Introduction

Abstract

In December 1779, mounting taxes, economic distress, and lack of success in the War of American Independence unleashed a political and popular movement in Britain called ‘economical reform.’ The movement for economical reform began as a political struggle in Parliament between the Crown and the Opposition. The initial objective of the Opposition was to reduce the influence of the Crown — the honors, patronage, contracts, and other benefits used by the King and his ministers to strengthen their political support in Parliament and in elections. The Opposition was supported by a powerful surge of public opinion. In midcourse, economical reform shifted to an emphasis on better management of the finances — improved collection of the revenue, recovering balances held by offices of tax collection and expenditure, reform of accounts and audit, abolition of sinecures and fees, and establishment of a systematic process of debt reduction. The investigations and reforms of the 1780s were the crucial first step in the long-term reform of the administrative structure.