Amount of the Property and Income of Great Britain.
| Year. | Property assessed to Property-tax. | Annual Profits of Trade. |
| 1815 | £60,000,000 | £37,000,000 |
| 1842 | 95,250,000 | |
| 1844 | ... | 60,000,000 |
| Increase | 58 per cent. | |
| „ | ... | 62 per cent. |
| Annual rate of increase | 1·7 per cent. | 1·7 per cent. |
Here, then, we find, that the property assessed to the property tax has increased 35,250,000l. in 27 years, from 1815 to 1842, or upwards of 1,000,000l. sterling a year; this is at the rate of 1·7 per cent. every year, whereas the population of Great Britain has increased at the rate of only 1·4 per cent. per annum. But the amount of assessment under the property tax, it should be borne in mind, does not represent the full value of the possessions, so that among this class of proprietors there is far greater wealth than the returns show.
As regards the annual profits of trade, the increase between the years 1815 and 1844 has been 23,000,000l. in 29 years. This is at the rate of 1·7 per cent. per annum, and the annual increase in the population of Great Britain is only 1·4 per cent. But the amount of the profits of trade is unquestionably greater than appears in the financial tables of the revenue of the country; consequently there is a greater increase of wealth over population than the figures indicate.
The above returns show the following results:—
| Increase per Cent. per Ann. | |
|---|---|
| Population of the United Kingdom | ·9 |
| Productions from | 21 to 5 |
| Exports | 14 |
| Imports | 5 |
| Shipping entering Ports | 9 |
| Property | 1·7 |
| Profits of trade | 1·7 |
Far, very far indeed then, beyond the increase of the population, has been the increase of the wealth and work of the country.
And now, after this imposing array of wealth, let us contemplate the reverse of the picture: let us inquire if, while we have been increasing in riches and productions far more rapidly than we have been increasing in people and producers—let us inquire, I say, if we have been numerically increasing also in the sad long lists of paupers and criminals. Has our progress in poverty and crime been “pari passu,” or been more than commensurate in the rapidity of its strides?