1806.] Enquiry into the Establishment of ihc Sinking Fund. HI 



xohut can be dom «s thei/ are ? . I zcijh J 



was ahlt iv •^ive a moreJ'utisf'a6lorj/ uttj'icer 

 to litis iMjuirtj." 



Ai.cl again, he thus terminates liii 

 hopes and exjjcctatioiis. 



" In reviewing wliat I have written, I 

 am indeed ahnoli diipofcd to congratu- 

 late niylclt" on lia\ iug pointed out a me- 

 thod of dilchaiyiij;, trie public debts in a 

 lliort period ot yeais, with a iurplus ia 

 our poil'elhon" (he docs not point out 

 vvliLic this furpKis iji to he found), '• and 

 the inviolaljlc appropriation of which 

 will never be felt except in ctlecis the 

 moll fuhitaiy and benelicial : but I fall 

 hack iiitoiltjfidence. Much has been be- 

 fore laid on this fuhje^t by writers of 

 more conlequence to no purpofe, and we 

 Ihall purfue tiie | atii we are in, tiil the 

 edj;e 1)1 the precipice towards winch we 

 are advancing awakens us, and rum be- 

 comes certain and unavoidable." 



'Ihus Hood, ni ilie year llTd, the pro- 

 fj;ect of the nation for obtaining a pra6ti- 

 callc, e.'feciual, and pernianeiit Imkuig 

 fuiid. And tiius about 70 years liad 

 elapfed lince the liiil uafuccelsfui attempt 

 to ellablilh one of that dclcription ; and 

 a nuinber of years had glick-d away (per- 

 haps more than 20) from the time that 

 Dr. Price lirlt founded rho alann, durmg 

 wljich period his and all liis predeceiroi-s, 

 ideas had been wh illy overlooked or 

 dihegardcd by government, as, being the- 

 oretical and impracticable, and they had 

 paiJcd into oblivion, as lie hinilelf ex- 

 pected. 



In the courfe of thofe momentous and 

 important periods feveral wars had takea 

 place, particularly the one with America, 

 which had occalioned an enormous in- 

 creafc of the public debt. Nay more, 

 the nation was unknowingly within a few 

 years of encnuntering the gicatell exter- 

 nal and internal danger to which it ever 

 had been expofed, by which is meant 

 the French revolution : nd its vortex. A 

 danger which foon called forth the ut- 

 molt exertions of the empire, loaded 

 with a debt at that thne deemed unma- 

 nageable and inlupportable. 



It v^as but a few years before that im- 

 portant and tremendous, thougii uiiforo- 

 ieen, criiis ; it was in the month of Sep^ 

 teiaber 1784, that two gentlemen, natives 

 of the city of tjlal'gow, moll fortunately 

 and moft opportunely formed the idea of 

 its being in the power of government to 

 ellaljlilii a real and moft etfectuai fund 

 for cxliii;;uillung Uic public debt. It «as 



a fure 



:^inum in 20 years, at the end of which 

 the nation might i.e ealed of the molt 

 oppreflive taxes to the amount of a mil- 

 lion and a lialf, and the confcquence 

 would proxe, that if there ihouid have 

 been a war, citlier the whole, or much 

 the greater ;art, ot the addition occa- 

 £oncd by it lo the pulii.c buruens would 

 be taken oil", and Uie nation rem Hated 

 nearly in its preltnL circumliances. But 

 if tiiiue Ihouid have been no war, the 

 nauonai cicijt, and the taxes charged 

 with It, would he iidaced a third below 

 the (urns at v\hjch they now ftand, and 

 the nation w.;uid be io much relieved as 

 to be prepared ior a war. The lemain- 

 jiig iniii'on and a iiuif would in 23 years 

 jncrcale agum to tnree millions per an- 

 puii ; and tn.Jii to niucii more ot the 



Jmbiic taxes would be lit tree ; 50 i.ni- 

 ions moiv , or 93 millions in ad, oi" tiie 

 public debts would be difchargeu ; and 

 the diilicull.es of the nation uould be in 

 a great iiieafuie conquered.' i^uraig lliis 

 whole courle oi tuae, tiiere may poiiioiy 

 be but one \^ar; and lliouki tnat ha; ,.en, 

 the ap, ropnat.on at the end of U of 

 about 4U(i,i)00!. ^er annum might be 

 enough CO anfwcr aU purpofcs." 



He proceeds through a number of 

 page-., exjiloiiiig a variety of complicat- 

 ed fiippohtions, which it is deemed uii- 

 iieceiiary to quote, as they would Iwcll 

 the jire cut inqmry t'urther than a^jpcais 

 requilite. 



On the w liole it appears, that although 

 I)r. Price was an excellent mathemati- 

 cian, and fully acquainted with the pow- 

 ers of conijiound interei't, yet he had 

 not fixed upon any plan that even to him- 

 fclf appeared piacticable, or tliat was 

 likely to be adopted. His own words 

 completely fujqjort the iiiference. He 

 thus pathetically exprelfes himfclf : 



" '1 hefe bubWes, how ever, are of lit- 

 tle confequencc compared with the grand 

 national evil which is the iiibject of the 

 fccond chapter of this treatife. This is 

 an e\ il on which I could not imagine that 

 any fuch efforts of mine would make any 

 great impreilion. Perhaps, indeed, the 

 nnited eiiiirts of all the independent part 

 of the kingdom would noio be too ueuk 

 to fa\'c us from the diltrefs with which it 

 tlireatens us." 



In anotlier part lie fays, " Thcfc ob- 

 fcrvations relate only to what niigiit have 

 been the ftate of the nation with rcfpect 

 to its debts, iiad a right plan been pur- 

 jUed froui the lird : hu,t k i^'Hi ^' "JhtU, 



