, 1877-04-14

o. OTOlA O(l NIdICN lOtIs
p LEMMING. L. FABER.
Speaker.
LIST Member for Christiansted (Lcmmjagj as
Speaker of the Committee Introduced the re-
port, to the conten 5 Of which he referred
The President As the contents of the
report Give 10 occasion for any real discussion,
the Committee having made NC objections to
the expenditures incurred ia the year IN
question, he had very little to observe on his
part. The Committee has under tho Revenue
made a general proposal, that the Council
would suggest to The Presidency, that in iuturo
wien making calculations for fixing the revenue
items or the Budg t., the Presidency would
take care to avoid having those items fixed SO
that the proportion between the actual revenues
and the estimated revenues should exceed q, III
other words to avoid a difference above q P.
ct. between the actual and the estimated Ieyc-
nue.. 1t would be impossible for the Presidency
to observe any such rule, in the hst instance
from a fo5mll view for it Is well known, that
the estimates of revenues are put down accord
ing to a prescribed mathematical rule, vizi the
average returns under each item for the 3 previ-
Gus financial years, and although in making the
estimates it has at times been necessary to a
certIin extent to deviAte from the rue, still
those cases are but exceptions in the second
place, and this consideration ID even moro
worthy Of notice, the reasons why tho revenues
arc at times 50 much below what is estimated,
is not owing to an exaggerated view having been
taken Of the items at the time of the estimate,
but to tho fact Of those diminished returns
being a direct cons quance Of the nature OF
things. As we wi have noticed, the Budgets
have in the latter years been introduced late,
owing to the necessity Of forming some opinion
as to the probable returns of the com ng crops;
but it is impossible beforehand to have any
accurate knowledge of what the crop
will be, and the calculations made by
planters and others with whom the Presidency
had conferred, had almost always failed planters
themselves are aware what disappointment can
be experienced in that respect for instance,
in The commencement of this crop, it was tho
general opinion that the crop would have been
5000 hogsheads, or more, but it turned out only
$500 hogshcads, 1t is d melancholy fact, but
one which cannot under the nature of circum.
stances be otherwise, that the estimates OF the
revenues based on such calculations must fail
too. This will always be the case under any
rule. Therefore the Presidency could not
comply with the suggestion.-Next, there are
some items, where the Committee states that
the Administration should have provided the
expense required for the particular purposes by
additional grants. AS regards one of the items,
clothing for the Military, whore an excess OF
$493,29 has been incurred, such excess was
not owing to a larger quantity of articles having
been used in the period in question, but to a
change in the mode of providing the articles s.
previously. all the articles for military use
were ord cred from Denmark, which however
was a very inconvenient and wasteful mode
for to name one instance, shoes for the men
had to be ordered in larger quantities than re-
CURED at the moment, and OF sizes which per.
haps could not be used for q very long time
they laid on hands until they get rotten and
unfit for use. Then again with regard to other
articles, retailers and w0rkmen here were un-
der the former mode deprived of the earnings,