We now publish the usual ...
We nowv publish tbe usual Annual and Quarterly Re- turns of the State of the Revenue up to the 5th of the prc- seut month. Thev are ' highly satisfactory,"-that is to -ay, in tbat sort of language by wbich a man is called " Your Excellency," who has no very excellent qualities about him. The returns exhibit some anomalies. There is an) apparent increase in the last year of above a million, and a decrease in the last quarter below that of the cor- responding quarter in 1823, of four hundred thousand pounds. This discordance, however, is soon explained, wheni it is cbser-ed, that to the revenue of the last year the whole of the celebrated Austrian repayment is added, not onie portion of wlhich appears in the last quarter of that year. The revenuie, therefore, of the year 1824 being, or pretend- ing to be, 5O,412,592l., but of which the Austrian repay- ment of 2)-, millions inakes a part, would, without that re- payment, amount to no more than 47,912,5921, and would in reality be less than the revenue of 1823 (49,374,3111.) by 1,459,719L., whilst the revenue of the last quarter is, as we have said above, less than that of the corresponding quarter in 1823 by 400,0001. It appears, therefore, that the decrease of revenae is rather accelerated than retarded- a decrease of 400,0001. in a quarter being miore than a de- crease of 1,459,7191. in the vear. And this occurs whilst wve are in a state of prolonged peace, and whilst new regions are-we had almost said, daily-opeening to our enterprise; or to the enterprise of other nations. It is satisfactory, no *doubt-, that many taxes have been taken off; and to a cynical maii, perhaps, the satisfaction would be increased by reflecting with lhovw muclh unwillingness, oni the part of Government, the relief' has been wrungfrom them. Yet still, with all this remissiorn of taxes, we aver that the state of our revenue proves that wve do not participate to the tle- gree to which we ought, in the opening commercial advan1- tages of the world. In the Customs of the two years, there bas been an increase of the latter over that of the former, by 833,2741.; but the Excise of the latter year falls off by more than that sum of the Excise of the former; whilst the Excise of the last quarter exceeds that of the correspond- ing quarter in 1823, by 344,4001.; antI the Customs actu- ally come under the head of decrease by 98,350l. The re- mission of taxes, also, ought to increase the consumption of articles: there is no such effict evidenlt in these returns. It is clear, therefore, that taxes have not been. remitted to the extent required by tbe necessities of the people.