9Z9. Ill
T5/4tti
NORTHWESTERN
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
EVANSTON
ILLINOIS
MEMOIR
ON THE
FINANCES OF MALTA,
UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF
THE ORDER OF ST JOHN OF JERUSALEM,
DURING THE LAST YEARS OF ITS DOMINION,
AND AS COMPARED WITH
THOSE OF THE PRESENT TIME.
« I
MALTA:
PRINTED AT THE GOVERNMENT PRESS.
1836.
Iii
CONTENTS.
FIRST-PART.—STATEMENT OF FINANCES.
PAGE
Rerenues of Malta under the Order, divided into three principal branches . 1
I. Comun Tesoro, or General Treasury ib.
Its administration for ten years ending in 1788, as taken from the Cheva¬
lier Bosredon de Rans jat 2
Its revenue stated 4
Sources of revenue described, namely,
1, Responsions 5
2, Mortuaries and vacancies; 3, Effects of the dead, or spoils -< 6
4, Entrance or passage ; 5, Produce of forest-trees ; 6, Lesser branches 7
7, Foundations 8
8, Landed property of the treasury; 9, Lazaretto warelmuses ; 10,
Redemption of slaves; 11, Mint; 12, Interest of capital; 13,
Miscellaneous sources 9
14, Sale of immoveable property 10
Amount from the separate foundations ib.
Expenditure of the general treasury stated ib.
Branches of expenditure described, namely,
I, Ambassadors; 2, Receivers; 3, Conventual churches 12
4, Alms; 5, Great hospital ; 6, Hospital for women 13
7, Foundlings; 8, Pensions; 9, Nuns ; 10, Marine... 14
11, Land-force 15
12, Public works 16
13, Allowances to the grandmaster and other members of the Order ;
14, Falconry 18
15, Offices of the treasury and chancery ; 16, Slave prisons ; 17, Pur¬
chase of staves ; 18, Interest of debt, and life annuities ; 19, Con¬
veyance of letters 19
20, Maintenance of the slate silver plate ; 21, Library; 22, Tribunal
called Casiellania 20
23, Jesuits' college ; 24, Workshops and magazines ; 25, Purchase of
immoveable property 21
ii
PAGE
26, Outlay ou the property of the Order of Si Anthony 22
27, Casual expenses; 28, Miscellaneous minor expenses 23
Expense from separate foundations ib.
Surplus revenue, debts and credits, and prosperous state of finances in 1788 24
Finances impaired by the consequences of the French revolution 23
Income and expenditure stAted for 1796 26
Comparison with those of 1788 27
II. Ricetta Magistrate, or Magisterial Receipt, stated and described... ..... 29
Grandmaster's disbursement out of that fund in 1797 30
III. Municipal Services—Income estimated 31
Fees of public cfiScers referred to 32
University of Valletta, or grain concern—State of its accounts on the arri¬
val of the French 33
Summary estimate of taxation at that time, on the two branches. Magiste¬
rial Receipt and Municipal Services 34
SECOND PART.—DEDUCTIONS FROM THE FOREGOING
STATEMENT OF FACTS.
Expendittire in Malta from the foreign revenues of the Order, as referred
to by two recent writers, and in an official statement 37
Analysis of the facts relating to such expenditure, as adduced in the first
part of this Memoir 38
Expenditure in Malta from the funds accruing to the Order as a body ih.
And from those derived from the personal incomes of its members ......... 40
Value of the annual rental of the Order's manors 41
Value of the Maltese Sctido in time of the Order 43
A table given of the estates of the Order in 1776 43
Ck>njecture as to the amount expended annually in Malta from the knights'
incomes derived from such property 45
Considerations as to the manner in which such money was laid out 49
Predilection for the employment of slave-labour evinced by the knights ... 50
The regiment styled " Maltese" contained very few of that nation 52
Maltese admissible to a certain number of French and Italian commanderirs 53
Application of the money derived firom local taxation ib.
Advantage reaped by the Maltese from the private expenditure of thcknights ib.
Comparison of the local public expenditure of the Order, with that defrayed
by the United Kingdom through the military chest at Malta 54
The private disbursements of the knights in Malta, compared with the pri¬
vate outlay of foreign money within the island at the present day 56
» • •
lU
fAOB
Expenditure of British ships of war while at anchor in the harbour of Malta 57
Prosperity of Malta dependent upon the efficiency of maritime protection... ih,
Insecurity of the people during the middle ages 59
Improrement under the Order ib.
Increased security under the British government CO
l!.ess misery at the present day than during the last years of the Order, in¬
ferred from the increased proportionate consumption of tvheaten bread 61
Hope expressed for a permanent improvement in the condition of the lower
orders of Maltese. ib,
Financial aids afforded by Great Britain to the civil services of Malta fwilA
atf Appendix ) 62
Difficulties opposed to a methodical comparison of the municipal financial
operations in time of the Order with those of the present day 64
Notice of the civil finances of late years 65
Kevenues of the eighteen years ending with 1832 ib.
Subsequent alterations and reductions in the tariffs ib,
Motives which governed such alterations 66
Notice of the quarantine and port dues 67
Of the transfer duties on shipping and immoveable property, and the petty
due on maritime insurances 69
Of the tariffs of import ib,
Revenues of the year 1833 and 1834 73
Farther reductions in the tariffs in 1833 74
Revenues of the year 1835 ib.
Expenditure stated for the same year 75
Appropriation of the surplus revenue of the same year 76
An extended and analytical statement given of the income of both islands
for the year ending 24th June 1836 ib.
Some remarks, by way of comparison, on the taxes in the time of the Order
and those of the present day 79
Conclusion 83
SUBJECT OF SOME OF THE NOTES.
Meaning of the word " Convent " as applicable to the Order 3
And of the word " Tongues '' as so applied 4
Mr Eton's assertion as to the manner in which the local landed property of
the Order was acquired, neither substantiated nor probable 9
Erroneous notion prevailing with regard to the amount of landed property
applicable to the support of charities in Malta 13
iv
PAGE
And with regard to the amount Of the grandmaster's revenue 29
Definition of the words •• Commanderies " and " Priories " as applied by
the Order 40
Notice of errors to be found in a recently published account of Malta ..42
Mr Eton's estimate of the value of the Maltese scudà ih.
Priories of the late English tongue 43
Mr Eton's notice of the connexion of the knights with the Maltese 54
The munificence of the knights in their care of the sick compared with that
of a private citizen of London. 56
Mr Eton's view of the former corn monopoly in Malta 62
An error noticed in regard to the port dues of Malta, as stated in Mr Ma-
culloch's Commercial Dictionary .68
ERRATA.
Page 50, line 9, far in read on.
70, — 2, — ia —— are.
Although the Decennial Statement of the Chevalier de Ran-
sijat has been in the hands of many individuals, and availed of by
several Writers, it does not appear to have been analyzed as a
source of information, with regard to the amount of money which
may have been annually thrown into circulation in Malta by the
Knights of St John of Jerusalem ; and erroneous impressions on
this subject having obtained, as well in official reports as in the
works of private Writers, it has been thought that a publication of
the following pages may not be found unserviceable, in leading to
a nearer approach to the true state of the question.
Wm. Henry Thomtony
(Auditor-Genersl, Malta.)
Valletta, 18th October 1836.
MBMOIB
&,c.
first part.—statement of finances.
The Revenues of Malta, under the goyernment of
the Order of St John of Jerusalem, may be considered
as having formed three principal branches : the first
called the " Comun Tesoro" or General Treasure^
which, under the control of the council of the Order
presided by the grandmaster, was applicable to 'the
general service of that community ; the second styled
the " Ricetta Magistrale" or Magisterial Receipt^
derived by the grandmaster as sovereign prince of
Malta and its dependencies, and expended at his will
and pleasure, whether for the maintenance of his own
household or dignity, or for the service of the princi¬
pality ; and the third will here be classed under the
title of Municipal Services, being such funds as were
derived from the public to the benefit of various mu¬
nicipal bodies or individual functionaries.
I. " Comun Tesoro" or General Treasury.
The " Comun Tesoro" that is to say the General
Treasure, or Treasury, was administered by a board
( 2 )
called the Venerable Chamber of the Treasury, of
which the grand-commander of the Order, or his lieu¬
tenant, was perpetual president by right of office. It
fortunately happens that a very succinct account of
this fund may be obtained from a published statement*
for the ten years ending 30th April 1788, addressed to
the grandmaster by the Chevalier Bosredon de Bansi-
jat, secretary of the general treasury, from which do¬
cument an abridged statement will now be given.
He begins by observing that the balance, or ge¬
neral account of the treasury, had been rendered but
seldom, and even when given in so informal a manner
as to have presented no clear result. Hence it may be
presumed that the statement now under review is the
only regular one ever offered to the public ; for, in all
probability, the invasion by the French, in July 1798,
prevented the publication of any statement for the
succeeding decade, which had then just expired. Even
had the publication taken place, it could not so well
serve the present object as the one for the anterior
ten years, these having been immediately succeeded
by the French revolution, which brought with it the
total derangement of the financial means of the Order.
The year 1788, or the ten years then expiring, may
therefore be considered as the latest in which a view of
the government of the Order is to be obtained with
its resources in a state of efficiency ;—but it will be
* Boiegclin, in his History of Malta, has arailcd'hiinself of the same do¬
cument.
( 3 )
afterwards briefly shown to what extent they were im¬
paired by the consequences of the French revolution.
The estates of the Order at this time were spread
throughout the Roman Catholic countries of Europe;
and were administered through twenty-nine banks or
agencies (ricette) from Lisbon to Warsaw, by offi¬
cers called receivers, who were charged with the exac¬
tion of the responsions (rîspomîoni), the receipt of
the passages or entrances (passagi), the collection of
the effects of the dead (spogli), and the administration,
for account of the treasury, of all the commanderies
which happened to be in mortuary or vacant (mm'torj
e vacanti). Besides these branches composing the
bulk of the receipts, there were others in convent,
that is to say, locally or at head-quarters * —such as
the administration of the landed property of various
foundations incorporated with the general treasury,
and the letting of many houses and other buildings
possessed in the place.
The necessity to which the treasury was subject
of bringing to Malta the greater part of its revenues
by means of bills of exchange, and the practice which
prevailed, founded on a law authorizing the members
of the Order to deposit their funds in the banks, in
order to receive them back in convent, brought upon
the treasury the functions of a general banker, whose
correspondence extended from one end of Europe to
the other.
* " The Convent signifies the place where the master, or bis lieutenant,
the church, the hospital, and the iuns, or eight tongues, are established."
Codice dell" Or dine, \ 762, p. 451,
( 4 )
The animal ReixenuCt the totals of which are
fofwvéd by taking the tenth part of the decennial
àtttoanty was ae folio\rs~
Scndi
1.
Responsions
475,207
2.
Mortuaries and vacancies ....
214,722
Éifects of the dead, or spoils . . .
247,550
4.
Eh'tráhcé, or passáge
2Ö3:,345
é.
Proítich of fóreáf-trées
47,983
6.
fiesser branches a .'
44,416
7.
Foundation^ incorporated with the trea
eury
34,302 *
8.
Landed property of the treasury . .
4,333
9.
Lázzarétto wafehousés
1,312
fd.
Red'eiUjfttion óf slaves
16,617
ir.
Mint
2,504
12.
Intérest of capital
6,378
13.
Miscellaneous sources. .....
12,098
14.
Sale of immoveable properly . . .
4,532
1,315^299 t
The above distributed among the several tongues J
or priories was as follows—
Scudi
Fbancë Provenée 198,915
AuVergne ...... 71,981
Prance 309,510
580,406
Spain Aragón 115,057
Castile . 156,398
271,455
* Add 48,87f> Scudi for separate fouudations, making 83,177 Scudi.
i- Add 43,875 Scudi for separate foundations, making 1,364,174 Scudi.
X '* Tongues in our Order is the term for the nationa.'' Codice deli Or-
dine, 1782, p, 452. ,
( 5 )
Portugal 91,876
Italy . 235,334
Germany 40,954
Ang¿0-BÁtaría 2,Î5'è
Políno 6,617
1,228,708
CoNVB^f 86,501 *
1,315,299 t
1. The respönsidhä wère a general impost laid
upon all the dignities and cOmmanderies, whiich ap¬
pears to have originated in the fourteenth eentùfy^.
Previously to this epoch, the estates were adminis¬
tered for account of the Order, the adiriinistering
knights being ahthorized to reserve frOm thé rènts
the amount just sufficient for their food and clothing ;
but the greater number of these agents having estiiOa-
ted such wants too highly, another system Was even¬
tually adopted, by which the Order obtained a fixed
income, called responsiön, from its landed property,
leaving the surplus to be enjoyed by the several occu¬
pying dignitaries and commanders. No estimate is
given by Ransijat of the amount of such surplus ; but
by the statutes of the Order it was enacted, that at
least the fifth part of the value of those estates, and
often the fourth should be paid into the treasury ; and
as far as the half or even the whole, if it should be so
enjoined by the general chapter of the Order. J At
* f Add 48,875 Scudi for 5eparate foundations, making 135,376 Scudi
and 1,364,174 Scudi respectively.
Î Codice deli' Ordine, 1782,/), 129.
( 6 )
the last of these assemblies, held in 1776, the fespon-
sions were 6xed at 500,000 scudi, afterwards reduced,
in consequence of a representation made on the be¬
half of the German tongue, to 467,757 scudi. The
increase which appears above this last-mentioned an¬
nual rate was caused by the subsequent accession of
the responsions of Poland and Bavaria, and by a small
addition to those of Italy. Other sources of informa¬
tion show that 500,000 scudi were less than the sixth
part of the income of the commanderies ; but it must
be remembered that the payers of the tax were their
own assessors. Each priory comprised a commandery
called magisterial, which the grandmaster disposed of
at pleasure, or might even keep to himself,—a privi¬
lege seldom if ever availed of. These commanderies,
like all others, were subject to the responsion.
