerce and public debts, a fet of men, who are half-merchants, halfstock-holders, and may be fuppofed willing to trade for fmall profits; because commerce is not their principal or fole fupport, and their revenues in the funds are a fure resource for themfelves and their families. Were there no funds, great merchants would have no expedient for realizing or fecuring any part of their profit, but by making purchases of land; and land has many difadvantages in comparifon of funds. Requiring more care and infpection, it divides the time and attention of the merchant; upon any tempting offer or extraordinary accident in trade, it is not so easily converted into money; and as it attracts too much, both by the many natural pleasures it affords, and the authority it gives, it foon converts the citizen into the country-gentleman. More men, therefore, with large ftocks and incomes, may naturally be fuppofed to continue in trade, where there are public debts: And this, it must be owned, is of fome advantage to commerce, by diminishing its profits, promoting circulation, and encouraging industry *. BUT, in oppofition to thefe two favorable circumftances, perhaps of no very great importance, weigh the many difadvantages which attend our public debts, in the whole interior oeconomy of the ftate: You will find no comparison between the ill and the good which refult from them. On this head, I fhall obferve, without interrupting the thread of the argument, that the mulriplicity of our public debts ferves rather to fink the intereft, and that the more the government borrows, the cheaper may they expect to borrow; contrary to first appearance, and contrary to commɔn opinion. The profits of trade have an influence on intereft. See Effay IV. First, 'Tis certain, that national debts caufe a mighty confluence of people and riches to the capital, by the great fums which are levied in the provinces to pay the intereft of thofe debts; and perhaps too, by the advantages in trade above mentioned, which they give the merchants in the capital above the rest of the kingdom. The question is, Whether, in our cafe, it be for the public interest, that fo many privileges fhould be conferred on LONDON, which has already arrived at fuch an enormous fize, and feems ftill increafing? Some men are apprehenfive of the confequences. For my part, I cannot forbear thinking, that tho' the head is undoubtedly too big for the body, yet that great city is fo happily fituated, that its exceffive bulk caufes lefs inconvenience than even a fmaller capital to a greater kingdom. There is more difference betwixt the prices of all provifions in PARIS and LANGUEDOC, than betwixt thofe in LONDON and YORKSHIRE.. Secondly, PUBLIC ftocks, being a kind of paper-credit, have all the difadvantages attending that fpecies of money. They banish gold and filver from the most confiderable commerce of the ftate, reduce them to common circulation, and by that means render all provifions and labor dearer than otherwise they would be. Thirdly, THE taxes which are levied to pay the interests of these debts, are a check upon induftry, heighten the price of labor, and are an oppreffion on the poorer fort. Fourthly, As foreigners poffefs a fhare of our national funds, they render the public, in a manner, tributary to them, and may in time occafion the transport of our people and our industry.. Fifthly, THE greatest part of public ftock being always in the hands of idle people, who live on their revenue, our funds give great encouragement to an useless and inactive life. BUT tho' the injury which arifes to commerce and induftry from our public funds, will appear, upon ballancing the whole, very confiderable, it is trivial in comparison of the prejudice which refults to the state confidered as a body politic, which muft fupport itself in the fociety of nations, and have various transactions with other states, in wars and negotiations. The ill, there, is pure and unmixed, without any favorable circumftance to atone for it: And 'tis an ill too of a nature the highest and most important. WE have indeed been told, that the public is no weaker upon account of its debts; fince they are mostly due among ourselves, and bring as much property to one as they take from another. 'Tis like transferring money from the right hand to the left; which leaves the perfon neither richer nor poorer than before. Such loose reasonings and fpecious comparisons will always país, where we judge not upon principles. I afk, Is it poffible, in the nature of things, to overburthen a nation with taxes, even where the fovereign refides among them? The very doubt seems extravagant; fince 'tis requifite, in every commonwealth, that there be a certain proportion obferved between the laborious and the idle part of it. But if all our prefent taxes be mortgaged, muft we not invent new ones? And may not this matter be carried to a length that is ruinous and deftructive? In every nation, there are always fome methods of levying money more easy than others, fuitable to the way of living of the people, and the commodities they make ufe of. In BRITA.N, the excifes upon malt and beer afford a very large revenue; revenue; because the operations of malting and brewing are very tedious, and are impoffible to be concealed; and at the fame time, these commodities are not fo abfolutely neceffary to life, as that the raising their price would very much affect the poorer fort. These taxes being all mortgaged, what difficulty to find new ones! what