TAXATION AND EXPENDITURE.
When the report of Supply was brought up on Tuesday, Mr. GLADSTONE, in a very thin House, moved the resolution which, he said, Sir Charles Wood had compelled him to postpone. This was the resolution " That, in order to secure to the country that relief from taxation which it justly expects, it is necessary, in the judgment of this House, to revise and further reduce the expenditure of the State."
In urging the House to adopt this resolution, Mr. Gladstone spoke at great length. The House, he said, was in a peculiar and unexampled position. Great exception had been taken to the amount of the Estimates, and the House was asked to pass a vote of supply for four months by a Government under a vote of censure. If his resolution were adopted, the effect would be, not to interpose obstacles to votes of supplb but to refer the Estimates back for reconsideration.
There were two grounds on which his motion should be supported. First, that adequate provision has not been made for the necessities of the year. A surplus, first estimated at 895,0001., has been reduced to 500,0001. • and against this we must place the charges that may arise out of the dinese and Persian wars. Thus, if the present expenditure continues, there will be a deficiency in 1358-'9 of 5,500,000/., and in the three later years of 8,000,000/. or 9,000,000/. Unless, therefore, the expenditure is reduced, recourse must be had either to loans or to new taxes. If the House would adopt his resolution, it would amount to a direction to the Government to reconsider the scale of expenditure, and effect a reduction in it before they submit estimates to a new Parliament. The second ground was, that the expenditure is not under due control. The collection of the Succession and Legacy duties is in arrear ; the Board of Inland Revenue not being strong enough for the work. Corporations are not subjected to the Successionduty; why not ? Then he showed that there is a tendency to growth in expenditure. "The total expenditure of the country has increased since 1853 nearly 7,000,000/. Striking off a considerable item which is due to the collection of revenue—part of which is productive, while part of it, th
I should
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, may be got rid of—there is above 6,000,000/. net increase n e expenditure since 1853. Out of that amount a very small portion is due to charges of the war. I believe there is only a net increase of 750,®01. in the charges of the Funded and 'Unfunded Debt, taken together, since 1850; and therefore about 5,500,0001. of the total increase is represented by sheer au entation of expenditure independently of the war—nearly 5,500,1111. in the space of four years." He could not believe that any large amount in the Estimates of the present year is duo to the war. Taking the Military Estimates, and comparing them with those of 1862, when they were 16,012,0001., he showed an increase of 4,600,0001. since 1852. But we are in more danger from Civil than from Military Estimates. The Military come in lumps, but the Civil Estimates come in ten thousand forms. These estimates require to be rudely overhauled. As illustrations he mentioned the cost of the Ordnance Survey, that, if not intercepted, will entail a charge of four or five millions ; the constantly increasing votes for Education the appointment of a Minister of Education at 20001. a year ; the throwing of 160,0001. on the public purse in order to alleviate the expenses of suitors in County Courts.; the appointment of three Judges to fill vacancies on the bench, keeping up the number to fifteen when twelve could do the work—a course adopted when a Commission is sitting ; a comae which it would be insulting to suppose that either Lord Melbourne or Sir Robert Peel would have sanctioned. On the whole, he found that there has been an augmentation of 1,700,0001. in the Civil Service since 1853. In conclusion, Mr. Gladstone said he should not press his resolution to a division. Mr. WII.T.TAMS seconded the motion.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER made a brief reply. In much of Mr. Gladstone's statement he concurred ; and he admitted that the portion to which he could not assent deserved serious consideration. With regard to taxation, Sir George emphatically said that he had only now to deal with the present year. It will be the duty of any Government at the head of affairs in future years to meet the expenditure of the year out of the taxation of the year ; and "not resort to the method of lsorrowing. in order to defray the current expenditure in time of peace." He insisted that, so far as he could judge, he had made adequate provision for the ensuing year, and that there need be no alarm on that score. With respect to the Estimates, the Government do not consider that the House is in any way pledged to them; and the new Parliament will be competent to examine them as if they were proposed for the first time. No Member assenting to a vote of money on account can be said to give his approbation to the Estimates. If the House adopted the resolution, he did not see how that would promote Mr. Gladstone's object, as the new Parliament might take a view of the matter altogether different But without saying how far it might be possible to reduce the Estimates, he thought that "the House should at the termination of a great war carefully revise the whole of the public expenditure." With regard to Mr. Gladstone's illustrations of extravagance, he would say that the House had agreed to the Ordnance Survey on a gigantic scale—so that the outline of one Scotch county would cover the floor of Westminster Hall— against his judgment With respect to the appointment of Judges, the vacancies had occurred since the appointment of the Commission; that judicial duties could not go unperformed ; that no temporary arrangements could have been made; and that the Government had no alternative but to appoint those Judges. Mr. GLYN suggested that a Select Committee should be appointed as
soon as the new Parliament assembled to examine the Estimates.
Mr. DISRAELI said he thought Mr. Gladstone had exercised a wise discretion in not pressing his motion. For his part, he would not enter into the discussion.
"What I wish to do is to protest against a discussion of this sort in this last stage of our existence. I think we have quite enough to do in preparing to meet our constituents, instead of carving out the work of the next Parliament. It is indeed almost arrogant for any of us to suppose that we shall be Members of the next House. I may have opinions as regard my own chances of election, and other gentlemen may entertain opinions as to theirs; but I don't think, Sir, we ought to intrude those views upon your observation, and give notice, as some very eminent Members have done, as to what they intend to do in the next Parliament." ("Hear !" and a laugh.) [Mr. Spooner had just given notice that he should renew his Maynooth motion.] He strenuously objected to Mr. Glyn's proposal "to relieve Government from the discharge of its duties." "We want a Government which shall possess the confidence of the House of Commons, and which will not shrink from the performance of its duties and not one which is content to carry on from hand to mouth, aud which whenever a difficulty occurs is willing to be superseded by a Committee of this House. If &Government perform their duty in an efficient manner, that Government cannot fail to meet with confidence from the House; but I must protest against Parliament, whose part it is to act the critic upon the schemes of the Government, being called upon to act as the inventers and authors of their plans." (Cheers.)
Mr. Gladstone's amendment was negatived, and the report was agreed to.
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