2. The income of the commanderies that became
vacant fell to the treasury, from the date of the com¬
mander' s death to the completion of the current year
of account (30th April), which was termed the mor¬
tuary period, immediately preceding a full year, for
which the income was also received by the treasury,
called the year of vacancy. These dues are supposed
to have originated in the fourteenth century: on the
magisterial commanderies they were payable to the
grandmaster, and not to the general treasury.
3. The effects of the dead, or spoils, were com¬
posed of the personal estates left by the professed
members of the Order at "their death. As they had
the faculty of alienating a fifth part of the property
( 7 )
left, the proceeds from this source generally consisted
of four fifths of such effects.
4. The entrance, or passage, consisted of dues
payable on admission to thé Order, whether as knight
of justice, conventual chaplain, servant of arms, page,
or donat. They ranged, according to the degree
claimed by the candidate, as well as to the circum¬
stance of his admission before or after majority (mi¬
nors paying the heavier due) from 360 to 33 Spanish
pistoles.*
These were the four principal branches of income ;
whereof the first and second directly, and the third in¬
directly, were derived from the yearly rental of the ma¬
nors belonging to the several tongues of the Order.
5. The produce of all the forest-trees dispersed
among the commanderies, belonged to the treasury.
This source of income was chiefly derived from the
French commanderies, and was on the decline.
6. The lesser branches of income consisted of
various articles, which to enumerate in this place
might appear entering too much into detail ; unless it
be noticed that they include 4775 scudi on account of
the first year s fruit of the commanderies in the gift of
the grand-priors,—a source of income more properly
relating to the second head.
Thus far the revenues, with some small exception,
came from abroad : the other branches were chiefly
derived from local property or imposts.
* The pistole was valued at eight scudi and five grains of Malta.
( 8 )
7. The incorporated fonadations, which consÍ3ted
of the four called Lascaris, Paula, Perellos and Ca-
raffa, bore the names of the grandmasters who insti¬
tuted them for special services of the Order.
Besides the incorporated local foundations, there
were six others adnainistered separately, all for services
whicli the treasury would otherwise have had to defray,
their Ordinary produce being nearly as follows—
Scudi
Manoel. . .
. 10,500
Cottoner . .
. 10,800
Incurabile . .
l,50O
Passalacqua
. 2,50O
Lomellini . .
650
Marradas . .
700
26,650
To these may be added, as of the same general
description, the four following foundations—
Gesuiti.—Gross rental, 7489 scudi -, burthens on lands and charges
of collection, 727 scudi, leaving net 6762 scudi. *
Assemblea.—^Gross rental 13,883 scudi, burthens on lands and
charges of collection, 1,554 sc. leaving net 12,329 sc. f
Crotta di S. Paolo.—Rental 2134 scudi. J
Congregazione di Gwerra.—Rental about 1000 scudi. §
* -f Taken from original accounts for the year ended 30tb April 1789.
t From an original account for the year ended 30th July 1798. Another
account for 1771 gives 2062 scudi,
§ From a rent-roll formed under the British Government.
( 9 )
The number of separate foundations is thus in>
creased to ten, yielding for service a net income of
48,875 scudi, which, added to that of the incorporated
foundations, will increase the amount to 83,177 scudi.
8. The receipts stated to have been derived from
the landed property * of the treasury are net, after de¬
ducting the outlay for repairs. So also must be sup¬
posed to have been those of the preceding article
(No. 7.)
9. For goods depurated in the lazaretto lyare-
houses, vhich h^d been teceptly built at the expense
of the treasury, a charge aiuounting to about one per
ceut on value was levied.
10. Turkish slaves were allotved to redeem them¬
selves at established prices t and the receipts from
this source formed a branch of income to the treasury.
11. The proceeds from the mint were the profits
of a gold coinage.
12. The interest of capital was derived from
loans upon security.
13. In 1743, a bull was granted to the Order by
Pope ßeu.edict XIV, ip aid of the armaments against
the enemies of the faith. The proceeds from this
* Mr Eton, in bis Mataials far a History af Malta, says : " All the lands
appertAioing to the Order .in Malta, ^erç acquired from individuals by oppres¬
sive means, ^ud contrary to the original stipulations, which expressly say, that
the Order shall not acquire territory in Malta, nor lay any taxes on the land."
It is sufficient to say, that the former part of this quotation, which is all that is
applicable to the present subject, is not substantiated by any evidence ; nor is
the assertion probable, when we consider the ample means possessed by the
knights /i;om their continental revenues.
C
( 10 )
source, and from the printing office blended with it, are
10,557 scudi ; leaving, of the articles of income classed
under the head of miscellaneous sources, 1541 scudi,
—an amount too small to require explanation in this
place.
14. The immoveable property sold during the
ten years ( producing 45,321 scudi ) consisted of a
small tenement abroad, and of various tenements in
convent. The loss of regular income from these
sales, judging from amount, will be found more than
compensated in the expenditure, by income derivable
from the outlay on productive works.
This closes the explanation of the income, which,
with the addition of 48,875 scudi from the ten sepa¬
rate foundations, stated under article 7, will be found
increased to 1,364,174 scudi ; and assuming that the
whole of the proceeds of such foundations was ex¬
pended on the objects had in view by the founders, the
same amount will remain to be added to the expen¬
diture.
The annual Expenditure, also formed by taking
the tenth part of the stated decennial amount, was
as follows—
1. Ambassadors . . .
2. Receivers . . . .
3. Conventual churches
4. Alms
5. Great hospital . .
Scudi
38,026
66,433
11,597 *
17,309
79,476
* Add 18,313 scudi from separate foundations, making 29,910 scudi.
C 11 )
6. Hospital for woinen 18,677 *
7. Foundlings 6jl47
8. Pensions 14,328
9. Nuns . ... . ' 1,545
10. Marine, namely,
Ships and galleys 467,876
Port . 5,814
Health office 1,253
474,943
11. Land Force, namely,
Maltese Regiment .... 127,613
Artillery 8,564
Other bodies 7,196
Fortifications 12,765
Gozo and coast towers . . . 1,439
Ordnance • . 15,462
173,039 t
12. Public works, namely.
Streets, moles and wharfs . . 9,739
Various buildings and repairs. 21,887
Fountains 2,920
34,546
13. Sundry allowances to the grandmaster and
other members of the Order .... 56,01 L
14. Falconry 1,039
15. Offices of the treasury and chancery . . 10,028
16. Slave prisons 38,264
17. Purchase of slaves 4,489
18. Interest of debt, and life annuities . . . 47,850
19. Conveyance of letters 20,396
20. Maintenance of the state silver plate . . 3,277
21. Library 85
22. Tribunal called Castellania 223
23. Jesuits' college 1,848 J
* Add 1500 srudi from separate foundations, making 20,! 77 scudi.
t Add 22,300 scudi from separate foundations, making 195,339 scudi.
X Add 6762 scudi from sc/mrafc foundations, making 8610 scudi, .
( 12 )
24. Workshops and. maga^ines 18,264
25. Purchase of immoveable property.. . . 185
26. Outlay on the property of the Order of St
Anthony 73,295
27. Casual expenses 22,048
28. Miscellaneous minor expenses .... 3,091
1,236,459 *
1. Under the head of ambassadors are included
the salaries and incidental charges of embassies to the
courts of Rome, Paris, Madrid and Naples, with the
expense of two extraordinary missions to Palermo to
compliment the successive newly appointed viceroys
of Sicily; and
2. Under the head of receivers are comprised
the salaries and incidental charges of the several banks
established abroad to collect the revenues of the Order.
3. The conventual churches, that is to say the
churches belonging to the Order, were those of St
John and St Anthony in Valletta, and that of the
Conception in Floriana; the expense of which to the
treasury would have been greater, if the income of the
four foundations Passalacqua, Loniellini, Marradas,
and Asseniblea, already stated-f- to have amounted to
abolit 1G,179 scudi, had not been assigned in aid of
such eipensè. To these may be added 2134 scudi
from the foundation Grotta,^ instituted for the sup¬
port of the church of St Paul's grotto in the suburb
* Add 48,875 scudi from sepcarate foundations, making 1,285,334 scudi,
f Page 8, t Page 8.
( 13 )
of Notabile ; and the total expense under this article
will be 29,910 scudi.
4. The alms comprehend some fixed stipends
granted to certain convents of friars, such as the Ca¬
puchins ; clothing to all Christians who passed through
the island on their deliverance from slavery under in¬
fidels ; stipends in bread and money to certain poor
individuals who had rendered some services to the
Order; ä sum of 1400 scudi allowed to the infirmary
at Floriana; and lastly a yearly distribution to the
poor, to the extent of 600 salms of wheat and 2450
scudi in money.
5. In their character of hospitallers, the care of
the sick devolved upon the knights by a fundamental
principle of their institution ; in the observance of
which, not only the inhabitants of both islands, but
foreigners of whatever country or creed, were admit¬
ted into the hospitals. The patients were treated in
those establishments with much care, and without
any sparing of expense, each individual costing the
treasury from five to six tari a day.
6. The hospital for women, in addition to the funds
supplied by the treasury, derived about 1500 sc. a year
from a foundation called Incurahile* instituted in 1643
by a pious woman of Sienna, named Caterina Sarpi
* Page 8.—This opportunity is taken of remoringavery wrong notion that
has obtained with regard to the landed property in Malta applicable to the sup¬
port of charities administered from the public treasury. A recent writer says—
" A sum little short of .£20,000 currency [meaning 200,000 scudi] is an-
nually distributed in Malta to the poor (including the expenses of the civil
M hospital), and of this, a sum of about j£lOO citrrency, per w'eek, is distri-
( 14 )
(or Scappi) which will increase the amount under this
head to 20,177 scudi.
7. Among the foundlings, there was always a
number of other children, who were admitted in con¬
sideration of the indigence of their parents.
8. The pensions include 1070 scudi to Maltese
who had well deserved of the Order by service or at¬
tachment, 2327 to the widows or daughters of several
clerks who died in the service of the Order, and 10,931
for special services rendered abroad by members of the
Order and foreign church-dignitaries.
9. To the nuns of the Ursuline and other com¬
munities attached to the Order, such pecuniary aid as
the inadequacy of their income demanded was from
time to time afforded. The proportions given were
5194 scudi to the nuns of St Ursula, and 10,256
scudi to those of two monasteries abroad, all within
the space of ten years.
10. In the marine department, the reduced num¬
ber of one sixty-gun ship, three frigates, and four gal¬
leys, was maintained, besides two galiots destined to
" buted in alms ; all tbesc expenses are defrayed from the rent of various lands
" and houses bequeathed for the purpose, by pious individuals at different
'• times." Martin's History of the Brit. Colonies.
It howerer appears, that of all the landed property the foundation Inca-
rabite is the only one specifically allotted to charitable purposes. Giber foun-
datiuGS established for different objects may incideotally bear some small charges
of the same description ; but reSection will make us aware that the knights
could not have courted with decency any extraneous assistance in their essen¬
tial duty as hospitallers, to which their own revenues were fully adequate. In'
the time of the Order, there were separate hospitals and other pious institutions
in Malta, the funds of which were not blended with those of the revenue, and
which at the present day continue to he separately administered.
( 15 )
secure the trade in the channel of Malta while the gal¬
leys were away on any distant cruise. It would ap¬
pear that the cost of a galley at this time averaged
42,723 scudi, and a frigate 118,346. The various
branches of expense of the naval force were under dis¬
tinct administrations. The expense of the port con¬
sisted of the cleaning of the harbour, the maintenance
of the wet basins for preserving timber, and the light¬
ing of the St Elmo lighthouse during the winter
nights only.
11. Of the land force, the Maltese regiment of
infantry was raised in 1776. Its strength during the
ten years averaged 1055 eifective men : that of the
artillery and other bodies is not mentioned. These
latter consisted of horse and foot night-patrols (called
turcopoU and bandoUeri), guards posted at St Julian's
bay to prevent desertion from the Maltese regiment,
the garrison staff and police, and invalid soldiers ( di¬
minishing daily in number, and not to be replaced),
stationed on duty in the castles of St Elmo and St
Angelo. The next article of military expense com¬
prises the charge of maintaining the fortifications in
both islands ; the succeeding one includes the ap¬
pointments of the governor of Gozo, his lieutenant,
and the guards in the castle and towers of that island,
as well as some charges relative to the service of the
towers in Malta ; and the last article covers the
charge for arms and ammunition.
The military expense, it should be borne in mind,
is distinct from charges defrayed from foundations
( 1« )
already noticed * to have been accounted for sepa*
rately from the treasury, namely,
Scudi
10,500 ñrom the foundation Manoel, destined to the mainte¬
nance of a garrison in the fort of tíiat name.
10,800 from the foundation Cottoner, assigned for the main¬
tenance of a garrison in fort Ricasoli.
1,000 from the foundation Congregazione di Guerra, appli¬
cable to the service of the fortifícations generally.
These branches were burthened with some extra¬
neous charges, not of an amount however to demand
that, in a statement of this kind, a research should be
made in order to place them under their proper heads.
The amount under the head of land force may there¬
fore be considered as increased to 195,339 scudi.
12. It was understood that the charge for re¬
pairing the streets of the city properly fell upon its
inhabitants at large, the treasury bearing a due pro¬
portion for the public and other buildings possessed
by the Order. At this period great improvement was
effected in the streets of Valletta, by the excavation of
sewers, the formation of water-conduits, the alteration
of street-levels, and the removal of flights of steps
projecting before the entrance-doors of houses. The
treasury charged itself in the first instance with the
whole expense, at the hazard of recovering, as it could,
the rates of private individuals ; whereof there re¬
mained 72,732 scudi outstanding at the end of the ten
years, a great part of which, however, must have ori-
• Page 8.
( 17 )
ginatéd at an earlier period, and was probably in many
instances irrecoverable.
