HISTORY OF EUROPt; 



41 



iuch husbandry horses as now only 

 paid 2*-. 6c?. and not lis. 6d. he did 

 not propose any additional tax. 

 The last tax he had to offer, was a 

 duty upon legacies. This Mas a 

 small duty of l/. per cent, on all 

 direct legacies, upon which the new 

 stamp duty was not now paid. It was 

 difficult to estimate what may be the 

 amount of this, but, by a rough 

 guess, the property annually be- 

 queathed in wills, registered, was 

 about thirty millions. Deducting 

 five millions for legacies charged on 

 land, and five millions coHaterally, 

 twenty millions would remain, which, 

 at 1 per cent, would give a produce 

 of 200,000/. He also proposed to 

 subject legacies charged on land to 

 the same tax, which would yield 

 100,000/. Also an increase of the 

 duties on legacies to strangers in 

 blood, from 8 to 10 per cent, which 

 would yield 30,000/. He then made 

 the following recapitulation. Total 

 amount of the interest on the loan, 

 including 3 per cents, created for 

 lojaity holders, and charges of ma- 

 nagement, — 1,537,192 



i,:)60,ooo 



The estimated produced would thus 

 be somewhat above 20,000/. be- 

 yond the sum wanted. He con- 

 cluded with moving his first rcsolu- 

 ^on — ',' that, towards raising the 



" supply granted to his majesty, 

 <' the sum of 22,500^000/. be raised 

 " by annuities, whereof the charges 

 " of twenty millions are to be de- 

 " frayed by England, and twomil- 

 " lions and a half by Ireland." 



Mr. Fox laid in his claim to dis- 

 cuss, on a future da) , the policy, a$ 

 well as the amount or application 

 of the two millions subsidy. The 

 taxes he thought objectionable; 

 some on account of their being direct 

 ones, and those upon salt and hus- 

 bandry horses, as being peculiarly 

 burthcnsome and oppressive. The 

 chancellor of the exchequer ex- 

 plained, that he meant the proposal 

 of five millions for continental pur- 

 poses to be as conditional as the 

 honourable gentleman could wish, 

 and, alter a few observations in sup- 

 port of the now taxes, the resolu- 

 tions were agreed to. — When the 

 report was brought up, on the next 

 day, Mr. Johnstone renewed the 

 objections made by ^Ir. Fox, on the 

 day before, and Mr. Francis called « 

 for some parliamentary evidence of 

 4")e existence of such a debt as the 

 five millions voted for the East India 

 company, and for which the house 

 had nothing but the word of the 

 minister. He also observed, though, 

 in every statement made of the 

 company's finances, they were said 

 to be in the mo.'t prosperous situa- 

 tion, the 500,000/. which they had 

 covenanted to pay annually to the 

 country, was never stated to hav» 

 been paid but once. 



The Chancellor of the Exchequci" 

 said, that would be a proper sub- 

 ject of discussion when the state- 

 ment of the company's finances 

 should be before them, and as to th« 

 present sum, he certainly did not 

 mean to vote it without a pro- 

 per degree of reserve. — On the rc- 



solutioti 



