RECENT EXPANSION.
Not the least striking aspect of the present total of the national expenditure, however, is the manner in which it has expanded even within recent years. In the financial year 1923-24 the total had fallen to £789,000,000. By the following year it had risen to £796,000;000, while for 1925-26 it was £826,000,000, though, of course, allowance must be made for the fact that the figures for that year included the coal subsidy, while for 1926-27 the heavy total of £842,000,000 was again largely explained by subsidies. Even for the current year, however, which is free from such special items, we have a total estimated expenditure of £834,000,000, or about £45,000,000 more than =for the year 1923-24. Of this great increase, however; it- must be:pointed out that over £25,000,000 is: connected with Consolidated Fund services, including -larger sinking funds. • On the other hand, Civil Service outlays,_ which had dropped sharply in 1924-25, have since risen by about £10,000,000.
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