The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-13 00:00:00

PUBLIC REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE

A return ordered by the House of Commons on the 6th o
July bet, containing an account of the whole public in-

- ,
come and expenditure for the two Sears 1861 and 1862, has
just been printed. By the aid of this document it is pos-

sible to trace and compare the am tints expended under 1
every head, and discover the items on which there has been
an increase or diminution of the figures. The account of
the revenue is compressed into one page, but that of the ex- 1
penditure occupies a dozen, the sources of income being
much fewer than the channels through which it is carried
away and disper,ed. Both sides of the account for both '
years are made up to the 31st of March. Beginning with
the gross revenue of the country, the return shows that on
each of the two years there was a considerable deficit,
though in 1862 it was something less than in 1861. Tho
excess of expenditure over income in 1861 was no less than
52,474,670; in 1862 it was £2,250,929. The difference in
favour of 1862 was £223,743. The total revenue for 1861
was X 70,569,998 ; that of 1862 showed a diminution, being
£69,900,857. Among the items of the gross income on
which was an increase are the spirit duties, the duties on
sugar and tea, though the favourable difference in 1862 was
not very important in amount, being less than X 133,000. In
the revenue derived from the duties on malt, hops, and wine
there was a decrease, principally on the article of hops. The
very slight duty levied on the imports of corn amounted in
1862 to an aggregate sum of £800,896. In the previous year
it was something more, having been £868,526. The largest
hole in the revenue of 1862 was made by the removal of the
excise duty on paper. The Exchequer lost £1,000,000
on that year by the change, the amount of -revenue from
that article standing at £349,269, instead of the greater sum
of £1,342,186 received before the abolition. The different
items on which increased consumption or importation pro-
duced an increase in the revenue from them in 1862 did not
make up for the loss of the paper duty, nor was it expected
they would do so. One of the most important sources of
revenue remained almost at the same amount in both years.
The duties on t ,bacco and snuff produced £5,606,488 in
1861, and £5,596,211 in 1862. The difference is remarkably
small on such a large total, but it such a shade of variation
can Le taken into account at all, it indicates that the legal
importation of tobacco was not increasing. As there is no
evidence of decreased consumption, there is probably a con-
traband supply to be accounted for. The stamp duties, an-
other of the great sources of revenue, the produce of which
is reckoned in millions, showed a decided increase. They
amounted to £8,368,869 in 1861, the succeeding year they
rase to £8,590,634. On the other hand the assessed and
land taxes moved in the opposite direction, and decreased in
the amount paid by £lO,OOO. In the tax of all taxes, the
greatest contribution to the national revenue, the
duty on income and property, the movement was the same
way, towards a decrease. It produced in 1861 the sum 01
£10,957,061, against £10,471,208 in 1862. The Post. office
ri venue in the same period was increasing, and shows a
difference on the right side of £140,000. The gross amount
in 1862 was £3,552,696. The Crown lands also brought in
£5,000 more in 1862 than in the previous year. The sum
derived from them was £417,408.
Of the 70 millions of the revenue more than one-third is

disposed of by the interest of the national debt, a charge not
liable to'any important variation. It was less by X 89,412 in
1862 than in the year be tore. But the difference is very

slight on such a sum as £26,142,606. The armed fore?, of
the country is the next great cLatnnel of expehditure. The
army in 1862 absorbed £15,570,86.), an increase of £399,000
over its cost in the previous year. The navy required
£12,598,042 in the same period, or £733,626 lees than in
1861. Together they account for more than £28,000,000 of
the public expenditure. The naval and military operations
in China figure in both years of this return. In 1861 they
drew from the Exchequer £3,013,890 ; and in 1862 a further
sum of £1,230,000. The votes of money for fortifications tell
rather heavi yin the accounts of last year. They rose sud-
denly from £50,000 in 1861 to £970,000 in 1862. And we
have not yet cleared off the score of the war in the Crimea,
which appears in the return of last year as requiring a auto

of £53,431, to discharge some " extraordinary expenses"
connected with it. There are small variations, both of re-
duction and increase, dispersed through an immense num•
ber of items, but when the gross suet they absorb is reckoned
up the difference between one year and another is scarcely
worth noting. Thus, the expenses of the 27 departments
and offices of the Civil Government show an increase in the
charges for the Treasury, a decrease on the Home Depart-
ment, a greater decrease on the Foreign-office, an increase
for the Privy Council-office and the Board of Trade. But
in the total chat ge for the whole number of Departments
the difference is only £1,968 between the two years of the
return. The amount voted for them was £716,496 in 1861,
and £714,528 in 1862. There is a more remarkable varia-
tion in one item, which shows a great and sudden increase.
The convict establishments abroad, which required only
£13,238 in 1861, in the following year received no less than
£222,590. Under some heads, as that of hereditary pen-
sions, the amounts are stationary, and time does not seem
to affect others as much as might be expected. The ser •
wants of their late Majesties King George 111., Queen
Charlotte, and Queen Caroline, still appear as the recipients
of pensions to the amount of £2,621.
On what branches of
expenditure reductions can be made is always a matter for
careful consideration. In most of thewit requires constant
vigilance to prevent an increase, and in sowe an increase is
unavoidable, as it only keeps ileac with the progress of the