Taxes.
We now come to the source of revenue which concerns us most nearly. A slight attempt to resume taxation had been made at the time of King George's war. A tax of £10,000 old tenor (£1677 sterling) had been ordered in 1744 and another of £5,000 new tenor (£2000 sterling) in 1747/8, but the paper money party was still in the ascendant and it was not until after the overthrow of that party that the policy of taxation was seriously resumed in 1754.
The following table will show the taxes levied from that date to the beginning of the Revolution, together with their sterling values at the time the tax was ordered.
| (o. t. = old tenor. l. m. = lawful money. The second column contains the sterling values.) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1754 | £35,000. (o. t.) | £2102 |
| 1755 | 70,000. (o. t.) | 3710 |
| 1756 | 53,000. (o. t.) | 2274 |
| 4,000. (l. m.) | 3008 | |
| 1757 | 100,000. (o. t.) | 3917 |
| 150,000. (o. t.) | 5875 | |
| 4,000. (l. m.) | 3008 | |
| 1758 | 6,000. (l. m.) | 4512 |
| 110,000. (o. t.) | 4129 | |
| 1759 | 11,000. (l. m.) | 8271 |
| 1760 | 15,547. (l. m.) | 11689 |
| 1761 | 16,000. (l. m.) | 12030 |
| 1762 | 8,000. (l. m.) | 6015 |
| 1763 | 12,000. (l. m.) | 9023 |
| 1764 | 12,000. (l. m.) | 9023 |
| 1765 | 12,469. (l. m.) | 9375 |
| 1766 | 6,000. (l. m.) | 4511 |
| 75,000. (o. t.) | 2252 | |
| 1769 | 6,000. (l. m.) | 4511 |
| 93,688. (o. t.) | 2638 | |
| 1770 | 12,000. (l. m.) | 9023 |
| 1771 | £12,000. (l. m.) | £9023 |
| 1772 | 12,000. (l. m.) | 9023 |
| 1773 | 4,000. (l. m.) | 3008 |
| 1774 | 4,000. (l. m.) | 3008 |
This would give an average annual taxation for the twenty-one years of £6,950 sterling or $33,777. in our money, equal to about 70 cents per capita.
Taxation, however, varied greatly at different periods. For the eleven years 1756-1766 the average annual tax was $43,707., about $1.00 per capita; for the five years 1757-1761 it was $51,935., equal to $1.18 per capita. Taxation reached its height in 1760 and 1761 amounting to $57,637. a year and $1.28 per capita. By 1773 it had fallen off to $14,619. a year, or a trifle less than 25 cents per capita. An estimate of the rateable property in 1762 gave a valuation of £26,105,423 old tenor, equal to about $4,224,178. Using this as a basis the rate of taxation in 1760 and 1761 would have been about 1.36 per cent. on the value of rateable property. An estimate of 1769 gave a property valuation of $7,706,449. (£2111356 lawful money). The rate of taxation in 1773 and 1774 was only .19 per cent. on this valuation. The average rate for the whole period seems to have been about one half of one per cent. By far the greater part of this taxation was for war purposes. The regular expenses of colonial government do not seem to have exceeded $7300. (£2000 lawful money) per annum, which towards the end of the period would amount to not more than 12 cents per capita, or one tenth of one per cent on valuation.
The above is a general outline of the financial operations of the period. The indebtedness of the colony at any particular date is difficult to determine. A committee in 1762 estimated that there were outstanding bills to the amount of about £53231 sterling. According to a report of a like committee in 1762 the amount was about £43000. In addition, however, the colony was considerably in debt for money hired. Whatever debt there was, however, seems to have been, for the most part, extinguished in the early years of the Revolution.