incidently with this general
extension of the customs duties special articles such as tea were
subjected to increased duties. The American War of Independence brought
about a further general increase of 10%, together with special extra
duties on tobacco and sugar. In 1784 the customs revenue came to over
L3,000,000. Two circumstances account for this slower growth. (1) The
extreme rigour of the duties and prohibitions, aimed chiefly against
French trade; and (2) the absence of care in estimating the point of
maximum productiveness for each duty. Swift's famous saying that "in the
arithmetic of the customs two and two sometimes, made only one" is well
exemplified in England at this time. The smuggler did a great deal of
the foreign trade of the country. Efforts at reform were not, however,
altogether wanting. Walpole succeeded in carrying several useful
adjustments. He abolished the general duties on exports and also several
of those on imported raw materials such as silk, beaver, indigo and
colonial timber. His most ambitious scheme--that for the warehousing of
wine and tobacco in order to relieve exporters--failed, in consequence
of the popular belief that it was the forerunner of a general excise.
Walpole's treatment of the land tax, which he kept down to the lowest
figure (1s.), and his earlier funding plan deserve notice. His
determination to preserve peace assisted his fiscal reforms. Pitt's
administration from 1783 to 1792 marks another great period of
improvement. The consolidation of the customs laws (1787), the reduction
of the tea duty to nearly one-tenth of its former amount, the conclusion
of a liberal commercial treaty with France, and the attempted trade
arrangement with Ireland, tend to show that "Pitt would have anticipated
many of the free trade measures of later years if it had been his lot to
enjoy ten more years of peaceful administration." One of the financial
problems which excited the interest and even the alarm of the students
of public affairs was the rapid increase of the public debt. Each war
caused a great addition to the burden; the intervals of peace showed
very little diminution in it. From sixteen millions in 1702, the debt
rose to L53,000,000 at the treaty of Utrecht (1713). In 1748 it reached
L78,000,000, at the close of the Seven Years' War it was L137,000,000,
and when the American colonies had established their independence it
exceeded L238,000,000. Apprehensions of national bankruptcy