§ MR. THOMSON HANKEYsaid, he would beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether it would be possible, without public inconvenience, to give an account of the Income and Expenditure of the Country from a similar date, and as a Supplementary Account to the Return of the National Debt from the year 1691, and which was presented to the House on the 11th of May, 1857?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERsaid, that in answer to his hon. Friend, he would venture to state, that it would be practicable to give an account of the income and expenditure of the country from the date, or from about the date, to which his hon. Friend referred. But that account had to be collected out of a great variety of documents; and although the Return, when made, would be of considerable interest and such as would amply justify the labour expended in preparing it, yet that labour must be of a very serious character, and must occupy considerable time. He thought, however, that the document would be one of considerable interest and of great historical value when, it should have been completed.