The buildings and works completed or in pro^
gress at this time consisted of: 1, The galley-arsenal
commenced in 1776 and finished in 1783 at a cost of
60,986 scudi (of which 49,652 within the ten years)
besides 7157 expended on magazines attached to the
same branch of service: 2, Four warehouses near the
custom-house, which were completed within a few
months after the period of this statement at an ex¬
pense of 62,016 (whereof 58,235 within the period)
estimated to bring back a rental of 2250 scudi: 3,
The public library called the Conservatory, begun in
1784 and in progress at the end of the period, having
cOst thus far 53,483 scudi : 4, Several new magazines
constructed in the lazaretto, amounting, with repairs
in the quarantine department, to 28,033 scudi : 5, A
powder-mill built at the expense of 7966. scudi : 6,
Repairs completed in the hospital, 7225 scudi : 7, The
construction finished of magazines for the rope-walk,
5429 scudi : 8, Completion of a new cemetery, 528
scudi (these three sums being in addition to whatever
may have been expended on the works previously to
the decennial term) : and 9, Renewal of the lantern
on the lighthouse of St. Elmo, 1108 scudi. All
other, works and repairs were considered ordinary,
and as such settled on the proper, branches of ser¬
vice, by either deduction from the income or addi¬
tion to the expense, accordingly as the case rendered
proper. .
D
( 18 )
Under the next title is included the charge Of
repairing the fountains, besides all the expenses rela¬
tive to the construction and maintenance of the public
cisterns situated within the city and the different forts
or castles.
13. The annual allowances assigned by the
treasury on account of the grandmaster's establish¬
ment, consisted of 200 scudi towards the repair of the
palaces, and 6,000 scudi in aid of his table ; besides
which, table allowances were assigned to all the pro¬
fessed members and novices who happened to be in
convent, except a certain number of commanders, who
drew from their cominanderies, as knights 2000, or
as chaplains or servants of arms 1000 scudi. This
annual allowance was composed, for each member, of
four salms (or quarters) of wheat, two cafisi of oil,
and 34 scudi in money, the whole valued at about 150
scudi. An allowance for clothing was also granted by
the treasury, annually to each professed member, and
once for all to each novice: it consisted of 22 scudi to
a knight, 16| to a chaplain or servant of arms, 12^ to
a deacon, and 7 to a novice, who being liable to a
stoppage of 18 tari, received net only öj scudi. The
professed members, deriving from the Order an income
of more than 35 scudi, did not receive the allowances
for clothing, which were deemed inadequate at this
period, although they were probably sufficient when
first established.
14. The falconry comprised the expense of con¬
veyance and presentation of falcons taken in the
( )9 >)
island, and \vhich the Order was accustomed to send
annually to the kings of France, Spain, Portugal and
Naples, as well as to the viceroy of Sicily.
15. Under the next head are included the salaries
and contingent expenses of the offices of the treasury
and chancery, and that of the conservatory or deposi¬
tory of the money, as well as the plate, jewels, and
other valuables of the Order, an office naturally de¬
pendent on the treasury.
16. Besides the galley-slaves, whose maintenance
is included with the expense of the galleys, other
slaves were confined in prisons .destined for them,
wherein some were employed in making cotton saiL-
cloth, while others were occupied out of doors on the
land works of the Order. Their food and clothing
form the charge under this head. Christian slaves
were kept separate from the others ; and in this class
were probably included the Maltese convicted criminals.
17. A number of slaves was also purchased an¬
nually to supply the wants df the Order in its galleys
and land works.
18. Some of the members of the Order, either
by the sinking of capital or the assignment of the re¬
version of the disposeable share of their personal
estate, obtained from the treasury life annuities,
which averaged 2972 scudi. The remaining 44,878
scudi under ihis head are for interest of borrowed
capital.
19. It may be inferred that the charge for the
conveyance of letters was so heavy, in consequence of
( 20 )
the property and interests of the Order being greatly
dispersed throughout Europe.
20. The silver plate of state was allotted to the
service of various branches of the administration, such
as the palace, the hospital, the ships and galleys, and
the embassies of Rome and Paris.*
21. The sale of duplicate works much reduced
the net expense of the library at this period, when it
possessed about twenty-five thousand volumes.' In
some years, the receipts from this source exceeded the
expenditure (the gross amount of which is not shown)
as all the books left by such members of the Order
as died solvent fell to the library. A capital of ten
thousand scudi employed in the massa frumentaria^
or municipal grain concern, at three per cent, with the
reversion of which the library had been endowed by
the abbé Bruno, auditor to the grandmaster, had not
then come into activity.
22. The charge under the head of Castellania
is composed of very small honorary allowances, given
annually to members of the tribunal so named.
• The plate was valued on the 30lh April 1788, as follows—
Palace .
Hospital
Ships....,
Galleys.
Embassy at Rome ...
Embassy at Paris
Sciidi
100,770
34,498
12,530
36,236
7,790
14,598
206,422
MS. Liber Conciliorum Status, fol, 163.
( 21 )
23. In 1769, the Jesuit friars, who formerly oc¬
cupied the college still known by the name of their
order, were expelled from the island, the treasury ha¬
ving from that time appropriated the income of that
community and defrayed the expenses of the college,
which exceeded the receipt ; inasmuch as the treasury,
besides directing extensive repairs to he made in the
college-mansion, and bearing the pensions of the ex¬
pelled friars, had to meet an increase of charge, occa¬
sioned by the introduction of several foreign profes¬
sors, who were engaged to render the institution inore
efficient. At the end of the ten years under notice,
the pensioned Jesuits were reduced to nine, at 175
scudi each. The gross expense of the institution is
not stated by Ransijat; but if the annual rental of the
foundation Gesuiti be added, already stated* at 6762
scudi, it will be found to have amounted to 8,610 scudi.
24. The article entitled workshops and magazines
comprises certain expenses incurred in various military
and marine manufactures, which could not well be in¬
cluded in particular with articles of ordinary expense.
It also covers the wages of the clerks and keepers of
magazines, with the repair of those buildings, and the
waste in the goods stored in them.
25. A small house bought for the use of the hos-r
pital in 1781, costing 1854 scudi, forms the only ar¬
ticle under the title of purchase of immoveable pro¬
perty, the tenth part of which sum is taken as the pro¬
portion for a year,
• Page 8.
( 22 )
26. Im 1095, some nobles of Daophimy united for
the relief of sufferers from a kind of leprosy called
St Anthonys Jire^ which society in 1218 was erected
into a religious order of hospitallers, having a grand¬
master for chief. This order, after many changes in
its consti tution, having been left the option between
extinction and secularization, or union with another
order, accepted the latter alternative, and chose for this
purpose the Order of Malta, as the nearest one in affi¬
nity to itself, both institutions having charitable hos¬
pitality for their basis ; and after long negotiations
its property was taken possession of in 1777 by the
knights of Malta, subject to various life-pensions,
charges and conditions. The compliance with these
terms, as well as the conventions made with interested
partiesto the end of obtaining at a future day the free
possession of the An tonine estates, caused a considera¬
ble outlay of money, which during the ten years under
notice surpassed the income by 732,947 scudi ; and it
was calculated ^that an excess of expenditure would
continue with gradual diminution till 1794, <v^hen a
net income'would begin to return, which would go on
progressively increasing until 1879, at which time the
outlay with interest would be recovered to the treasury,
and the annual income nf the property >reach 120,000
French livres. <It would seem that, including 'the
short Space of time before the cominenceraent of the
ten years, the outlay had reached 856,752 scudi.
The Antonine estates were seated in France and
Savoy.
( 23 )
^1. The casual expenses incmrred dating the ten
years consist of—
r
Scudi
7,688 Net loss on exchange operations.
18,240 Laid out on a plantation of wood in Calabria.
101,145 Charges of a negotiation and arrangements made to
prevent a separation of the priories of the Italian
tongue.
40,271 Restitution of two extraordinary imposta on the Get'
man tongue.
14^81 Charges incurred for establishing the new Anglo*
Bavarian tongue.
14,196 Balance of charge on recovering the Polish revenues.
2,331 Illumination to celebrate the Dauphin's birth (in
1782).
17,039 Succour sent to the city of Messina and to the pro¬
vince of Calabria, on the occasion of the great
earthquake in 1783.
5,491 Charges incurred to obtain a confirmation of the
statutes enacted at the last general chapter of the
Order.
220,482, the tenth part of which forms the proportion for
one year.
28. The miscellaneous minor expenses can scarce¬
ly require any explanation.
If we add the services already stated to haVe been
probably defrayed out of the income of separate foun-
dationS) not passing through the treasury, but estima¬
ted to amount to 48,875 scudi,* the total of expen¬
diture for the service of the Order will be found to
have averaged 1,285,334 scudi.
• P«ge 8.
( 24 )
It is then seen that, during the ten years ending
30th April 1788, the Order derived from its property
and defrayed from its funds a mean annual
Scudi
Income of . 1,364,174
and
Expenditure Of 1,285,334
leaving a yearly surplus of. . 78,840
At this time the debt of the , Order for. money
taken up at interest amounted to 1,870,332 scudi
(whereof 433,430 in convent, and the remainder in
Rome, Madrid and Valladolid) ; against which were
to be set off—
Scudi
1,140,236 in money (whereof 251,645 * in convent, and the
remainder in the foreign banks).
1,939,901 in materials in store and with departments (inclu¬
ding 92,7841 for those purchased abroad but
not then received).
307,967 in funds out on loan at interest.
3,388,104
Many other credits tO a large amount are also
stated by Ransijat ; but it has been thought better to
confine the view to the effects and active credits (the
former not including the plate of state valued at
206,422:}: scudi). These alone are enough to show
that the finances of the Order had reached a high
J t Î These three sums are taken from the MS. Lib, Condi. Stat.
( 25 )
degree of prosperity under the economical government
of De Rohan, * who succeeded in procuring a large
available fund to the treasury, after the outlay of very
considerable sums to promote the future income of
the Order.
But this state of prosperity was at once arrested
by the revolution which broke out in France imme-;
diately after the period here treated of. The legisla-r
tive assembly of that country enacted that every
Frenchman who was a member of an Order of knight¬
hood which required proofs of nobility was no longer
to be considered as a French citizen ; and this act was
followed by a decree, on the 19th September 1792,
whereby it was determined that the Order of Malta,
as regarded France, should be entirely annulled, and
its property annexed to the national demesnes. Thus,
not only the members of the Order, belonging to the
three tongues of that country, lost the income derived
from their several commanderies, but the Order itself
was deprived of a great part of its revenues from the
responsions and other dues of such estates, nearly half
of which in point of value (including the Antonine
property) were situated in France,—^a loss which, by
a report made to the grandmaster on the 9th of De¬
cember 1795, was estimated to have amounted to
471,784 Maltese scudi ; and this does not include
the loss on the Antonine estates, on which the Order
* De Rohan was elected grandmaster ia 1775.
MS. Lib, Condi. Status.
E
( 26 )
as far as the year 1792 must have incurred an outlay
of a full million of scudi. *
Having already explained, for the decennial term
treated of, the nature of the different branches of in¬
come and expenditure relating to the general treasury,
it will be enough, in this place, to present iit a sum¬
mary view their amounts for one of the latest periods
under De Rokan*s grandmastership, namely, the year
ending 30th April 1796.
INCOME
Scudi
Responsions, mortuaries and vacancies, ef¬
fects or spoils, passages and forests . . 692,275
Various rents, dues and revenues. . . . 103,673
Donations 7>452
Sale of state silver plate . . . 36,575 /
From abroad.... 674,3771
In convent .... 165,598 J
EXPENDITURE
Ambassadors and receivers
Conventual churches, and the IJrsulines . .
Hospitals, foundlings, and alms
Marine .
Land force
Sundry alloivances, salaries and pensions .
Slave prisons
Conveyance of letters .
Interest of debt, and life annuities. ...
* 856,752 Scudi, to 1788. See page 22.
795,948
44,027
839,975
70,776
12,445
146,481
429,221
143,264
125,341
48,935
22,064
83,040
( 27 )
Loss on exchange operations 24,724
Workshops and magazines 11,998
Miscellaneous expenses and services ... 20,153
1,138,442
Excess of Expenditure . . - . . 298,467
But if it be considered that the income was un¬
naturally swelled by an amount of 44,027 scudi, de¬
rived from donations and the sale of property, the ex¬
cess of expenditure will be found increased to 342,494
scudi.
Hence this comparison follows with the mean
year of the decennial period.
Scudi
Annual Income—1779 to 1788
(deducting 4532 scudi derived
from the sale of property). . 1,310,767 *
The same—for the year ending
30th April 1796 795,948
Decrease of Income. . . . 514,819
Annual Expenditure,
said ten years . . 1,236,459 t
smd single year . . 1,138,442
Decrease in Expenditure . . 98,01?
Annual détérioration of means . . . 416,802
From the above statement it is seen that, notwith¬
standing the great diminution of income, economy in
the expenditure was effected to less than a fifth part of
the loss ; and when it is considered that the reduction
• Page 5.
t Page 12.
( 28 )
on the marine and land force amounted to 75,000
scudi, and that full as much more, from the prosperous
state of finances during the ten years, had been expen¬
ded annually for purposes of future benefit, it will
appear that a large increase had taken place generally
in the other branches of expense,—a circumstance
which must be attributed partly to the obligation
which the Order considered itself under of affording
every possible relief to the distress brought upon its
French members by the loss of their estates, and
partly by the interest on the larger loans necessarily
raised to carry on the service.
In the comparison just given, the income and ex»
penditure of the separate local foundations* have not
been taken in aid, as the respective amounts may be
supposed to have continued without material alte¬
ration.
II. " Ricetta Magistrale"or Magisterial Receipts
The best information which it has been possible
to obtain relative to the amount derived during a con¬
secutive number of years from the branch of revenue
accruing to the grandmaster under the title of " Ricetta
Magistrale" or Magisterial Receipt, is contained on
a half sheet of paper preserved in the land revenue of¬
fice, purporting to be a summary of the receipts under
this head during the five years 1792 to 1796, and
giving the annual average as follows.—
* Pages 8 and 23.
( 29 )
Scudi
1. Segrezia, or landed revenue 86,536
2. Customs 78,131
S. Transit 475
4. Admiralty (ten per cent on prizes) . . . 4,279
5. Conveyance {porta) of slaves , . . • . 2,358
6. Miscellaneous . 4,110
7. Lease of houses . 435
8. Excise on wine (farmed out for 53,500 scudi,
of which 28,500 were conceded to the Uni¬
versity of Valletta) . 25,000
201,324
9. Dues on account of the vacant terms of the
magisterial commanderies 33,573
234,897 *
Excluding the last item, which was derived from
property abroad belonging to the Order, 201,324
scudi remain for the local landed property and taxes
assigned for the maintenance of the grandmasters
establishment, in his capacity of sovereign of Malta
and its dependencies.
