Reform in British public administration and finance, 1796--1798.

摘要

Some of the earliest steps in the British reform movement were taken in connection with the government's fiscal and administrative machinery, during the last twenty years of the eighteenth century. The movement began under Lord North and was continued by his successors, until the outbreak of war with France in 1792. After a pause of about four years, reforming efforts got under way again in 1797. New methods were introduced to finance public expenditures which had risen sharply because of the war, and a Select Parliamentary Committee on Finance was appointed to investigate the fiscal and administrative structures. Like the initial steps taken in 1780, the second installment was undertaken during a period of deep military and financial crisis.;The financial innovations consisted, in the main, of introducing progressive, graduated income and luxury taxes, and adopting the principle of raising the maximum possible amount of current supplies out of current taxation, rather than by borrowing, as had been the case since the reign of William III. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)