When twenty-four-year-old William Pitt the Younger had just become Prime Minister and faced the enormous national debt left behind by the Seven Years' War, he had been like many young men—completely ignorant of the interests involved.
His initial proposal had been to tax raw materials, especially dyed cotton and linen. Manufacturers would have to obtain new licenses and provide detailed information about their raw materials; if they fell behind on taxes, their machinery would be confiscated, and so on.
The cotton interest groups were shocked by this "preposterous tax" and called on other industries for support. An enraged Boulton roared at the mine owners who supported William Pitt the Younger, "Base taxes on luxuries, vices, or even property if you like—not on the means of acquiring wealth. Never try to cut open the goose that lays the golden eggs."
When doomsday came, children were often the first to be eliminated. Anyone who had seen lions hunt knew that their prey was generally the old, weak, sick, disabled, young calves, and young zebras. Zebra foals had to learn to run the moment they were born, or they would be eaten.
Animals that acted alone hid their young, while herd animals possessed a certain degree of organization. Young bulls in a herd would drive lions away and keep the cows and calves in relatively safe places.
Yet orphans who had lost their parents were not included in this. Even when it was not doomsday, they were either sent by the parish officials running orphanages to factories as "apprentices," or perhaps "leased out" to magicians to assist with "performances." Who knew what might happen to these children without parental protection when that day truly came?
Not every young animal in the animal kingdom grew to adulthood. Disease, accidents, and countless other things—high mortality