The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-03-21 00:00:00

ESTIMATES FOR REVENUE DEPART-
MENTS.

The Estimates for the Revenue Departments for
the year ending March 31,1880, were issued on Tues-
day. The statement shows that the estimate for the
coming year is £10,249,146, which, when compared
with that for the current year, £9,052,478, shows a
net increase of £296,668. This increase is made up
of an increase in four of the five heads under which,
as will be presently seen, the estimates are classed,
amounting in all to £305,886, and a decrease in the
fifth amounting to £9218. Under the head of Cash
Extra Receipts there is a slight decrease of £1691—
namely, from £455,262 in the current, to £453,571
in the coming year.
The whole estimate is divided into five heads—
namely, Customs, Inland Revenue, Post Office, Post
Office Packet Service, and Post Office Telegraphs.
Of these, Customs is the only head which shows a
decrease—namely, from £986,051, which was the
grant made in the session of 1884, to £977.733 to be
asked for this session, a decrease of £9218. The
sub-heads under which this sum falls are seven in
number :—Superintending Establishment, £65,510, an
increase of .£650; Establishment of the Port of Lon-
don, £281,920, a decrease of £2150; of the Liver-
pool district, £107,830, a decrease of £1630; estab-
lishments other than these two, .E 330,720 a decrease
of £10,510; law charges, subsistence of prisoners, &c.,
£10,145. a dee' ease of £475; superannuations and
other non-effective charges, £180,103, an increase of
£4818; and annuity to the National Debt Commis-
sioners for commutation of pensions, £1505, an in-
crease of £79.

The second great head is Inland Revenue, for
which next year the grant is to be £1,823,157, an
increase of £76,942 upon the grant made for the
present year, £1,746,215. This is divided into no
fewer than twenty sub-heads, of which only those
dealing with large sums, and those showing the
greatest variation need be set down. The first sub-
head is by far the largest—namely, salaries, wages,
and allowances, which take up £1,119,897, a decrease
of £2773. The sum of £58,000 is set down, as this
year, for tra (ening and subsistence; £BB,OOO for
poundage and expenses allowed to the clerks of local
commissioners of taxes; and £238,750 for similar
allowance to collectors and assessors of taxes—an in-
crease of £65,900. The sum devoted to postage and
carriage of books and parcels, £5500, is only worth
mentioning because it is exactly half of the present
year's grant. On the other hand, the sum of £2650,
granted this year for copies of poor rates for income-
tax purposes and copies of wills in Scotland, has
swollen in the estimate for next year to 1'17,000.
The only other sub-head that need be mentioned is
superannuations and other non-effective charges,
£203,890, which shows a trifling increase.
The third head is the Post Office, which requires by
far the largest sum of any—namely, £4,854,659, which,
compared with £4,753,367 granted for this year,
shows an increase of £101,292. Of this sum,
£1,240,085 is required for the chief offices, London,
Dublin, and Edinburgh; .£66,653 for surveyors;
£1,765,641 for provincial establishments; £266,555
for Post Office Savings Bank; £1,158,561 for con-
veyance of mails; .E 42,000 for purchase of sites and
buildings; £152,242 for superannuations ; and
£153,900 for the manufacture of postage stamps.
The fourth head, Post Office Packet Service, is
estimated at 0E753,781, which shows an increase of
£22.425 on the grant for the current year. By far the
larger part of this sum is required for contracts, which
are this year divided into six classes—the United
Kingdom, £118,262; Europe, £18,100; America
£242,375; Africa, £12,224; and Asia, £359,800.
All these show an increase, greater or less, over the
grants for the current year, the chief increase being
£25,775 for the American service, of which the United
States mails are set down for an increase of £19,000.
It is significant that in the current year £6900 was
granted for mai!s to Cyprus. This year no estimate
is made for that island.

The fifth and last head shows, both actually and
relatively, a larger increase than any other.
Whereas £1,734,589 was granted for Post Office Tele-
graphs last session, in the coming y3ar the sum esti-
mated is £1,839,816, an increase of £105,227. The
chief sub-heads are Account Departments, £53,977;
Postal Telegraph system, £382,943; Central Tele-
graph station, London, £220,075; district offices,
London, £128,366 ' • provincial post offices,
£707,254 ; telegraph works, £201,540 ; pur-
chase of sites and buildings, £20,500. All these items,
save the last two, show an increase. In telegraph
works thera is a decrease of £29,460.