§ *(4.20.) The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Sir M. HICKS BEACH,) Bristol, W.The receipts of the Exchequer, under our system of taxation, depend so closely upon the prosperity of the people that it is always advisable, in arranging the financial proposals for the year which is to come, to consider what has been the state of the country in the previous year. But, Sir, the year 1901 affords us no very certain guidance in this respect. It was not a year of exceptional prosperity. The ebb in our commercial and industrial activity, which began in 1900, although not augmented, had not yet turned. Some trades suffered by the national mourning, others by the depression that prevailed in foreign countries, especially Germany, with which we have great commercial intercourse. The thoughts of all of us were occupied by the war, and thousands of workers were removed from productive labour by the same cause; and yet, owing to a decline of prices, in some cases there was a fall in wages. On the other hand, though the year showed nothing to elate us, yet it showed nothing to depress us. Such records as the returns of our Bankers' Clearing House, of deposits in savings banks, of our railway traffic and the coasting trade, showed no diminution of business at home; and, though there was a fall in value in our foreign trade, yet there was a satisfactory increase in its volume; and the fall in value was mainly due to the fall in the price of coal, which, however disagreeable to those connected with that great industry, was, I think, eminently satisfactory to everybody else, including especially the iron and steel trades, which I hope, in the year that is before us, will show an improvement in consequence. There has been, therefore, 162 on the whole, in the course of the last year, no reason for us to consider that there is any falling off in the consuming power of the people, and that we may not have good hope for the revenue for the year that is to come.
Certainly, in some great items of our revenue from Customs and Excise there has been a large falling off. The receipts from tobacco, from spirits, and from beer show a considerable decrease. So far as spirits and tobacco were concerned, that decrease was due to forestalments of duty in the previous year (1900–1901), which deprived last year of a considerable part of the revenue that properly belonged to it; and although, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, I am bound to regret that there has been a decrease in the consumption of beer, yet perhaps the House generally may be disposed to feel that on the whole the great increase in the consumption of tea and cocoa is a countervailing advantage.