TOPICS OF THE DAY.

WHIG ADMINISTRATION OF THE FINANCES.

THE Exchequer Accounts exhibit a decrease in the produce of taxation, comparing the last with the preceding year's, of upwards of two millions and a half for Great Britain alone, exclusive of any Irish deficiency. Mr. SPRING RICE, in his Budget speech, stated the expenses of the outbreak in Canada as having already exceeded by 600,0001. the estimated expenditure on the year lee7-8. Without being at all prone to underrate the resources of the country, we confess that these facts appear to us of very serious import; and the more closely and largely they are investigated, the more serious do they appear.

The subjoined table* will allow the financier to pursue Ibis in-

vestigation year by yeer from the close of the war to the present thee. The fees Will show lihn, that the present deficiency is with- out a parallelein point of nnionnt ; mid that no common eircum- site:ices warrant such an unprecedented falling-off. The results of the inquiry rimy soggest t him the apprehension, that this alarm- ing deficiency is more likely to be a permanent evil, than, as Mr. SPEING thee expresses it, a " ternpreary inconvenience ;" and peilape indicetive of smelling wrong in the vital springs of our pi oeperity.

Hitherto, it will be seen from the table, the revenue of the cetietry has exhibited a wonderful elasticity, often under the most adveue eircumetances. In le16, taxes were repealed to the ex- tent of seventeen millions: instead of a revenue deficient to that emennt, the falling-off ti lel T was little more than ten millions ; s etshibits a further increase, notwitbstauding the extol- : I el uses during that periol. From 1819 to 1824, similar ic- i,ible: nearly six millions of taxes were repealed elee 1: it time, without any loss to the revenue; and the evil tee, etever they were, which followed the resumpthei of

cesh pia eante, must have been ie full operation during the latter part of the time. The very Panic of 1523eawd no de• ChItC oa the contrary, there was a large increase in 1 e 26 and 1827, WI:in.:: 100 nre:4101 the tnxes repealed. In most of the other years till 1 annle!'.;oi ,; results, on a vary in scale. will be teteed. The leeding exeeptiens are III le.19 and 1e22, when the lie no declined &dant a million.

Levi- seen that the re elm never sank during the crash of la-Jul:try hankers and trailers after the peaco, or even after the ter- rine convelsins of 1 825. 26. Is it not, then. shorteighted, to attribute a eh falcation el' income, unprecedented in amount, to the commove:A diii.tcrs of 18a ; -36 ? Nor were collateral depressing isaaee in el:elution conjeititly with those disasters. The seasons have been ga -1; and within the last few years the country has _received a virtual relief from taxation, to the extent of nearly three millions, by a reelection of the Poor-rates to that amount; and the various bond fide railroad undertakings in actual progress, by increasing the regular demand for labour, must have had a tendency to increase consumption. To boast confidently in the teeth of such facts, as does Mr. SPRING R ICPs of the temporary nature of this defalcation, looks more like the unscrupulous pro- mises of an empisie, than the cautious wisdom of a scientific phi eis met by new and unexpected plennomena.

Of cuurse we are not so unjust as to charge the whole of our present flea:weal embarrass:1mM upon the Ministers, any move th'in c oulil sillily give them the credit for any casual increase of revel • s. But s km as our present financial system has ope- rs tett es-diming t e results, so far are the Ministers responsible.

Whatessr efiect .ierangements of the currency may have pre-

lim-a:1, is owing to iid A LTHORP'S renewal of the Bank Charter.

E \cepa iierhaps, or. 111'Cueenen, the advocate of the Bank, :Oiliest every poh .1 or scientific party or person in the country oeposed the plan Its ecrtain effeets in stimulating increased Bank issues were contieually psiuted out in Parliament and by the press: whilst no new cheek, no cheek of any kind, was provided to guard against it. Its eoecoeters themselves seemed to admit its tendency ; the Currevey-doctors supported some of its clauses upon this very

- lama: Or THE NET ritoDuct: 01' TA X AT ION, A ND or TA X ES IMPOSED OA EM UP: D FR 'St 186 TO 1836.

`./..,,tv4,.!front ti in Mr. 1', r'c's Prvpros tit U. Meion, rp. 321, 35, 306.]

