on the military service had arisen from three main causes-our great colonial garrisons, the relation of our military finance with India, and the absence of proper control over the supplies; and he went on to describe in detail the policy of the War-office under these three heads. Our military expenditure on the colonies had been reduced from 3,388,0237. in 1868-9, and 2,589,8867. in 1869-70, to 1,905,5387.; and, including such stations as Malta and Gibraltar, which must be considered Imperial garrisons, the strictly colonial expenditure had been reduced from 1,838,0827. in 1868 to 1,216,8427. in 1869, and to 674,2567. in 1870, and the number of men from 49,000 to 20,941. In addition to this it was proposed to disband the Canadian Rifle Regiment, the Cape Mounted Rifles, the 3rd West India Regiment, and the African Artillery, amounting to 2,530 men. This policy he vindicated as training the colonies to rely on their own spirit and energy, and increasing by concentrating the strength of the Imperial power. Owing to financial causes, there had also been a reduction in the Indian establishment by one-third of its number, 3,201 men. Then arose the question whether the British taxpayer should have the benefit of these reductions by a corresponding reduction of the force at home, and in the decision of this question four considerations had to be kept in view-whether the force at home was adequate, whether its distribution and organisation were such as to make it capable of easy extension, whether we had trustworthy reserves, and, lastly, the manner in which the reduction was to be made. Considering that we had 86,225 men of the regular Army at home, distributed in 105 batteries of artillery, 19 regiments of cavalry, and 68 battalions of infantry, and that the Reserve Forces added to these gave us an army of 109,225 available for foreign war, the Government had concluded that it was their bounden duty to give the country the benefit of the colonial reductions. He then went on to explain minutely the mode in which the reductions of the home establishment were to be carried out, by the reduction of the number of companies in all infantry regiments, with a view to our relation of military finance with India, from 12 to 10, and of troops in a cavalry regiment from 8 to 7; the abolition of second majors and of depôt battalions, and certain alterations in the artillery depôts. The depôt brigade at Maidstone would be abolished, and that at Woolwich much reduced. A prominent feature in the scheme was a reduction in the number of subalterns (the total of the reduction amounting to 1,239 officers, whose annual pay amounted to 164,3557.); and in connection with this, Mr. Cardwell explained a complicated plan for the gradual absorption of these officers, and the abolition of the rank of ensign and cornet which, he showed, involved a first step towards the abolition of the purchase system. Everybody on entering the army would enter it as lieutenant, as in the Artillery and Engineers. Passing next to the reserve forces, he announced that, in future, though the enlistment for the regular Army would still continue to be for 12 years, the service in regiments going abroad would be for six years, with the possibility of reducing the term at home to three

years. The remaining six years' service would be in the Reserve, the men being liable to be called out like the Naval Reserve, and receiving a retaining pay of 4d. per day. This plan for creating a Reserve he only put forward as an experiment, acknowledging that many great military authorities did not expect it to succeed, but he hoped that it would attract new classes into our military service, and add largely to our Reserve Forces. He passed next rapidly over the changes made in the Estimates with regard to the Militia, Yeomanry, and Volunteers, all of which were of minor importance; and as the general sum of the whole, he stated that our disposable forces for the current year would amount to 376,602-namely, Regulars and First Army Reserve and Militia Reserve (available for foreign service), 109,225; second Army of Reserve, 20,000; Militia (less Militia Reserve), 63,600; Yeomanry, 15,300; Volunteers, 168,477. This force, too, would be made more disposable by the division of the country into great military districts, in which the Regulars and the Reserves of every kind would be included in the same organization. The country would be for this purpose divided into nine great military commands, with fourteen districts within those commands, conterminous with them and with the counties. Next he referred to the introduction of the new Control Department, of the success and increasing efficiency of which he spoke in confident terms; its economy proving itself by the fact that there had been a reduction of 179 officers, and a saving of 45,0007. in salaries. Finally, he touched on the contemplated reconstruction of the War Departments, the improvements in military education, the changes as to military prisons, and the step taken to instruct the troops in spade-drill, in telegraphing, and in various handicrafts, and concluded by expressing a confident belief that the Estimates, if adopted by the House, would place the country in a perfectly safe and honourable position.

