GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



309 



541,000 was increased by 250,000 for recoinage of 



light gold, 644,000 for civil service and post-ofiicc 



supplementary estimates, and 980,000 for army 



supplementary estimates, while 1,488,000 of the 



sum voted for naval construction was not expended 



owing to the engineers' strike. Including the sum 



paid to the local taxation accounts and 2.751,000 



of capital expenditure on naval and military works, 



barracks, telephones, sites for public offices, and the 



Uganda Railroad, the aggregate expenditure was 



115,089,000, exceeding that of any previous year. 



')f the realized surplus of the year 2.550,000 were 



et aside to establish a fund for public buildings, 



saving 1,128,000 to be added to the balances in 



"ic exchequer. Including this new fund and 



81,848,000 appropriated for naval and 1,723,000 



'r>r military works, the accumulated surplus on 



ipril 1. 1898, amounted to 10,918,000. 



For 1898-'99 the total estimated expenditure is 

 116.007.000, including 9.178.000 to be paid in 

 relief of local taxation and 365,000 required under 

 the Irish local government bill. The budget ex- 

 penditure is 106,829,000. The increase over the 

 preceding budget is mainly due to the new pro- 

 gramme of naval construction, the reform and in- 

 creases of the army and better conditions for the 

 soldier, increased work in the post office and ex- 

 penditure on education, and military expenditures 

 in East and West Africa. 'The increase in the total 

 estimated annual expenditure in three years has 





been 12,764,000. Of this increase 2,380,000 go 

 to the relief of local taxation, 1,520,000 to the 

 post office, the revenue of which has increased 

 2,000,000 in three years, 1,773,000 to education, 

 and 6,564,000 to imperial defense, the annual ex- 

 penditure for the army having increased 1,237,000, 

 for the navy 5,077,000, and for colonial forces 

 250,000. The total expenditure on the defenses 

 of the empire, including the expenditure of India 

 and the colonies, is for the army 37,500.000 per 

 annum, and for the navy 26,000,000. The ex- 

 penditure of the United Kingdom alone on the 

 navy and naval works for 1899 is estimated at 

 25,528,000, and this is equal to the combined ex- 

 penditure of France, Germany, and Russia. 



The budget revenue for 1898-'99 was estimated 

 at 108,615,000, leaving an estimated surplus of 

 1,786,000. An increase was looked for under 

 nearly every head except the estate duties, stamps, 

 and the land tax. The total tax revenue under the 

 existing taxes was estimated at 90,000,000 and 

 non-tax revenue at 18,615,000. In framing the 

 budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer reduced 

 taxation to the extent of 1,505,000. A remission 

 to the small income-tax payers costs the revenue 

 100,000. Under the previous law the amount of 

 income exempt from taxation, namely, 160, was 

 deducted in taxing incomes under 400, 100 in 

 incomes of from 400 to 500 was exempt, and in- 

 comes over 500 paid the full tax of Sd. in the 

 pound. Under the new law an abatement of 150 

 is allowed on incomes of 400 to 500, 120 on 

 incomes of 500 to 600, and 70 on incomes be- 

 tween 600 and 700. Two changes were made in 

 the death duties. As the law stood, lineals who 

 paid estate duty were freed from the legacy or suc- 

 cession duty, while collaterals were not. This made 

 the death duty on a great estate passing to a distant 

 relative or a stranger as high as 18 per cent. Under 

 the amended law collaterals are granted an allowance 

 of 1 per cent, from the legacy and succession duties 

 when they also pay estate duty. The other change 

 postpones the payment of the duty on the devolu- 

 tion from husband to wife or from wife to husband 

 of property settled on the marriage until the death 

 of the survivor. A change was made in the land tax, 

 exempting from taxation properties under 5 annual 

 value which have been taxed only since the reassess- 

 ments necessitated by the reduction in 1896 of the 

 maximum limit of the land tax from 4s. to Is. in 

 the pound. The estimated reduction in revenue 

 caused by these remissions of the death duties and 

 the land tax is 285,000. In indirect taxation 

 spirits obtained by grogging, or soaking emptied 

 liquor casks, were made liable to duty the same as 

 other spirits. A considerable reduction was made 

 in the duty on unmanufactured tobacco, which has 

 been 3s. 2d. a pound for half a century, increasing 

 the prime cost of the unmanufactured article 400 

 per cent. The duty is reduced Qd. a pound on un- 

 manufactured tobacco and on other classes propor- 

 tionately, with the exception of cigars. The legal 

 limit of moisture in manufactured tobacco is re- 

 duced from 35 per cent, to 30 per cent. The loss 

 to the revenue froin the reduction in the tobacco 

 duties is estimated at 1,120,000. Customs revenue 

 in 1898-'99 is estimated at 21,080.000; excise, 

 28.950,000; estate duties, 10,670,000; land tax, 

 925.000; house duty, 1,570,000; income tax, 

 17,700,000; stamps, 7,600,000; total tax revenue, 

 88,495,000; non-tax revenue, 18.615.000: making 

 the total estimated revenue 107,110.000, leaving a 

 margin of 281,000 over the total estimated ex- 

 penditure. 



The funded and unfunded debts on April 1, 1897, 

 amounted to 640.773,679, or, including other capi- 

 tal liabilities, to 644,909,847, of which 587,698,- 



