Thus much as to the Colonial Civil expenditure; the chief
burden of which is borne by the Colonists themselves, the amount contributed by Great Britain being little more than a quarter of a million. The cost of the Naval and Military expenditure falls entirely on the Mother Country; and though the exact amount is difficult to ascertain, from the absence of any specific information, yet some approximate idea may be given of the cost, if the reader has patience to follow us through a dry enumeration of particulars.
Exclusive of troops on their passage, the total number of "rank and file" in the Colonies is 30,437; of which number 4,993, costing 154,0001., may be considered as Colonial corps. The remaining 2.5,442 are troops of the Line. The average cost of the Cavalry and Infantry of the Line, together, is nearly M. per head. If we take it at only 35/. per man, this would give an expense in round numbers of 890,000/. The Colonial cost for the " Ordnance" is stated by that department to be 390,000!.; making together nearly a million and a half for Military expenditure. The charge for the Commissariat and Navy cannot be given with the same approach to accuracy, from the absence of every kind of data. But we may still hazard a conjectural calculation. The pro- portionate cost of the Colonies in the Army and Ordnance is nearly one third of the whole amount expended on those services. If we apply the same rule to the two other departments, it gives, in round numbers, 105,000/. for the Commissariat, and 1,100,0001. for the Navy ; making a total expense of 2,884,590/. Nor (am it be said that this amount is overrated ; for if some allowance ought to be given to the Colonies for the Cavalry, of which they may not have their full proportion, it should be remembered, that the number of troops on their passage to and fro, the " Administration" expenses of the Army, and the .1 iscellan eons charges of various descriptions, have been altogether omitted in this calcula- tion; which, to bring it more distinctly before the reader, we recapitu- late, in the following
APPROXIMATE CALCULATION OF ',11E DIRECT COLONIAL E XPE NSE DE FRAYED By Great Britain.
Civil G overt= out 34,445 Army- Colonial Corps £154,000 Troops of the Line 800,000 Connnissariat, say ore third of 315,533/. the total amount of the Estimate 105,000
Ordnance 396,363 Navy. say one-third of 3,9913051. the total amount of the Navy Estimate
The direct expense is, however, by no means the whole cost of the Colonies. The country is injured by various kinds of protecting duties; which extract as much money from the people of Great Britain as if they were taxed directly to that amount, though it is a taxation which yields nothing to the revenue, and which interferes mischievously with the free- dom of trade. Thus, the people of England are compelled to buydear and bad timber, to benefit the Canadian timber-cutters; the West In- dian planters are obliged to buy their "lumber" and provisions from the Canadians, though they could purchase them Cheaper and better from the United States. In return for this and some other restrictions, the West Indians are allowed protecting duties on their rum, their sugar, their coffee, &c. &c. (for amidst all this protection backwards and forwards, the burden is finally placed upon John Bull's shoulders); and almost every article which is, or can, or may be produced by a "Bri- tish colony," is protected by a duty of some kind or other. The exact cost, or the extent of the indirect mischief, is of course impossible to measure; but from some, we may guess at others. Thus, there is a protecting duty on.sugar of 8s. per hundredweight, or nearly Id. per pound. It has been estimated that this annually extracts from the people of this country upwards of a million and a half of money. The are protecting duties on coffee averaging about 6d. per pound, which may perhaps extract some 300,000/. or 400,000/. more. .Every one is acquainted with the enormous duty on brandy in favour of rum; which, besides injuring the revenue and the public to the extent of a million of money, requires the eXpenditure of nearly three quarters of a million more to prevent the smuggling of Cognac. Yet, with these facts in existence, there are interested parties confident enough to stun us with their cuckoo cry of "ships, colonies, and commerce" (as if France would give us brandy or Hindostan sugar for nothing, or, sup- posing them to do so, as if either puncheons or hogsheads would find their way hither of their own accord); and, what is more astonishing, there are simpletons foolish enough to reecho the shout, to their own in- jury. If any "practical man" were required to purchase an estate which, so far from yielding a rent to the Fin dlord, would not even yield a profit to the farmer, he would reject the T.roposal at once. If he discovered that the land, so far from giving a mannon profit on the employment of capital,
could only be cultivated at an annual loss, he would fancy the proposer a knave or a fool. Let him be made aware that, in addition to these drawbacks, the owner of the estates had to buy their produce at one half or one third beyond the price for which it could be bought else- where, and what words could paint his astonishment ? Yet the folly which the practical man would be the first to ridicule when pounds were concerned, the "practical statesmen" have upheld for years, when the amount in question has been millions upon millions. Nay, more, there are shining lights of Toryism who would persist in upholding it now, and that to the injury of the only settlement which has not acted as a drag upon the prosperity of Great Britain. The vast and magni- ficent empire of Hindostan, with a population of eighty millions, takes nothing from the public revenue ; and though burdened with restrictive duties, it has added extensively to the wealth and to the commerce of the country. The petty islands of the Atlantic require millions an- nually for their support and defence ; yet, so far from yielding even a profitable trade to the nation, they cannot, if their friends are to be be- lieved, continue to exist if exposed to free competition.
1,515,363 1,100,000 £2,990,809
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