334 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



89,304,316, exceeding the budget estimate by 

 3,154,316, and the actual expenditure was 86.- 

 083,314, which was 116,487 more than was esti- 

 mated in the budget. For the year ending March 

 31, 1891, the revenue was estimated at 90,406,000 

 and the expenditure at 86,627,000. Nearly five 

 sixths of the revenue in 1889-'90 was derived 

 from taxation, customs producing the net sum 

 of 20,455,563, excise 24,133,252, stamps 13,- 

 041,692, the land tax 1,046,359, the house duty 

 1,977.644, and the income and property tax 12,- 

 783,900, making in all 73,483,390. The net j-ev- 

 enue from the post-office was 9,467,165, from 

 telegraphs 2,307,444, from Crown lands 507,- 

 319, interest on Suez Canal shares held by the 

 Government 279,155, and departmental and 

 other receipts 3,416,663. Of the receipts from 

 customs, 9,214,629 were raised from tobacco im- 

 ports. 4,490,694 from tea, 2,217,172 from rum, 

 1,331,539 from brandy, 1,133.301 from other 

 spirits, 1,303,695 from wine, and the remainder 

 from currants, coffee, raisins, and other articles. 

 Of the excise receipts, 14,800,687 came from spir- 

 its, 9,598,955 from beer, and the rest from rail- 

 ways, license fees, and other minor sources. Of 

 the receipts from stamps the probate duty yield- 

 ed 4,603,490, the legacy duty 2,738,334, deeds 

 2,794,539. receipts 1,084,826, the succession 

 duty 1,099,406, and the estate duty, bills of ex- 

 change, patent medicines, license fees, marine in- 

 surance, and other sources smaller sums. Of the 

 total expenditure the charges on the consolidated 

 fund, mainly for the public debt, consumed 28,- 

 289,524, the army and navy 31,203,152, and the, 

 civil service 26,590,638, which includes the cost 

 of collecting the revenue. The interest and sink- 

 ing fund of the debt amounted to 25,000,000 ; 

 the cost of the army was 17,345,811, and of the 

 navy 13,842,241 ; the grants for civil services 

 were 15,589,990 ; the cost of collecting the cus- 

 toms and inland revenue was 2,654,891 ; the ap- 

 Eropriations for the post-office were 5,463,205, 

 Dr the telegraph service 2,176,000, for the pack- 

 et service 664,000. Comparing the revenue re- 

 turns of 1890 with those of 1857, we find the in- 

 come from customs 15 per cent, less, the excise 

 revenue 374 P er cen t- greater, the proceeds of 

 stamp taxes nearly double, the produce of the 

 land and house taxes about the same, the income 

 tax receipts a little more, and the total revenue 

 greater by 16f per cent. The income tax was 5d. 

 in the pound in 1884; a penny was added in 1885 

 and 2d. more in 1886 ; it was 8d. for two years, 

 then a penny was taken off in 1888, and another 

 penny in 1889, and in 1890 the Qd. rate was re- 

 tained, or 2 per cent, of land and house rents, 

 profits, interest, and dividends assessed, the 

 amount of which in 1889 was 645,158,689, hav- 

 ing increased to that figure from 465,478,688 in 

 1871. A comparison of the expenditures of 1890 

 with those of 1857 shows that over 50 per cent, 

 more is now spent on the army and navy, the ex- 

 penses of the debt are 13 per cent, less, the net 

 expenses of the civil services nearly 30 per cent, 

 greater, and special expenses much less. 



The revenue for 1890-'91 exceeded the esti- 

 mates by over 1,800,000, and though relief of 

 distress in Ireland, the increase of the wages of 

 post-office employes, and supplementary votes to 

 the amount of 500,000 threatened to reduce the 

 surplus to little more than 500,000, savings in 



departmental expenses enabled Mr. Goschen to 

 show a balance of about 1,250,000 at the end of 

 the year. The increased receipts for tobacco, the 

 unabated "rush to alcohol," which yielded 900,- 

 000 of the surplus, besides the new duties that 

 do not go into the imperial treasury, and the in- 

 creased consumption of tea, which reduced the 

 loss to the treasury from taking off 2d. a pound 

 from the duty from the expected 1,500,000 to 

 little more than 1,000,000, were among the signs 

 of industrial prosperity. The debt was reduced 

 by 7,616,000, notwithstanding an increase in the 

 unfunded debt of 4,138,000, including the de- 

 fense loans and 800,000 for the Australian 

 squadron. Since Mr. Goschen came into office 

 the capital of the debt has been reduced by 31,- 

 000,000 and 2,000,000 a year have been saved to 

 the tax payer by the reductions in the annual debt 

 charge. For the year 1891-'92 Mr. Goschen cal- 

 culated on a total expenditure of 88,444,000. 

 The new requirements were not for the army and 

 navy, as in the previous year, but for the relief 

 of distress and development of the material re- 

 sources of Ireland, higher wages in the post-office 

 and other departments, new buildings, education- 

 al improvements, and the census. The sixpenny 

 income tax is retained, and a more rigorous as- 

 sessment and collection enables the Chancellor of 

 the Exchequer to reckon on obtaining 2,300,000 

 for every penny in the pound, or 300,000 more 

 than when he came into office. The 2,000,000 

 that a penny of income tax then represented was 

 four times what it produced when the tax was 

 first imposed by Sir Robert Peel, and every in- 

 crease in the amount collected tends to keep it 

 at the present rate, in spite of the clamor of the 

 property-owning and capitalist classes for a re- 

 duction. The estimate of revenue for 1891-'92 

 was 90.430,000, leaving an estimated surplus of 

 1,986,000. The Government project for freeing 

 education was expected to cost 2,000,000, but 

 not more than one half as much for the first year, 

 as the act would not go into force before Septem- 

 ber, 1891. Of the remainder of the surplus 500,- 

 000 were to be expended in constructing barracks 

 and the rest in carrying out the promised with- 

 drawal of the light gold coinage. 



The national debt on March 31, 1890, amount- 

 ed to 689,944,026. Deducting assets and bal- 

 ances, the net total was 679,733,889. During 

 the war of the American Revolution the debt was 

 nearly doubled, amounting when peace was de- 

 clared to 243,063,145. The French war of 1792 

 and the war with Napoleon increased the capital 

 to 861,039,049. During the next forty years 

 91,956,500 were paid off, and then 39,026,173 

 were added on account of the Crimean War, mak- 

 ing the capital 808,108,722 in 1857, which has 

 since been decreased by 118,164,696. Since 1880 

 it has been reduced from 774,044,235 to 689.- 

 944,026, which is not much more than the an- 

 nual value of property and profits assessed to the 

 income tax. and is less than half of the national 

 income. Divided by the number of the present 

 population, it represents a debt of $88.50 per 

 capita, the annual interest and reduction charges 

 being about $3.40 per capita. 



Production and Industry. The area de- 

 voted to grain crops in Great Britain in 1890 was 

 8,033,133 acres ; to green crops, 3,297,528 acres ; 

 to clover and grass, 4,808,819 acres ; to perma- 