Sir John Pakington, in commenting on the Army Estimates, would not give an unqualified approval to the scheme, the main foundation of which was a great reduction in the Army. He did not approve of the alienation of the colonies by stripping them of their military defence. The object of the Government seemed to be to keep a large military force in England, where their services were least required. As regards a Reserve Force, it was nonsensical to call 9,000 men by such a name. He approved of the experiment of short enlistment, but doubted that it would have the effect anticipated. He disapproved of a reversion to the old system of making a troop a cavalry unit instead of a squadron, and thought that the Government was reducing the forces of the country to an extent that was hardly wise.

Among the other speakers were Major Walker, Colonel North, Colonel Barttelot, and Captain Vivian, who, while desiring to combine economy with efficiency, and acknowledging the principle of control and reorganization to be effective, questioned the policy of Government in reductions of men, and in entirely depriving our dependencies of military support.

In introducing his statement shortly afterwards, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Lowe) observed that the original estimate of the revenue of the year 1869-70 was 72,555, 27, which by the alteration in the method of collecting taxes was increased to 76,505,000Z.; the expenditure was 65,226, til, leaving a surplus of 7,982,000l. Of this amount 4,600,000l. applied to the discharge of obligations incurred on account of the Abyssinian War, and 2,940,000l. to the reduction of taxation, leaving a nett surplus of 442,000. The final estimate of revenue, after the agreed reduction of taxation, was 73,515,000. The actual receipts amounted to 75,334,000/-the largest revenue ever raised in this country, with the exception of the three last years of the French war, and one which, despite the reduction of taxation, exceeded that of the previous year by 2,742,000l. The expenditure for the year 1569-70 was estimated at 68,408,0007. Thanks to the savings which were effected upon the votes for the Army, Navy, and Civil Service, the actual expenditure, notwithstanding certain exceptional charges, showed a diminution, compared with that of the previous year, of no less than 2,468,0007.

The revenue for the current year, 1870-71, he estimated at 71,450,000Z.; and, comparing this with the expenditure, he showed a surplus of 4,337,000. This surplus he dealt with by the removal of a number of small duties involving expense in collection and operating harshly on those who paid them: by the abolition of certain stamps in connection with agriculture, insurance, and bills of exchange; by the abolition of the impressed stamp upon newspapers, and the reduction of the inland postage to a halfpenny for any newspaper of less than six ounces in weight, and a similar reduction for every fraction of two ounces of other printed matter; by the alteration of the tax upon railways from a charge of 5 per cent. upon the receipts from passengers to one of 1 per cent. upon the gross traffic; by a reduction of one penny in the pound income tax; and by a reduction in the sugar duties, giving effect to Mr. Bright's scheme of "a free breakfast table." Meeting the question of malt, he gave permission to farmers to steep their own barley for feeding their cattle, provided that they should have no kiln upon their premises, and that there should be none within a mile of their farms. He closed a speech received with acclamation by informing the House that there would still be an unappropriated surplus of 331,0007.

Mr. Goschen on another occasion gave some account of the course adopted by Government with reference to local taxation; and said that the annual expenditure in that direction amounted to nearly 30,000,0007., and that the amount altogether at the disposal of Government for general purposes was about 15,000,000.

On the whole, as we stated in the opening chapter, there was a slight promise of financial and commercial improvement at the commencement of the year, and during the first half of the year the promise was not belied, the prospects and the condition of the

