date

1820 May 31. Emancipation Spanish
1820 May 31.

Emancipation Spanish

'.4. Prelim y Considrat s. continued

Retrenchment this the easiest

This retrenchment (will it be said? by way of objection) the retrenchment will be to be made upon the official establishment - upon the army branch of it - upon the navy branch of it - at the expense of the functionaries at present belonging to these departments - and this in a form in which the sense of loss will come home to assignable individuals?

My answer is this. To the maintainance of the dominion in question, the present establishment is in all its branches plainly inadequate for the purpose in question, an encrease and that a large one would be necessary. Forbear making the encrease. No man can say he is a loser - a sufferer - from a bare[?] forbearance to put money into his pocket - money which is not his due.

Your army is at present very small - some parts of it if the public prints say true you have actually disbanded. In other parts, to the privates you have given permisson to quit the service.

As to officers what you can do without giving cause of complaint to any one is - to forbear adding to the number This will go no small way towards prevention of encrease in the expenditure, this will go no small way.

Hire of transports for conveyance of troops and stores - encrease of expenditure in these accounts you may forbear without giving cause of complaint or sense of suffering to any body.

To the repair and building of ships of war - the same observation applies and with equal truth: so also to war and sea stores of all kinds

On land you have now nothing to fear from France, you can never have had any thing to fear from Portugal, you can have nothing to fear from any body.

Troops you have no need of any now to keep the people under subjection. Your government is not now like ours a military one.

In National Guard in a [...?] people armed for their own defence and for no other purpose will be your chief dependence Troops of the line, a small body of them will be sufficient to form a school for the National guards, and a nucleus /standard/ to which, in case of war, they may be attached.
Similar Items
  • Title: [1820. Aug. 17 Emancipation Spanish]
    Description: 1820. Aug. 17

    Emancipation Spanish

    '. 11. Particular interests adverse

    ' 5. Interests adverse

    Retrenchment necessary

    As to the three pecuniary interests - the Public Creditor's, the Monarch's and the

    Clergy's - to place thse claims at a vast and conspicuous height aboe that of the

    Daemon, they have this in common - that retrenchment can not apply to them, without

    giving birth to suffering:- to evil in positive shapres. To the demon it may apply

    itself - and apply closely - if not withut porducing any such effect, at any rate

    without porducing in that shape, any thing like equal effect.

    See if this be not the case. Amminition, for example you

    have none: @ well then, forbear to provide that quantity, which,

    but for the cravings of the demon, you would not have thought of provideing: so

    forbearing, yo produce not, in any human breast, any sense of suffering. In like

    manner forbear in regard to stores of all sorts; forbear in

    regard to men: men for the army,

    men for the navy - men for every other branch of the

    service, through which the demands of the demon would come.

    So much as to the case where retrenchment may be made to a vast amount, yet no

    suffering produced.

    Now for an example of the case, where unless great caution is used, retrenchment can

    not be made but proportioable suffering must be produced.

    You have as yet your Council of the Indies. You will want no

    council of the Indies when you have no Indies. But, like other men, the Members of

    the existing council of the Indies will want subsistence. So will the present

    professors of every permanent fund, which to supply the more imperious exigencies of

    the state, you extinguish. For all this you will have your rules: rules by which the

    great controversy between the present and the future will, somehow or other, be

    decided. To touch upon the field calls for those rules, belongs not to the present

    purposes. All that at present I need beg you to remember, is - that the demopn can

    better bear fasting that any human creature can: the demon of ambition although he

    has the demon of slaughter in his belly: and that which with my p[ublic means for the

    war I am now waging against the [...?] of [...?], I have King, Clergy, and Public

    Creditor and I hope the Soldiery on my side.

    @. Cortes. sitting of July 18th 1820. Per Canga Arguelles War

    Minister.
  • Title: [1820 Aug. 1 Omitted April 1822]
    Description: 1820 Aug. 1

    Omitted April 1822

    Emancipation Spanish

    See if this no be the case. Ammunition you have none: (a) Well then, forbear to provide that quantity which, but for the

    cravings of the daemon, you would not have thought of providing: so forbearing you

    produce not in any human breast any sense of suffering. So forbear in regard to stores of all sorts: so forbear in regard to men: to men for

    the army, to men for the navy -

    to men for every other brand of the service, to which the demands of the daemon would

    be addressed.

    You have or have not at present as yet you Council of the Indies. You will want no

    Council of the Indies. But, like other men, the members of the supposed quondam

    Council of the Indies will want subsistence. So with the present possessors of every

    permanent fund, which to supply the more imperious expenses of the State you

    extinguish. For all this you will have your rules: rules by which the great

    controversy between the present and the future will some how or other be ended. It

    belongs not to the present purpose to touch upon these rules. All that at present I

    need by you to remember is - the daemon of ambition can better bear fasting than

    human creature can: the daemon of ambition although he has the daemon of slaughter in

    his belly: and that in the war I am waging against these daemons, I have King, Clergy

    and Public Creditor[?] on my side.

    Note (a)

    (a) Cortes Sitting of July 13 th 1820. Per

    Carga Arguelles War MInister.
  • Title: [1820 May 31. Emancipation Spanish]
    Description: 1820 May 31.

    Emancipation Spanish

    '.4. Prelim y Considrat[?] continued

    5. Retrenchment this the easiest

    '.4. Preliminary Considerations continued Retrenchment necessary - In no other department is it so easy.

    5. If retrenchment is made, it is in this part of the field of expense that retrenchment may be made with greatest facility be made

    In stating /submitting/ this topic to your consideration, I anticipate that in the account of pecuniary profit and loss, the effect of the dominion in question will be no profit, all loss. On the proof given of this loss will therefore depend the relevancy and utility of every thing /observation/ which under this head you will see advanced /made/

    When your rulers come to take into consideration the subject of finance, they will see the extreme difficulty of adding any thing to the taxes already in existence.

    Instead of addition, they may perhaps see what even to them will appear an absolute necessity of subtraction.

    They will find /see/ that whatsoever has been the amount of taxation, under the old system expenditure has constantly gone on and to the utmost bounds of possibility has continued outstretching it

    They will accordingly see the absolute necessity of retrenchment somewhere.

    Well then if /there in some part of the field of expenditure there/ must be retrenchment, what part can be more suitable than that in which so far from being necessary the expenditure is not productive of any advantage - is on the contrary productive of much evil /evil[?] and/ uncompensated.

    Look all round the field of expenditure, no other part will you find in which the retrenchment can be made with less of inconvenience - with less of real, sensible, indisputable evil, coming home immediate to individuals - felt by assignable individuals.