1 806 . ] Enqidrxj into the Estahlhhment of the Sinking Fund. 1 3§ 



l.flicd in the Monthly Magazine for March 

 l.-iOO, under the ali'umcd name ot" Cijin- 

 nion Scnf . The public are certiiinly 

 obliged to the author t.jr ins account of 

 the rapid progroli of the fund, and of its 

 powers, if continually applied to the 

 extinction of the national debt. Th<it 

 information is, however, accompanied 

 with evdeiit fvu:ptoiiis of its being the 

 pioduction of party zeal, becaule it has 

 tlie appearance of being intended as a 

 i'upport to ti.e tinancial powers of the 

 new adniinilir.ition upontuc very baijs of 

 tliut fund whieli was ellaohlhed by the 

 late (Jhancehor of tlie Excliequer. In 

 conliderin^, jiowever, a inealure of fuch 

 national inipoi taiice, it is deemed wholly 

 improper to invoKe It m any party dif> 

 putes vvhatever. 



'1 ne anonymous author, atiove alluded 

 to, has introduced the nuinc of tiic lute 

 Dr. Price, " as a great political arith- 

 metician, as an acute calculator, and as 

 the perlijn who pointed out the provmon 

 for t'liture debts." 



ft IS by no means the intention of the 

 prelent inquiry to undervalue tlie abili- 

 ties of tiie late Dr Price, as an arith- 

 metician, or acute rulculator. It is only 

 meant to trace the attempts and opera- 

 tions whicli led to the eitablilhiuent of 

 the fund in queltioii. 



. In purfuuig this inquir_r, the third edi- 

 tion of Ur. Price's Ubfervations on Ue- 

 veilionary Payiiicnts, iic. pubhihed in 

 1771), and inlcnbedto tiie Earl of 6liel- 

 burne, lliall be the guide ; and here it is 

 proper to oblerve, that this is the only 

 publication wiiich the- writer hereof has 

 iiiQu upon the fubjcct, either bv tlie late 

 Dr. Price w others ; and he regrets, in 

 particular, the not having feen liis • Ap- 

 peal to the Public upon it, as referred to 

 in u note to tiie IGJi-h page of tint edi- 

 tion. It, however, appear^ to have been 

 written previous to the publication kA' iiis 

 third cditi.)n, and it may theretore be 

 {irefumed that this lail contains every in- 

 f irniatiyii of importiiiice to the prefent 

 iii(|uiry. — But to proceed : 



ile mentions a foiieme ■^^•!)'ch was 

 adopted by the legillatiire in IMG, and 

 wiiich he iiiys Itood eltabliilied by law at 

 the time of his writing; but, owing io 

 tiie unpardonable inifconda^'t of men ni 

 power, It lias been deteiited of its good 

 cifects. Jlere he reinarlo, " that nothing 

 but tliis can do us any cilential fei'vice. 

 lie calls for the elluUiilinicnc of fadi a 

 fund, and to keep it out of the bands of 

 S 'Z the 



ful animadvcrfions on the odious and op- 

 preilive Income-tax, for which we are 

 ol)liged to him ; but a large volume 

 might well be written to expofe the igno- 

 rance, or fometliing worfe, of th(jfe who 

 have conllructcd or continued this moll 

 lUiC'pml iinpol.tion. 



It IS inconceivable, for iniiuuce, on 

 what ground the Ihort annuities have 

 been made liable to the fame rate of tax- 

 ation as a permanent fund. Ixlany a 

 man, pinched by the times, and dehrons 

 to augment his means of exigence out of 

 his own pro|ierty, not by augmented pen- 

 iions from the public money, would have 

 changed his (lock into a Ihort annuity, 

 meaning to lay by fuch a proportion oi' 

 the iiiterelt, as, at the expiration, would 

 enable him to buy an annuity for the red 

 ot his lite. This he cannot now do ; not 

 only hiS income is ta\ed, Imt his princi- 

 pal ; that is, out of the f ivings appropri- 

 ated to a r -inveftnieiit anotiier per cent- 

 iige is deducted, (o that at the eud of the 

 term he will hiid that he has loft a coali- 

 dcrahle part of his capital. 



It an income-tax be, generally fpeak- 

 ing, a fair one, and perhaps it is lo, let 

 there be but this fingle mode of rnihii!; 

 money adopteil. Away with the coin- 

 jilicated anny of minor reqiiidtions. — 

 A man of .5001. a-year pays his tenth, 

 — fo does a man of oOOOl., to the In- 

 come-tax : this, noforioully, is futhci- 

 ently nroqual ; but does he of .50001. ji- 

 ycar pay another tenth of his income in 

 the left of his taxes ? Certainly not ; 

 vhillt in fouie inllances the other pays 

 niore than that jiroportion, but I believe 

 fcldoin kfs. It is to be hoped that foine 

 able writer will take up his pen in fa- 

 vour of their caufe, who, unhappily con- 

 llituting an opprelfed minority, iiave little 

 chance, in thefe times of feltilh occupa- 

 tion, of being heard or protci^'ted by thofe 

 wliofc immediate duty it is to interfere 

 on their behalf 



Juli/ 17, 180G 



For the 2}>fif/ili/ JiLngazlne. 

 An i.NQiiKv rtkilivc to tlit motivks 

 7Lliich opcrufiid in i-rodicing the f.s- 



■JABI I>liMi:NT of the SI.NKING FUKD 



inl/u:\EAR ]7H(J, inidcr t/ie AXtuTyi- 

 si RATION in uhk It the (ate n lent iion. 



wn LIAM PITT uas CIIANCELLOK of the 

 KXI lIEQir.lt. 



rT^MP. following inquiry has arifen in 



X confequence of perufmg an aeconnt 



vf the jnogielb of the linking; fund, pub- 



