settlements of British North America into one Dominion; to which, when we quitted office in 1866, it only remained for our successors to ask the ready assent of Parliament. It is by these measures that the Colonies have been bound in affection to the Empire; and the authors of them can afford to smile at baseless insinuations.

"Gentlemen, the true purpose of these terrifying insinuations is to hide from view the acts of the Ministry, and their effect upon the character and condition of the country. To these I will now begin to draw your attention. With threescore years and ten upon my head, I feel the irksomeness of the task; but in such a crisis no man should shrink from calls which his duty may make and his strength allow.

"At home the Ministers have neglected legislation; aggravated the public distress by continual shocks to confidence, which is the life of enterprise; augmented the public expenditure and taxation for purposes not merely unnecessary, but mischievous; and plunged the finances, which were handed over to them in a state of singular prosperity, into a series of deficits unexampled in modern times. Of these deficits it is now proposed to meet only a portion, and to meet it partly by a new tax on personal property, partly by the sacrifice of the whole Sinking Fund to which five years ago we were taught to look for the systematic reduction, with increased energy and certainty, of the National Debt.

"Abroad they have strained, if they have not endangered, the prerogative by gross misuse; have weakened the Empire by needless wars, unprofitable extensions, and unwise engagements; and have dishonoured it in the eyes of Europe by filching the island of Cyprus from the Porte, under a treaty clandestinely concluded in violation of the Treaty of Paris, which formed part of the international law of Christendom.

"If we turn from considerations of principle to material results, they have aggrandised Russia; lured Turkey on to her dismemberment, if not her ruin; replaced the Christian population of Macedonia under a debasing yoke; and loaded India with the costs and dangers of a prolonged and unjustifiable war, while they have at the same time augmented her taxation and curtailed her liberties. At this moment we are told of other secret negotiations with Persia, entailing further liabilities without further strength; and from day to day, under a Ministry called, as if in mockery, Conservative, the nation is perplexed with fear of change."

The addresses of the secondary members of the Cabinet were a remarkable contrast, in point of expression, to the Premier's letter, but they reiterated substantially the same reasons for receiving the confidence of the electors. "One, and not the least important, of the issues submitted to the constituencies," Mr. W. H. Smith said, in an address to the electors of Westminster, issued on March 12, "is whether that policy which has averted war in Europe is to be reversed, and England is to retire to a position of abstention and indifference as to European politics and affairs.

"I believe such a course would be an abnegation of duty, and disastrous to the political and commercial interests of the country." Mr. Smith also hinted that the blame of the meagre legislation achieved by the Administration rested on the Opposition. "It will be the duty," he said, "of the new Parliament to give serious attention to those questions of domestic legislation which require to be dealt with, but which, during the present Parliament, have been postponed by persistent discussions on the policy of the Government and by obstruction. I trust that the steps which have been taken to secure decorum and order in the conduct of the business of the House of Commons will facilitate the progress of measures which have been unduly delayed."

Sir Stafford Northcote's address to the electors of North Devon contained a more elaborate vindication of the Ministry, conceived on the same grounds. "The duration of the Parliament now about to be dissolved," he said, "has been long; but its age is not to be measured by the number of years for which it has sat, so much as by the importance of the events which have occurred during the term of its existence, and the magnitude of the issues which it has been called on to decide. Throughout a period of no common difficulty and anxiety it has upheld the honour of the country, and has vindicated its claim to its proper rank and influence among the nations of the world. Though it has not escaped the captious criticisms of a certain number of politicians within and without its walls, it has received at the hands of the nation a generous recognition of its patriotic aims and its courageous firmness in support of those great interests which a British Parliament has it in charge to maintain. Its foreign, its colonial, and its domestic policy have all been animated by the same spirit, and the same determination to uphold at once the greatness, the integrity, and the constitution of the Empire, and to knit together the various races who own the sovereignty of the Queen, and the various classes of society which constitute the strength of her people. It has laboured to avert war; and where that has not been possible it has successfully striven to limit its range, and to prevent complications which would have been alike menacing to the particular interests of this country and to the general peace of Europe. It has emphatically proclaimed the national determination to maintain, strengthen, and defend our great colonial and Indian Empire. It has earnestly promoted measures for the advancement of the true interests of Ireland; while it has steadily resisted proposals, however plausible, tending to weaken, or even to dissolve, the ties which bind together the great members of the United Kingdom. In its domestic legislation it has kept in view the importance of aiming at the general good of the community, and of doing strict justice between apparently conflicting interests without sacrificing the welfare of one class to the claims or the prejudices of others. At the same time, it has been on its guard against the danger of attempting to remodel our ancient institutions in accordance with theoretical ideas unsuited to the national character."

The following was Sir Stafford Northcote's defence of his financial policy. "After a period of almost unexampled commercial depression and of grave agricultural losses, during which we have had to incur the expense of defending our interests in three different quarters of the globe, the taxation of the country is lighter than in almost any year previous to the accession of the present Government to power, while the real amount of the National Debt stands now at 18,000,000l. below the sum at which we found it. The Crimean war added upwards of 40,000,000l. to the debt, and left the taxpayer subject to an income tax of 18. 4d. in the pound, besides heavy imposts on the necessaries of life. The war into which, but for a decided policy, we should probably have been drawn, would have been even more burdensome both to the taxpayer of the day and to our posterity."

