§ DR. MACNAMARA (Camberwell, N.)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can state the amount of the contributions
† See (4) Debates, cxlix., 227.1060 from the Colonies to the upkeep of the Imperial Forces, Army and Navy, for the last completed financial year, and the amount chargeable for the same purpose to the people of the United Kingdom; and whether he can state the total revenue for the same year of the British Colonies and the United Kingdom respectively.
§ * THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. CHURCHILL,) Manchester, N.W.The total of the annual contributions of the Colonies for the latest Colonial financial years for which returns are available is £876,665. I am informed that the expenditure in 1904–5 from Army and Navy Votes was £65,793,006, and that the total Exchequer Receipts of Revenue were £143,370,405. The total revenue of the British Colonies cannot be stated exactly for the same year, owing to the different dates of commencement of the financial year in the various Governments, but I would refer the hon. Member to page 15 of the Colonial Statistical Abstract for 1905, which shows that, excluding Protectorates and including Australian State revenues, the total for 1904 was approximately £85,713,284. These revenues are, however, not strictly comparable with Exchequer receipts, as they frequently include revenues analogous to those of local bodies in this country.