public services performed by the State on behalf of the community. The Customs tariff yields about £20,000,000, from duties on tobacco, tea, rum, brandy, wine, other liquors, currants, coffee, raisins, cocoa, chicory, figs, prunes, plate, plums, and a few unimportant items-profitable in the order given above. All other imports are free of taxation. The Excise duties yield over £25,000,000, being levied on spirits, beer, publicans', grocers', and spirit dealers' licences, carriages, railways, licences for dogs, game, male servants, guns, tobacco, auctioneers, armorial bearings, wines, plate-dealers, brewers, pawnbrokers, hawkers, refreshment houses, medicine vendors, distillers, and others -profitable in the order given. Of the Expenditure, about one-third consists of charges on the Consolidated Fund—that is, the aggregate miscellaneous fund standing to the credit of the Exchequer in the Banks of England and Ireland. Over one-third is accounted for by the Army and Navy, and one-fifth by the Civil Service, whilst the remainder is in the nature of drawbacks (cost of collection, &c.) from what may be described as the "earned income." The main charges on the Consolidated Fund are for the interest and management of the Debt, terminable annuities, &c., the Civil List, granted Annuities and Pensions, the Courts of Justice, and miscellaneous Services. In the year 1815 the National Debt amounted to £900,000,000. Over £150,000,000 has since been wiped. out, and the Debt stood in 1887 at about £748,000,000. In the same year the permanent charge for "interest and management," &c., of the Debt was reduced from twentyeight to twenty-six millions, which includes £5,000,000 annually devoted towards repayment. This The estimated Revenue for 1887-8 was £91,155,000, of which £76,035,000 was derivable from taxation. provided for a surplus of £975,000. BRITISH COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES. THE figures in the following list indicate the order in which the several countries are dealt with in the succeeding 1. Canada. 2. Newfoundland. 3. New South Wales. 4. Victoria. 5. Queensland, 6. South Australia. 7. Western Australia. 8. Tasmania. 9. New Zealand. 10. Fiji. 11. New Guinea. (12. Jamaica. 13. British Honduras. 14. Turks and Cacios Islands. 15. British Guiana, 16. Bahamas. 17. Trinidad and Tobago. 18. Barbados. 19. Windward Islands. 20. Leeward Islands. 21. Bermuda. (22. Cape of Good Hope and Dependencies. 23. Natal and Zululand. 24. West Africa Settlements. 25. Gold Coast. West Africa 26. Lagos. 27. Niger Protectorate. 28. St. Helena-Ascension, BRITISH COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. The foundation of the British Empire beyond the seas began practically in the seventeenth century. Virginia received its first charter in 1606, and within the next two hundred years Great Britain secured a footing in every quarter of the globe; (1) by the voluntary exile of its citizens; (2) by conquest, especially from Spain, Portugal, Holland, and France; (3) by plantations under Government auspices; (4) by commercial enterprise; and (5) by expatriation of convicts. The government of these colonies and dependencies by the mother country was intrusted (in 1768) to a Secretary of State for the Colonial Department. In 1782 this department was placed under the charge of an UnderSecretary for the Home Department, who presided at the "Office for the Plantations." In 1801 colonial affairs were managed by the Secretary for the Colonial and War Department. It was not until 1854 that an exclusive Colonial Department was again established; and four years later a new Secretaryship was created for India. Each Secretary of State has now a political and a permanent UnderSecretary, with assistant secretaries and a staff of clerks. The affairs of the several colonies are grouped in four sub-departments-the West Indian, the North American and Australian, the African and Mediterranean, and the Eastern. A separate office is presided over by the Crown Agents for the Colonies, who specially transact financial and commercial business in connection with the Crown Colonies. This office took over so much of the work of the old Land and Emigration Board as was left to it on its abolition some years ago. There are also in London the offices of the High Commissioner for Canada, and of the Agents-General for New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Cape; and an Emigrants' Information Office, recently established. The British Colonies may be classified as follows, in view of their progress towards self-government and independent local administration. I. Having complete elective Legislatures and responsible Executives: Victoria South Australia Cape of Good Hope Tasmania Amongst these the Cape Colony is distinguished by a specially elaborate system of local self-government. II. Having elected Assemblies and responsible Executives with nominated Legislative Councils: Canada Newfoundland New Zealand New South Wales In the above nine colonies, having responsible represen tative government, the concurrence of the Crown is not required in the appointment of any public officer. III. Having elected Assemblies, with nominated Execu tives: Bahamas Barbados Bermuda IV. Having partly elected Legislatures of one or two Chambers, with nominated Executives : V. Having a nominated Executive and a nominated Legislative Council : VII. Commissions (not distinct colonies): South African Dependencies Cyprus New Guinea * British Protectorates, varied in form, exist in North Borneo, the Niger territory, Pondoland, and elsewhere. Furthermore, " à number of islands and rocks throughout the world are British territory, or under British protection, but are not included in any Colony or separate Protectorate. Among such may be mentioned the Kermadec Islands (Pacific Ocean), the Ashmore group (Indian Ocean), Bird Island (Tasmania), Sydney Island, the Caroline and Flint Islands (Pacific Ocean), Maiden Island (off the coast of Victoria), the Purdy Group (New Guinea), Sombrero (West Indies); and there are many others. The Mushah |