The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-17 00:00:00

THE BUDGET.

The house having resolved itself into Comulittee of Ways
and Means, Mr. I\l ASSEY in the chair,

The CHANCELLOR, of the EXCHEQUER rose, amid
loud and general cheering, to make his financial statement
for the year. The right hcia. gentleman spoke as follows :
Sir, the causes which have during recent years attracted an
unusual degree of interest to the annual financial statement
are not of such a nature that any well-advised lover of his
country should desire them to be permanent. They may be
summed up thus—that the few years which have lastpassed
have been years of unusual pressure upon our resources,
and that times of unusual pressure are necessarily times of
unusual anxiety. That anxiety during the course of last
session found its most legitimate method of expression in a
resolution of the House of commons. In that resolution her
Majesty's Government found it declared by the house, the
legitimate organ of the sense of the country, especially upon
such a subject, that while it was the desire of the house—l
am not now quoting the words, but referring to the spirit of
the resoluticn—that ample provision should be made for the
honour and security of the country and for the efficiency of
the public service, it was likewise the feeling of the house
that the burden of taxation was inconvenient, and that
efforts ought to be made by the Executive Government to
afford relief to the people in that respect. Therefore, sir,
the statement which I have now to submit is not merely a
statement of the annual account and estimate of receipt and
expenditure, but, it is likewise, I may presume to say, the
answer of the Government to a solemn, deliberate, and I
believe I may add, a ucanimous resolution of the House of
Commons. (Hear.) And, sir, it is well the people should
understand what the Government by the mouth of my noble
friend the First Lord of the Treasury fully acknowledged,
that that resolution was not premature, but on the contrary,
was well founded and justified by the circumstances of the
case. It is well they should understand how rapid, how
peculiar, I will venture to say how exceptional, has been up
to a certain point the growth of our expenditure, and how
much of it was to be desired, and, indeed, required, in the
interests of the public that particular attention should be
paid to the subject. The expenditure of the financial year
1858.9, which followed the Russian War, was an expendi-
ture very considerably exceeding that which had prevailed
before the Russian War. It amounted to £64,664,000 ; but
in the year 1859-60 the expenditure increased to £69,502,0110,
showing an augmentation of £4,838,000. In the year 1860-1
it rose to £72,842,000, showing an augmentation within two
(sear, hear.) The average of the four
which I take because they are the
yyeeaarrss,offroLtnB,ll7BBs,9ootoo.lB63,
years to which the general description of the rapid growth
and augmentation peculiarly applies, was £71,195,000, in
eluding the amount laid out in tortifications, and £70,678,000
without the fortifications. The increase upen the aggregate
occurred at a time when we had been enjoying a peculiar
relief from expenditure in consequence of a diminution Of
more than £2,000,000 on the charge of the National Debt,
owing to the lapse of Long Annuities. Now, Sir, it may
bring this statnient and the state of facts which it is in-
tended to illustrate more clearly and fully to the mind of
the committee, if, instead of comparing the aggregate ex-
penditure at two periods, I compare that portion of the ex-
penditure which may be said to bo matter of option and
choice on the part of the Legislature, because a large part
of the expenditure of the country—first of all, that which
is devoted to the payment of dividend on the National Debt,
and, secondly, that which is devoted to the discharge of
other engagements placed upon the Consolidated Fund—is
not in point of fact practically within the control of Par-
liament from year to year. There is another important
item—that, namely, connected with the collection of the
revenue—which is regulated invariably by certain fixed
rules, and does not partake of the remarkable upward
movement to which I have referred. I wish to say
that these two items are items which it is de-
sirable to exclude from the account, I desire, therefore, to
state briefly to the committee what was the growth of our
expenditure at the period to which I have referred. After
striking off from the total the two very important items,
and the only two of great consequence, which may be re-
garded either as fixed or as varying according to ortaio,