It seems probable that Mr. Childers's early anticipations as to
the over sanguineness of Sir Stafford Northcote's Budget will be verified, after all. The half-year's revenue has amounted to £33,654,115. Now, the Chancellor of the Exchequer counted on obtaining a revenue in the year of- close upon £74,000,000. It will •be seen that the half of this,—which, however, no one expects to get in the first half-year,—would be £37,000,000. He has actually got less by more than £3,300,000. Of course this does not mean a deficiency on the same scale, or anything like the same scale, on the whole year. The September quarter, owing, perhaps, to the holidays taken by both taxpayers and collectors, is apt to be an exceptionally bad one. But even comparing this year in that respect with the last, and especially considering that the Income-tax, which usually yields a very heavy sum in the last quarter, is reduced, we should expect an eventual deficiency on the estimate. It will, however, certainly not be so great as the alarmist articles in the newspapers foreshadow. They do not make allowance for the very irregular collection of the revenue of the second quarter.
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