140 Enquirif into the Eslablishment of the Sinking Fund, [Sept. ] . 



the trettlury by configning it to a particu- 

 lar cniiiuiillioii, iiciiiiii under (-cnnltics, 

 lo as to t'-nii a check even on the lloule 

 of Connnons itulK" 



I poll the ia(t claufe it may with pro- 

 priety be remarked, that the idea ot' lak- 

 ing it out of ilie hands of the treafury 

 (iuppoling it praciicahle) hastJie appear- 

 ance of being hi<;lily unconltuutionai, 

 IV o explanation of the fchrme is given ; 

 but iji another part of his eflay it appears 

 to have partly conhficd in a leduttion of 

 tlie lix per cents, to ti\e per cent. 



'I lie next obfervation, in order of time, 

 is contained in a note at the end of the 

 chapier, as follo\^s : 



" 'liic prnicipal obfervations in this 

 chapter 1 have given ju(t as they occurred 

 to ny tiiouglits, v\iiliout knowing that 

 any of iheni had Leen made by other 

 writers. Some propolals and obierva- 

 tJons of a hmilar nature I have lince 

 found 111 an excellent pamphlet,* pub- 

 lifliod in 1726, entitled, An KlVay on the 

 ^ationrl Debts of the Kingdom, where- 

 in the importance of difcharging them is 

 ConlKJerid, and fomc general niiliakes 

 about the nature anil elueacy of the link- 

 ing I'und are examined and r(nio\ed. 

 In a letter to a member of parhament, 

 4th tdjtion." 



It next appears radhering to the order 

 of time) ih-.it much had been laid of a 

 plan mentioned in ])arliamejit at the end 

 ol' the fell ion (preceding the publication 

 of the third edition;, for paying oft' the 

 national debt; but as it was to operate 

 only in time of peace, Dr. Price very 

 julily condinms it. 



Laitly, it Is faid in a note, " Since the 

 abo^e was written, I have found that a 

 ineafure in lome reCpects finiilar to this 

 lias been pr.jpofed by sir James Stewart, 

 in his Principles of Political I'.cunoiny." 



The mcaiuie heieiaken notice of con- 

 Cfted in a plan for tl;e reduction of the 

 capital, attended witli an advancement 

 pt intereft. 



Thcle arc all the plans relative to the 

 eflablilhment of a linking fund that can 

 be traced in Dr. Price's third edition. 

 From tjicfe, liowever, it is evident that 

 the ideas jtubiiflied by him were not all 

 original with rcfpect to himfelf; and it 

 fliull next be fliewu, that the various 

 calculations exhibited in that publication 

 for deniionftrating the powers of com- 



* Perhaps cy Mr. John Smart.^See aftcr- 

 vards. 



pound intereft, were known long before 

 It appeared. 



In the j'ear ITCG, tables of great ex- 

 tent and merit ^vere publillied by Mr. 

 .John Smart, whicli contain the value of 

 one pound to eight decnnal plans, and 

 by means of which queliions rel'pecting 

 compound intereft and annuit.es may be 

 folved \\ith great facility, and to great 

 extent. To thefe tables there are twenty- 

 eight problems annexed, and amongll 

 tlitin thofe robitiv e to the national debt, 

 particularly one, which fcems to apply 

 to the extinction of that debt as it flood 

 at the period of INIr. .^mart's publifliing, 

 and whichappcars then to have amounteti 

 to Ijfty millions. Tiiat fimi he ihewb w ill 

 be extinguiihed in the courfe of 30 years 

 by a finlTing fund of 891,505 per annum, 

 over and above *two inilhons for paying 

 the intereft at 4 per cent. 



from the preceding obfervations it 

 evidently appears, that the idea of i^ 

 finking fund by no means originated with 

 the late Dr. Price ; neither did the cal- 

 culations upon which all thofe plans were, 

 and muft be founded. It is at the fame 

 time oln ious, that the increaling magni- 

 tude of the public debts had greatly "il 

 alarmed, and attracted the ferious atten- 

 tion of many able calculators. 



1 he late Dr. Price having been well 

 acquainted with the methods of folving 

 fuch problems as have been mentioned, 

 and having alfo been iinpreft'ed with 

 dreadful apprcheniions of the ruin that 

 would inevitably lake place, if a remedy 

 fliould not be fpccdily ap|)lied, did pro? 

 ceed upon the very fame )»lan as has 

 been (hewn above refpecting the debt of 

 50 millions. 



After having examined the fchemes 

 wliich had been prcvioully attempted or 

 propofed, among which he found none of 

 any importiincc, except the one in 1716, 

 and the partial one hinted at by Sir 

 .laincs Stewart, he proceeded lo fuppofe 

 " that the nation is ftill alile to provide a 

 fund that fliall yield a million and a half 

 annually tor 20 years to come. This, he 

 fays, would increafe to three millions per 



* With the fame facility, the operative 

 powers of one or of more per cent, per an- 

 num above tlie iiitci-cft, is obtained from Mr. 

 Smart's Tables ; and that if the intereft of 

 the loan be 4 per cent., 1 per tent. w;Il ex- 

 tinjuiih it in 41 ytars, &;c, Ther&foie, as 

 to pointing out tlie provlfion for future debts 

 thcie is nothing new, 



annum 



