immediately preceding the Union. In Great Britain both Debt and taxation
had risen in a larger ratio, and were relatively far greater. For
example, in the six years, 1793-1798 inclusive, L186,000,000 had been
added to the British Debt, only L14,000,000 to the Irish Debt. In 1801
the British Debt stood at L489,127,057; the Irish Debt at L32,215,223.

II.

FROM THE UNION TO THE FINANCIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION OF 1894-1896.

The Union of 1800, therefore, could not be justified on the ground that
a poor country would profit by fiscal amalgamation with a rich country,
and Pitt and Castlereagh, when framing the Union Act, recognized that
truth by leaving Ireland with a separate fiscal system, as before;
though the administration of this system was, of course, now to be
wholly in British hands. There were to be separate Exchequers,
Debts,[99] taxes, and balance-sheets, with the following restrictions:
That prohibitions against imports and bounties on exports (corn
excepted), should cease reciprocally in both countries; that, with the
exception of 10 per cent. ad valorem duties on a variety of articles
named, there should be mutual free trade; and that no tax on any article
of consumption should be higher in Ireland than in Great Britain.

But although Pitt and Castlereagh ostensibly carried out the principle
of separate fiscal systems, they laid the foundations for a fiscal
amalgamation which was disastrous to Ireland. Since his Commercial
Propositions of 1785, Pitt had never abandoned the idea of obtaining
from Ireland an obligatory annual contribution to Imperial services
based on some fixed principle. By Clause 7 of the Act of Union he
achieved his aim. It was settled that for twenty years Ireland should
contribute in the proportion of 1 to 71/2 (or 2 to 15)--that is, that
Great Britain should pay 15/17, or 88.24 per cent., of common Imperial
expenses, including the charge for debt contracted for Imperial
services, and Ireland 2/17, or 11.76 per cent. Nobody now denies that
this ratio was grossly unjust to Ireland. It took no account of the
relative pre-Union Debts; it took no account of the tribute of nearly
four millions paid in rents to absentee English proprietors; it was
based on superficial deductions from inadequate and misleading data, and
the Act was hardly passed before its absurdity became manifest. Fifteen
years of almost incessant war followed the Union. Ireland, even by
raising taxation to the highest p