The branch Segrezia comprehends, besides the
landed rents, a duty of 3j per cent on the transfer of
immoveable property, which was given in farm for the
yearly consideration of 8136 scudi.
As far as it can be ascertained with reference to the
fifth item, the dues on the conveyance of slaves were
* A late writer says—" The revenue of the grandmaster was about 35,000/
a year, arising from one commandery in each of the priories, and certain mo¬
nopolies in Malta Martin's Hist, of the Brit. Cohnics—but there is no record
of any addition to be made to the above statement of 234,897 scudi, beyond
the 6200 scudi referred to in the 13th article of treasury expenditure, page 18.
( 30 )
payable, as well for those introduced after capture as
for those sent away when redeemed.
I'he whole of the magisterial receipt was admi¬
nistered by an officer styled receiver {ricevitorej^ who
appears to have been generally, if not always, selected
from the bailiffs of the Order.
The receiver rendered accounts of his administra¬
tion to the grandmaster half-yearly. Various of these,
in original, for the later periods are in existence, the
two latest being for the year ending 30th April 1797.
From these accounts it appears that, during that
year, the grandmaster returned from his income for
the benefit of the inhabitants the following amounts—
Scudi
Ecclesiastical services, pious works, and elee¬
mosynary donations . i 19,067
Incidental expenses of the Jesuits' college . . 1,660
Pay of the officers, muster-allowances of the
men, and incidental charges of the regi¬
ment of Chasseurs . 2,611
Miscellaneous and incidental service .... 1,933
25,271
The expenses of the grandmaster for himself and
his household, including his body-guards and state-
attendants, appear from the same accounts to have
amounted to 138,612 scudi ; and, during the same
year, 86,729 scudi were employed in loans or other¬
wise invested. These three sums exceed a years
( 31 )
income ; but a large balance of saving from former
years had accumulated.
III. Municipal Services.
Besides the revenues derived from the public by
the grandmaster for his own use or purposes, various
taxes were levied in Malta by municipal bodies. To
arrive at the correct or even approximate amount of
these resources, in the present confused state or defi¬
ciency of public documents, is impossible ; and the
defect can only be supplied in most instances by esti¬
mate or conjecture. The following is an attempt to
estimate the gross amount of those taxes levied from
the public which have not yet come under notice.
Scudi
Derived by the University of Valletta
Part of the duty on wine . . . 28,500 *
Duty on tobacco, farmed out for . 4,000
Duty on provisions, farmed out for 5,400
Stamp duty on bread, farmed out
for. 2,627
Tax on calesses, about .... 50
40,577
Profit (subject to the expenses of collection)
derived by the farmers of the duty on
wine, estimated, upon the first receipts
after the surrender of Valletta to the Bri¬
tish, at 16,170 t
* See page 29.
t This certaialy seems a large surplus ; but the charges were heavy for
the prevention of contraband, and there does not appear any reason for the
proceeds from this tax being increased immediately after thé opening of the
gates to the British forces.
( 32 )
Profit (subject as above) derived by the farmers
of the three other taxes given on lease by
the University of Valletta, estimated sum¬
marily at 2,000
Profit (subject as above) derived by the farmer
of the duty on transfer of immoveable
property, estimated upon the mean amount
of transfers during the years 1833, 1834,
and 1835, when landed property was not
at a greater value, nor, as is supposed,
were transfers made to a larger amount
than formerly 5,940
Stamp duty on bread, farmed out by the jurats
of Notabile and the jurats of Gozo, esti¬
mated at about ......... l,30O
Tax on calesses derived by the jurats of Nota¬
bile, estimated at about 50
Duties levied in aid of charitable institutions,
namely.
The doganella, or petty custom, on various
articles of import, here summarily
estimated at 4,000
The notarial duty on maritime insurances,
here summarily estimated at . . . 3,000
73,037
Danded property of the universities of Valletta
and Notabile, rendered annually about . 9,000
82,037
As to the amount of those dues which in the
shape of fees passed into the hands of public officers,
such as the individuals employed in the departments
of the ports, the quarantine, the police and the tribu¬
nals, or into the fiscal chests for the perquisites of
( 33 )
judges and other court officers, the maintenance of
prisoners before trial, and the various services of the
courts of law, it will not be attempted here to form an
estimate. It is well known that in those times no
business with public functionaries was to be accom¬
plished, unless at the expense of a fee, even in the de¬
partments whose establishment appears to have been
otherwise provided for by the government ; and the
reader of these pages, by referring back to the detail
of those branches of expenditure which were severally
discharged out of the funds of the Order and out of
the grandmaster s personal income, will readily per¬
ceive how many services remained tindefrayed, and
may form'his own conclusions accordingly. The
three universities * (not of literature) had scarcely the
means of discharging any other public service than
the police of the markets and the celebration of some
popular festivals. The university of Valletta, the
main object of which institution was the supply of
foreign corn to the inhabitants under a system of
complete monopoly, could not latterly have closed its
accounts in a state of solvency, and the concern
could only proceed by means of aid from the grand¬
master in a portion of the excise on wine, and from
the public, indirectly, in the price of bread. "What
this aid may have amounted to may be inferred from
the state of accounts, taken from the balance-sheet
of the establishment struck for the 4th Septem-
* Those of Valkna, Notabile and Gozo.
( 34 )
ber 1800, the day of the capitulation to the British
forces.
Scudi
Debts of the institution 3,594,900
EfFects and credits 2,614,802
Deficiency of capital . . . 980,098
which may be taken for the state of the account in the
time of the Order, added to about 250,000 scudi, here
summarily estimated for irrecoverable arrears included
among the credits, for the period anterior to the arri¬
val of the French, * making in the whole a capital de¬
ficient or ineffective to the amount of 1,230,098 scudi.
This deficiency of means necessarily increased the
loans raised, and consequently the interest to be paid
upon them, by
Scudi
233,047 at 6 per cent 13,983
997,051 at 3 per cent f 29,911
Annual charge . "43,894
which must be considered as an indirect tax upon
bread, for the aid of 28,500 scudi from the excise on
wine is not thought more than enough to cover the
loss of interest on idle capital included among the
credits, but not deemed irrecoverable.
The following summary of taxation is given,
from what has heretofore been stated with reference
* The value of the supplies to the French garrison during the blockade,
amounting to 1,203,660 scudi, is of course not written off in the formation of
this statement, which is intended to serve for the anterior period,
f Part of the principal fund, or Mas$a Frumentaria.
( 35 )
to the 2nd and 3rd principal branches of income, under
the titles of Magisterial Receipt and Municipal
Services.
Scudi
Transfer duty on immoveable property . . . 14,076
Customs 78,131
Transit 475
Admiralty 4,279
Conveyance of slaves 2,358
Excise on wine 69,670
Duty on tobacco . . . T
Duty on provisions. , . I ..... . 15,327
Stamp duty on bread . . J
Tax on calesscs 100
Petty customs 4,000
Duty on maritime insurances 3,000
Indirect tax on bread through the corn monopoly 43,894
235,310
Fees collected by the officers of the ports,
quarantine, tribunals and elsewhere. . . estl^at^
The above summary, being limited to local taxa¬
tion, excludes the rents of property, the miscellaneous
dues, and the grandmaster's receipts from the foreign
possessions of the Order. All the documents and re¬
cords for the magisterial and municipal branches of
income are very obscure and defective. This expla^
nation of them has therefore been much limited, and
it is probable that some taxes have been omitted.
( 37 )
SECOND PART.—DEDUCTIONS FROM THE
FOREGOING STATEMENT OF FACTS.
Various statements have, been made with respect
to the amount of money expended in Malta by the
Order of St John of Jerusalem, before the loss of its
French estates. Of two recent writers on Malta, one*
has stated the total value of rental accruing to the Or¬
der from its estates at £ 368,982 sterling, subjoining
that its annual expenditure in the island was at least
£400,000> and the other-f- has asserted that the whole
of the Orders foreign revenues, amounting annually
to five millions of Maltese scudi, was laid out in pub¬
lic works and otherwise J to the advantage of the
country. It must thence be evident that neither of
these writers has reckoned upon any part of the rents
having remained to be spent within the several priories.
In justice to these gentlemen, it must however be
acknowledged that they may have been guided by of¬
ficial statements to the same eflPect ; for, in the First
Report of the Commissioners of Colonial Inquiry, 8th
December 1830, it is asserted that, in addition to the
local revenues of the island, the Order expended no
• Mr Martin, in his History of the British Colonies.
Barone Azopardi—Presa di Malta e Goto dalla Repuhblica Frnncese.
Î The word " otherwise" is added in the translation, to reader the Au*
thor's meaning clear in so brief a quolaiion.
( 38 )
less a sum than £ 400,000 annually, derived from its
estates in foreign countries.
As statements like these have a tendency to give
an impression of the hnancial prosperity of Malta
under the former government, not borne out by the
facts adduced in the first part of this Memoir, an at¬
tempt will here be made, by an analysis of some of
those facts aided by information obtained from au¬
thentic sources, to exhibit the subject in that point of
view which may enable the reader to form his own
conclusions, in regard to the real degree of benefit
which Malta may have enjoyed from the foreign pecu¬
niary resources of the Order. That such benefit was
very considerable there is no intention to contest ; nor
is there a desire to detract in any wise from the high
merit to which the Order is unquestionably entitled in
the remembrance of the Maltese, for the position to
which their country was advanced under its dominion.
In estimating the amount of that benefit, two
sources are to be considered : one, the funds accruing
to the Order as a body ; the other, the personal in¬
comes of the members composing the Order.
Beginning with the expenditure from the first-
mentioned source, it has already been shown, * from
Ransijat's decennial statement, that, during the ten
years ending 30th April 1788, it averaged the annual
rate of 1,236,459 scudi. It is to be regretted that he
has not given in the same manner as for the receipt,
• Page 12.
( 39 )
the proportion of expense which took place abroad
distinct from the sum spent in convent. It therefore
only remains in this place to deduct those portions
which must obviously have been laid out abroad, lea¬
ving any farther amount to conjecture. They consist of
8. Pensions ( part of ) see page 14. . . . 10,931
9. Nunneries ( part of ) see page 14 . . . 1,026
19. Conveyance of letters 20,396
26. Outlay on the Antonine property . . . 73,295
27» Casual expenses ( except the item of 233
scudi, see page 23 ) 21,815
Among other articles, particularly N° 10, 11
and 24 (namely, the marine, the land
force and the workshops) it is certain that
many of the stores were obtained from
abroad. In the MS. volume of Minutes of
»
the Council, it is stated that there remained
abroad on the 30th April 1788 materials
to the value of 92,783 scudi. Hence it
may be inferred that the annual supply
from abroad was at least equal to those
-- remains, which one with another could
scarcely have been left more than a year
in the ports of their purchase. Say
then . 92,783
Art. 1. Ambassadors
'2. Receivers .
Scudi
38,026
66,433
231,922
324,705
Deducting this amount from the total of
1,236,459 scudi, there remains at the
highest ( since the other articles may be
( 40 )
presumed to include some money spent
out of convent ) for the expenditure de¬
frayed within these islands by the Order
as a public body the net sum of. . . , 911,754
But as a portion of the Order's income con¬
sisted of rents and other receipts in con¬
vent, it is deducted as not forming part of
funds coming from abroad, amounting,
as already stated,* to 86,501
leaving . . . 825,253
The transactions of the separate local founda¬
tions have not been taken in aid of the foregoing
statement, as it may be presumed that the expenditure
from the same fund was also generally local.
The other source of local expenditure from fo¬
reign funds consisted of the incomes of those mem¬
bers of the Order who in particular happened to be
resident in convent, and which for the members in
general were chiefly derived from the manors be¬
longing to the Order, under the general title of com-
manderies. -j-
• Page 5.
+ " Under the name or title of commanderie« are included the prioriçs,
the castellany of Emposta, the bailivricks, the farms, the portions
the houses, the possessions, and all other kinds of property of our Order."
CWice rfeW Ordiwe, 1782, p. 329. Priories, however, also signify provinces of
the Order into which the tongues were divided : therefore, whenever the term
" priory " may here come to be used in its acceptation for a single comman-
dery, as the one allotted to the grand-prior of each province or priory, it will
be termed " grand-priory."^
( 41 )
At the general chapter of the Order held in 1776,
the committee of sixteen fixed the amount of respon-
sions on these estates collectively at 500,000 scudi,
payable in due proportion by the several tongues, and
at the same time established the shares attaching to
each, leaving the rates of some few portions of pro¬
perty unsettled.
But as the French estates were rated together at
234,400 scudi, it follows arithmetically that the shares
payable by the other tongues were understood to
amount to 265,600 scudi ; and as the interest of every
tongue was represented in the committee, it may be
presumed tbat the calculation of the due proportion
for each was done to a great nicety.
In establishing the rates, the committee of six¬
teen was provided with a statement or roll of the value
of rental yielded by each estate, in the money of the
country where the property was situated. It is diffi¬
cult at the present time to affix with confidence the
true value to several of the many species of currency
introduced into this document ; but it happens that
the whole of the French rental is therein valued in
livres tournois, amounting to 3,848,210 *—three of
which -f- ( forming the French crown ) were at the
• Boisgclin says " The total revenue of all these possessions in France at
the time the Order was abolished amounted to 4,760,753 French livres." This,
if correct, is a large increase in the space of sixteen years.
•h Great French EncyclopseJia—Edit, of 1771, Art. " Change."
G
( 42 )
time worth 29^ pence sterling, making £ 157,670
Then, if such was the value of the French
rental, that of the other priories, in
the proportion of 265,600 to 234,400,
calculates to 178,656
Total value of annual rental. . £ 336,326
Within the last few years, for some particular
object, the different currencies composing this rent-
roll have been cast into Maltese currency, giving a
total of 3,389,862 scudi.
