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<DATE>2014-09-05</DATE>
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<NAME>Simon Charles</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch Z140214.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<STC T="W">B154A</STC>
<STC T="G">1888.c.11[54]</STC>
<STC T="C">R226634</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99886816</BIBNO>
<VID>189481</VID>
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<DIV1 TYPE="proposals">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>PROPOSALS <HI>Humbly Offered to the Honourable the</HI> Hou&s;e of Commons, <HI>for Rai&s;ing Money to pay off all Arrears of the Army, and all other Debts, in Three Months, without any Land-Tax, or Oppre&s;&s;ion to any body.</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">I. 'TIS Humbly Propo&s;ed, that all Places and Offices in <HI>England, Ireland,</HI> and in the Dominion of the King of <HI>England,</HI> in <HI>America,</HI> or el&s;ewhere, that are in the Gift of the Crown, or are in the di&s;po&s;al of any Place or Office that is in the Gift of the Crown, and receives Sallary or Profit from thence, amounting to the Summ of an 100 Pounds <HI>per Ann.</HI> &s;hall be Sold for two Lives, at Five Years purcha&s;e, except all Spiritual Preferments; and all <HI>Judges,</HI> if the Parliament &s;hall think fit.</P>
<P N="2">II. That tho&s;e Officers that are to &s;erve in the Fleet or Army, &s;hall have liberty to buy their Places at Three Years Purcha&s;e, and to di&s;po&s;e of them again (with the King's con&s;ent) at the &s;ame Rate as bought; their Arrears to be taken as ready Money: And if an Officer buys his Place, and has no Son or Heir fit for that Place, he may put in any other Life; and when he grows Old, and un|fit for Service him&s;elf, he &s;hall have the liberty to &s;ell to any Per&s;on, the King &s;hall approve of; or if he dies before having done &s;o, he &s;hall have the power (if the other Life he put in be in being) to di&s;po&s;e either of the Place, or the Money, which his Succe&s;&s;or &s;hall be obliged to pay to his Executors.</P>
<P N="3">III. That tho&s;e Per&s;ons who have any Office for Life, as the <HI>Six Clerks, Clerks</HI> of the <HI>A&s;&s;ize,</HI> and &s;everal others; &s;hall have an A&s;|&s;ignment for a Life after their own, at two years and an halfs Purcha&s;e; but if they &s;hall neglect, or refu&s;e to pay the &s;ame, in &s;uch a limited time, the King &s;hall have power to grant the &s;aid A&s;&s;ignment to any Per&s;on who will pay the &s;aid Money.</P>
<P><HI>The <HI>Objections</HI> that may be brought again&s;t the&s;e <HI>Propo&s;als</HI> are,</HI></P>
<P><LABEL><HI>Obj.</HI> 1.</LABEL> THat the King would lo&s;e one part of his Prerogative, <HI>Viz.</HI> The Di&s;po&s;al of the&s;e Offices, &s;eeing they are to be Sold to any body that will purcha&s;e them.</P>
<P><LABEL>An&s;w.</LABEL> To which I An&s;wer; that the&s;e Propo&s;als will enlarge the King's Prerogative; for the King will have the &s;ame Power of di&s;po&s;ing of all Offices as before; and the &s;ame Power of putting any Per&s;on out of his Place, whom he thinks not qualified to Execute it, or has any exception again&s;t his Per&s;on, and be&s;towing it upon whom&s;oever he plea&s;es; provided the Per&s;on that's put out, be re-pay'd his Money, by him that is to &s;ucceed him, before he &s;hall be oblig'd to re&s;ign his Place: And the King will be better &s;erved, in having all Offices Executed with the greate&s;t Care and Fidelity; for the Care of any Man will naturally bear a proportion to the value of the thing cared for, or the intere&s;t he has in it. Now the intere&s;t of all Per&s;ons in Offices will be greater than formerly, and con&s;equent|ly their care to pre&s;erve them will be &s;o too; for the livelyhood, not only of the Officer him&s;elf, and his Family, but the future being of his Son too, will depend upon his due Execution of his Office; for if any Officer &s;hall be legally Convicted in any of His Maje&s;ty's Courts, of any Male-Admini&s;tration, he &s;hall ab&s;olutely forfeit his Intere&s;t to the King, without any con&s;ideration of the Money he paid.</P>
<P>It's very well known, the King of <HI>France</HI> never fails of rai&s;ing a con&s;iderable Summ by this Method; and every body, I believe, will allow, that no Prince is better &s;erved; nor can there be braver Troops than tho&s;e, who&s;e Officers buy their Places; as plainly appears by tho&s;e of <HI>France,</HI> and <HI>Freizland.</HI></P>
<P>But the greate&s;t advantage the King will have by the&s;e Propo&s;als, will be the augmentation of his Revenue; for tho' the Money that &s;hall at pre&s;ent be rai&s;ed, by putting Lives into all Offices, will be intirely appropriated to the publick good, yet when any of the&s;e Lives fall, the profit that will ari&s;e from thence, will be wholly Converted to the King's U&s;e; which may in time, make a con|&s;iderable part of the Revenue of the Crown.</P>
