The chief feature in the ...
The chief feature an the politicsot the country which we have to present to-day, is the n6w constantly expected schedule of the, revenue for thlt year ana the quaric"r just ended; together with that for the year anti quarter pre-. ceding, whereby the increase or -diminution may be-at onte glance perceived. WVe are far from quarrelling with our improving condition: we feel and rejoice in' if. Yet do these documents rather tend to show- the extrenelvy op- pressive nature of the taxes which we have b.en made to. endure, than any alleviation' which we have bitherro re- ceived; for it appears that, notwithstanding thie romis- sioIl of taxes year after year, the renewLed diminution of the old taxes still produces a falling off in the re- venue. The amelioration of the condition of the people lhas never yet been so great as to enable them to conpensate to the revenue, by in-reased consumption, for the reduction' of the imposts; and yet, till this takes place, we must still bc sa-X to be in an unnatural state with regard to taxation The decrease in the taxes for the last year is above a million, and for the last quarter above a quarter of a miV lion. In the Customs, there is an excess for the year-and. quarter just ended - but in the Excise, the advantage is painfully in favour ef 1S23. Neither is the improvement in the Customs rnearly equivalen t to the decline in the Ex-. cise. It is pitiful to observe the mnanner in which the Austrian composition is twisted, to fill up every gap. Mfille habet ornatus.--we cannot add, mille decenter k6het. First, there are two millions and a half put dbwn as a part of the year's revenue, of which there are 1,733,333s credited to the last quarter. Wlhen was the differrc -ee between 2,500,0001. and 1,733,3331. a-counted for ? Was the sum burted under the head ot " Miscellaneous," in the last quarter's retnrn ? Certain it is that no such wvord as,. " Austrian Loan" appears in that statement. We confess, too, we were surprised to see the whlole sum of two' millions and a halt put down as rect-ived. Was so much received ? And was nr,thing deducted for dis- count? Yet, wvith the twvo millions and a half so credited as received, the revenue of last year only execeds the re- venue of 1823, by 9S8,6151. In other words, without the Austrian repayment, the revenue of last year falls below that of the preceding year, by upwards of a million and a half.