Ataimm of the 0 elet,ue tual e.1 Pro- Estimated Amnia

Year. ra1 Mai the Erieismer, to a of LISA'S Of Taxes Repealed, I, 0 hi,e 0ruse, imkos,a1. Expirtd, Reduced. ey Ami•NISTIt %MO.'S. X

1817 1013

1016 61,002,1'34 375.038 17,5497:45

. 51,000,S36 5:1.001,797 7 991

1,056

86,495 1819 51,816,797 0,102,002 269,484 182J 5:3,530,446 119.602 4,000 1321 51,477,641 44,542

471,009

W." 53.226,146

2,139 101 1 ri2i1

5141

1. 59ii 4,185.731 1321 ...... 51,7:12,503

00..,

1,801,8b3

51,5844:357

0 ,676,239

; 49,427,h25

1•'8,725

1,967,215 1827 99,375,611 21,402 84,038 1823 51,460,047 1,960 51,993 1829 50,2'.30,722 126,906 696,004 1.330 49,722,245 4,070,742

Wtn,■ Ansi!

AinuNs.

1831 46.161,04 627,586

1,58'4,052

46,752 w19

44.52,3 ...,.

747.261 1831

1,532,123 198,394

46,552.292 2,064,516

.15,832,31FI 5,575 162,877 1836 43,547,435 3,721 .... 1,021,76

ground: yet in despite of entreaties for delay or modillea toanesaanidy in the teeth of evil forebodings, the Whig Ministry, backed by servile majority, persisted in forcing their measure through par- liament. Nay, so ignorant were some of them of the nature ol f• their own work, that the late Secretary of the Treasury tu boasted of the Bank Charter as the great measure, in the aututnii of 1836—at the very time when its evil effects were operating and the Directors were applying " the screw."

,a er So much for the currency. The purely financial ninnateemeta of the Whig Government has perba)p.esail:tlzilegro Iluences than been a came of evil in itself. But it is bad 50 far as it has operated. Eight or nine (upwards of 25,000,0001.) of Exchequer Bills was pointed out, and the ill effects in any monetary crisis predicted, even to the pee sible extent of having many millions cf taxes paid in the Govern- ment's own bills if they fell below par. Something was done, we believe, by applying tart of the surplus income to pay then off; but this was necessarily a very limited operation, and all " full currency " was at its advice to fend them was met by the usual indifference of igno. ranee. Even when the Into tide of

height, Mr. SPR1 NG RICE took no advantage of the circumstance to fund any portion of this lluatirig deba—bis motive, if he bad any, being nit unwillingness to pay a high,'

emiles.. ade ate tenni came with its monetary pressure; and lie had to increase the interest upon Exchequer 13111s. Their mount is now to fa further enlarged by an issue to make up the present defalcation: and the expenses of' the Canadian military colony will add tu their number before the time comes round for another Budget. The public attention has been of late y-ears so exclusively occu- pied with party struggles, that the National Debt has dropped out of mind. Events, we suspect, will shortly ferce its startling magnitude and its incubus-like power upon the public: peke. Since 1316, the surplus of revenue actually epelied to reduce the capital has only amounted to forty-six millions. Against this diminution there is an increase of twenty millions to the slave. owners, of a few millions to Greece, of a million to the Irish par- sons, besides other little loans which may or may not be repaid, together with the additions new in progress to meet deficiencies; leaving an actual reduction of about tweidy-two millions in as many years out of eight hundred millions. Fur the smaller loans the Whigs are clearly responsible: the fanatic haste of a patty in the country forced upon them the larger loan. But it did not fusee them to contract it in perpetual annuities, contrary to their own repeated declarations of the impoliey of that system : it did not force them to give the Planters the money without security that their part of the bargain should be properly fulfilled: nor did it compel them to lose all the advantages which the trade of the country might have reaped from the gill. Till lately, a very much higher duty was levied on East India than on West India produce; the staple commodities of South America (the only field, perhapsewhere we can hope to hold and extend our commerce) are shut out of the market by protecting-duties—the tax on foreign sugar being as high as, or higher than, other sugars sell for duty paid. -