vexation and ruin of the poor! DUTIES upon confumptions are more equal and eafy than those upon poffeffions. What a lofs to the public, that the former are all exhaufted, and that we must have recourfe to the more grievous method of levying taxes! WERE all the proprietors of land only ftewards to the public, muft not neceffity force them to practise all the arts of oppreffion ufed by ftewards, where the abfence and negligence of the proprietor render them fecure against inquiry ? IT will scarce be afferted, that no bounds ought ever to be fet to national debts; and that the public would be no weaker, were 12 or 15 fhillings in the pound, land-tax, mortgaged, with all the prefent cuftoms and excifes. There is fomething, therefore, in the cafe, befide the mere transferring of property from one hand to another. In 500 years, the pofterity of thofe now in the coaches, and of thofe upon the boxes, will probably have changed places, without affecting the pubdic by these revolutions. I MUST Confefs, that there is a ftrange fupineness, from long cuftom, crept into all ranks of men, with regard to public debts, not unlike what divines fo vehemently complain of with regard to their religious doctrines. We all own, that the most fanguine imagination cannot hope, either that this or any future miniftry will be poffeffed of fuch rigid and fteady frugality, as to make any confiderable progrefs in the payment of our debts; or that the fituation of foreign affairs will, for any long time, allow them leifure and tranquility fufficient for fuch an undertaking. What then is to become of us? Were we ever fo good Chriftians, and ever fo refigned to Providence; this, methinks, were a curious queftion, even confidered as a fpeculative one, and what it might not be altogether impoffible to form fome conjectural folution of. The events here will depend little upon the contingencies of battles, negotiations, intrigues, and factions. There feems to be a natural progrefs of things, which may guide our reafoning. As it would have required but a moderate fhare of prudence, when we first began this practice of mortgaging, to have foretold, from the nature of men and of minifters, that things would neceffarily be carried to the length we fee; fo now that they have at laft happily reached it, it may not be difficult to guefs at the confequences. It muft, indeed, be one of thefe two events; either the nation muft deftroy public credit, or public credit will deftroy the nation. 'Tis impoffible they can both fubfift, after the manner they have been hitherto managed, in this, as well as in fome other nations. *In times of peace and fecurity, when alone it is poffible to pay debt, the monied intereft are averfe to receive partial payments, which they know not how to difpofe of to advantage; and the landed intereft are averfe to continue the taxes requifite for that purpose. Why therefore fhould a minifter perfevere in a meafure fo difagreeable to all parties? For the fake, I fuppofe, of a pofterity, which he will never fee, or of a few reasonable reflecting people, whofe united intereft, perhaps, will not be able to fecure him the smallest borough in ENGLAND. Tis not likely we fhall ever find any minister so bad a politician. With regard to thefe narrow deftructive maxims of politics, all minifters are expert enough. THERE THERE was, indeed, a fcheme for the payment of our debts, which was propofed by an excellent citizen, Mr. HUTCHINSON, above 30 years ago, and which was much approved of by fome men of sense, but never was likely to take effect. He afferted, that there was a fallacy in imagining, that the public owed this debt; for that really every individual owed a proportional fhare of it, and paid, in his taxes, a proportional share of the intereft, befide the expences of levying these taxes. Had we not better then, fays he, make a proportional diftribution of the debt among us, and each of us contribute a fum fuitable to his property, and by that means difcharge at once all our funds and public mortgages? He feems not to have confidered, that the laborious poor pay a confiderable part of the taxes by their annual confumptions, tho' they could not advance, at once, a proportional part of the fum required. Not to mention, that property in money and stock in trade might eafily be concealed or difguifed; and that vifible property in lands and houses would really at last answer for the whole: An inequality and oppreffion which never would be fubmitted to. But tho' this project is never likely to take place; 'tis not altogether improbable, that when the nation become heartily fick of their debts, and are cruelly oppreffed by them, fome daring projector may arife, with vifionary fchemes for their discharge. And as public credit will begin, by that time, to be a little frail, the leaft touch will deftroy it, as happened in FRANCE; and in this manner it will die of the doctor *. BUT 'tis more probable, that the breach of national faith will be the neceffary effect of wars, defeats, misfortunes, and public calamities, or even perhaps of victories and conquefts. I must confefs, when I fee princes and ftates fighting and quarrelling, amidst their debts, funds, and public mortgages, it always brings to my mind a match of cudgel-playing fought in a China fhop. How can it be expected, that fovereigns will spare a species of property, which is pernicious to themselves and to the public, when they have fo little compaffion on lives and properties, which are useful to both? Let