The National Debt

CHAPTER IV

THE SEVEN YEARS WAR AND THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

The association between British war finance and the funding system was definitely established in the course of the eighteenth century. In the earlier part of that century, in spite of the misuse of the sinking fund, it would not have been absurd to have supposed that within a short time, given the necessary effort on the part of the nation, the whole debt could be redeemed. The Seven Years War and the War of Independence, however, ultimately raised the capital of the debt to such a figure as not only to make complete redemption appear almost impossible, but also to create fears of a public bankruptcy.¹

In the calmer atmosphere of a post-war period some attention is usually paid to the ...