Amidst the excitement of electioneering, the Budget, which was introduced on March 12, attracted only a subordinate interest. It was evident from the Revenue Returns that there would be a deficit of nearly 2,000,000l. upon the Estimates, and it was pretty well understood beforehand how Sir Stafford Northcote would meet his difficulties. No additional taxation was anticipated, and the anticipation was justified. The Chancellor proposed making a change in the Probate and Administration Duties, which would, he calculated, bring an addition to the income of 700,000l., but he did not propose to add to the burdens of the taxpayer. Altogether he had 8,000,000l. of outstanding bonds and bills to provide for. The plan by which he proposed to meet them was to renew bills for 2,000,000l., and to create terminable annuities, to be paid off by the end of 1885, covering the remaining 6,000,000l.

The following is an outline of Sir Stafford Northcote's account of his stewardship, which, it was remarked, was delivered with unusual. hesitation. Apologising at the outset for the errors inseparable from the inconvenient moment at which circumstances had compelled him to introduce the Budget, he reminded the House that the estimated revenue for the present year was 83,055,000l., against an expenditure of 81,155,000l., showing a surplus of 1,900,000l.; which, however, was turned into a deficit of 1,161,000l. by a vote of credit of 3,000,000l., taken on account of the South African war. But the yield of revenue, he regretted to say, had fallen short of the Estimates by about 2,195,000l., so that the total deficit for the present year had risen to 3,355,000l. With regard to the Supplementary Estimates, he pointed out that those taken for the Civil Service had already been covered by savings; and the cost of the Zulu war, he said, was now pretty definitely ascertained to be 5,138,000l., of which 4,396,000l. was in the Army Services, 690,000l. in the Navy, and 50,000l. in civil contingencies. But so far from any new charge being necessary, the whole amount had already been voted in votes of credit and in the ordinary Army and Navy Services, and 177,000l. to spare. The total amount of the Supplementary Estimates was 1,783,000l., but the savings were

1,817,000l., so that the savings had more than covered the expenditure. The result of all these operations was a deficit of 3,340,000l., which he pointed out was due mainly to a falling revenue. Going into details of this falling revenue, he mentioned that the decrease in spirits alone was 660,000l. in Customs and 800,000l. in Excise, and the falling off in malt was 940,000l. At the same time, the consumption of tea, coffee, and other articles of this kind had not fallen off. Passing next to the figures of the coming year, he thus stated the estimated expenditure of 1880-81:

This, he said, was less than the Exchequer issues of last year by 2,713,5281. The revenue of the coming year he stated thus :—

This was an increase of 600,000l. on the Exchequer receipts of 1879-80, and, compared with the expenditure of the year, it left a surplus of 74,000l., or a practical equilibrium. But the Probate Duties Bill, introduced a few days ago, he calculated would add 700,000l. to the revenue, so that the surplus would be raised to 774,000l. Before proceeding further, the Chancellor mentioned that a clause had been drawn, which would be inserted in the Budget Bill to abolish the exemption from the income tax enjoyed by the Civil Service Supply Association, without injuring the other friendly societies. Proceeding then to deal with the accumulated deficits, represented partly by Supply Exchequer Bonds, which he stated at 8,100,000l., the Chancellor went at considerable length into details of the movement of the Debt, showing that the total amount of Funded and Unfunded Debt and Terminable Annuities on March 31 next would be 779,551,000l., and contending that, though there was a net increase of 1,472,000l. in the total of

Funded and Unfunded Debt since last year, if repayable debt (in which he included local loans, Suez Canal Bonds, and the loan to India) were deducted, as it ought to be, there would be a net diminution in the actual liabilities of 2,877,000l. In like manner he showed that since the present Government came into office, notwithstanding the bad times and the war expenditure, the net increase of debt was only 268,000l.; but if the repayable debt were deducted, the result, of course, would be altogether in the other direction. Of this war expenditure, amounting to 12,285,000l. -viz., 6,125,000l. for the Eastern Question, and 6,160,000l. on account of South Africa-8,100,000l., he said, had been raised by borrowing. Some portion of this, he anticipated, would be obtained from the colonies; but, without taking this at present into account, he proceeded to explain how he proposed to deal with it; and, after some general observations on the nature of the Floating Debt, intended to relieve uneasiness at its apparent growth, he explained a scheme by which six out of the eight millions would be converted into Terminable Annuities to last until 1885, when, as he reminded the House, there would be a considerable falling-in of Terminable Annuities. By an annual payment of 1,400,000l. it was calculated that these 6,000,000l. would be extinguished in 1885; and he proposed to obtain this partly by taking the 625,000l. now paid under the new Sinking Fund, and to add for five years 800,000l. a year to the 28,000,000l. which was now the Permanent Charge of the Debt. The combined effect of this operation and the addition to the revenue of the 700,000l. Probate Duties would be to increase the expenditure for 1880-81 to 82,075,972l., and the income to 82,260,000l., thus showing a surplus of income over expenditure of 184,0281.

The discussion on the Budget was taken on March 15, but in the circumstances it was somewhat mechanical and lifeless, being conducted with a sense that the attention of the public was directed elsewhere. There was difficulty at times in keeping a House. Many members had rushed off on election business, and those specially interested in finance knew that they would have other opportunities of criticism.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer's diversion of his Sinking Fund to the partial payment of the extraordinary floating debt, and his proposed reform of the Probate Duties, were the chief topics taken up. The whole object of the Sinking Fund arrangement for paying off a National Debt being to place each payment beyond the reach of accidents, and enable it to be made in years of adversity as well as years of prosperity, the Opposition critics had good ground of complaint that the means of reduction had been seized upon. Sir Stafford Northcote's financial reputation depended to a large extent upon the success of this expedient for the reduction of National Debt, and his critics were able to taunt him with effect upon destroying faith in a plan upon which he had prided himself, by treating his sacred fund as so much cash in hand,