72 
it was said, could be found since the 
revolution, of bringing forward the 
ways and means till the army esti- 
mates were voted, 
It was admitted on the other side, 
that there was considerable incon- 
venience in bringing forward the 
ways and means before the estimates 
for the army were regularly before 
the house; but it was maintained 
that there was nothing in this pro- 
eeeding which counteracted any 
‘fixed principle, and the inconveni- 
ence of delaying the budget till the 
army estimates could be produced, 
would be much greater than that 
which attended the present mode of 
proceeding. The same sort of in- 
convenience had been felt last year 
in the vote with regard to sub- 
sidies, the amount of which depend. 
ed on treaties with foreign powers, 
which at that time were not con- 
cluded. Care would be taken by 
the chancellor of the exchequer that 
the ways and means should not ex- 
ceed the supplies to be voted. It 
was to be recollected, that we had 
an army estimate already voted for 
five months; and as to precedents, 
there was one in 1802, when the 
navy estimates were voted first for 
four months, then for two, and then 
for the remainder of the year. It 
was also contended, that, in this 
case, the ways and means did not 
amount to the supplies by several 
millions; because none could be 
called taxes, among the ways and 
means, till they were appropriated 
by parliament; and in that sense 
the supplies already voted, exceeded 
the ways and means by several mil- 
lions. But to this mode of reason- 
ing it was justly answered by oppo- 
sition, that it proceeded on the fal- 
lacy of confounding two principles 
in themselves perfectly distinct ; the 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1806. 
one, that the public money should 
not be applied without the express 
consent of parliament; the other, 
that parliament should not burthen — 
the people unnecessarily, and con- 
sequently should neither by loans 
nor taxes, impose burthens in a 
committee of ways and means, till 
the necessity of them had been as- 
certained by previous votes in the 
committee of supply. It was at the 
same time admitted, that a rigid ad- 
herence to this rule, could not in all 
cases be observed; and, indeed, 
the existence of permanent war 
taxes, to the amount of eighteen or 
near twenty millions annually, was, 
it must be confessed, no small devia- 
tion from this principle. 
The property tax bill encounter. 
ed great opposition in its way 
through the house, not so much 
from the members seated on the op. 
position bench, who, on the con- 
trary expressed their hearty appro- 
bation of its principle, and praised 
the ministers for bringing it forward, 
as from independent members of 
parliament, who disliked the harsh- 
ness and rigour of its provisions, and 
disapproved of such an enormous 
addition to the present heavy bur- 
thens of the people. Several modi. 
fications and alleviations of the tax 
were accordingly proposed, to some 
of which the ministers acceded, 
though they rejected the greater 
part of them, on account of their 
tendency to diminish the produc- 
tiveness, and destroy the efficacy of 
the measure. 
Mr. Francis objected to the sud- 
den increase of the duty from six and 
a half to ten per cent, and ridiculed 
the attempt of ministers to represent 
the precise rate of ten per’cent, as 
the natural limit of the tax, which 
no future chancellor of the exche- 
quer 
