Commons. Such a resolution is not a law, which requires the assent and consent of King, Lords, and Commons in every case. In 1909 duties like that on tea, a tax on incomes, and other proposals of the Budget had received the sanction of the House of Commons, both by resolution and in the Finance Bill, but the rejection of that Bill by the Lords rendered invalid the collection of certain revenue already The Appropriation Act, however, empowered the Treasury to borrow up to the amount voted as supply and mentioned in the Act, and this borrowing accordingly took place, while the revenue for the financial year proved short eventually by £26,248,000. This would be made up. In the autumn it was apparent that the arrears of revenue of 1909-10 had been secured by the Treasury. On the whole the

collected.

conclusion was that the year 1909-10 would show a balance of income of £2,962,000.

The backward state of the revenue for 1909-10 postponed the initiation of the land duties, and especially of the valuation of all land which is required by the Finance Act, 1909-10. During the summer of 1910, however, the Inland Revenue Department (now engaged in the collection of direct taxes only) was busily serving all known owners of property with forms containing questions respecting land in their possession or occupation. This was a preliminary to valuation, and Form IV., with the accompanying instructions, became famous during the early autumn because of the asserted difficulty of supplying the replies or the expense of doing so.

The Finance Bill, 1910-11, was brought in on July 25th, but the Budget statement was made on June 30th. Some remarkable figures will be found in it, though no changes of any kind were proposed in taxation. The consumption of spirits was enormously reduced, in part owing to the increase of 3s. 9d. per gallon imposed in the previous year, but in part only due to that cause, as a diminution had been apparent for to years. Still, as forestalments were absent this year, an increase of £1,800,000 from spirits was looked for. The land-value duties had been retarded in their action, and only about £600,000 might be expected from that source this year. The tax revenue for 1910-11 would be about £142,455,000, the total revenue about £199,751,000, leaving a surplus of about 6861,coo, from which £102,000 would be devoted to technical instruction, policing in Scotland, and other purposes in Ireland, and £450,000 to removing the pauper disqualification for old-age pensions, thus leaving £309,000 to meet contingencies. The expenditure under this scheme will be seen in the comparative tables given on the preceding page.

The differences between the balance sheet and the estimates in the preceding abstracts are, for the revenue, that arrears consist of: customs, £146,000; excise, £2,640,000; estate duties, £1,380,000; land tax and house duty, £1,940,000; income tax, £23,450,000; land-value duties, £490,000-a total of £30,046,000. On the expenditure side it may be observed that the Local Taxation Account is given after adding £319,000, the difference between the fixed grant and the estimated proceeds of local taxation duties, and deducting land-value duties grant (suspended) (£300,300); and the old-age pension grant (£450,000) has been added to Civil Service Account.

From the Suez Canal Shares the interest and dividend on 169,073 ordinary shares were £1,018,327, and from 7529 actions de jouissance £37,880, or a total of £1,056,207. At March 1909, 7529 ordinary shares had been drawn and paid off, and 475 were so drawn and paid in 1909-10, thus making a total drawn of 8004. From various loans also, including that to the Cunard Company, Greece, Fiji, Gold Coast, etc., there was received a sum of £212,701, or a total of £1,268,908 from loans and canal shares.

The Miscellaneous revenue may be abstracted thus:£

Small Branches, Hereditary Revenue
Bank of England, out of Profits, etc.
Bankruptcy Act, 1883

74,067 187,156

24,511

7,905

Companies (Winding Up) Act, 1899 Expenses of Administration of Local Loans

39,985

Mint.

164,694

Receipts by Civil Departments

107,926

Ordnance Factories Supplies Suspense

Account

12,587

Savings on Grants of Parliament, etc.,

and over-issues repaid

Isle of Man (Customs)

Conscience Money.

Fee and Patent Stamps by various De

20,418 10,000 1,298

1,037,000

State resources to local taxation in 1909-10. On the Civil Service Estimates there were and are many sums under the head of "Charges transferred from local to imperial funds, and certain other expenditure of a local character," which are in fact contributions to local taxation issued from the Exchequer. In 1909-to the total of these sums was £3,616,662, of which £1,538,871 went to England and Wales, £238,927 to Scotland, and £1,838,864 to Ireland. There are other sums scattered over the various grants, such as the Irish Development Grant, of £186,874 in 1909-10, which are not readily traceable. The items here mentioned, however, show that in 1909-10 some 13,248,931 were transferred in aid of local taxation. These are grants, and this is a system understood to be fully ripe for the critical attention of the House of Commons.

