The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-02-24 00:00:00

the crowded Ministerial benches attended the close of the
Minister's address. The commencement of his speech was
deferential to the house and unassuming. He talked of a
due vigilance being exercised by Parliament, and a consti-
tutional jealousy, restraining by a wholesome exercise of
its power any prodigal abuse of the finances of the country.
The Right Hon. Gentleman then proceeded to state the
revenue and expenditure of 1823, which he followed by a
detail of the revenue, expenditure, and surplus of the,
present year. By a document, he said, already on the
table of the House, it appeared
There was last year an actual snrplus of Revenue over
the Expenditure of - - 06,710,000
From which was to be deducted the Sinking Find of 5,1P1.10,0110
Leaving after this deduction an available surplus of - 1,710,000
The estimate of the revenue of the preu-sil year, then pre-
sented by the Finance Minister, was as follows :
Customs - - I I ,a 50,000
Excise . - 26,625.090
Stamps 11111.111ANI
Assessed and other Taxes - -
I'ust.4 Ace • -1,460,15 m
Miscellaneous - - - 730,000

Disking • total of .

- b1,26.1,904i

To this sum was to be added a portion of the Austrian
Loan to be paid this scar . 1,r44),eu0
And the amount ta be borne by the Contractors for
Naval and Military pensions - - . 4,8211,000

. Making a grand total of - 67,3113,000
-
The Right I lon. Gentleman then stated the expenditure
of the country:—
The first item was the charge on the Consolidated
Fund, and the sum paid for interest, and manage-
ment of our debt, amounting to - - - 27,973,196
The second item—lnterest of Exchequer Bills, which
- came to - - - - - 100,000
The third—were the permanent charges for the Civil
List, and pensions -
The Fourth—:Amount of half-pay Annuities paid to

2,0:A,000
2,800,000

- the Contractor', amounting to
fifth great item was—the sum appropriated by
tote of Parliament for the Sinking Fund, and
settled at

5,000,060

Amounting together, for 1821, to - - - 3111,0:17,6.1.1
To this was to be added the Supply formed of—
Interest on Exchequer Bills - - - - 1.050.090
The Army . - . - 7,490.915
The Navy . - - - - 5.71i2.993
The Ordnance - . . 1.110,011
Miscellaneour--Including Extraordinary Grants, de—
rived from the resource of repayment of the Aus-
trian Loan, and including—
For the Building and Repairing of Churches
Improvements or %Vindcor Castle .
The new Gallery of Pictures - - -

2,811,308

Amounting for charge and supply to - 88,388,1124
A reduction of taxation the Minister stated had taken
place since 1821 to the amount of - 7,340,000
This included in direct .axes

The Agricultural Hone Tax . - 430.0110
Assessed Taxes in England and Ireland - 2,520,000

3,001.1 000

Taxes upon articles of consturption reduced :-
3lah - - 1,400,000
_

The entire duty on salt . - 1;500.000
Hides - 390,000

3,200.000
Resides a partial repeal of Union duties, amounting to - 150,000
There were, besides, the remissions and alterations of
lloties for ie relief of trade, composAl of—
The Repeal of Tonnage Duty
Alterations in several minor Branches of Customs,

September, I . 40,000
Deduction of Spirit Duty in Ireland and Scotland - 800,000
The Income, as stated.by the Right Honourable Gentle-
man was—
customs 811,5.50.000

-26:625,i100

- Stamps - - -
. Taxes . . . .
Post-Office - . .
JI iscellaneous - - - -

-6,800,000
8.1110,000
1,41iV,0110
7341,000

81,2n5,000
Austrian Reparrnents - I,fitto,ooo
Trusts= ofll-pay 4,e211,000

C 57,385,1060

Akkieg for—
income . .

L:/%.305.000

Expenditure

51i,33.2,:F~

With Finkiog Fund, surplus for lea - #1,052,076
Last year the Right lion. Gentleman stated the revenue
of Customs was only 10,500,0001. Such, however, had
been the increase of our foreign commerce, and the effect
of a free and liberal system of policy, with the progress of
general improvement, that the increase in that branch alone
amounted to a million. This, the Minister stated, was a
decided proof that a liberal commercial policy, far from
diminishing the revenue, did much to increase it. All our
commercial regulations, he added, ought to be in the same,
spirit. There was, however, a falling oft' in the Excise,
The actual receipt was only - - .C 250302•0001
And he had estimated it at . . - 26,000,0011
_ _

The difference arose from some deficiencies, comprising
the remaining sum to be paid on the stock of malt in
hand,
Otse payment for which amounted to . - 1:130,000
The Hop Duty also fell short, and though calculated at 4:53,0000
The receipt, trout the disposition of Government not
to press the collection in some districts, from the
pressure existing there, amounted only to - 47,000
There was also a sensible decrease, from the reduction on
the duty of Spirits in lrelalkt and Scotland, which
had put an end, however, to illicit distillation. One
of the financial propositions of the Right lion. Gent.
was, the reduction of the old 4 per Cent. Stock. Ile cal-
culated the outstanding amount at 75 millions. Thi. pro-
position was to give the present holders six weeks' time to
assent or dissent to a transfer into the 3i per (nts., those
dissenting within that period to be paid off. If only one-
third of all the present holders aseented, then 50 millions,
according to his calculation, would remain to be paid. if
one-third, on the contrary, only dissented within the same
period, then only 25 tnlllions would remain to be paid.
The bonus he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) would
propose would be in time rather than in money, or, in
other words, the holders would be secured that no reduc-
tion ,of the 34 per Cent. Stock would take place for live ,
years from October next. If the Stock were nominally in-
creased above 1001. it would add so much to the I)ebt—an
addition which it was at present desirable to avoid. The
reductions to be created, the Chancellor of the Exchequer
said, would consist first iu the cessation of Bounties, to
the following extent:—
On the Whale Fishery
On the Is-- • Fishery - 70,000

oa the Herring
Oa lite Irish Caen Minufacture - 100,000
Orabis bounty, 7d. on the inferior linen to cease immedi-
ately, and from those of a higher kind, 10 per cent. to be
gradually reduced.
The result he calculated would be a surplus of income
to the following amount :
In Itl2t . - £1,710,51:5
1821 . . 1,052,108
i 026 - - - :172.346
1826 . - 477,348

1 ILI

fat,3l6

heaving a total surplus, at the end of
four years, in amounting in the
whole to - - - 4,136,099
'file annual duties on which the Right Honourable Gen-
tleman would propose a repeal, would be—
On Rum . - - £150,000
On Loudon Coals - 100,000
On Wool - - - 330,000
On Silk - 462,000

Making a total further reduction of - 1,062,000
On rum, the reduction, he stated, was to be Is. lid. per
gallon ; on London coals, the extra 3s. 4d. per chal-dron ;
and inland coal to be allowed to be brought, without any
restriction as to quantity. By the regulation at present
existing, only 50,000 tons could be imported. On wool
the duty was to be reduced from lid. to Id. per lb., and a
free exportation of British wool allowed, on the same pay-
ment of Id.duty. On silk, the prohibition of foreign ma-
nnfa:tured goods, such as silk gloves, shoes, &c. to be taken
off; and duties, tel valorem, imposed. To these was to be
added a reduction of the duty on foreign raw silk as
follows, viz.:—
That in East India silk to beredueed from 4s. Id. per lb. to 3d.
China and Italian silk from 3s. 6d. to ficl.
Brasil from 14a. 10d. to 7s. M.

These were the leading features of the Rigb,t Honourable