neous discussion, the several votes on the Estimates were agreed to, as was a subsequent vote of 5,181,4651. for the transport service; the sum voted the previous year having been 3,582,4741. Of this, 5,071,0321. was for "transport service," and 100,000l. for Russian prisoners. The sum put down for freight of ships on monthly pay was 4,206,6977.

On the 19th of the same month the Army Estimates were moved by Mr. F. Peel, who prefaced the details of the Estimates by remarking that they differed from the Estimates of the current year —first, in the increased number of men, namely, 178,645 (exclusive of the troops in India, of the foreign corps, and the embodied militia), which exceeded the vote of last year by 35,869 men; secondly, in the large augmentation of many of the services heretofore included in the Estimates, and in the creation of new departments, such as the Land Transport Corps. He then stated the manner in which the increase was distributed over the entire army, and explained the various items. The charge for the effective land forces was 7,353,000l. -an excess over the charge of last year of 2,630,000l. The charge for the embodied militia was 3,813,000l. The total amount for effective and non-effective services was 13,721,000l., being an increase of 6,553,6721. upon the Estimates of the current year. The total strength of the army for the coming year, exclusive of artillery, engineers, and the troops in India, was 193,595 of all ranks, of which number 14,950 would consist of foreigners.

On the 5th of March, Mr. Monsell moved the Ordnance Estimates. After premising that they

were large beyond precedent, he proceeded to explain the several votes. The entire vote was for 7,808,842l., in which was included 640,7601. for hospital and barrack furniture, 2,792,3841. for ordnance stores, and 1,387,500l. for works and repairs at home and abroad.

On the first item, 1,406,8831. for Commissariat and barrack supplies, &c., Mr. Muntz moved as an amendment that it should be reduced by 15,000l. This amendment was negatived by 170 to 34. On the vote of 2,792,3841. for ordnance stores for the land and sea services, Mr. Muntz moved that it should be reduced by 40,000l., the amount of the charge for the small-arms factory at Enfield. This was negatived by 110 to 24.

The Commissariat Service Estimates were brought forward by Mr. F. Peel on the 12th of March. They comprised a gross amount of 2,400,000l., or four times the amount of the preceding year. After a considerable discussion, they were agreed to.

In addition to these votes, Supplemental Estimates were introduced on the 31st of July by Sir C. Wood. They amounted to 1,141,1687. for the Navy, and the sum of 1,584,8031. for the transport service beyond the sums already voted. In the course of his explanation of these votes, he stated that the sum of 526,000l. was required for the purpose of constructing gun-boats and their machinery.

Mr. Peel also, on the 2nd of August, moved a supplementary vote of 2,568,3351. for the Commissariat Department. He explained that the original estimate was for 2,400,000l., of which sum

600,000l. was for the Commissariat in the Colonies; 600,000l. for the Army and Militia at home; and 1,200,000l. for the Army in the East. But estimating the expenditure for the year by that of May and June, it was found that 3,768,3351. would be required for the Army in the East, of which 1,200,000l. had been voted.

On the same day Mr. Monsell proposed a vote of 70,7161. for the expenses of the Ordnance Office, and explained, in some detail, the changes which had been made in that establishment-the transfer of the control of the Artillery and Engineers to the Commander-inChief, and the placing of the Civil Department under the Minister of War. He enumerated the heads of the six departments-the Director-General of Artillery, the Inspector of Fortifications, the Director-General of Contracts, the Director-General of Clothing, the Director-General of Stores, and the Accountant-General, and he gave a sketch of the duties of each in ordinary matters they acted upon their own authority; but in matters of importance received directions from the Minister of War, or his executive officer, the chief of the civil staff of the War Department.

After comments by various Members, and a good deal of desultory conversation, the several votes were agreed to.

On the 20th of April the House of Commons sitting as a Committee of Ways and Means, the Chancellor of the Exchequer introduced the budget. He began by apologising for the delay in its introduction, assigning as a reason the embarrassment occasioned by ministerial modifications, his own recent appointment, and the hopes

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which had been entertained of some satisfactory result from the Vienna negotiations. He then proceeded to state the past and estimate the future position of the national exchequer. In the last year Mr. Gladstone, he said, had, by exercising a sort of financial second sight, estimated the produce of taxes at 59,496,000l. their actual produce was 59,496,1547. But the total revenue for that year was 66,621,6677.; the expenditure, 65,692,962.; giving a surplus of 928,7057. A portion, not less than 5,020,000l., of the new taxes remained uncollected in April; but had they come in there would have been a gain of 1,000,000l. on the revenue from taxes last year. estimating the expenditure of the current year, he put down 27,974,000l. for the Funded and Unfunded Debt, including the new loan; other charges on the Consolidated Fund, 1,750,000l.; Army, 16,214,4771., Navy, 16,653,0427.; Ordnance, 7,808,0421.; vote of credit in aid of military services, 3,000,000l. ; Civil Service, 6,500,0001. ; Sardinian Loan, 1,000,000.; total, 80,899,5617. In justification of this high estimate, he showed that the charge for the Army, Navy, and Ordnance had increased from 16,487,000l. in 1853-54 to 30,121,000l. in the last year; and also that the charges had continued to increase in the current year. In estimating the income for the year 1855, he set down the Customs at 20,500,000%.; Excise at 17,071,000l.; Stamps, including 480,000l. for newspaperstamps, 7,295,000l.; Land and Assessed Taxes, 2,920,000l.; Property and Income-tax, 13,535,000l.; Post Office, 1,438,000l., including 288,000l. for newspaper postage; Crown Lands, 260,000l.; Mis

cellaneous, 63,339,000l.

