The present position of the national finances

Abstract

The expenditure and revenue of the United Kingdom have been equalised for the past few years by variations of the income tax. But this simple process can be continued no longer. The growth of expenditure, the adjustment of the relations of local and imperial finance, and the need of reducing the income tax so that it may be available in emergencies, render necessary a revision of the sources of income. But to understand the present condition of the finances, and the direction in which progress is possible, it is necessary to review the growth of expenditure and revenue since the year 1842. For the purposes of comparison, I adopt five years, viz.:—1842, 1853, 1860, 1867, 1887.