the time come (and furely it will come) when the new funds, created for the exigencies of the year, are not subscribed to, and raise not the money projected. Suppose, either that the cash of the nation is exhausted; or that our faith, which has been hitherto fo ample, begins to fail us. Suppofe, that, in this diftrefs, the nation is threatened with an invasion; a rebellion is fufpected or broke out at home; a fquadron cannot be equipped for want of pay, victuals, or repairs; or even a foreign fubfidy cannot be advanced. What must a prince or minifter do in fuch an emergence? The right of felfprefervation is unalienable in every individual, much more in every community. And the folly of our statesmen must then be greater than the folly of those who first contracted debt, or, what is more, than that of those who trufted, or con Some neighboring ftates practise an eafy expedient, by which they lighten their public debts. The FRENCH have a custom (as the ROMANS formerly had) of augmenting their money; and this the nation has been fo much familiarized to, that it hurts not public credit, tho' it be really cutting off at once, by an edict, fo much of their debts. The DUTCH diminish the intereft, without the consent of their creditors; or, which is the fame thing, they arbitrarily tax the funds as well as other property. Could we practise either tinue tinue to trust this fecurity, if these statesmen have the means of fafety in their hands, and do not employ them. The funds, created and mortgaged, will, by that time, bring in a large yearly revenue, fufficient for the defence and fecurity of the nation: Money is perhaps lying in the exchequer, ready for the discharge of the quarterly intereft: neceffity calls, fear urges, reafon exhorts, compaffion alone exclaims: The money will immediately be feized for the current fervice, under the most folemn proteftations, perhaps, of being immediately replaced. But no more is requifite. The whole fabric, already tottering, falls to the ground, and buries thousands in its ruins. And this, I think, may be called the natural death of public credit: For to this period it tends as naturally as an animal body to its diffolution and deftruction *. THESE two events, fuppofed above, are calamitous, but not the most calamitous. Thousands are thereby facrificed to the fafety of millions. But we are not without danger, that the contrary event may take place, and that millions may be facrificed for ever to the temporary fafety of thousands +. Our popular government, perhaps, will render it difficult or dangerous for a minifter to venture on fo defperate an expedient, as that of a voluntary bankruptcy. tho' the house of Lords be altogether compofed of the proprietors of lands, and the house of Commons chiefly; and confequently neither of them can be fup So great dupes are the generality of mankind, that, notwithstanding fuch a violent fhock to public credit, as a voluntary bankruptcy in ENGLAND would occafion, it would not probably be long, ere credit would again revive in as flourishing a condition as before. The prefent king of FRANCE, during the late war, borrowed money at lower interest than ever his grandfather did: and as low as the BRITISH parliament, comparing the natural rate of interest in both kingdoms. And tho' men are commonly more governed by what they have feen, than by what they forefee, with whatever certainty; yet promifes, proteftations, fair appearances, with the allurements of prefent intereft, have fuch powerful influence as few are able to refift. Mankind are, in all ages, caught by the fame baits: The fame tricks, played over and over again, ftill trepan them. The heights of popularity and patriotism are still the beaten road to power and tyranny; flattery to treachery; ftanding armies to arbitrary government; and the glory of God to the temporal intereft of the clergy. The fear of an everlasting deftruction of credit, allowing it to be an evil, is a needlefs bugbear. A prudent man, in reality, would rather lend to the public immediately after they had taken a fpunge to their debts, than at prefent; as much as an opulent knave, even tho' one could not force him to pay, is a preferable debtor to an honeft bankrupt: For the former, in order to carry on bufinefs, may find it his intereft to discharge his debts, where they are not exorbitant: The latter has it not in his power. The reafoning of TACITUS, Hift. lib. 3. as it is eternally true, is very applicable to our pre And fent cafe. Sed vulgus ad magnitudinem beneficiorum + I have heard it has been computed, that the whole creditors of the public, natives and foreigners, amount only to 17,000. These make a figure at prefent on their income; but in cafe of a public bankruptcy, would, in an inftant, become the loweft, as well as the most wretched of the people. The dignity and authority of the landed gentry and nobility is much better rooted; and would render the contention very unequal, if ever we come to that extremity. One would incline to affign to this event a very near period, fuch as half a century, had not our fathers' prophecies of this kind been already found fallacious, by the duration of our public credit, fo much beyond all reafonable expectation. When the astrologers in FRANCE were every year foretelling the death of HARRY IV. Thefe fellows, fays he, must be right at last. We fhall therefore, be more cautious than to align any precife date; and fhall content ourfelves with pointing out the event in general. pofed |