<P><LABEL><HI>Obj.</HI> 2.</LABEL> The Second Objection will be, that, Tho&s;e Officers, who have the di&s;po&s;al of other Inferiour Places, (as the <HI>Ma&s;ter of the Rolls, Judges,</HI> &amp;c.) will lo&s;e the Gift of the &s;aid Places, that are in their di&s;po&s;al.</P>
<P><LABEL>An&s;w.</LABEL> To which I an&s;wer, That 'twill not be a certain Injury to any particular per&s;on, for the Death of any of the Six Clerks, or Clerks of the <HI>A&s;&s;ize,</HI> is a very great Contingency, and they de&s;erve but little Con&s;ideration, who will not &s;acrifice a Private Intere&s;t, &s;o con|tingent and uncertain, for the Publick Good: Be&s;ides the Nomination to all the &s;aid places, may continue in the &s;ame Per&s;ons as for|merly, provided the Money they are valued at, be paid in to the Publick U&s;e.</P>
<P><LABEL><HI>Obj.</HI> 3.</LABEL> The Third Objection may be, That tho&s;e who are in Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of Places, may be unwilling to lay down &s;o much Money, and 'twill be an Inju&s;tice to turn them out, without any other rea&s;on.</P>
<P><LABEL>An&s;w.</LABEL> To which I an&s;wer, That there is hardly any body who will not, with great willingne&s;s, pay Five Years Purcha&s;e, to be &s;ecure of his Place for His own and His Sons Life; or if His Heir is not qualified to &s;ucceed him, he is &s;ure his Money &s;hall be repaid him again. It is but lending Money upon good Security, with better Intere&s;t than u&s;ual, which he that &s;ucceeds him (except the Lives he puts in fall) mu&s;t pay him; &s;o that, I believe, there will be no occa&s;ion to u&s;e any Severity in turning any body out of their Place.</P>
<P><LABEL><HI>Obj.</HI> 4.</LABEL> The Fourth Objection may be, That, he that buys a Place, has not always a Son fit to &s;ucceed him, tho' he may be capable of it him&s;elf.</P>
<P><LABEL>An&s;w.</LABEL> To which I an&s;wer, That any Man has an opportunity to qualifie which Son or Friend he plea&s;es, or if he is not qualified, he is &s;e|cure of &s;o much Money, or if he dies, and leaves a Son under Age, the Son may act by a Deputy, with the con&s;ent of the King.</P>
<P><LABEL><HI>Obj.</HI> 5.</LABEL> The Fifth Objection may be, That &s;ome per&s;ons who are in Places, by rea&s;on of the &s;mallne&s;s of their Fortunes, are not capable of laying down a &s;um of Money.</P>
<P><LABEL>An&s;w.</LABEL> To which I an&s;wer, The Parliament may grant, That tho&s;e who&s;e Circum&s;tances will not allow them to lay down &s;o much ready Money, may give their Bond, which may pa&s;s till &s;uch a limitted time, by which one may rea&s;onably &s;uppo&s;e the Money may be rai&s;ed out of the &s;aid Office, and the u&s;ual Intere&s;t &s;hall be paid in the mean time, and the Office may be made a Collateral Security for the Money.</P>
<P>There is no body but will reap con&s;iderable Advantages by the&s;e Propo&s;als; the King will very much increa&s;e his Revenue, and his Officers, when their Intere&s;t is &s;o con&s;iderable in their places, will be afraid to hazard the forfeiting them, by any &s;uch illegal practices, as have lately been di&s;covered in the <HI>Exchequer,</HI> &s;o much to the Kings prejudice: All Men of E&s;tates, will have the advantage of ea&s;ing their Land of the almo&s;t in&s;upportable burthen of Four Shillings in the Pound: And all Per&s;ons that are in Offices, will have the ad|vantage of &s;ecuring them for their own Life, and another, at a very ea&s;ie Rate, &s;o that they need not make &s;o much ha&s;te to grow rich, as &s;ome have lately done, now they depend upon Plea&s;ure. This will be al&s;o a con&s;iderable advantage in rai&s;ing Money this way, that whereas no other Tax is rai&s;ed in le&s;s than a year, and &s;ome in a much longer time, and therefore the King who has an ab&s;olute ne|ce&s;&s;ity for ready Money (e&s;pecially now, to Disband the Army, the Debt to it daily increa&s;ing con&s;iderably) is forced to allow &s;o great Intere&s;t for it, that a good part of the &s;aid Taxes are &s;wallowed up by it, (which is the cau&s;e of the con&s;tant Deficiencies) but this will be all paid into the <HI>Exchequer</HI> in Three Months time; and the charge of Collecting it will be incon&s;iderable, for it may be paid di|rectly into the <HI>Exchequer,</HI> for all people that are concerned will come voluntarily in, to take care of their own Intere&s;ts. Nor can there be any Deficiency by a fal&s;e Calculation, for if this Honourable Hou&s;e plea&s;es to order a Li&s;t of all the &s;aid Offices, with their Salaries and Perqui&s;ites to be laid before you, it may then be exactly computed what they will rai&s;e, which cann't amount to le&s;s than between Five and Six Millions.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>P. B.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
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