PUBLIC EXPENDITURE.

The National Debt.

GRANTS IN AID OF LOCAL TAXATION.

A portion of the national revenue is assigned in aid of local taxation, and by the Finance Act, 1907, an equivalent was made payable out of the Consolidated Fund to the Local Taxation Account, which consists of certain sums out of the Licence duties, the Estate duty, and the "Whisky money," or the "additional" Beer and Spirit duties, together with certain exchequer contributions for various purposes, details of which may be seen, for 1909-10, on p. 68 of "The Finance Accounts." Only a summary of these grants for 1909-10 can be given here. The various grants afford relief in England and Wales, in Scotland, and in Ireland. Various Exchequer grants in 1909-10, chiefly to Ireland, amounted to £1,197.293. The "Whisky Money" from Customs came to £129.452, and from Excise £1,054,979. The various Licences, including penalties, amounted to £2,445,440; and from the Estate Duty, for rates generally, for rates on tithe, and for agricultural rates, there was paid the sum of £4,618,230. So for payments under the Finance Act, 1907, there was transferred £8,248,101, and in addition the various grants amounting to 1,197,293, or a total transfer of £9,445,395, of which England and Wales received £6,879,647, Scotland £1.123,422, and Ireland £1,442,325.

The Finance Bill for 1910-11 proposed that in future the sum payable to the Local Taxation Account should be, not the equivalent to that which would have been paid had not the Finance Act, 1907, been passed, but a sum equal to the English, Scottish, and Irish shares respectively in the year ending with March 1909. The year 1909 is therefore made into a standard, and a fixed amount transferred to local taxation.

The above sum of £9,445,395 does not represent the total amount of the subventions from

In

It is usual to distinguish between the dead weight of the National Debt and the gross liabilities, but all is debt. For the dead weight there is nothing to show, and that on March 31st, 1910, was £713,245,408, which shows an increase of 10,557,511 on the previous year. That increase was only nominal, however, and represents temporary borrowings, already repaid, on account of the interruption in the collection of the revenue by the rejection of the Finance Bill, 1909. The table shows that the dead weight was reduced by over £9,000,000. the same way, and only for the same reason, the gross liabilities appear at £762,463,625, or about £8,342,316 higher; but they were reduced by over £2,000,000. There are other contingent liabilities, but against them have to be set off certain assets and the balances in the Banks of England and Ireland. For several years other liabilities were created on account of military and naval works, and for other purposes; but now that somewhat questionable method has been brought to a period, though certain sums still appear on the annual estimates for liabilities incurred a few years ago. All that, which has now been discontinued, was outside the scope of the National Debt system, and the fixed charge on account of it; but it was a method of creating debt nevertheless. Under "other capital liabilities" in the subjoined table will be found some of the objects which were thus financed.

Civil List, Annuities, and Pensions, These are classified under "Other Consolidated Fund Services," because, like the National Debt, they are payable under permanent laws, and do not require sanction by an annual vote of the House of Commons. For the Civil List, see p. 3, where also may be found Annuities to members of the Royal Family.

Pensions for Naval and Military Services were paid out of the Consolidated Fund in 1909-10, to the heirs of the Duke of Schomberg, in perpetuity, £720 per annum; Lord Rodney (7th Baron died Dec. 29th, 1909), at £2,000 a year, to all and every the heirs male to whom the

title of Lord Rodney shall descend (payment is suspended during the minority of the present Baron, the 8th Lord Rodney); Earl Nelson, £5,000 per annum, to whom the title of Earl Nelson shall descend; Lord Seaton, for life of the present Baron, £2,000 per annum; Viscount Hardinge, to the present Viscount, £3,000 per annum; Viscount Gough, for life, £2,000 per annum; Lord Raglan, for life of the present Baron, £2,000 per annum; Lord Napier of Magdala, for life of the Present Baron, £2,000 per annum: a total of £18,720 per annum.

Pensions for Political Services:-Viscount Cross, £2,000; Lord George Hamilton, £2,000; Mr. Henry Chaplin, £1,200; Lord Balfour of