The loans raised since the termination of the war with France in 1815, have been usually by the issue of Exchequer-bills, which have been funded as occasion required, generally in consols or reduced 3 per cents. In 1818 a new stock was created, bearing interest at 3 per cent., by the conversion of 3 per cent. consols and reduced, and the funding of a portion of Exchequerbills; and in 1826 another new stock bearing 4 per cent. interest, was formed by the funding of Exchequerbills, which was increased in 1829 by a further conversion of unfunded debt. In 1834, government discharged a fourth part of the debt due to the Bank of England, amounting to £3,671,700, agreeably to the terms of the charter; this was done by the creation of £4,080,000 reduced 3 per cents., the corporation having agreed to accept the same in lieu of payment in money. But the most considerable debt incurred at one period since the peace, was the sum of £20,000,000, borrowed in 1835 and 1836, for the purpose of compensating the owners of slaves in the colonies; the amount of stock and the charge for interest and management thus created are as follow:

1835. LOAN OF £15,000,000.

The Subscribers were entitled for every £100 money, to £75 consols, £25 reduced, and 13s. 7d. per annuum, long annuities.

The last creation of stock was in 1836, when the sum of £1,777,878-17s. 1d. consols, was placed in the names of the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt on account of savings banks, in exchange for Exchequer-bills purchased by the said commissioners, which was merely a new mode of funding the floating debt.

During the long period of peace which

the nation has enjoyed, a considerable
reduction has been effected in the cap-
ital of the debt, and also in the annual
charge, which is a more certain crite-
rion of the real condition of the debt;
the statement at page 11 shews a de-
crease in the funded debt of

Of the unfunded debt

£54,889,370

14,465,900

£69,355,270

£1,925,015

1,321,008

£3,246,023

The purchases of stock by the commissioners for the reduction of the debt, have been made at a considerable loss ever since the first establishment of the sinking fund, the average rate at which 3 per cent. stock was created by the various loans contracted from 1793 to 1802 was 57 per cent., (as nearly as can be ascertained) and the average price at which the commissioners purchased the same stock during that period, was 613 per cent., the purchases amounted to £49,655,531, upon which a loss was sustained by the public of £2,234,499, being 4 per cent.; during the war from 1803 to 1814, the average rate per cent. at which 3 per cent. stock was created, was 60%, and the purchases made by the

commissioners averaged 623, the amount purchased was £176,173,240, upon which there was a loss of 2 per cent., amounting to £4,404,331, making a total of upwards of £6,600,000 lost by the nation during the period from 1793 to 1814, merely in order to keep the sinking fund in operation, and from which the public derived no benefit whatever. Since the termination of the war, the purchases by the commissioners have been made at a much higher price, as is exhibited in the statement before referred to, and consequently the nation has to repay the stockholders from 30 to 40 per cent. more than was actually borrowed. This is the consequence of the method of funding pursued during the war, the errors of which have been frequently pointed out in books upon the subject, but unfortunately not until the effects were felt; it is argued that had the loans been raised by the creation of stock bearing a high rate of interest, instead of by the creation of 3 per cents., the benefit resulting from a rise in the price consequent upon the conclusion of the war would have been equally divided between the stockholder and the nation; the value of the capital would have been increased to the former, while the latter by a fair reduction in the rate of interest would have participated in the profit. The most important reductions in the capital of the debt have of late years been effected by granting annuities on lives and for terms of years. The operation of the sinking fund during the year ending 5th of January, 1837, is shewn in the statement at page 12.

The reduction in the annual charge of the public debt has been principally occasioned by the rise in the price of stocks, enabling government to reduce the interest on that portion of the debt which was created in 5 per cent. and 4 per cent. stock, it will be seen from the account annexed, (page 13) that a saving on this head has been effected of the annual sum of £2,355,845.

A Statement of the Funded and Unfunded Public Debt, with the Annual Charge thereon, from the year 1816 to

1837 inclusive, compiled from Parliamentary Returns.