GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



and naval operations, 250,000 for the Afghan 

 expedition, and 10,021,422 for the telegraph, 

 postal, excise, and custom-house services. The 

 revenue receipts from alcoholic beverages were 

 less by 971,000 than in 1884-'85, and 4,379,- 

 000 less than ten years before. The income- 

 tax produced 240,000 less than the year be- 

 fore. The decline in the spirit revenue from 

 19s. Id. to 14s. 9^. per head of population since 

 1876 was attributed to increased temperance 

 rather than to decreased consumptive power, 

 since the duties on tea, tobacco, sugar, etc.. 

 had increased so as to make good half the loss 

 on alcoholic duties. The yield of the income- 

 tax was 1,980,000 per penny, having increased 

 from 810,000 in 1852, but showing a falling 

 off since 1883, when it was 2,016,000. The 

 budget prepared by Sir William ?Iarcourt for 

 1886-'87 proposed no changes in taxation be- 

 sides the remission of the tax on beer brewed 

 in cottages. The income-tax was again as- 

 sessed at the abnormally high rate of 8d The 

 total expenditure was estimated at 90,428,499, 

 and the total revenue at 89,869,000, leaving 

 a deficit of 559,499 in addition to those of 

 the previous two years, amounting to 3,692,- 

 000. The consolidated debt on March 31, 1886, 

 amounted to 638, 849, 694, the capitalized value 

 of outstanding annuities to 85,829,917, and 

 the unfunded debt to 17,602,800, making the 

 total public debt 742,282,411, against 740,- 

 330,654 in 1885. 



The receipts of the local administrations dur- 

 ing 1883-'84 amounted in England and Wales 

 to 51,159,686, in Scotland to 7,270,959, and 

 in Ireland to 4,290,058; total for the United 

 Kingdom, 62,720,703. The total expendi- 

 tures were 64,087,197, of which 17,898,061 

 were for public charity, 40,016,176 for mu- 

 nicipal government, police, and public health, 

 and 6,172,960 for other expenses. 



The Army. The regular army in 1886 con- 

 sisted of 210,985 men of all ranks, with 23,461 

 horses and 600 guns. The effective armed 

 forces of the United Kingdom were returned 

 in the early part of 1886-'87 as follow : Regu- 

 lar forces at home and in the colonies, 129,831 

 of all ranks; army reserve, first class, 39,244; 

 second class, 7,738 ; militia, 115,192; yeoman- 

 ry, 11,488; volunteers, 215,015; regular troops 

 in India, 58,826 ; total, 577,334. The troops 

 stationed in Egypt numbered about 10,000, in 

 October, 1886. 



The Navy. The British Government, in Au- 

 gust, 1886, possessed 20 turret-ships completed, 

 and 6 more in progress. The 20 have a total 

 displacement of 129,020 tons, or a little less 

 than 6,500 on the average. Among the com- 

 pleted ships there are 9 vessels under 5,000 

 tons, 2 of from 5,000 to 7,000 tons, 3 from 

 7,000 to 9,000 tons, 4 between 9,000 and 10,000 

 tons, and 2 over 1,000 tons. The rate of speed 

 ranges from that of the "Wivern," which at- 

 tains only 10-1 knots an hour, to that of the 

 "Colossus," which attains 15'4 knots. The 

 " Colossus " and the " Conqueror " are each 



armed entirely with breech -loading rifled guns, 

 the former having four 12-inch 44-ton guns, 

 and five 6-inch guns of 89 cwt. The " Con- 

 queror," which is of little more than t,\o 

 thirds the displacement of the " Colossus," 

 carries two of the 44-ton guns, and four others 

 of five tons. The "Inflexible" carries eight 

 20-pounder breech-loaders, the " Agamemnon " 

 and the "Hotspur" each two breech-loaders 

 of 81 cwt., and the " Rupert " two of 89 cwt. 

 With these exceptions, the armament of the 

 completed vessels consists entirely of muzzle- 

 loading guns, ranging in size from four of 80 

 tons in the " Inflexible" to four of 12 tons in 

 the " Wivern " and the " Scorpion." The tur- 

 ret-ships in progress are six in number, with 

 an average displacement of 10,000 tons, this 

 being made up by one under 7,000, one under 

 10,000, two under 11,000, and two under 12,- 

 000. The armament of these vessels is designed 

 to be entirely of breech-loaders, ranging in size 

 from two 110-ton guns in the " Sanspareil," sup- 

 plemented by others of smaller caliber, to 45- ton 

 guns in the "Edinburgh" and the "Hero." 

 Three barbette- ships, ranging from a little over 

 7,000 tons to a little over 9,000. are completed, 

 and six others are in progress. The latter will 

 all carry breech-loaders, and two of the former 

 are provided with them. There are 29 broad- 

 side ships, but no more of this class are in 

 progress, the present direction of activity seem- 

 ing to be chiefly toward the construction of 

 armored cruisers, of which seven, each of 5,000 

 tons, are building. There are also many un- 

 protected cruisers. Torpedo-cruisers and tor- 

 pedo-gunboats are still only in progress, but 

 139 torpedo-boats are completed, all of them 

 carrying Nordenfeldt guns in addition to their 

 special equipment. There are 37 first-class and 

 80 second-class gunboats. The first of the sev- 

 en belted cruisers, the u Orlando," was launched 

 at Jarrow on Aug. 4, 1886. The armor is steel- 

 faced, and consists of a belt 10 inches thick, 

 extending from 1^ foot above to 4 feet below 

 the water-line for two thirds of the length of 

 the ship. It is backed with 6 inches of teak. 

 Above the belt is a protective deck extending 

 over the whole length of the ship, which is SOU 

 feet. The hull, of soft steel, is divided into 

 over 100 water-tight compartments. The stem 

 forms a ram, made of cast-steel. The arma- 

 ment consists of two 22-ton, ten 5-ton, ;m<l 

 sixteen Hotchkisstmick-firing guns, with many 

 small pieces, and eight torpedo launching-tubcs. 

 The estimated speed is 19 knots. A new tur- 

 ret-ship, the "Trafalgar," of 12,000 tons, with 

 20-inch compound armor, designed to carry 

 two 66-ton breech-loaders in each of the two 

 movable towers, and to steam 18 knots ;iu 

 hour, was begun in 1886. She is expected 

 to be the most formidable armor-clad in 

 navy, and to be completed in four years. 



The First Session of Parliament. The first Par- 

 liament elected under the new franchise, the 

 eleventh of Queen Victoria's reign, convened 

 on Jan. 12, 1886, but was not regularly opened 