It would appear that one of the writers * on
Malta already alluded to has made use of the same
document, with its totals so computed into Maltese
money ; it being taken for granted that he has con¬
verted the scudi into sterling at the rate of two shillings
each, and that he has erroneously stated the Ara-
gonese commanderies at ¿£61,517 instead of ¿£31,517,
this being the only disagreement in amount. It may
be here remarked that his classification of the tongues
is wrong in various instances, and that the Anglo-Ba-
• Mr Martin, in his History of the British Colonies.—It would be unfair
towards this gentleman not to take the opportunity of saying that there are
many inaccuracies in his work, which might he corrected in a future edition.
Two instances are here pointed out to justify the remark, namely, the heights
above t^ level of the sea, and the range of the thermometer ; the hills having
been swelled into mountains, and the cold reduced to that of an ordinary En-
glish winter. These inaccuracies appear to have arisen from an implicit re¬
liance on the statements of previous writers.
t It would seem from Mr Eton's work that the silver scudo in the time of
the Order was worth nearly two shillings sterling, that is to say 1 shilling.
( 43 )
varian tongue (which he consolidates with that of
Germany) did not exist at the time the rent-roll was
formed. * The following is the correct summary of
this document, taking the recent reductions into Mal¬
tese currency for granted.
Tongues.
Number of
Value of
annual
Grand
Priories
other
Comman-
deries
rental in
Maltése
Scudi
1. Provence
2
84
597,612
2. Auvergne
1
53
220,264
3. France
3
106
785,545
4. Italy
7
185
602,067
5. Aragon
3
72
^ 315,180
6. England (null) f
7. Germany
2
52
313,201
8. Castile and Portugal. . .
2
76
555,993
20
628
3,389,862
* The confirmation of this statement is dated 2Dd January 1776. The
Bavarian estates were incorporated in 1782.
f The English tongue comprised two priories, England and Ireland,
which were suppressed by Henry VIII, in 1540. They had become greatly en¬
riched by the incorporation of the manors belonging to the Templars. The
principal house of the English priory, situated in a suburb of London, whose
grand-prior sat in parliament as the first baron of England, derived a yearly
rental of ^£2385 12$ 8<f, an immense sum in those days.—.Camcfen and olhert,
( 44 )
Now, although the value of the scudo of account,
reduced into sterling at par, is at present only one
shilling and eight pence, it happens that the rates of
reduction, computed but a few years ago, from the
different monies into Maltese currency have been
made upon the basis of value in the time of the Order.
One extreme may therefore be assumed to counter-«
balance the other ; especially as there is only a diffe¬
rence of £ 2,660 between the result of those calcula-»
tions and the estimate already given founded on the
intrinsic value of the French money. There is conse¬
quently no objection to the acceptance of the same
calculations reduced into sterling at two shillings the
scudo ; particularly as the excess in the total may be
taken to compensate the amount of some Italian com-
manderies * which were recovered at a later epoch.
Of the Bavarian (including the Polish) property, no¬
tice will be taken hereafter.
It is then assumed that the foteign possessions
of the Order yielded a yearly rental of £ 338,986 ;
out of which amount the dues to the general treasury
were made good, consisting of the responsions, the
mortuaries and vacancies, and likewise the spoils, since
these were from savings out of incomes derived from
the same possessions. These branches averaged, as al¬
ready stated,-}" 937,479 scudi, to which add 4775 scudi
from certain comraanderies, ;}: making 942,254 scudi,
equal, at 2 shillings each to £ 94,225.
f P.i^e 6.
t Page 4.
Î Page 7.
( 45 )
ït must be taken for granted that the collection
of the rents cost something, and that they were like¬
wise subject to such casualties as proceed from floods,
droughts) blights, bad tenants or corrupt stewards.
Five per cent can scarcely be thought too much for
these contingencies, which would amount to £ 16,949 ;
but call it even less, namely £14,250, to make up the
tptal rate of charge on the rents, between expense of
collection and treasury dues, to 32 per cent.
Admitting these premises, it will follow that the
knights and other dignitaries drew from the foreign
possessions of the Order a net yearly income of
£230,511.
As to the proportion of that income which was
expended in Malta, first, let it be observed that the
proper place of residence of the grand-priors was
within the countries where their priories were si¬
tuated. The rental of the twenty grand-priories was
valued in the statement of 1776 at £54,376, that is
to say, by following the process of calculation already
referred to ; from which, deducting 32 per cent for
rate of charge, a net income of £36,976 remains, no
part of which benefited Malta.
This sum deducted from £ 230,511 leaves
£ 193,535 for the net income of the 628comman-
deries.
In endeavouring to form a conjecture as to the
proportion of income from the commanderies which
may have been laid out in Malta, various circum¬
stances are to be taken into consideration.
í 46 )
All those knights who were employed in the ca¬
pacity of ambassador or receiver of course continued
át their respective stations ; and of the German
knights in particular Boisgelin relates that few dwelt
in Malta, they having in general preferred living
peaceably in their own commanderies, having had
constantly in view the sovereign principality ot Het-
tersheim, which was( annexed to the grand-priory of
Germany.
Before a knight or servant of arms could obtain
a commandery, the statutes rendered it necessary that
he should have made four complete " caravans," or
expeditions, on board the squadrons of the Order, or
have resided five years in convent. * This circum¬
stance leads to the inference, that the knights assem¬
bled in convent included many individuals unprovided
with commanderies, who were serving to become eli¬
gible to them.
The numbers of knights and others who voted at
the election of grandmaster De Rohan on the 12th
November 1775, and of grandmaster Hompesch on
the 17th July 1797, were respectively 226 and 239
and the number of knights who were present in 1798
at the time of the French invasion is stated circum¬
stantially by Boisgelin at 332, including 200 of the
three French tongues, the loss of whose property had
driven many to Malta as an asylum. Hence, suppo-
• Codice dell' Or dine, 1782, p. 334.
f MS. Liber Conciliorum ord. et complet.
veotual prior and the bishop of Malta,
These numbers include the coa-
( 47 )
sîng that the voters did not include all the knights on
service, and that latterly the resident French knights
had become more numerous, we might take about 300
as the mean number of the knights generally present
or on service before the breaking out of the French
revolution.
Ransijat however states * that 000 individuals of
the Order left Malta in 1798 ; and elsewhere in ge¬
neral terms that the knights who resided here were
more than 600 : and Boisgelin gives a list of the
number of French knights belonging to the Order in
1788, which he makes to amount to 808, that is to
say, four times the number he alleges to have been
present in Malta in 1798. Taking all these circum¬
stances into consideration, it will probably be thought
that, in allowing half the net income of the 628 com-
manderies ( distinct from the grand-priories ) for the
expenditure of members of the Order residing in
Malta, out of their personal incomes, an extreme view
has been taken of the subject.
It will then result that the Order may have ex¬
pended annually within these islands—
Out of its public, or the Treasury funds, 825,253
scudi, f at 2s. each 82,525
Out of the personal incomes of the knights and
other members J 96,767
£ 179,392
* Journal du Siège et Blocus de H/altc, Paris, An IX.
t Page 40. î Hulf of £ 193,535, page 45.
( 48 )
To the above may be added the due proportion
for the subsequent accession of property from the
Bavarian tongue (including the Polish commanderies)
which, under the name of Anglo-Bavarian, was (accor¬
ding to Boisgelin) installed in 1782, and endowed with
a revenue equal to about £ 15,000 sterling ; of which
sum, if a fair allowance be made for the non-resident
members, for the perquisites of the general treasury,
and for the charges of collection, about ;£5000 or
^6000 may have remained for the incomes of the
knights of this tongue resident in convent.
The property which the several tongues, consi¬
dered as bodies, possessed, whatever it may have been
abroad, consisted in Malta of little beyond their re¬
spective inns or halls, and the shops on the ground-
floors of these buildings. Whatever rental may have
been derived from any part of such property,"being
local, does not enter the calculation.
Should the writer be thought to have erred in
his deduction from the various facts stated, they will
serve for any other conclusion that may be reasonably
drawn from them. He has no intention to offer an
opinion as to the precise smallness of the amount of
money expended yearly in Malta from the foreign re¬
sources of the Order ; but leaves it with the reader to
affix at whatever sum he may think proper within the
limit of £ 200,000. * His own conjecture would place
• If the render should prefer the valuation calculated upon tlie French
rental as staled by Boisgelin (see note page 4IJ it will give about this sum.
( 49 )
it much lower, if he could determine upon any specific
amount, his impression being that he has allowed too
much. '
As to the inducement to reside in Malta rather
than in the several priories, the respective merits may
be compared. On the one hand were oflfered the.
posts of grandmaster, eight conventual bailiffs and a
few other high dignitaries in a foreign island : on the
other, twenty-two * grand-priories, one of which con¬
veyed a sovereign principality, might be aspired to by
the knights at their native homes.
Under all circumstances therefore, the safest
coursB^ight be to accept the opinion of Ransijat -f-
that the knights threw into circulation here money
amounting to at least four millions (of French livres),
including with the expenses of the Order those of its
members, a great number of whom always resided in
this island. 4,000,000 livres were equal;}: to ¿£163,889 ;
say in round numbers £164,000, and there the question
of amount is left.
It is however not enough to consider the benefit
done to a country merely by the amount of foreign
money disbursed within its limits. The manner of
such expenditure becomes also an important conside¬
ration. For example, when the demand for labour is
not sufficient for the occupation of all the native indi¬
viduals willing to work, any extraneous money thrown
in among them in the shape of wages becomes to its
* Including Bavaria and Poland.
Jiuirnal dtc Siege et Bloens de Malte, p. 293.
i P»ge41.
( so )
full amount beneficial to the country, and even to a
greater extent when the labour is creative of local
improvement ; hut money laid out in the purchase of
effects is advantageous to the place only to the amount
of profit derived from it by the native manufacturers,
importers, dealers^ or agents ; and, on wages given to
foreign labourers or mercenaries, the immediate finan¬
cial good to the country is confined chiefly to the
profit acquired m the articles of their daily con¬
sumption.
In this point of view, the local expenditure of the
general treasury, of course consideréd apart from the
personal disbursements of the knights, is not thought,
in proportion to amount, in the highest degree advan¬
tageous to the people, beyond the money laid out for
the maintenance of the sick in hospital, a charge
which the constitution of the Order in a manner com¬
pelled its members to meet without adventitious aid. '
Not to mention the tenacity with which the
knights confined to themselves all superior appoint¬
ments, not ecclesiastical, afforded by their own reve¬
nues, they seem, even in giving occupation to the
working classes, to have felt under no particular obli¬
gation to show preference to the Maltese, but, on the
contrary, to have evinced a strong predilection for the
employment of slave-labour.
On this subject a referenee is made to the infor¬
mation from Ransijat already given herein, * namely.
* Page 19.
( ^51 )
that a number of slaves, in addition to those captured,
was purchased annually to supply the wants of the
Order in its galleys and land-works. Also Boisgelin,
iñ speaking of the slaves before their revolt in 1749,
says : " The number of Turkish or Moorish slaves in
" Malta consisted, at that time, of about four thou-
** sand ; some of whom were distributed on board the
*** galleys and formed the principal part of their crews,
" whilst others were employed in the different arsenals
and magazines, and the public works at the ports,
" fortifications, &g."
From these facts it may inferred, that where severe
bodily labour, independent of skill, was to be employed,
the Order gave preference to such individuals as might
be compelled by stripes and blows to work to the ex¬
tremity of their animal strength like mere brutes, and
who had thus no alternative but to submit with pa¬
tience to a degree of toil which no free labourer could
be persuaded to undergo.
In this way alone, it may be comprehended how
the stupendous works undertaken by the knights for
fortifying their strong-hold were accomplished. Mal^
tese convicts, however, must be presumed to have
shared in the work performed by the slaves.
There is no reason to believe that the Maltese
people derived any great advantage from the expendi¬
ture under the head of land-force, which, after deduct¬
ing the principal article, namely, the Maltese regi¬
ment, leaves only from thirty to forty thousand scudi*
^ See page ^6.
( 52 )
to cover the pay of officers and soldiers, whether na-
^ natives or foreigners.
The Maltese regiment, notwithstanding its name,
could not have contained many of the native inhabi¬
tants, as is shown by the follow circumstanees.
First, Boisgelin in his history of Malta says, with
reference to the original formation of the regiment in
1776, " A regiment of infantry was levied on the
" same plan as those at that time existing in France,
" exeept indeed that all the officers were to be knights.
" As to the soldiers they might be either Maltese or
foreigners. The French government gave permis^
" sion for recruiting parties to be stationed at Lyons
" and Marseilles, and the pope granted the same
*' liberty at Avignon."
Secondly, from the minutes of the council of state
it appears that from 1787 to 1794 the number of men
sent back to tbeir native countries, having completed
their time of service, averaged annually 66—a number
leaving no room for tbe conjecture that many Maltese
occupied the ranks of the regiment.
Thirdly, Ransijat says* that guards were posted at
St Julian's bay to prevent desertion from the Maltese
regiment. Such apprehended desertion could scarcely
have applied to Maltese soldiers serving in their native
country—or ( we may add ) elsewhere.
The conventual chaplains were mostly Maltese.
This body of priests, under the denomination of A»*
* See back page 15.
( 53 )
semblea, or assembly, was chiefly supported by the
rents of a special local foundation, aided by some other
foundations, also local, and by the treasury of the
Order. *
By particular concession also ( as otherwise a com-
mandery could only be conferred on a native of the
state in which it was situated ) six Maltese, whether
conventual chaplains or servants of arms, were eligible
to French commanderies ( one of which was destined
to the conventual priory ) and seven to others in Italy,
The number of Maltese admitted into the Italian
priories was formerly more considerable.
In regard to the funds accruing from local taxa¬
tion, there is every reason to believe that, after defraying
the grandmaster's establishment in his capacity of so¬
vereign, the chief benefit of them was enjoyed by the
native inhabitants.
