II. TAXATION. The revenue derived from the most important of direct taxes, that upon incomes, was as follows in the last ten years (estimated for 1905): The gross amount of the annual value of property and profits assessed to the income tax in the year ended April 5, 1903, in the United Kingdom, was 879,638,5467.; in 1893 it was 679, 490,5177. Of the amount for 1903 the share of England was 760,844,3117.; of Scotland, 84,218,2907. ; of Ireland, 34,575,9457. The real property so assessed in the last four years was distributed as follows: Assessed to Income Tax 1900 1901 1902 1903 £ 36,941,918 £ £ 5,943,692 36,803,604 36,624,408 5,883,487 9,654,930 £ 52,814,291 52,636,364 52,463,477 52,162,825 17,214,907 17,655,974 18,076,100 4,588,274 4,653,438 4,800, 298 The annual value of the railways in the United Kingdom assessed to income tax in 1903 was 38,059,5637.; mines and quarries, 21,802,4117. (in 1893, 13,047,012.); gasworks, 5, 469,4457.; waterworks, 4,832,6371.; canals, inland navigations, &c., 3,391,8057.; ironworks, 4,020,6217. (in 1893, 2,089,2277.). In accordance with Acts passed between 1888 and 1899, various duties are collected for local authorities by Imperial officers, and assigned to the three divisions of the United Kingdom. These are the additional beer and spirit duties, excise licences, and a share of the probate duty and estate duty. The net receipts of these duties and the payments made to local taxation accounts in the year ended March 31, 1904, were as follows: The following statement (from a Return of June 27, 1904, on revenue and expenditure—England, Scotland, and Ireland-) shows for the year ended March 31, 1904, the net amount contributed by each of the three divisions of the United Kingdom to the revenue collected by Imperial officers, and the expenditure on English, Scottish, and Irish services met out of such revenue: Grand total ! Expenditure: Against Exchequer revenue: Debt, Army, Navy. The amount contributed for Imperial purposes by England was thus 82,808,5007. (87 02 per cent.); by Scotland, 10,149,0007. (1067 per cent.); by Ireland, 2,200,5007. (231 per cent.); total, 95,158,000l. (100.00 per cent.). III. NATIONAL DEBT. The expenditure on account of National Debt is now nearly six times the amount paid in 1775, at the beginning of the War of Independence of the United States. The total charge for interest and management was then only a little over 4 millions sterling; but at the end of the war it had risen to 9 millions. The twenty-two years' warfare with France, from 1793 to 1815, added 23 millions sterling to the annual charge of the debt, making it over 32 millions, decreased by slightly more than a million in 1817, in the year of consolidation of the English and Irish exchequer. Since this date, the capital of the debt has on the whole been steadily decreasing, excepting for the years of the Russian and the South African wars. The debt charge (27,000,0007.) included in 1903-04 provision for the repayment of capital to the amount of 6,509,9327. The following statement shows the total amount of the Gross Liabilities and the Assets of the State on March 31, 1904 : The whole of the capital liabilities amount to 85,140,4467. less than the gross annual value of property and profits assessed to income tax, and to 108,475,8617. less than the total value of British imports and exports for 1903. The amount is about 187. 118. 4d. per head of the present population, and the annual charge is about 12s. 74d. per head. The national wealth, public and private, of the United Kingdom was estimated by Sir R. Giffen in 1885 at 10,037,436,0007. IV. LOCAL TAXATION. The total amount raised for local expenditure was as follows for the three divisions of the United Kingdom in 1901-02 : The estimated expenditure of the London County Council for the year ending March 31, 1905, was: maintenance, 9,330,9567. (comprising 284,0227. from Exchequer contribution, 8,256,2047. from county rate, and 790,9307. from rents, &c.); capital, 10,488,6721. (including 3,770,0001. loans to local authorities). The amount of the consolidated stock of the Council outstanding March 31, 1904, was returned at 58,761,6387. At the end of the financial year 1901-02, the outstanding local debt of England and Wales amounted to 343,416,5827.; that of Scotland to 54, 199,7967.; and the loans due by local authorities in Ireland, to 14,440,5957., so that the local debt of the United Kingdom at that date was not less than 412,056,9731. Defence. The maintenance of a standing army in time of peace, without the consent of Parliament, is prohibited by the Bill of Rights of 1689. From that time to the present, the number of troops as well as the cost of the different branches of the service in detail, has been sanctioned by an annual vote of the House of Commons. Parliament exercises another important means of control over the army-viz., by passing at the commencement of every session an Act called the Army (Annual) Bill,' investing the Crown with large powers to make regulations for the good government of the army, and to frame the Articles of War, which form the military code. For deliberative and advisory purposes in connection with military matters there is a Defence Committee of the Cabinet, presided over by the Prime Minister. In 1904 an Army Council was appointed, consisting of the Secretary of State for War, who is responsible to the Crown and to Parliament, 4 military members, whose duties embrace military policy, personnel, supply, and armament, and 2 civil members, viz., the Parliamentary UnderSecretary of State and the Financial Secretary, a Permanent Under-Secretary of State being Secretary to the Council. The office of Inspector-General of the Forces has been instituted, and there are Inspectors of Cavalry, of Horse and Field Artillery, of Garrison Artillery, and of Engineers. The Inspector-General is appointed for 5 years. The first to hold this position is Field-Marshal H. R. H. the Duke of Connaught. The Commandership-in-Chief of the Forces has been abolished. Other principal military departments are those of the Chief of the General Staff, of the Adjutant-General to the Forces, of the Quartermaster-General to the Forces, and of the Master-General of the Ordnance. According to the army estimates for 1904-05, the regular army of the United Kingdom-exclusive of India-during the year ending March 31, 1905, is to consist of 10,234 commissioned officers, 1,544 warrant officers, 20,509 sergeants, 4,548 drummers, trumpeters, &c., and 180,165 rank and file, a total of 217,000 men of all ranks, being a decrease of 4,561 on the previous year. This force is to be composed of the following staff, regiments, and miscellaneous establishments: |