168 
Political Arithmetic . 
gan in 1793. In estimating tlie value of the foreign trade of 
Great Britain, and taking the amount of exports as the exponent 
of it, I shall confine myself to the year preceding the war. Be- 
cause, the first year of the war evidently sank the amount near 
live millions sterling below the natural progressive standard ; be- 
cause, in time of war, there is no steady march of foreign trade ; 
the exports involve much of hazardous speculation. Because the 
custom-house entries are swelled by the amount of exports, con- 
sisting of articles consumed in the war itself, and purchased by 
government for the use of armies and navies ; and these entries 
are gravely brought forward as evidences of the great increase of 
trade and national prosperity ! 
I know the objections to the accuracy of custom-house entries, 
and their official compared to their real value ; but they are the best 
evidence we have ; and an error of two or three millions, will make 
no difference in the present reasoning. 
I say then , that the gross amount of the exports of Great 
Britain previous to the year 1794, when the nation was fully em- 
barked in the war , never reached 25 millions sterling. 
y Gross amount Balance Nett customs paid 
of export. of trade, into the exchequer. 
1792 24,905,200 5,776,6 18 4,027,230 ) Upon export 
1793 20,390,180 1 542,154 3,978,645 £ and import. 
I state it also, as a calculation well known and generally receiv- 
ed in that country, that a merchant’s and manufacturer’s clear 
profit is 12 1-2 per cent on his capital, which, on 25 millions, will f 
be 3,125,000/. This is paid by the foreign consumer, and the 
nation gains it. The trade of Ireland that year may be calculated 1 
at 3 1-2 millions, on which the gain will be 437,500/. So that in l 
the most prosperous year of peace, the clear profit on the whole 
foreign commerce of Great Britain and Ireland, can hardly be taken 
at more than 3 1-2 millions sterling! 
Let us now see what is the amount of the home trade, or internal 
commerce ; this consists of the amount of agricultural produce, 
and the amount of manufacturing produce : including woods, mine- 
rals and fisheries. 
It appears from the first report of the select committee on the I 
waste lands, ordered to be printed December 23, 1795, that there 
are in Great Britain 73,285,628 acres, of which 51,178,627 are 
cultivated, and 22,107,000 are uncultivated. The cultivated lands 
of Great Britain produce a wheat crop of certainly not less than 
