The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-22 00:00:00

OUR NATIONAL INCOME.

On Tuesday evening Mr. R. Dudley Baxter read a
lecture on the above subject at a meeting of the Statistical
Society, held at the rooms of the association, 12, St.
James's-square, Colonel W. H. Sykes, M.P., presiding.
In opening his paper, Mr. Baxter said that there could
scarcely be an inquiry more interesting to those who took
a pride in the country than the investigation of the
statistics of our national income. What were the means
and aggregate wages of our labouring population, what
the number and aggregate profits of the middle classes,
what the revenues of our great proprietors and capi-
talists, and what the pecuniary strength of the nation
to bear the burdens annually falling upon us? What
capital in land and goods and money was stored up for our
subsistence and for carrying out our enterprise? What
was the relative magnitude of our National Debt ? What
progress had been made since the beginning of the century
in the increase of our income and the accumulation of
savings? And what were the risks to which our wealth
was exposed, and the precautions that ought to be taken
for our own protection and for the safety of posterity?
Having detailed the available data which afforded mate-
rials for such an inquiry, the lecturer proceeded to classify
the population into the income classes and dependent
classes. From the Census tables of 1861 it was possible
to ascertain with tolerable accuracy the number of persons
who might be presumed to have independent incomes. In
England and Wales they were as follows in 1861 :-1, per-
sons with independent incomes (men, boys, women, and
girls), 9,289,000 ; 2, persons without independent incomes,
10,626,000. He would classify the persons with indepen-
dent incomes into the upper and middle classes on the
one hand, and the manual labour classes on the other.
As regarded England and Wales, in 1861, the totals
were :-1, upper and middle classes, 1,943,000 ; 2, manual
labour classed, 7,346,000. So that the upper and middle
classes with incomes of their own were rather more
than one-fifth of the total income classes, or one-fourth
of the similar members of the manual labour classes.
From 1861 to 1866 the increase of the income classes had
been as follows in England and Wales : —tipper and middle
classes (one-fifth), 110,000 ; manual labour classes (four-
fifths), 440,000 ; total increase, 550,000. Of the popula-
tion of the United Kingdom there were in 1861 13,270,500
persons with independent incomes, and 15,506,500 with-
out independent incomes. In 1867 the upper and middle
classes in England and Wales were 5,003,000 in round
numbers, and of these nearly three persons were dependent
for every two with independent incomes. The manual
labour classes were 26,000,000 in round numbers, and
were almost equally divided between earners and non-
earners. In Scotland at the same time the upper and
middle classes were 692,000, and the manual labour classm
were 2,460,000. In Ireland at the same time the upper
and middle classes were 1,056,000, and the manual labour
classes were 4,501,000. The numbers for the United King-
dom in 1867 were as follows :—Upper and middle classes
with independent incomes, 2,759,000 ; dependent, 3,859,000
—total, 6,618,000. Manual labour classes with indepen-
dent incomes, 10,961,000 ; dependent, 12,130,000--total,
23,091,000. Having given an elaborate syllabus of the in-
comes of England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland sepa-
rately, the lecturer said they would now be able to add
together the aggregate incomes of these countries, and
obtain the income of the United Kingdom. In 1867 the
gross income of the United Kingdom was as follows :
Upper and middle classes, £496,734,000 ; manual labour
class, £324,645,000—t0ta1, £821,379,000. In round num-
bers their earnings were £500,000,000 plus £325,000,000,
making a total of £825,000,000, an amount exceeding all
previous calculation of the income of the nation. It was
a wonderful thing that the gross annual income of the
United Kingdom should exceed by £47,000,000 the whole
2778,000,000 of the permanent National Debt. After the
reading of the paper a vote of thanks was accorded to the
lecturer.