178] 
grants, four- hundred twenty-seven 
thousand ; to the army extraordi- 
naries, two millions six hundred 
sixty-four thousand; to the ord- 
nance, two millions three hundred 
twenty-two thousand. ‘The. other 
articles wer two hundred thousand 
pounds annual subsidy to the king 
of Sardinia ; miscellaneous services, 
two hundred fifty-seven thousand 
pounds; monies due, one hundred 
and ten thousand pounds; annual 
addition to the sinking fund, two 
hundred thousand pounds ; defici- 
ency of grants, seven hundred forty - 
_ five thousand pounds ; deficiency of 
the land and malt tax, three hun- 
dred fifty thousand; exchequer- 
bills, six millions. The total of 
thesesums amounted to twenty-seven 
millions five hundred forty thousand 
pounds, The ways and means pro- 
osed for raising this supply, con- 
sisted of the land-tax, producing 
two millions; the malt-tax, seven 
hundred fifty thousand pounds ; the 
consolidated fund, two millions two 
hundred thirty-five thousand pounds; 
the India Company, five hundred 
thousand pounds ; exchequer-bills, 
three millions and a half; the Joan, 
eighteen millions; making altogether 
twenty-seven millions one hundred 
forty-five thousand, nearly four hun- 
dred thousand short of the supply. 
In order to make an ample pro- 
vision for this and all deficiencies in 
the articles enumerated, the follow. 
ing taxes were proposed: upon 
wine, five hundred thousand pounds ; 
foreign and British spirits, two hun- 
dred and sixty thousand pounds ; 
tea, one hundred and eighty thou- 
sand pounds ; coffee, forty thousand 
pounds; insurances, one hundred 
and sixty thousand pounds ; raisins 
and foreion grocery and fruits, 
seventy-seven thousand pounds ; 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1795. 
timber, one hundred and ten thou.” 
sand pounds; writs and affidavits, 
sixty-eight thousand pounds; by 
abridging the privilege of franking,. 
forty thousand pounds ; the hair- 
powder license, two hundred and 
ten thousand pounds. Such was the 
valuation of the taxes proposed-by 
Mr. Pitt, according to which, their 
produce wouldyamount to one mil. 
lion six hundred and forty - four thou- 
sand pounds, a sum that more than 
covered the apprehended deficien- 
cies, 
He took this occasion to observe 
the extraordinary increase of the 
nationalcommerce. It had, by au- 
thentic documents, exceeded in thé 
preceding year that of the most 
flourishing periods of peace. He 
also adverted to the Imperial loan, 
which he represented as extremely 
beneficial to the subscribers, yield-. 
ing an interest of no less than six 
per cent. and secured to, them by 
beimg made payable at the bank of 
England. 
Opposition was very severe on 
ministry, for not having raised the 
supply by an open competition be- 
tween the lenders, by which a con- 
siderable saving would have been 
made, Mr. Fox was very circum- 
stantial in the investigation of this 
subject. He represented the ad- 
vantages that womld accrue to those 
who subseribed to the emperor’s 
loan, as a strong presumption how 
little attention had been paid to 
that business by his ministers, and 
as strong ground for suspeting that 
they did not mean to refund the 
money procured. He censured 
some of thetaxes proposed, as inju- 
dicious, and others as oppressive. 
He accused the minister of having 
described the commercial prosperity 
of the kingdom in terms much toe 
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