William Pitt and Economical Reform, 1783–92

Abstract

As the heir of Burke, Cavendish, Shelburne, and the Commissioners for Public Accounts, Pitt was committed to administrative reform, although it created political difficulties that he was reluctant to face. He depended on a King who was averse to almost all change, a body of courtiers who deferred to the King, office holders looking to preserve their incomes, perks, and casual approach toward their duties, and country gentlemen who were uninterested in such matters. He would have to deal with an inveterate Opposition that would pick at everything he proposed and aggravate every sore spot. As he had discovered when he presented his Custom House Bill in 1783, the fiscal-military state had spread its tentacles throughout the country, and reform, however necessary or well conceived, could arouse resistance in unexpected places.