Money Market and the state of trade continuing generally favourable. A month before the declaration of war the promise was especially bright. The "clearing" on the 15th of June was the highest known, amounting to 34,000,0007., and in the cotton market, the dockyards, and the iron trade, increasing activity and a growing sense of confidence were everywhere apparent. The immediate effects of the alteration in the railway tax announced in Mr. Lowe's budget, which at first caused much dissatisfaction and considerable depression, were passing off, and the revenue showed an improvement of half a million on the estimate made at the opening of the year. When the declaration of war took place these prospects were, of course, for the moment darkened by a general depression of trade; and the uncertainty and fear that prevailed, it being at first generally apprehended that England might be drawn into the war through her connexion with Belgium, seriously affected the Money Market also. The average fall in every kind of security, except Consols and Indian guaranteed paper, was from four to five per cent., and it was calculated by experienced men that the total reduction in the saleable value of the paper property of Europe exceeded one hundred millions before a single loan was demanded. But as the fears of England being drawn into the quarrel diminished, there was a general revival, and the introduction of many new loans greatly improved the dealings in foreign securities, while foreign investments in this country were also increased by the war. The Board of Trade returns at the close of September showed a slight advance upon previous seasons, and in Consols there was only a slight decline. The Bank rate of discount was advanced from 3 to 3 per cent. on the 21st of July; from 34 to 4, and from 4 to 5 during the same month, and to 6 on the 4th of August. Subsequently, through corresponding stages, it was reduced to 24 per cent. by the close of September. Whatever its effects on the Money Market, the influence of the war upon the trade of England was, on the whole, materially beneficial, especially, perhaps, upon the iron trade, in which the French had of late become competitors so formidable, that the closing of their works did us more good than the loss of their custom did us harm. On the other hand the Russian difficulty threatened this branch of our trade with great momentary danger, depending for custom, as it does, on the Russians and the Americans more than on any other people; but the danger passed, for the time, at all events, with the difficulty. Corresponding to the prosperity of the iron trade was that of the coal trade, in which branch the exports, by the beginning of October, exceeded by three-quarters of a million those of the previous year. The trade in cotton, lace, and silk were also favourably affected by the war, through the stoppage of the trade of Lyons, Mulhouse, and Calais.

Turning to other matters, the imports of wheat during the year showed a discouraging increase, owing to the bad harvest of 1869 at home, and the goodness of the corresponding season abroad,

while there was a decrease of nearly 200,000 acres, compared to the previous year, in the land under wheat cultivation. The steady growth of the tea trade may be inferred from the consumption, which, at this period, amounted to about a quarter of a million pounds a day, and the reduction of the sugar duties had proportionately increased its consumption from the preceding year by some 50,000 tons. Another trade which was fast growing in popularity was the import of preserved meats from the Australian colonies.

Returning from this brief digression to the proceedings in Parliament, we find among the smaller measures for which the session will be remembered one removing the disabilities of clergymen who abandon the clerical profession; an Act modifying the Law of Married Women's Property; and another establishing a halfpenny postage.

Mr. Hibbert moved the second reading of the first of these Bills, which enabled clergymen to "relinquish the office of priest or deacon" by a given ecclesiastical form, whereupon, after six months' delay interposed to prevent a clergyman who had incurred ecclesiastical censure from thus escaping it, the Bishop was to register the deed, and all civil disabilities be removed. If he wished to revoke his relinquishment and to return to his clerical work, the Bill provided a machinery for his doing so with the consent of the Archbishop.

The Married Women's Property Bill was introduced by Mr. Russell Gurney, but it was so modified by the amendments of the House of Lords (especially amendments proposed by Lord Westbury and Lord Penzance) which were accepted by the Lower House, as to lose much of its original character, and to leave married women, in the eye of the law, "much what they were before"-incompetent to use, bequeath, or hold their own money. The feeling that social discomfort might ensue from a radical change in the practice of the country in this respect, proved too strong for the advocates of woman's rights, however strongly some might think the position of the latter fortified by logic and sense. But the Bill, even as passed, was a first recognition of a new principle, another small sign of the times-ilke the "side wind" that introduced the ballot and lump-voting-that the old creeds were passing away, and, whether for good or for evil, all things becoming new.

The Halfpenny Postage, which reduced the charge on the carriage of newspapers to that sum, and introduced the Halfpenny Card, had its accompanying evil in the abolition of the "patternpost," while the ludicrous, and not always agreeable results which at first ensued from the use of the card, will be remembered among the minor memorabilia of 1870. So much did this new institution seem liable to abuse at first, and for such bad purposes was it made available, that a general feeling began to rise against it, which, however, disappeared as the practical jokes, which were its first result, wore off with the novelty, and as its undoubted recommendations became more apparent by use.