The pecuniary advantage reaped by the Maltese
from the private expenditure of the knights residing
among them, must be considered greater in propor¬
tion to amount than would have accrued from any
other class of foreign residents. Though it is probable
that the occupants of the richer commanderies, which
were generally bestowed by seniority, were men ad¬
vanced in years, and lavishness in expense is not a fea¬
ture of old age ; yet as the knights were by their pro¬
fessional vow enjoined to celibacy, they would natu¬
rally, on finding themselves estranged from their fami-
* See p»gc 12.
( 54 )
lies after a long abode in Malta, form within their
reach new connexions and friendships, which would
become the objects of their liberality, and draw from
them those superfluities which the constitution of the
Order rendered it of small avail to lay by for a survi¬
vor, who could only inherit the fifth part of a deceased
knight's effects, *
, Reverting to the public expenditure of the Order,
it may be satisfactory to compare it with the disburse¬
ment made here in present times out of funds voted by
the British parliament.
In the time of the Order, the general treasury y
which may be said to answer to military chest, pro¬
vided for the military and naval charge, so far corres¬
ponding with the supplies now made by His Majesty's
treasury for carrying on similar services on this station.
It has already been shown -f- that the money laid
out within the place by the general treasury from the
foreign resources of the Order, on an average of ten
* Every knight atUched himself to some family, of which he became
the patron and friend. This connexion, indeed, (spumed by the nobility] was
not looked upon favourably by the more virtuous and rigid part of the inhabi¬
tants; but still it attached to the interest of the Order all the families where
they were admitted ; and though this wgs not strictly conformable to the rules
of the monastic life, yet the convent winked at it, and even encouraged it, for
the sake of the party thereby created in its favour ; and it must be confessed,
' notwithstanding what some travellers have related, more for the sake of mirth
or satire, than truth, that the utmost decency was preserved, and the most
slanderous could not condemn from any thing they had seen. I speak this
from personal observation, when I visited Malta more than once in former
times, and lived much with the knights, and with the Maltese, both noble and
bourgeois."—Eton's Materials for a History of Malta,
f Page 40.
( 55 )
years ending in 1788, could not have exceeded, if it
even amounted to 825,253 scudi, or £82,525.
From the jPirsi Report of the Commissioners of
Colonial Inquiry, 8th December 1830, it is collected
that the disbursement from the revenues of the United
Kingdom made within these islands for the service of
the land-force alone, including the commissariat and
ordnance' departments, but leaving out the Maltese
regiment ( the expense of which is refunded from the
local treasury ), amounted in round numbers to
£101,000.
Of this sum, it may be inferred from the same
Report, that about £ 7000 were expended in England ;
which will leave £94,000 for the local expense, being
in round numbers £11,000 more than were laid out in
the place from the treasury of the Order for all its
services.
To this excess of £11,000 must be added the ex¬
penses of the naval department in works of masonry,
in the repairs and supplies of ships of war, ánd in
payments on account of seamen's wages, all of which
have been very considerable of late years, though va¬
rying according to circumstances ; and it will probably
result that, for the lowest year, the expenditure of the
United Kingdom in these islands has exceeded by
about fifty per cent the corresponding public expense
of the Order.
By the same document it is seen that the works
and repairs of the ordnance and barrack departments
amounted in 1829 to no less a sum than £6390 : and.
( 56 )
if the extensive works of the naval department be
added, it must be evident that the Order cannot ap¬
proach a comparison with the British government on
the score of employment given to the industrious in¬
habitants, whose interests are no longer, as they were
then, opposed by the forced labour of slaves.
On one point the Order rises in the comparison,
which is by having borne the expense of the hospitals,
with other charitable or pious services, and of some
few native soldiers, charges which, under the British
government, are covered by the revenues of the place.
But then, on the other hand, it reserved to itself
the rents of various local foundations, which now go
in aid of the civil service of the island ; the balance of
comparison being so far in favor of the Order. *
Against the disbursements of the knights from
their personal incomes, are to be set the whole per¬
sonal expenditure of naval officers, -f" the portion of
expense arising from the private incomes of military
officers, and the excess of money spent beyond what
may have been the case formerly, in consequence of
* The muniñccnce of the knights, in their care of the sick, is outdone by
that of an humble, though wealthy citizen of London. In 1721, Mr Thomas
Guy, bookseller, founded in Southwark the hospital bearing his name, which
building was completed atan expense of £ 18,793, and be left to endow it the
prodigious sura of jS 219,499. (Pennant's Ltndon.) The interest of this capi¬
tal at 3 per cent computes to £ 10,975 : the two hospitals for the sick in
Malta cost the Order annually ( pages 10 and 11 note * ) 99,633 scudi, or
;e9%5.
t That of the seamen, originating from the military chest, comes into the
comparison of pulilic expenditure.
í 57 >
the greater affluence of strangers to the place, under
the extended connexions and superior protection now
enjoyed through British power and influence.
The last assumption may indeed admit of dispute,
as it is not deducible from data given in the foregoing
pages. In whatever light it may be viewed, it will
remain with the reader to form his own conclusion in
regard to the extent to which the island may have ob¬
tained compensation, since it has been annexed to the
British empire, for loss of the benefit which it de¬
rived from the incomes of the resident knights.
It is well known however, that of late years Bri¬
tish squadrons have continued at anchor in this port
during many successive months. The money laid out
in the place by the officers and seamen, and expended
in the supply of fresh provisions, is likely to amount
at such times for each ship of the line to between
£ 1000 and £2000 a month, exclusive of the charge
for repairs and the supply of stores. *
But, whatever may have been the effect, to
contest the superior protection enjoyed under the
present ruling power, can scarcely enter the imagi¬
nation of one accustomed to judge from the evidence
of his senses. Let him refer to a map of the island,
and he will perceive the population huddled together
• In saying (in page 55) that, for the lowest year the expenditure of
the United Kingdom in these islands has exceeded by about 6fty per cent the
corresponding public expense of the Order," it should have been added that of
late years it has been more than double that expense, in consequence of the
presence of a squadron.
I
( S8 )
within from half to two thirds of its surface, and
( where not bounded by precipitous heights or rug¬
ged shores ) shut in by lines or works of defence,
such as those at Marsascirocco, St Julian's, Nasciar and
elsewhere, works now become useless, although they
still continue to bound the generally inhabited part of
the island, through the force of habit and the situation
of the parish churches. This concentration was caused
by the insecurity of the people. In the days of the
Order, no inhabitant trusted himself to sleep on the
coast unsecured by walls of defence, as the solitary
mansions of Spinola and Selmun, buUt in those times
of sufficient strength to repel a sudden attack of cor¬
sairs, fully attest ; but, under British protection, the
marine villages of St Julian's and Sliema have sprung
up, where the inhabitants enjoy the sea-breeze without
dread of being dragged from their beds into slavery.
The truth is, that, without the protection of a
great maritime power, Malta must be constantly ex¬
posed to aggressions, which can only cease or become
mitigated in proportion as they reduce her to poverty
and leave her an object of no temptation. The island
is naturally barren, but by the exertions of an indus¬
trious population aided by a genial climate it has been
rendered highly productive, through the adequate pro¬
tection enjoyed during the last three centuries. That
it was flourishing under the Phoenicians, Greeks, Car¬
thaginians and Romans, the monumental remains
would prove, if the fact were not evident from the
maritime power of those nations combined with its
( 59 )
favorable position ; but dxiring the middle ages, under
the precarious sway of the Arabs, Normans and
Sicilians, the island fell to decay, and had not reco¬
vered in 1530, when it was given over by Charles V to
the knights, who found the place in a state of great
destitution. This fact appears from the report of the
commissioners who on that occasion were deputed by
the knights to visit Malta. Among other remarks
they observed ; " The island is continually exposed to
" the rapacity and devastation of infidel corsairs, who,
" without any dread of the castle, freely enter both
" ports, and very often reduce to slavery a great num-
" her of poor Maltese." The population has been es¬
timated* to have consisted at this time of about
25,000 souls in both islands, and to have increased
to about 100,000 during the following 268 years
of occupation by the Order. This advancement in
population, and consequently in wealth, could not
have proceeded, had it not been guarded by the mari¬
time power of the knights, furnished as it was by the
catholic, and respected by the protestant states of
Europe. Previously to their sway the two principal
harbours seem, by the extract just given, to have
facilitated invasion rather than alForded defence, and
an inner cove was selected for the sea-port ; but the
knights transferred their main position to the neglected
site on which Valletta now stands between the two
ports, which in time became no longer disproportioned
* Raoaijut Journal du Siige et Blocus de Malte, page 294.
( 60 )
to the extent of her commerce and public establish¬
ments.
Nevertheless, the protection of the Order, supe -
rior as it was to any thing previously enjoyed by the
Maltese, was not of a nature, through its continued
course of warfare with piratical states, to advance them
far as a maritime people. Notwithstanding the ad¬
vantageous position of the island, in the channel divi¬
ding the eastern from the western portion of the Me¬
diterranean, insecurity against depredators at sea ori¬
ginally forced the Maltese to become a rustic rather
than a maritime people. It is remarkable, even at the
present day, how much the rural prevails over the ma¬
ritime in the features of the place ; and equally so that
the Maltese should not compete, with the success that
might be expected, with others engaged in the carrying
trade of the Mediterranean, while they enjoy a pro¬
tection more efficient both at sea and on shore than
history records. Under the knights, the people felt
secure, considered as a single body, like a garrison
confidently sustaining a siege, whose killed, wounded
and captured are not of sufficient number to effect a
marked impression upon the general features of the
place ; but under the superior maritime power of
Great Britain, that security is felt by each individual
in his own person.
That there is still much room for improvement in
the condition of the lower classes here, and great
distress prevailing among them is too evident ; but
whatever may now be the extent of misery, it may be
( 61 )
confidently affirmed to be less than it was in the time
of the knights, if we merely consider the greater pro¬
portion of wheaten bread at present consumed within
both islands. During the last years of the Order, the
annual consumption of foreign wheat was about 43,000
salms or quarters by 100,000 inhabitants ; at present
it averages about 57,000 among 115,000 souls ;
giving for each individual 3.96 bushels now, against
3.44 formerly, exclusive of the consumption from the
native harvest, which cannot be less at the present
day. * As regards their future welfare let us hope
that, as the Maltese are an industrious people, who
for honesty, sobriety and other excellent qualities will
bear a comparison with any nation upon earth, means
may be devised for mitigating the distress which many
of them continue to suffer through poverty. The cha¬
ritable disposition of the wealthier classes of Maltese
is too well known to require being pointed out ; but
it may be remarked that an extensive field still remains
open to their benevolent exertion, by their uniting
for the formation of some well concerted plan adapted
* Raasijat, in bis Journal of the Si«ge of Malt», page 110, says that the
Unirersity was exclusiTely charged with the proWsion of wheat from abroad for
the consumption of these islands, which averaged annually 43,239 salms, be¬
sides the importations for account of the Order. The average supply during
the ten years ending with 1834, not including for the army and navy, and de¬
ducting about loOO salms for the prisons and charitable institutions to place
the comparison on a footing of equality with regard to the Order, is about
57,000 salms. In consequence of the greater demand for cotton formerly, the
Dative crop of wheat is supposed to he larger now than in the days of the Order,
a circumitancc which enhancci the comparison in favor of present times.
( 62 )
to improve permanently the condition of the lower
orders of their fellow-countrymen.
The researches in preparing this Memoir have
been too limited to admit of its being-stated, or even
surmised, whether any aids may ever have been af¬
forded out of the finances of the Order to the muni¬
cipal establishments of Malta : therefore only one side
of the comparison can be given on this point.
From a statement * which the writer has per¬
mission to make public from the documents of his
office, it is seen that between September 1800 and
December 1829 the civil services of these islands were
supplied out of the revenues of the United King¬
dom with no less an aid than the net amount of
:£ 668,666 Ts. 2d. sterling.
This capital has been consumed in the re-esta¬
blishment of the municipal grain institution, in the
sale of wheat to the public at moderate prices during
times of dearth, -J- in the construction of granaries.
* See the Appendix.
f How opposite to this course is the one recommended by the late Mr
Eton in his work on Malta, who provides for the maintenance of 5,000 British
troops out of a profit or taxation on the food of the Maltese people, thus—
" Revenue of the Università from wheat, wine, oil and meat, may be calcu*
lated communibta annis at JÊ 240,000. "
At a time when the system of the grain department is coming into notice,
it may not be ill-timed, as Mr Eton's work is scarce, to quote his opinion on
the subject.
*' Nothing excites the people to revolt, sooner than scarcity or badness of
" provisions. We see in Constantinople frequent instances of this truth, and
" the vizier who is negligent in this respect, certainly loses his head or his office.
" This mode of taxation " (through the monopoly of corn) *' the British
" government may continue ; and, without burihening the people, by meant
( 63 )
in the liberation of Maltese from slavery in the bagnio
at Constantinople, in a fruitless attempt to extend by
means of well-boats the range of the fisheries, in the
formation of public gardens at Floriana and the casais
for the purpose of extending horticultural improve¬
ment, in charitable dispensations to the inhabitants
during the plague of 1813 and 1814, in the withdrawal
of à copper coinage of mere conventional value intro-
" of better modes of supply, may carry this system much farther than the
" grandmasters bad in their power todo.
" Much has been said about a maximum. In France wc hare seen the
" bad effects produced by it, though if there were no other reasons against it
" no inference could be drawn from what happened there ; but it is not to my
« present purpose to argue the question upon general principles. 1 bare only
" to show what is the practice in Malta, and that experience bas confirmed its
" very great utility, whether this practice he, or he not, what is commonly
" meant by a maximum.
" While the price of corn, as has been already said, varied, great incon-
" venienre was felt by the common labouring people. If the price of prori-
" sions fell, they wurked less, or they fed better, or they drank more wine.
" The general effect was that they became idle and dissipated. When the
" price rose, they could not suddenly increase their industry, or adopt better
" modes of economy : great misery and discontent ensued. When the prices
" became stationary, they could proportion their means of earning and their
" mode of living to their expenses, which they could exactly ascertain. And it
" was found, that moderately high prices encouraged industry by perpetuating
" a habit of assiduity, first called into action by necessity. Too low prices
" produced the opposite effect.
