§ My first duty to-day is to explain how it is that a balance so largely beyond my expectations has been obtained. On the one hand, the Exchequer receipts were more than I expected by £2,059,000. On the other hand, the Exchequer issues were less than I expected by £3,006,000. These two items, added to the £334,000 which I allowed as a margin for the year, bring up the total I mentioned a moment ago to £5,399,000. Hon. Members will see from the statement in their hands that the large decrease on the expenditure side was entirely due to savings by the spending departments and mainly in the Army. The actual savings on the estimated expenditure of 1905–6, the year (for which we were not responsible) which had not been anticipated by March 31st, 1906, 1177 were £881,000, and the actual savings on the estimated expenditure for 1906–7, which were anticipated by the close of the financial year, and in respect of which no issues were made, were £1,150,000, making together for the Army a total of £2,031,000. On the revenue side the increase is due almost entirely to three items, in no one of which could its extent have been reasonably foreseen. The first of these comes under Customs; the coal duty, which during the last seven months of its life, April to November, produced £1,495,000, or £345,000 above the estimate, which was based on the highest yield of previous years. That was due to a time of very exceptional activity in the coal export trade, which was stimulated to some extent by strikes and by a shortage of supply in the French and German markets. The second item is the estate duties, which, in consequence of the falling in of a number of abnormally large estates, produced a record yield of nearly £1,200,000 in excess of the estimate. The third item, coming under the heading of "Miscellaneous," is the Mint, the exceptional profits of which are responsible for nearly the whole of the large increase of £441,000 under that head. This is such an unusual circumstance that I ought to say a word about it. The amount payable into the Exchequer under this head consists of the profits on the coinage of silver and bronze token coins, less the sum required to defray the working expenses of the Mint. For some years past the Exchequer receipts from this source have been steadily declining. In 1901–2 they were as much as £595,000. In 1903–4 they had sunk to £174,000, in 1904–5, to £44,000, and in 1905–6 they were as low as £26,000. The main cause of that heavy and progressive decline was that during the period of the South African War there had been a very active demand for coinage, which caused the supplies to become redundant in slacker years. Hense for the past two years there had been comparatively little coinage of new silver, as it was possible to meet the demands merely by the recoinage of worn silver when withdrawn, and these recoinages, of course, yield the Mint no profit, but rather a loss, as the coins have to be made up to standard weight before they are reissued. A year ago it was obvious that the turning point of the 1178 depression had been reached, and accordingly, in my Budget of last year, the Mint raised their estimate of receipts to £150,000. The result has far exceeded anticipations. The receipts have actually been £535,000. I am informed that the increase results from a revived demand all round, of which, no doubt, the activity in trade is the chief cause; but it is partly due to the exceptional Colonial demand, the Colonies which have been chiefly responsible for the increase being West Africa and Australasia. Another special contributory cause was the general election, to provide for the various requirements of which half a million of silver was taken. In view of these considerations, it was thought prudent to reduce the estimate to £201,000 for next year. So far, I have been dealing with exceptional and unforeseen causes of increase.