The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1874-04-21 00:00:00

TIIE BUDGET.

In Committee of Ways and Means the CIIAXCKLLOR of
the EZCIINUILR made his financial statement for the year
on which we have just entered. The actual expenditure
for the past year, including the payment of the Alabama
award, had amounted to 4.76,406,50 e, or an excess over
estimates of T.L1.56,000, This excess, he said, was greatly
due to the Ashantee war, which had coat £OO,OOO in the
year, but he believed that £70,000 or .00,000 more would
cover the whole expense of the expedition. On the other
hand, the actual receipt of revenue was £17,335,657,
against the Budget estimate of £73,7000, or an excess
over the estiniate of £3,573.067. But • portion of this
e•cess was nominal, In consequence of an irregularity at
the Post Office, by which .000,000 had not been carried
to the account for the year as it ought to have been. De.
ducting that amount the real excem of actual receipts
over estimate was 1."2,773,0U0. Passing on to the current
year Sir Stafford estimated the expenditure for 1874 7fi
at zwiu,ouu, being a decrease of .C3,900.,000, as ono.
pared with the actual expenditure of last year.
Ile conlially recognised the prevision of Mr. Gladstone in
his anticipation of the surplus, and said they adopted the
estimates of the late Government But, be added there
w ere circumstances which should lead them to he cautious.
They must, AbOte all, take care that they did not go wildly
Into expenditure—(cheers). They could not do wrong in
' keeping down expenditure, so lenges they did not sacntice
efficiency. They must not unwisely refuse to "lighten
the springs of industry." On the contrary, they must
endeavour to raise industry by relieving it of the pressure
of unnecessary taxation. It was in that spirit they pro-
posed to deal with the revenue and the surplus. His
estimate of the revenue for the present year was for
Customs, 4.11,740,000 ; Excise, ; Stamps,
LlO,fifiOptio ; Land tax and house duty, .C 2,300,000 ; income
tax, 1a,500,000 ; Post Office, .C 5,300,000 ; telegraphs,
£l,),000; Crown lands, £3:5,000 ; and Miscellaneous,
1:3,515.0110, making a total of .C 77,995,000 as against
£7t.:KAI:37 last year, and compared with an estimated
expenditure of .L7E503,000, leaving *surplus M. 5.5,492,000.
In considering the purposes to which the surplus might he
applied, the right lion. gentleman reviewed the claims for
remissions of taxation that had been urged upon him by
the various deputations, who as a general rule, he
observed, had answerod themselves, or one had answered
another, and where that was not done the press was good
enough to do it.. Of course, he had listened with attention
and courtesy to the representations that were made to
him; hut the Government found themselves, after all,
obliged to take counsel with themselves, and he would
new submit to the committee the conclusions to which
they had arrived.

LOCAL TAXATIC,L
The find subject, than, to which he felt bound to give
his attention was that of Local Taxation, which seemed
to his to be one of the highest national Interests at this
time Our present financial system dated from IS42—the
period of the labours of Sir Robert Peet They were never
tired of praising the great work done in his time, and
justly, as they ought to le prund of the labour effected M
the great [emission of taxation during that period. But
there was stiil much to be dune. They had now to deal
with the great question of direct local taxation. They
had done a great deal to Improve the condition of the
people. They had cheapened articles of consumption,
They had done much to develop the commercial intormta
of the country. But there were still burdens on the
people which it was desirable to have removed, and
conditions under which they honed not such as they
....old with to see .entiuuml. Looking back to the Poor-
aecounts, he found that at the present time the
amount of expenditure was at a la Larger sum pro--
nortimiallY. than before the days of Sir Robert i'eel's
Mien., °vomit. From POI to PII3 the average amount
expended per head had been fie. 11.1, per week, whilst
for the last ten years- -from PM to 11171—it 11/0 been
16. 11.1. per heal; and whilst this increase has teen going
on. there had been a general improvement in the condition
of thu anintry. With this question of the Poor-law
administration, thgre were others of a kindred nature to
tensidured, inch as the Improvement of their dwellinga,
heal sanitary arrangenumts, end the °duration of the
people. in the highest and deepest sense of thu term.
through their encouragement in habits of temperance
and providence--(cheers), lie felt strongly that if they
0 ere really to improve others they could do so best
hr ugh Meal action—(hear, hear). They could .1., very
little to improve the Is. elling• of others without calling
to their aid the heal authorities, or in sanitary improve-
ments without local administration. But whilst leglsktting
to improve these local arrengementa, they most also take
,are that the ',piton, of expenditure be pieced on, sound
and proper footing. The difficulties it, dealing with this
matter were great, and resistance might be expeeeed to
xl I any ITIMAIIM that might be proposed. In puttimg
the .illestion of local taxation in the front of their financial
arrangements, he was actuated by no desire to conciliate
any ries., but had in view only what be felt tole the IllObt
important que.4 ion of tile .lay —(hear, hear).
--...--.

PILFSFINT iI!NPLAINTA.

Three complaints were made as to the rating systeni of
loeal taxation - tir4, that imperial services were charged
nmlidy for Mcal purposes ; serun.l, that the area of rating
W,“ not fair - that litany deems of property were exempted;
:mil third, that the present system was had and no.
eeonotuical. There we., nome truth in all thew complaint..
With regard to the application of imperial funia for
loeat purposes, there would be great danger, for initanoe,
permitting the local authorities isi send into the central
Treasury for any funds they plemwd.

PART r‘vmEir FOR LUNATICS.