" Therefore when wheat was purchased dear, as in some years of scarcity,
[ which ] with the confined means the Ui iversità possessed abroad, was
[ sometimes ] the case, it was always sold at the same price to the people in
" Malta: and the Università sustained often very heavy losses, which were
" made up by years of plenty.
" For some years to come I believe 72 shillings a quarter, or 36 scudi the
" salm, will be a price that may be maintained ; or even 40 scudi for wheat of
" the very best quality."
Materials for a l/ùtory tf Malta,
( 64 )
duced by the Order, and in supplying the deficiency of
means in other branches of civil service.
These remarks conclude the comparison between
the expenditure of the Order and that of tlie United
"Kingdom, as defrayed in Malta ; and it would be here
the place to introduce a similar comparison with refe¬
rence to the services borne by the revenues and taxa¬
tion of these islands at the respective epochs ; but
unfortunately the state of accounts for the mimicipal
branches of the former time is so obscure, and the
amount of direct fees taken by public functionaries so
difficult to estimate, that to attempt any methodical
comparison of the kind must be futile ; besides which
no trace has been obtained of many expenses which
must certainly have been incurred. As one example,
the repair of the roads in the country may be men¬
tioned, to meet which no more has been ascertained
than about 50 scudi in a tax on calesses. *
This confusion, or rather want of a general system,
continued under the English government until 1808,
when a degree of method first appears in the accounts,
which (with an interruption occasioned by the plague)
went on improving until October 1814. In that
month, the foundation of the present system of depart¬
mental accountability was laid ; and in 1824, the in¬
structions of His Majesty's treasury having placed a
seal upon the arrangement, a marked improvement
in the order of the accounts is to be found in those
for the subsequent years.
• Page 32.
( 65 )
Nevertheless, although a regular comparison
cannot be undertaken, some notice of the civil fi¬
nances of Malta under the British government may
be thought desirable ; and a concise view of them for
late years, derived from official documents, is therefore
here ( with permission ) offered.
During the 13 years, 1815 to 1827, the gross
revenue amounted to £1,325,850,* which, allowing
for drawbacks and for some receipts not strictly in¬
cludable as current income, may be considered to have
averaged net about £100,000 a year.
The five years following (1828 to 1832) will not
alter the general view of the mean annual income ;
the net amount for the last of which years is com¬
posed as follows.
Customs and port dues 10,511
Excise on wine and spirits 14,485
Grain department 35,346
Quarantine 7,762
Chief secretary's and dependent offices . 1,747
Land rents and taxes 27,102
Judicial departments 3,506
Interest of capital 171
Incidental 472
£ 101,102
For some time previously to 1832, the attention
of the government was given to a consideration of
• Printed Official Returns, Malta 1328.
K
( 66 )
the tariffs of duties, with a view to abolish or reduce
some taxes, to cömmute others, and to consolidate
distinct rates collected upon the same article by diffe¬
rent offices.
A memorandum which the writer finds among
his papers, drawn up in the year 1831, calls to his
recollection the motives which influenced the govern¬
ment in the re-modelling of the tariffs from the end
of the year 1832.
1. It was considered that the statistical circum¬
stances of the islands were of a peculiar description,
not to be viewed in relation to those of other coun¬
tries, most of which either possess the means of sub¬
sistence within themselves, or have had their popu-^
lation extended beyond such resources, by the natural
operation of commerce to a degree compensating the
deficiency of produce. Here however the case was
otherwise, the excess of population being much
greater than the commercial position would account
for, it having been caused by an extraordinary poli¬
tical arrangement * prevailing through centuries, but
which has now altogether ceased.
Within these islands, upon a surface of a hun¬
dred square miles, with a soil naturally barren,
120,000-f- souls are to be fed ; and for two-thirds of
* Namely, the destination of Malta for the conventual residence of the
knights of St John of Jerusalem.
f This number includes the troops and foreigners. The 115,000 souls
referred to in page (U, are the native population exclusive of the Msltese regi¬
ment, as taken from the census of October 1828.
( 67 )
their food they are dependent upon foreign supplies.
It is therefore evident that the first care of the go¬
vernment must he to extend the intercourse with
foreign countries, in order to aid the inhabitants in
procuring those means of subsistence which are denied
by their soil, but are offered by the favorable geogra¬
phical position of their island.
2. A great discouragement to vessels from taking
pratique here on their passage westward, existed in
the heavy rate of quarantine charges on shipping and
merchandise, aggravated by the double rate of dues
exacted in all cases for vessels coming from Greece
and the Turkish dominions. The establishment of
quarantine being for the safety of the people, the
expense of it should be charged upon them rather
than upon the trade ; * and the inhabitants would
suffer less from a taxation for the support of quaran¬
tine, than from the loss in the means of livelihood
which such dues might occasion by diminishing
foreign intercourse.
3. The port dues were collected under six distinct
heads, namely, anchorage and lighthouse, water, pilo¬
tage, hospital, ballast, and bill of health ; and it so
happened, as the consequence of a former special
• It is however a question rallier of policy than of justice, whether the
Maltese should hear the charge of quarantine for the convenience of Others ;
and indeed whether, in justice, they can be expected, if it would even be their
policy, to provide for the expense.of depurating goods on their passage from the
Levant to ports of Great Britain, a charge which may be commensurate with
the resources of the mother country, but scarcely with those of the colony.
( 68 )
arrangement, * that the hospital due fell exelusiveljr
on British shipping not belonging to the island ; for
the Maltese vessels were not deemed liable to it, and
foreign ships paid specially for their seamen sent to
the hospital, a charge by no means to be compared
with the due to which the British vessels were subject.
To remove both this grievance and the inconvenience
suffered by the multiplicity of calculations, it was
proposed to consolidate the dues into a simple rate on
tonnage, -f-
4. It was also thought desirable to favor the Mal¬
tese speronaras and other small vessels, which give a
large occupation of hands in proportion to tonnage, by
exempting them from all port dues beyond an insigni
ficant fee of clearance, and likewise to encourage ship¬
building, by the exemption of new vessels from the
dues for a given space of time ; and it appeared advisa¬
ble that certain petty operations, such as the taking on
board or landing a passenger with or without baggage,
the adjustment of papers, or the taking in a supply of
water, should not of themselves involve a vessel in the
payment of dues when otherwise not subject to them.
By the regulations then in force, officers were impeded
in their endeavours to join their regiments, and the
* Namely, the establishment by the British merchants of an hospital for
the seamen of British mercantile vessels, which was closed in 1822.
+ Mr Maculloch, in his Commercial Dictionary, article Malta, p. 781,
gives both the repealed six articles of port dues, and the substituted tonnage
due as co-existing. This shows how guarded authors ought to be in accepting
private information as a source for statistical compilation.
( 69 )
communication of intelligence from the surrounding
countries, which might be of great importance in a
political as well as commercial point of view, was
prevented, with a loss instead of gain to the revenue.
5. At this time a duty of three per cent existed on
the transfer of shipping, and another of three and a
third per cent on the transfer of immoveable property ;
besides a small due of ten grains in the hundred scudi
on maritime insurances. The first and last-mentioned
of these taxes seemed to demand repeal altogether,
and the other to require being reduced to two per
cent, as the original rate appeared onerous in itself,
though only contingently pressing on the agricultural
interests.
6. In regard to the tariffs of import, it was consi¬
dered that the trade having been relieved since 1824
from any duty on the transit of merchandise, where
the parties were willing to bond their goods in the
warehouses of government, the only source of taxation
on articles of import remained in the internal con¬
sumption of the place for the personal necessities and
luxuries of the inhabitants, or for their manufactures.
To tax heavily the latter ought to be out of all
question. The fairest branch is no doubt the luxu¬
ries ; but let it be considered how far the attempt to
derive any material amount of income from them, so
as to admit of the other branches being relieved,
would be available or expedient. Setting aside the
question of manufactured goods, to be separately
considered, it may be remarked that here the consu-
( 70 )
mers of foreign luxuries compared with the mass of
population limited. The distinction in the
ordinary food of the higher and middling classes, over
that of the people who earn or obtain a precarious
livelihood, consists in finer bread, more animal food,
better wine, and a greater use of sugar, coffee, spices
and other condiments. The best illustration of the
proportion is the qualities of wine imported, none
being made in the place.
In 1830 Pipes
Malaga, Lisbon, Port, Sherry, and Madeira 104 1
Wine in bottles, equal to about .... 52 /
Common wine 17,568
If the former number be made up to 250, it will
more than cover the better quality of Marsala included
with the common wine, as well as any quantity of
superior French wine which might have chanced to
come in cask ; so that the consumers of luxuries
were then in the proportion of about 250 to 17,000,
or 1 in 69, * consisting chiefly of the officers of the
army and navy, the British merchants and other resi¬
dents, and gentry on their travels sojourning in the
inns. All these classes will bear a moderate degree
of extraordinary taxation ; but as the total amount at
the highest possible rate would be small, care should
• In 1834—Duty collected on wine,
exceeding the value of 15 the pipe of 11 barrels,
at 8 shillings the barrel £202 16 10
below that value Cwhich includes all Marsala wine)
at Is. Sd. the barrel 13,512 13 7
( 71 )
be taken to restrain the tax within that limit where
its end would not be defeated by contraband, or neu¬
tralized by the expense of an establishment to prevent
illicit traffic. If a heavy duty were imposed on arti¬
cles of small bulk compared with value, there would
be no other way of preventing contraband than by
subjecting individuals coming on shore to a personal
search, so very limited is the consumption of such
articles in Malta.
It must be admitted that there is scarcely a fairer
object of taxation than some foreign superfluities in
which the wealthier classes indulge, such as articles of
fashion, luxury and furniture ; but local causes render
it inexpedient that any increase of revenue should
be looked for from this source. The shopkeepers
depend in a great measure upon the passing strangers
who buy single articles on their way to other coun¬
tries. If a heavy duty were imposed upon the interior
consumption of such goods, the dealers could not
afford to expose them in shops at prices sufficiently
low to tempt strangers to acquire them as bargains,
and thus the retail transit trade in foreign manufac¬
tures would be lost to the island ; for if the articles
were retailed from the bonding warehouses, the trouble
occasioned to the purchaser for the security of the
revenue would seldom be compensated to him by the
saving in price.
Hence it "would seem that the only sources of
taxation on the importation of merchandise, from
which a competent amount of income can in any way
( 72 )
be derived here, are articles of bulk of a general con¬
sumption ; but a great difficulty attends the selection
of goods of even this class. The manufacture of
cigars gives employment to numbers of the inhabi¬
tants, particularly females, inasmuch as the cheapness
of the article, from the low duty here and heavy taxes
elsewhere on tobacco, is a great inducement to the
crews and passengers touching at this port to provide
themselves with as large a stock of cigars as they can
manage to consume on their voyage, or dispose of
abroad without payment of duty. Tobacco therefore
cannot be highly taxed without throwing many poor
people out of employ : and mercantile objections,
whatever they may be, have been started against any
increase in the duty on sugar and some other articles
of colonial produce.
In rating any articles of general consumption
against which no objection may exist, the poorer
classes ought to be considered in every possible case ;
but it should be borne in mind that taxation can only
in the end fall upon property, and that it is better for
the poor to receive employment during six days of the
week, their food being subject to a moderate impost,
than to lose one day of such employment with their
provisions untaxed. Besides, demand for labour
must always enhance its value ; and the best way to
promote occupation and industry in Malta is by giving
every possible facility to commercial operations, an
end that would be defeated by the transfer of any
burthen from the consumption to the trade.
( 73 )
The consideration of these circumstances, the
desire of facilitating by a consolidation of rates mer¬
cantile business in the payment of duties, the unfitness
of Egyptian wheat to serve any longer as a standard
to regulate the grain duties (owing to the export of
corn from Egypt having discontinued), the desire of
reducing expense to the trade in the bonding of corn,
and farther views for the encouragement of vessels
navigating under the British flag, are the motives
which (as the writer believes) have governed the ma¬
terial alterations made in various of the tariffs of this
colony since the end of the year 1832, in so far as it
may have been deemed expedient to relinquish any
portion of the public income.
The net * annual income of the two succeeding
years is as follows—
1833
1834
Customs and tonnage dues . . .
. 11,283
£ 13,324
Excise on wine and spirits ....
16,107
16,751
Grain department
37,314
37,898
Quarantine
4,«12
3,718
Chief secretary's and dependent offices
1,954
1,965
Land rents and taxes
. 25,827
26,571
Judicial departments
3,363
3,306
Interest of capital . . . . .. .
t 376
376
Incidental
1,274
132
£ 101,710
£ 104,041
* Namely, after deducting returns,
t In 1833 the balance of the interest account happened to be on the side of
expenditure ; the net amount for the two years has therefore been equally divi¬
ded in the above statement.
L
( 74 )
For the detail of measures adopted since 1832, a
reference may be made to the public enactments, by
which it will be seen that in 1835 farther reductions
in the taxes were thought advisable. Accordingly, in
the spring of that year, import duty was entirely re¬
moved from about sixty of the enumerated articles
besides all those not specifically mentioned in the
tariíF of customs, the quarantine dues were materially
diminished, the taxes on licences to keep carts and on
many of those for keeping shops in the country were
repealed, and the dues receivable from foreigners on
permits of residence, with the fee on personal bills of
health, were much reduced in rate.
The net revenue of the year 1835^ which was
governed by successive tariffs in regard to the taxes
just noticed, was as follows—
Customs and tonnage dues
consolidating the
Excise on wine and spirits J
Grain department
Quarantine
Chief secretary's and dependent offices. .
1,945
Land rents and taxes
Judicial departments
Interest of capital
787
Incidental
£ 95,558
Such being the receipts of the revenue for last
year, a brief statement of the expenditure out of those
( 75 )
funds ¡s here given, wherein the disbursements of the
agent in London are embodied with those of the co¬
lonial treasury—
Expenditure of the Year 1835.
