Perhaps as festive a thing as any which this Easter
has brought forth is the Revenue-table for the year and quarter. That at least wears a face of gladness. Both on the year and quarter there is an increase in all the important branches of ordinary revenue, except the trifling decrease in Taxes, of 32,000/. on the year and 15,000/. on the quarter. The increase on the Customs in spite of the tariff-reductions, is 1,132,000/. on the year and 485,0001. on the quarter. In the Excise it is not so great-661,000l. on the year and 26,000/. on the quarter. The greatest decrease is under the . casual item Repayment of Advances : it Is 736,000/. on the year and 291,000/. on the quarter. In spite of that drawback, the balance of increase on the quarter is 400,000/., on the year 1,538,000/. But for the Irish drain, the surplus of revenue would still have been accumulating : in the last quarter the advances to Ireland were 2,940,000/.
