§ SIR JOHN LUBBOCKasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Why the Supply Expenditure from the 1st to the 24th April 1875, amounted to £2,793,000 against £1,995,000 for the corresponding period of last year, showing an increase of £800,000?
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXOHE-QUER, in reply, said, that the weekly returns published in the newspapers, from which the figures of the hon. Baronet had been taken, did not represent the exact amounts. They represented the imprests from the Exchequer, but there was no exact correspondence between the imprests and the expenditure. In making a comparison between the periods referred to it should be borne in mind that there was a difference of one day between them which must be taken into account. Again, until the beginning of last year the practice was to make repayments from the Exchequer at the end of the quarter, but now they were made monthly. Consequently a larger sum had to be paid out of the Exchequer this time than was paid in the corresponding period of last year. The matter was exceedingly intricate, and would require him to go into more details than the House would like to listen to. He would only say, therefore, that a difference in the amount did not represent an actual corresponding difference between the two years.