Governor's establishment ( including that of
the Lieutenant Governor of Gozo ). . £ 6,742
Chief secretary's and dependent offices. . . 5,626
Treasurer's office J,8I3
Audit office 861
Customs 1,624
Quarantine 5,313
«I
Marine police 4,074
Land rents and taxes 2,643
Public works and repairs . . . . . . . 9,315
Judicial departments 15,002
Majrkets 752
Grain department {branch of collection) . . 1,544
Charitable institutions 15,098
University and lyceuni 1,008
Government library 239
Pensions—civil and military 10,148
Burthens 3,592
Commission for revising the laws of Malta
( including arrears ) 964
Unclassed services 281
Colonial agent-general in London . . . . 225
£ 86,864
This sum, deducted from the income of £ 95,558,
leaves a surplus of £8694; hut £2210 of the expen¬
diture having been defrayed out of the surplus of
previous years, in works for the improvement of the
lazaretto and the great harbour, and the remittance to
( 76 )
the agent in London having been £ 180 short of his
disbursenients, the declared available surplus for the
year was £11,084—out of which sum £ 11,000 were
paid into the military chest on account of the Maltese
regiment.
As a more extended and analytical view of the
revenues collected under existing tariffs, or otherwise
at present derived by the colonial treasury, may he
desirable, the following statement is offered for the
year ending on the 24th June last, which cannot have
been much if at all affected by the rates of former
tariffs.
A Statement * of the Income of Malta and Gozo
for the year ended '¡¿Ath June 1836.
I. Maritime Duties and Dues,
Import duties ( the payment of
which is avoided when the
goods are re-exported after
having been lodged in the
bonding warehouses of go¬
vernment) on
Wheat and other kinds of
bread-corn, whether in
grain or manufactured,
£33,680 gross, £565
returned 33,115
Wine and spirits 16,502
gross, £20 returned . . 16,482
* In this snd previous statements, the fractions of a pound sterling have
heen got rid of, by either omission or being made up to that integer.
( 77 )
5,413
'2,956
—— 57,960
Tonnage dues on shipping, including coun¬
tervailing duties 3,225
Fees of the
Customs. ...... 197
Grain department. ... 1
Chief secretary's office on
maritime papers . . . 544
^ 742
Postage of ship-letters inwards, £ 592
grofs, £9\ returned, £85 charges abroad. 416
3662,349
II. Interior Taxes, Duties and Dues.
Transfer duty on immoveable property,
£ 902 gross, £ 67 returned 835
Duty on sales by public auction .... 133
Fees on miscellaneous licences .... 1,998
Fees of the chief secretary's office on civil
documents 68
Fees on stamping weights and measures . 17
Fees on medical diplomas and patents . . 17
3,068
III. Judicial Dues.
Fees of the
Superior courts of law ; I ^ ^ . 2,009
Other goods, £6,419 gross,
£ 1006 returned .
Additional on certain articles
of bulk, when imported
(under circumstances not
excepted) by foreign ves¬
sels, namely, on
Grain and its produce 1,571 •
Other merchandise . 1,385
( 78 )
Inferior courts and the respective
branches of police 810
Chief secretary's office, from the pub¬
lic registry of contracts .... 106
2,925
IV. Quarantine Dues—on
Shipping 1>637
Effects 1,135
Persons 264
Documents 140
3,176
Totae from Taxation. . . . a671,518
V. Landed Rents.
Rent of buildings and lands on temporary
lease * 23,432
Perpetual and redeemable annuities. . . 564
Unclassed rents and annuities of an old date 95
Miscellaneous dues and fees 77
Store-rent of imported goods lodged in
bond in the
Warehouses of the customs 388
Granaries 79
Powder magazine. ... 59
526
24,694
VI. Miscellaneous and Casual.
Printing work done for individuals and
sale of publications 262
Sale of and advertisements in the Malta
Government Gazette 364
Judicial fines and forfeitures of every des¬
cription t . 250
* Subject to permanent burthens and the expense ol repairs,
t Subject to the shares of informers.
C 79 )
Sale of waste ground
24
Occasional reimbursement for patients and
inmates of the charitable institutions .
o
94
4
32
Money restored at confession
Sale of unserviceable stores
Interest of capital advanced for the grain
concern, £ 1403, deducting £ 626 paid
for interest of borrowed capital. . . .
777
1.807
TOTAL . ¿698,019
A few remarks may here be oflfered in place of a
regular comparison, against which it has already been
stated that many difficulties concur, between the taxes
embraced by the foregoing statement and those levied
during the last years of the grandmasters.
No direct tax existed at that period upon grain,
which was imported through a monopoly administered
by an establishment called the University of Valletta ;
but tbe selling price of wheat to the inhabitants having
been pertinaciously retained at the very low rate of
24 scudi the quarter, during many years ending in
1793, oceasioned a deficiency of funds, which was
made good by money borrowed beyond the value of
the stock of corn reserved in the granaries. The in¬
terest of this excess of capital naturally fell upon the
cost of bread in subsequent years, when the retailing
price of wheat was raised to 29 f scudi the quarter,
at which it continued until the arrival of the French
in 1798. Whether any farther indirect tax fell upon
the price of bread through mismanagement is not here
( 80 )
made the question. It is merely stated as a certainty
that, whatever the cause, the price of foreign wheat
to the inhabitants was then 29f scudi, or about
58i. 8d. * the quarter, and that since the adoption of
the new graduated tariff, in December 1832, the mean
price of imported wheat, including the duty, is to be
found somewhere between 36 and 45 shillings the
quarter, these two limits not having yet been sur¬
passed.
The duty on common wine was formerly 10 scudi
or 20 shillings the butt : it is now 1ä. 8d. the Maltese
barrel, or 36s. 8d. the butt. That on spirits was forr
rnerly included with the collections of the custom¬
house.
Other merchandise was generally subject in the
time of the Order to an ad valorevi duty, levied by the
department of customs. This consisted of 3í per
cent on imports, 3t per cent on exports, and 3 per cent
more in either case when the goods were for account
of a foreign interest, Sicilians being considered on the
footing of Maltese. One per cent was charged on the
immediate transit of goods, whether by the same vessel
or by transhipment ; but when the transit was pro-
* All coucurreni testimony places the value of the Maltese scudo in the
latter years of the Order at 48 French sous, or about 2 shillings—Sec Note t
in page 42.
t The duty on the graduated scale, since the 24th December 1832,|has
been sometimes 10 and sometimes 11 sbillings a salm, or quarter, and never
otherwise; necessarily implying that the mean prices of foreign wheat, without
the duty, have ranged " above 23 shillings and not exceeding 35 shilliogs.'i
The exact mean average price for any given space of time may be readily calcu¬
lated from the monthly official publications in the Government Gazette.
( 81 )
tracted, the transaction, as no bonding system existed,
was attended with a charge of 6f, 9f or 12f per cent,
being the respective amounts of import and export
duty, accordingly as the interest happened to be native
or foreign, wholly or in part. The export duty was
also exacted on ships' stores, furniture, or rigging,
taken on board.
The custom-house tariff of the present day is li¬
mited to manufactured goods at one per cent for Bri¬
tish and two per cent for foreign articles, to pulse
partly at eight pence the quarter and partly at three
pence the quintal, and to twenty-two other articles
therein enumerated at very moderate rates ; besides
additional duties on some articles when of foreign
origin, and on others when imported by foreign ves¬
sels, all of which duties are avoided when the goods are
re-shipped from the bonding warehouses of govern¬
ment. No duty whatever is levied upon merchandise
exported, nor is any manifestation of exports required.*
That the amount of receipts since the time of the Or¬
der should not have declined in proportion to the rate,
is a sure test of increased local wealth.
The tonnage and countervailing duties of the ex ¬
isting tariff must be set against the fees derived by public
functionaries under the former government, and against
a portion of the additional rate of import and export
duty then exacted generally on merchandise of foreign
interest, but now limited to certain articles of bulk.
* Except ia the case oí British coals, uoder the regulations of the customs
of the Uaited Riogdom.
M
( 82 )
The duty on transfers of immoveable property
consisted formerly of 3j per cent. It is now at two
per cent. The petty custom, the duty on maritime
insurances, and the stamp duty on bread have alto¬
gether ceased.
It is probable that many interior taxes in the time
of the grandmasters went in aid of the judicial and
police establishments, and were paid into the fiscal
chest together with the court-fees levied ; for, consi¬
dering the number of charges which these establish¬
ments had to defray, it is hard to believe that they
were covered l)y a sum equivalent to the amount of
judicial dues now paid into the treasury, added to the
fees collected for the court-registries, which still con¬
tinue to be accounted for separately from the branches
of general revenue.
Nor can it be supposed that the expenses of the
i|uarantine department were covered by the small siun
of £\25* defrayed from the treasury of the Order.
Sanitary guards were as necessary then as they are
now, and the wages of these persons in 1835 amounted
to about a£2000. The department must therefore,
with the small exception noticed, have been supported
by direct fees levied from the public.
It may also be observed that the streets and roads
could not have been maintained without a conside¬
rable expense. As regards the streets of Valletta, it
has already been shown that the inhabitants were
* Page 11.
■f Page 16.
( 83 )
required to contribute their share of the charge ; but
for the maintenance of the roads in the country no
trace has been found. If the work were done without
pecuniary expense by means of forced labour, it may be
remarked that this is a taxation of tlie most onerous
kind when imposed upon an industrious peasantry.
Whatever the expense on this account may then have
been, it amounted in 1835 for streets and roads to
£1551.
And it should be borne in mind that no direct or
separate taxes exist in Malta, such as parish or town
dues, poor-rates, turnpikes, or other tolls ; but that all
services whether general or municipal are provided for
out of the public revenues. In alleging this, the ex¬
penses of the court registries are considered out of the
question. These have a separate chest, from which
the salaries of the registrars and inferior court officers
with some other expenses are defrayed.
But when it is considered how much of the exac¬
tions from the public in former times must have gone
directly to the collecting functionaries, without being
accounted for in any public document, and how succes-
fully this system, so open to objection, has been put
down under the British government, it will be deemed
useless to continue the comparison in regard to the
taxation of the respective epochs. Enough, it is
trusted, has already been adduced in these pages to
satisfy any enquirer into the merits of the subject,
that Malta has lost nothing in point of wealth and
prosperity, and consequently happiness, in having
( 84 )
ceased to be the conventual residence of the knights
of St John of Jerusalem.
THE END.
APPENDIX
A Statement of the. Aid afforded to the Civil Service of Malta from
September 1800 to December 1829 by the Lords Commissioners of
His Majesty's Treasury, referred to in page 62.
Sterling
£ s. d.
1. Value of BOOO Sicilian ounces furnished in September
1800, through the Hon. Arthur Paget, minister at
Palermo 4,444 8 10
2. Amount of a bill drawn in Norember 1800, bjr Sir
Alex. John Ball on the Hon. Arthur Paget at Paler¬
mo, who reimbursed himself by means of his own
bills-drawn on their Lordships ........ 2,571 15 0
3. Value of 40,000 Sicilian ounces furnished in 1801
throirgh commissary-general Motz 25,417 14 5
4. As much of the ralue of corn purchased in Greece in
the years 1800 and 1801, through the agency of Mr
John Tyson, as was discharged by his bills drawn on
their Lordships . . . . • • • 39,954 12^ 10
5. Amount of bills drawn on their Lordships by Sir
Alex. John Ball, in 1800 and 1801 . - 20,634 11 4
6. Amount of bills drawn on their Lordships by Charles
Cameron Esq. in 1801 and 1802 22,185 *16 8
7.'As much of the value of com purchased in Turkey
through the intervention of the Earl of Elgin, in the
years 1800, 1801 and 1802, as was settled for in his
account with their Lordships . ' 27,561 16 .1
8. Expenses incurred at Constantinople in 1802 by the
Earl of Elgin for the redemption of Maltese from
slavery, and charged by him in account with their
Lordships 3,783 14 3
9. Value of 32,000 ounces of silver, retained by the Go¬
vernment of Malta in 1SU5, out of a larger sum re¬
ceived from England by His Majesty's ships Aurora,
Renommée, and Aimable 8,400 0 0
10. Value of 200,000 Spanish dollars received by the said
Government in 1807, from on board H, M. Ship
Thames 46,666 13 4
11. Amount of bills drawn on their Lordships by and un¬
der the authority of Sir Alex. John Ball, during his
( ii )
.„.jieçDnd adiuiuistratioD, from 1602 ta bis death in
■'•'^809. 225,273 1 i
12. Net amount dcrieed from fees received on licences to
trade with enemies* ports, commenciog in 1808, and ^
ending at the peace in 1814, which funds, though a
perquisite of the British tr.-asnry, as bearing the
charge of the war, were applied in aid of the civil
service of Malta 37,910 3 7
13. Amount of money received over from ihe-military
chest during the. year ending 30th September 1814 . 172,750 ' 0 0
14. Surplus remaining in 1824 from ;€I8,000 granted by
their Lord.ships in 1811, to indemnify those indivi¬
duals whose property was destroyed by the explo¬
sion of a powder magazine iu 1806 2,090 4 I Of
15. Amount of money furnished by (heir Lordships to the .
Agent in London from the 1st January 1815 to the
3Ist December 1829 297,230 8 0
fê. Amount of money received from the military chest,
in 1827, to enable the yithdrawiog from circulation
the copper coinage left by the government of the
¿ Order. 16,610 12 Uf
953,485 13 3
, Deduct Compensatians.
Repaid to the military chest in 1S16,
in part of the money received during
the year ending 30th September 1814. 16,875 0 0
Furnished in 1K22 to the mission for
-exploring Central Africa. . . > , 629 3 4
Charges incuqed in 1827 and 1828, on
forwarding presents of animals to and ...
from England and Egypt rctiiprocally. ■ 337 0 I
Repaid by the Agent in London,'in-
part of the advances made to-faim-by
their Lordships to the end oftbeyeàr'
fl829 47,785 -0. 0
'Fmd into the military chest in farther ■ •
compensation of such advances made ^ ^ '
to the Agent in London , ^ '-.'219,193 2 '
284,819 6 1
Net Advance to the^Ciyil Serrice'of Malta . ■ 668,666 7 2
lllllllllllílilÍlililB
5556 009 285 71
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