§ MR. RITCHIEThe fixed Debt charge, then, being £27,000,000, the total expenditure for 1903–04 will stand at £143,831,000. To this must be added this year's proportion of the proposed Development Grant to Ireland in the Bill now before the House, two-thirds of £185,000, or £123,000, so that the total expenditure I have to provide is £143,954,000. It is a very formidable expenditure to meet, and, speaking as Chancellor of the Exchequer, I naturally have a very sincere sympathy with those who press for its reduction.