im, that of enhancing credit, was as praiseworthy as
his procedure was defective. For there had been no valuation of the land
for many years, and the assessments varied in the most surprising manner
even in neighbouring districts. Doubtless it was impossible during the
Great War to carry out the expensive and lengthy process of a national
valuation; but, as manufactures and mining were creating a new
Industrial England, the time was most unsuited to the imposition of a
fixed quota of Land Tax.

Nevertheless, Pitt took as basis the assessment of 1797, and made it a
perpetual charge upon each parish. The results have in many cases been
most incongruous. Agricultural land, which was generally rated high,
continued to pay at that level long after depreciation set in. On the
other hand, large tracts in the manufacturing districts, rapidly
increasing in value, paid far less than their due share. In some cases
where a barren moor has become a hive of industry, the parish now raises
its quota by a rate of .001 in the pound. In a few cases, where the fall
in value has been severe, the rate is very heavy, in spite of remedial
legislation. Pitt could not have foreseen differences such as these;
but, in view of the rapid growth of manufactures in the Midlands and
North, he should have ensured either a re-valuation of the parochial
quotas or a complete and methodical redemption from the Land Tax. He
took neither course, and that, too, in spite of the warnings of Lord
Sheffield and Sinclair as to the injustice and impolicy of his
proposals. They passed both Houses by large majorities, perhaps because
he offered to landlords the option of redeeming their land at twenty
years' purchase. Less than one fourth of the tax was redeemed before the
year 1800, a fact which seems to show that the landed interest was too
hard pressed to profit by the opportunity. As Sir Francis Burdett said,
country gentlemen had to bear a heavy burden of taxation, besides
poor-rates, tithes, and the expense of the mounted yeomanry. Thurlow
compared the country magnates to sheep who let themselves be shorn and
re-shorn, whereas merchants and traders were like hogs, grunting and
bolting as soon as one bristle was touched. In defence of Pitt's action,
it may be said that he hoped to secure a considerable gain by the
investment of the purchase money in Consols and to enhance their value;
but it appears that not more than L80,000 a year was thus realized.[471]

The