It is needless to examine in detail their repeals of taxation. " No wine," sail the bibber, " is bad, but sonic wines are better than others." The imission of a tax is always so far a good, that somebody must be benefited by the amount remitted. The repeals of the Whigs, however, have exhibited a total want of principle,—not only of science, but of practical knowledge, or even of a fixed opinion. Sometimes they favoured direct, some- times indirect taxation; they remitted duties on raw materials— on manufactures—on consumption—on property. Without the firmness of knowledge, or even the obstinacy of a preconceived notion, they yielded to the interested pressure from without—the most powerful bully for the (brie being won the day. Had they steadily applied to any single purpose the seven milliens they have been able to remit, they might have totally got rid of several of our most grievous fiscal evils : they might have thoroughly re. formed the Custom-duties, and repealed all taxes on the mate- rials of manufacture; or they might completely have revised the Excise ; or they might have abolished the Stamps (we do not say it would have been advisable); or they might have swept away the Postage, and the "Taxes " bating the Isand-tax,—saving in any case very expensive machineries of collectien, in sonic eases abolishing a whole department. One blunder of this nature is gross : if with the House-duty they had repealed the Window- duty, they might have charged the parishes with the collection of their respective Land-tax ; transferred the duties on carriages, dogs, &c. to the Stamps (to which they fitly belong); and got rill of the Tax-oflice altogether. At present that department is kept up at an expense of nearly two hundred thousand pounds, in order to collect twelve hundred thousand pounds. And this view gas pressed upon them even by a man like Sir Jonei Key. Such is an outline of the Whig financial administration. Their

tamperings with the currency, by aggravating the late commer- cial crisis, have caused a positive diminution of revenue. Their unskilful proceedings on other points have had the negative effect of preventing the development of industry, and by conse- quence the increase of the revenue. Experience, however, de- monstrates that this alone ought not to have created so large a_ deficiency as two millions and a half, without the intim:nee of other causes. What they are, is well worth the attention of all financial inquirers. It is nut impossible that a change in the. habits of life may have had sonic effect on the consumption of certain taxed articles; that the weaker constitutions and greater refinement of the people of to-day, with the influence of Temper- iceeocieties, may have checked the produce of taxation in propor- to numbers. The Increase of people without any extension of the field of employment, has rendered it more difficult than for- merly toobtain a livelihood commensurate with the station to which tbey'are born; and our money is expended more than formerly ria untaxed necessaries, or things of appearance. But we fear there Is a still more fatal cause in. operation—a decline in our foreign trade. From many causes difficult to appreciate, but among which the monopoly of our agricultural and other powerful interests must take the foremost place, foreign nations have been driven to ma- nufacture, first for themselves, and, when favoured by nature and circumstances, for their neighbours and distant nations. We learn from various travellers and hunting information, that not only are our manufactures competed with in Europe, but even in the.free or friendly ports of Asia and South America. This view seems strengthened by the Finance Accounts.* Comparing 1837 eith 1S36, the official value of our exports has fallen 12,700,000t., the real value 11,100001.; being a diminution of foreign trade to the extent of one-fifth upon the real value. But the trade of 1836 my properly enouell be considered forced. In 18:35. We have a ening-off ef 5,S00,000/. in the official value, of 3,100,000/. in the eel value. Still, we do not attach the utmost weight to inferences drawn from these returns ; the profit upon a transaction is of far more importance than its nominal magnitude. Look, too, at the embarrassed condition of our best customer, the United States. And few, we think, will say, in the polite phraseology of the Tree- bury, that these things are only a " temporary inconvenience."

Two practical conclusions follow front these premises,—first, That the interests of the country imperatively require the whole of our financial system to be subjected to a thorough examina- tion, by a man of knowledge, oiigivality, and vieour of mind, ia order to be put upon a footing adapted to the change in the circumstances of the world : second, That this is beyond the

power of Mr. SPRING RICE 1.0 accomplish, or any of his Whig colleagues. We incline to guess, too, that if this be not done volumarily and with method, it will be attempted rashly and on compulsion before many years. With an increasing population and decreasing employ mete , a rising, ve penditure and a fluctuating revenue long in operation, we think it very likely that the saga- cious design of the Reform Bill, to increase the powers and mono- polies of the landed interest, may come to a violent end.

• Vatic sf Equots the Pro,lore and -11anujiat al us 'LIthe United Kingdwn. official V At,.

1K15 ze7S,:;76,7:;.' :C1:,!172.:270 18:3(i 8:1,49.+;117 1837 72,54S,047 42,21-1,93i —Finance Accounts, poge 129; ParliGnuntury Paper, No. 210.