The Press.
London, England, 1854-12-09 00:00:00

1155

1. Revenue as estimated in Budget of
6th March . . £50,056,000
. .
2. Exchequer Bills authorised under
.
same Budget . . 1,750,000
3. Amount of new taxes imposed under
Budget of Nth May, which would be
received before sth April, 1855:
Income tax . . £220,000
Spirit duty . . 400.000

• 620,000
• • 1,600,000
2,840,000

Sugar duties .
Malt tax .

4. Exchequer Bonds or Bills proposed
to be issued 5,500,000

X 60,746,000

ExrEsurrunit.
1. Estimates on *Budget of
oth March . . £50,180,000
2. Additional estimates in
Budget of Bth May . 0,850,000

63,039,0(X)

Surplus, or " Margin" £3,707,000
This sum of 3,707,0001., which Mr. GLADSTONE
called his margin, he took for the unascertained
expenses of the war. He stated distinctly on
this occasion that he asked the House "to
" make what he hoped would be an ado:Tato
" provision for the expenses of the year ;* and
" the view the Government had taken was
" this—that this provision should be made by
" an addition to the taxation of the country."
In the month of July, or the beginning of
August, some additional estimates were pro-
posed for artillery, small arms, and some other
departments in the army, navy, or ordnance,
but of no very considerable amount. These,
with the estimates for the packet service, and
the excess of the civil service estimates above
the original amount, reduced the margin to
3,000,000/.
This three millions formed the subject of
the vote of credit of 25th July, which was
passed ; but in the House of Lords, after a
constitutional remonstrance from Earl FITZ..
WILLIAM, who declared that there never was a
speech made on such an occasion of which it
might be more truly said, that it conveyed
scarcely a single idea to the Parliament to
which it was addressed, than the speech of
Lord ABERDEEN, who proposed it—and in the
House of Commons, by the inducement and
promise of the speedy occupation of the
Crimea and destruction of the " great fortress,"
held out by Lord JOHN RUSSELL
We have thought it desirable to place this
summary before our readers, in order that at
the eve of another session they may have be-
fore them the financial operations of the last
one.
And we arc bound to state that we cannot
conceive a course more likely to have led to
the disasters which have actually occurred
than that taken by Mr. GLADSTONE in the
session of 1854. A miserable dribbling out
of insufficient estimates—first in March, then
in May, then in July ; the first ludicrously
bombastic, before the war had actually com-
menced ; the second propounded in a manner
which indicated irresolution and tardiness, and
with that niggard reluctance to incur a neces-
sary expense which, in all great undertakings,
is a sure prelude to extravagance and loss.
We now commend Mr. GLADSTONE to the
Commons of England. We can assure him
we have been only anxious to render him jus-
tice—we sincerely hope the House of Com-
mons will do the same.

THE NEW SECRETARY TO THE POOR•

LAW BOARD.
THAT the Coalition Ministry have been sin-
gularly unfortunate in the distribution of
their patronage is now thoroughly admitted
on all hands, and it has been often our duty
to point out how grossly the interests of the
public service have been sacrificed in this
respect.
It was, therefore, with no surprise, but with
very sincere regret, that we have observed the
announcement in the official organs of Govern-
ment that Mr. ABRAHAM HAYWARD had been
appointed to the post of Secretary to the Poor-
Law Board. The importance of such a post