An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith [e book reader pdf TXT] 📗
- Author: Adam Smith
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above mentioned, the only resource which can remain to her, is a
diminution of her expense. In the mode of collecting and in that
of expending the public revenue, though in both there may be
still room for improvement, Great Britain seems to be at least as
economical as any of her neighbours. The military establishment
which she maintains for her own defence in time of peace, is more
moderate than that of any European state, which can pretend to
rival her either in wealth or in power. None of these articles,
therefore, seem to admit of any considerable reduction of
expense. The expense of the peace-establishment of the
colonies was, before the commencement of the present
disturbances, very considerable, and is an expense which may,
and, if no revenue can be drawn from them, ought certainly to be
saved altogether. This constant expense in time of peace, though
very great, is insignificant in comparison with what the defence
of the colonies has cost us in time of war. The last war, which
was undertaken altogether on account of the colonies, cost Great
Britain, it has already been observed, upwards of ninety
millions. The Spanish war of 1739 was principally undertaken on
their account; in which, and in the French war that was the
consequence of it, Great Britain, spent upwards of forty millions
; a great part of which ought justly to be charged to the
colonies. In those two wars, the colonies cost Great Britain much
more than double the sum which the national debt amounted to
before the commencement of the first of them. Had it not been for
those wars, that debt might, and probably would by this time,
have been completely paid; and had it not been for the colonies,
the former of those wars might not, and the latter certainly
would not, have been undertaken. It was because the colonies were
supposed to be provinces of the British Empire, that this expense
was laid out upon them. But countries which contribute neither
revenue nor military force towards the support of the empire,
cannot be considered as provinces. They may, perhaps, be
considered as appendages, as a sort of splendid and shewy
equipage of the empire. But if the empire can no longer support
the expense of keeping up this equipage, it ought certainly to
lay it down ; and if it cannot raise its revenue in proportion to
its expense, it ought at least to accommodate its expense to its
revenue. If the colonies, notwithstanding their refusal to submit
to British taxes, are still to be considered as provinces of the
British empire, their defence, in some future war, may cost Great
Britain as great an expense as it ever has done in any former
war. The rulers of Great Britain have, for more than a century
past, amused the people with the imagination that they possessed
a great empire on the west side of the Atlantic. This empire,
however, has hitherto existed in imagination only. It has
hitherto been, not an empire, but the project of an empire ; not
a gold mine, but the project of a gold mine; a project which has
cost, which continues to cost, and which, if pursued in the same
way as it has been hitherto, is likely to cost, immense expense,
without being likely to bring any profit ; for the effects of the
monopoly of the colony trade, it has been shewn, are to the great
body of the people, mere loss instead of profit. It is surely now
time that our rulers should either realize this golden dream, in
which they have been indulging themselves, perhaps, as well as
the people ; or that they should awake from it themselves, and
endeavour to awaken the people. If the project cannot be
completed, it ought to be given up. If any of the provinces of
the British empire cannot be made to contribute towards the
support of the whole empire, it is surely time that Great Britain
should free herself from the expense of defending those provinces
in time of war, and of supporting any part of their civil or
military establishment in time of peace; and endeavour to
accommodate her future views and designs to the real mediocrity
of her circumstances.
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