Sentence:  Now, the Colonial Treasurer proposes to deal with that deficit very much in the same way that private individuals deal with inconvenient liabilities&mdash;that is to say, by having recourse to paper, on the <WSD>Micawber principle</WSD>, with a "Thank God, that's done with!" 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The claim that something good will turn up, especially when used to justify optimism.