SINKING FUND. 
sioners, with such annuities as might after- 
wards fall in, were to be at the disposal of 
Parliament. 
The commissioners were directed by the 
act to make ttieir purchases ‘‘ in equal por- 
tions, as nearly as may be, on every day 
(Saturdays and Mondays excepted) on 
which the same shall be transferrable.” 
They were empowered to subscribe towards 
any public loan, to be raised by act of Par- 
liament, upon perpetual annuities, subject to 
redemption at par; and an account of the 
sums issued to them, and of the stock pur- 
chased to the first of February in every 
year, was directed to be annrrally laid before 
Parliament, on or before the loth of Fe- 
bruary, The pitrcbases at first: were all 
made in the 3 per cents, probably with the 
view of redeeming the 5 per cents, if the 
state of the ptrblic fiords should render such 
a measure practicable, or of inducing the 
proprietors to agree to a reductron of the 
interest at the time when they would be- 
come redeemable. 
On the 17th February, 1792, the minister- 
proposed, for the purpose of accelerating the 
operatron of the fund, that the sum of 
400,000i. shotrld be issued in addition to the 
annual million ; and stated, that, irt corrse- 
qirence of this and futirre intended addrtions, 
it might be expected that twerrty-tive mil- 
lions of 3 per cents, would be paid off by 
the year 1800 : and that in the year 1808 
the ftrnd would have •arisen to four millions 
per annum, being the sum to which it was 
restricted by the original act. The accu- 
mulation, however, was not to cease till the 
interest of the capital discharged, and the 
amount of expired annrrities, should, toge- 
ther with the annual million only, and ex- 
clusive of the proposed additions, amount to 
four millions. But the most important im- 
provement was a provision, that, whenever in 
future any sums shall be raised by loans, on 
perpetual redeemable annuities, a sum, equal 
to one per cent, on the stock created by 
such loans, should be issued out of the pro- 
duce of the consolidated fund quarterly, to 
be placed to the account of the commis- 
sioners; and if the loan, or any part, is 
raised by annuities, for a longer term than 
forty five years, or for lives, a computation 
is to be made, of what will be at the end of 
forty five years, the actual value of such part 
of the annuities as may be then oiitstanamg, 
and the sum to be placed to the account of 
the commissioners is to be equal to one per 
cent, on this computed future value. By this 
means the immediate progress of the fund 
was accelerated, and future loans were put 
into a regular course of redemption. 
This appropriation of one per cent, was 
to form a distinct fund; and a separate ac- 
count was directed to be kept of the pro- 
gress of each fund, by. which it appealed, 
that on the first of February, 1802, the ori- 
ginal fund had increased to 2,534,187k Is. 9d, 
' and the new fund to 3,275,143k 2s. 3d. 
It was now deemed expedient to imite the 
two funds, and to apply the wlirde amount 
indiscriminately to the reduction of the to- 
tal debt. With this view, the former inju- 
dicious limitation of a fund established pro- 
fessedly on the principle of componnd in- 
terest was done away ; the fisuai annual 
grant of 200,000i<. per annum was made a 
jierinanent charge upon the consoiidai^ed 
fund ; and the Whole amount of the sinking 
fund was directed to be regularly applied to 
the purch.tse or redemption of stock, “ so 
•as that the whole of the several redeemable 
public annuities, now charged upon the 
public funds of Great Britain, shall be paid ' 
off within forty five years from the respec- 
tive periods of the creation of such respec- 
tive charges and pnblic annuities.” 
Particulars of the Sums constituting the Sinking Fund, as it Stood on 1st February, 1808. 
■£. s. d. 
Original annniial cl'.arge 1,000,000 0 0 
Additional issue by act of 1802.... 200,000 0 o 
Exchequer annuities, wbich expired in 1792 54,880 14 6 
Short annuities of 1777, which expired 1787 25,000 0 0 
Life annuities fallen in, or unclaimed 49,786 18 1. 
Dividend on £ 124,428,213 stock, at 3 per cent 3,732,846 7 9^ 
Eitto on.... 2,617,400 stock, at 4 per cent 104,696 0 0 
N Ditto .on.... 142,000 stock, at 5 per cent 7,100 0 0 
One per cent, on the principal part of the capitals ere- ? „ 
ated since 1st February, 1793 S ’ 
Appropriation for reduction of the loan of 1807 646,752 5 41 
Total 9,312,392 18 7 
