ring the 18th century the probate duty had been gradually
raised, and in 1780 the legacy duty was introduced; but these charges
were moderate in character and did not affect land. Though the direct
and quasi-direct taxes had been so largely increased, their growth was
eclipsed by that of the excise and customs. With each succeeding year of
war new articles for duties were detected and the rates of old taxes
raised. The maxim, said to have guided the financiers of another
country--"Wherever you see an object, tax it"--would fairly express the
guiding policy of the English system of the early 19th century.
Eatables, liquors, the materials of industry, manufactures, and the
transactions of commerce had in nearly all their forms to pay toll. To
take examples:--salt paid 15s. per bushel; sugar 30s. per cwt.; beer
10s. per barrel (with 4s. 5d. per bushel on malt and a duty on hops);
tea 96% _ad valorem_. Timber, cotton, raw silk, hemp and bar iron were
taxed, so were leather, soap, glass, candles, paper and starch. In spite
of the need of revenue, many of the customs duties were framed on the
protective system and thereby gave little returns; e.g. the import duty
on salt in 1815 produced L547, as against L1,616,124 from excise;
pill-boxes brought in 18s. 10d., saltpetre 2d., with 1d. for the war
duties. The course of the war taxation was marked by varied experiments.
Duties were raised, lowered, raised again, or given some new form in the
effort to find additional revenue. Some duties, e.g. that on gloves,
were abandoned as unproductive; but the conclusion is irresistible that
the financial system suffered from over-complication and absence of
principle. In the period of his peace administration Pitt was prepared
to follow the teaching of _The Wealth of Nations_. The strain of a
gigantic war forced him and his successors to employ whatever heads of
taxation were likely to bring in funds without violating popular
prejudices. Along with taxation, debt increased. For the first ten years
the addition to it averaged L27,000,000 per annum, bringing the total to
over L500,000,000. By the close of the war period in 1815 the total
reached over L875,000,000, or a somewhat smaller annual increase--a
result due to the adoption of more effective tax forms, and particularly
the income tax. The progress of English trade was another contributing
agency towards securing higher revenue. The import of articles such as
tea advanced with the growin