800,000l. ; total, The estimated expenditure, including 1,000,000l. for Ways and Means Bill to replace the sale of savings-bank stock, and a margin of 4,440,000l., would be 86,339,000l.; and there would therefore be a deficiency of 23,000,000l. How must that be met? Alluding to the objections that had been urged against the principle of a national loan, and citing the authority of Mr. Hume on that point, the Chancellor of the Exchequer declared that it was not always possible, or, if possible, not expedient, to raise the whole annual expenditure of the country by taxes levied within the year. The encroachment upon the savings of industry caused by exorbitant taxation, was more injurious under certain circumstances than the abstraction of capital by a loan. The Government had accordingly resolved to supply some portion of the deficiency in the revenue by borrowing money. After recapitulating the incidents which had accompanied the gradual increase of the national debt, and stating that since the peace of 1815, and up to the 1st of January last, the capital of the debt had been diminished by 64,000,000l., viz. from 815,000,000l. to 751,000,000l., the Chancellor of the Exchequer described the various forms in which successive loans had been contracted, and the contrivances that had been adopted with the view, as it was hoped, of providing for a gradual diminution and ultimate extinction of the liability incurred. Among these devices was the sinking fund, which he characterised as a delusion, and the system of terminable annuities, which presented many abstract advantages, but was subject to some VOL. XCVII.

practical inconveniences, and could not be employed to any great extent, owing to the unmarketable character of the securities so created. Admitting that the Government would have preferred a loan on the present occasion in that description of stock, he remarked that it had been impracticable to raise all the money required upon any reasonable terms by terminable annuities, and, accordingly, the great bulk of the loan which had been that day effected was contracted in a permanent three per cent. stock. It was, however, intended to insert a provision in the Bill sanctioning the transaction by which the Minister of the day would be held bound, within a year of the conclusion of peace, to provide a sum of 1,000,000l. per annum for the purpose of gradually extinguishing the new debt incurred. Sixteen millions would be thus raised by borrowing. But, in addition to the loan, taxation must be increased by 5,300,000l. Towards that object, it was proposed to increase the existing duty on sugar by 3s. the hundredweight-estimated to produce 1,200,000l. This would not raise the price to the consumer beyond one shilling higher than it was in 1854-the price would still be 10s. 5d. less than it was in 1846. An increase of the duty on coffee of 1d. per pound-from 3d. to 4d. per pound-would produce 150,000l. An increase of 3d. on the tea duty-from 18. 6d. to 1s. 9d.

would produce 750,000l. Increase on the whole Customs revenue, 2,100,000l. Stamp duties to remain untouched, with one exception: bankers' cheques, drawn within fifteen miles of the place where they were payable, would no longer be exempt from duty, but would be liable to 1d.,—which [N]

would yield 200,000l. to the revenue. In the Excise it was proposed to equalise the duties on English and Scotch spirits, raising the latter from 68. to 7s. 10d. ; not to equalise the duty on Irish spirits with them, but to increase that duty from 48. to 6s. per gallon. This change would not encourage illicit distillation, and would bring in 1,000,000l. of revenue. These augmentations would supply 3,300,000l. by indirect taxes; leav ing 2,000,000l. to be supplied by direct taxes. Government had come to the conclusion that the best form of direct taxation was the income tax; and, therefore, it was proposed to raise the 2,000,0001. by adding one per cent., or 2d. in the pound, to the 14d., which was the present rate. He also proposed to take power to issue 3,000,0001. Exchequer bills. The Ways and Means for the year 1855-6 would, therefore, be as follows: Income from existing taxes, 63,339,000l.; loan, 16,000,000l.; new taxes to be received in the year, 4,000,000l.; Exchequer bills, 9,000,000l.; total, 86,339,000l. After reading details showing the expansion of our trade, and insist ing that the great mass of wealth in the country could well bear this increased charge, while its resources remained unimpaired, Sir C. Lewis stated shortly the terms of the loan which had been contracted that morning namely, that the Government had obtained 1007. money for every 100l. three per cent. Consols, the lender of each 1001. receiving an annuity of 14s. 6d., terminable at the end of thirty years. He had every reason, he said, to believe that these terms were fair between the contractors and the Government, and that the public would be satisfied with the

arrangement; and he concluded by moving certain resolutions.

A desultory debate then ensued, in the course of which Mr. Laing objected that the loan was neither one thing nor the other: that it would have been practicable to obtain the whole loan in some terminable form, and that the prospective sinking fund would share the fate of all similar experiments. He was of opinion, that by creating a new three-and-a-half per cent. stock, and by opening the loan to the public, the Government might have obtained more favourable terms. A nine or ten per cent. income tax, he contended, would have given all the revenue required.

Mr. Gladstone discerned difficulties in raising the income tax to ten per cent., though that would have to be done if the war continued, and then it must be extended below the 100l. income. He admitted the necessity of resorting to a loan, though he had still the same objections to public loans as when he was in office. He had borrowed money, but only in anticipation of taxes; and the taxes imposed last year would come within a million of the whole of that borrowed money. He might have been glad if the financial statement could have been deferred until after the conclusion of negotiations at Vienna, since the result there might affect the amount of expenditure required. Rather than interfere with the course pursued by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he was prepared to face the financial disadvantage of taking a loan at that moment; but he reserved absolute freedom of judgment on the negotiations, and on the changed relations to the other Powers of Europe, which seemed to be probable.