Louth-, sayluins were Oilstone. of loeal administration
with Gone 11111 l ent supervision. yet when it was proposed
that colllo contribution .1 1.1 be given towards the
maintenance of bandies from the Consolidated Fund, it
was met with strong objections. They had not been atile
ta .0 thoroughly into the whole financial bearings
.if the C.TIC, NA to elaborate any system of the sort: but
they contempLated the careful consideration of the
matter, and hoped in another year to lay the matter before
the House. In the mean time, however. they did not
think it would be a fair treatment of the subject either to
devote the whole of the available surplus to
other matters, or to ask the Mouse to leave the
Covercuuent in possession of a large portion of
the surplus for the purpose of enabling them
to carry out some plan not yet decided upon.
In the first place, they proposed to give some relief to
local taxation in regard to the maintenance of pauper
lunatics. It was found that the average cost of the
maintenance of lunatics in England was ten *billings a
head, while the maintenanae of paupers in union work-
houses cost a little over five shillings a head ' • and taking
four shillings as representing the difference he proposed
that there should be a contribution of four shilling to the
unions in respect of every lunatic. This would involve
an expenditure of £1.80,000 a year, but only £11.100.100 of
that would fall upon the present financial year. The
selection of lunatics u one of the first objects of attention
might Int justified by the evimple of the late Prime
Minister in the appropriation of the surplus of the Irish
Church Fund.
roLics.

. -----
The second object te which it wu proposed to contri-
bute was the police. Already there was a Government
contribution of one-fourth of the pay, and he proposed to
increase that to one.half, by whirls an additional expen-
diture would be incurred of .000.000 a year. The subject
or the c 0.4 of the administration of justice was under-
going consideration, and it was not intended now to pro-
pose any wntribution in aM of local taxation under that
head.

RATING GOVERNMENT PROPERTT.
As regarded the rating of Government property, it
was proposed to extend to parishes where the Goverrn•
ment had any property the advantage whirls those
parishes now possessed where the Government property
amounted in ratable value to one-sixth of the whole, and
for this a vote was proposed to be taken of .4:170,000. The
total contribution, therefore. in relief of local taxation
would be £1,240,500, of which, however, only ,C 1.010.000
would fall upon the present financial year.

INCOME TAX.
Closely connected with this subject was the question
of the incone-tax, because, if that were done away with,
some means should be found of making personal pro-
perty contribute its share to the revenue. The question
was of such magnitude, politically as well as financially,
that he thought it would be wrong for him, on se short •
notice, to -owe forward with any decided or definite pro-
or the abeolute remission or retention uf the tax.
The income tax—which had heen in existence for so long.
which had plated at the disposal of the country two
hundred and fifty millions, and which had been the
instrument for effecting so many reforms, as well as of
hearing no many burdens in times of emergency—it WU
not prepared to get rid of at mix weeks notice. All that
was now prommed to be done with it was to remit one
penny in the pound from the present amount .if the tax
—(hear, hear, and laughter). One penny produces
.1:1,m40,000, and of this £a,510,000 would come in payment
in the course of the present year.

M101.1110'4 TIIR 'VG tit DUTIES.

Haring thus dispoged of 1.1,550,1100 of direct taxation,
he we turn to the question of indirect taxation; and
although he did not admit that remiasions of the one
hooll go ;Jeri putn with remissions of the other, he
thought that as a loading principle they should look to
,ce where they could do mad good; whether with recant
to the one or to the other. The Government bad given
their eon ration to all the great articles of consumption
.11 Which there were duties, and they bad come to the
concludon that the sugar oluties should be abolished—
(cheers). Four years ago the right hon. gentleman
nPliosite (Mr. Lowe; had reduced those duties one-half,
aiiii two rears later he had taken off half of the remainder.
11. r Principle on which the Government acted in getting
rid ..f the remainder wax that these duties did a great
I deal more harm than good, as the amount bore a coin-
the '0,5.11 Proportion to the cost of collection, and
""" can*nd great annoyance and injury to trade.
Sugar was an article of the Ant magnitude in the con.
gumption of
the coital, and by the abolition of the
th
duty on it e comeserri interests of the coentry would
)103 greatly .timulated. It might be said that this
shod touts Mould lie cutting off a permanent source of
Income: but. looking at the Progress of the country, he
M
could not think that the I:. vernmeut would be thereby
left without Plenty chaiels by
would be replenished. which the revenue

' for
I virheeridlyanger of
PO,SMDLE ixcittsSE Or TIM srIRIT TCTIES.
I refer. of course, out nue rosin . n source of revenue, to the
davlttireirol"T'u'us andinnotth's 'pnalutuni.it.titTin'it'f to rely ortn itshisa
enonnotill consumption. You may says check will come.
and you will find that &mow of revenue fail you. But
bow is it that you expect this source 4if revenue to fail;
aw,t why should spirits not be able to bear even an
inereama amount of taxation without diminishing the
con,mniption I—(hear). There is One source of revenue
teller.
hestilil. open for on einenrenc
ovillite bi increaw the tit). witlimit destroy-
iiwl the C°t, hh" leide onAilm p t i o o . and without raimint
Illicit distillation. That, however, we may keop
an a
reserve for the future. But I ask uniler what circum-
stances Use coniumption of spirits could be expected to
fall off to such an extent as senously to injure the reveims.
It must be one of two causes—either from som• general
failure of the consuming power of the People, a haw.. in
their ability to punkas spirit' ; or, on the other hand,