From 1800 to 1817 the United Parliament imposed taxes on both England and Ireland, but the Irish Treasury collected the Irish Revenue, defrayed the local expenditure of Ireland as sanctioned by the United Parliament and remitted the surplus in aid of the war expenditure. The greater part of the burthen fell upon Great Britain, but Ireland’s share drained greatly her resources. Her revenue which had produced £1,837,000 in 1793, reached £7,305,000 in 1817, an increase of 300 per cent., while her contributions during the years of war to the common expenditure calculated on the principle adopted in the preceding paragraph amounted to about £3,000,000. During the same period Great Britain contributed to the war out of revenue about £43,000,000 on the annual average.
In 1817 the Irish Treasury was abolished, the exchequers of the two countries were united, the British and Irish Revenues were paid alike into the one exchequer. The Irish local expenditure was defrayed from that exchequer under the check of the English Treasury, and the United Parliament imposed and repealed Irish taxes. From 1817 for many years Ireland fared badly. Her representatives in Parliament served her ill. Tories, Whigs, and independent members failed alike in making England understand Irish needs, and the British Parliament neglected Irish interests. The years between 1817 and 1842 mark the first period of Irish financial history dating from the war. It was a period of stagnation. Both countries required time to recover from the calamity incident to war; but the recovery would have been more rapid, even under heavy taxation, had not progress been retarded by the unwise legislation of protection, which fettered enterprise and restricted commerce. This evil, however, injured Great Britain more than Ireland. In 1824 the separate Customs Departments of the two countries were abolished. The trade between Great Britain and Ireland was treated as coasting, and from that time no official record has been kept of goods exported from and imported into both countries.
In 1817 the taxes levied in England were similar to, but not identical with, those levied in Great Britain. Ireland was exempt from many taxes levied here, and in some cases, such as spirits, she paid a lower rate of duty. A period of profound peace enabled the government to remit taxation; but those remissions were chiefly made in deference to British interests, and in making them Irish interests were little considered. The truth of this statement is illustrated by the Revenue Returns. The estimated “_true_”(100) Revenue of Great Britain fell from £51,500,000 in 1820 to £46,250,000 in 1840, although population, and with it consumption, had increased. The “_true_” Revenue of Ireland in the same period rose from £5,250,000 to £5,500,000. But it must be added that many of the taxes remitted were taxes _not levied in Ireland_. In respect to them Great Britain had to a certain extent a claim to prior consideration.