the Treasury could only carry his own weight, and he (Mr. Lowe) thought the Government could not do less than give its weight to those whose duty it was to enforce economy, and therefore it was in an evil hour he had taken upon himself the duty of protecting the revenue, instead of leaving it to be done by an inferior official. Personally he had no reason to rejoice in it. It had multiplied his unpopularity by any figure they chose to suggest. It had turned the whole press-at all events all the London press-against him. He could not recommend any man who valued his own peace and comfort to follow his example in the future. It certainly had not tended to promote his self-satisfaction. He, however, must not be misunderstood. The dissatisfaction came from the outside. He had nothing to complain of or contend against with regard to his own colleagues. The House of Commons might be divided into two parts the economists and the spendthrifts, and it might be thought that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had nothing to do but to play off the one against the other. But it was not so. When the spendthrifts were to the fore, unfortunately the economists were not to be found, and when the economists were in advance the spendthrifts were judiciously silent. (Laughter.) Most of them opposed extravagance in the abstract, but were in favour of it in the concrete. (Laughter.) He had to contend then, not only against the House of Commons, but against the metropolitan press, which recently constituted itself in regard to the purchase of land on the Thames Embankment a provincial press. He never could see his way to allowing London to dip into the public purse to the extent of 40,000l. He had prevented that, but at what an expense to his own character? Why, his character had been almost ruined. (Laughter.) Take another instance, the increase of the pay of the clerks at the outports-a proposal which happened to have been advanced by members representing the outports. (Laughter.) What did they resort to when they found he would not yield? They stopped the supplies. He must say it was a relief to him that he should be involved in this no more. He should say no more now about his own case, for it was a pitiable one. (Laughter.) "It was my good fortune" (continued Mr. Lowe), "when I took charge of the finances, to find myself in this position. The expenditure exceeded the revenue at the end of the year by the sum of 513,000. That was not a promising position to start with; but by drawing the payment of revenue back I contrived to create a surplus of three millions and a quarter, out of which I took off the corn duties and the insurance on fires. So that I got out of that pretty well. During the last four years I have been able to take off twelve millions of taxes; but I ask you if you had been paying three millions extra for taxes, as you would have done if the expenditure had not been watched over, how much of these twelve millions would have been remitted? But the expenditure has diminished, and the consequence is that the revenue of this country having increased during the period that I had charge of the

finances by a sum of twelve millions a year, every farthing of that twelve millions a year has gone into the pockets of the people, and not one sixpence of it has gone to increase the public expenditure. Nor, gentlemen, is that all. You have now-with the exception of Exchequer Bills, which are kept for the purpose of convenienceno unfunded debt at all; for although I have been obliged to increase the debt ten millions in order to pay for telegraphs, I have diminished the debt during four years by twenty-six millions. Even that is not all. I was called upon in 1870 to provide two millions on account of the war in Europe, and, as you know, in the present year I have been called upon to pay the sum of 1,600,0007., the one-half of the 'Alabama' indemnity, and making altogether 3,600,000. So prosperous have been the finances during this period, that I have paid off the whole sum of 3,600,000l. without borrowing a sixpence or imposing a tax on you at all. That is the answer which I have to give to those who have been so liberal in criticizing. Can it be said, in exercising this strict economy in your public service, that anything has been shirked, or that anything which ought to have been done has been neglected? Look at the army. In 1859 the army numbered 84,000 men. Now it numbers 98,000, being an increase of 14,000, and this is amendment with this great reduction in the expenditure. If you look at the fine arts, I have spent 80007. in buying Sir Robert Peel's pictures, and 50,0007. in splendid collections of antiquity for the British Museum; so far from my having been stingy, I consider that these payments have been liberal in the extreme. I have been told that everything I have done has been mismanaged, and that the office. I have vacated had broken down. I can only say I am proud of the position in which I have left your finances, and I trust many more Chancellors of the Exchequer will be able to give a similar account of receipts."

In conclusion, Mr. Lowe said he had only further to state that the time could not be far distant when it would be settled whether the Government would retain power or give place to those who opposed them step by step. They were not tenacious of office. They had laboured for five years, and it was a small matter whether they retained power or not; it was not for him to say whether it was a small matter for the people. If the decision of the country should be against them, they would retire into private life at peace with their own consciences, knowing that they had done their best for the country; they had left in the statute-book and in the history of the country records which calumny could not permanently distort, nor envy, with all its efforts, obliterate. (Cheers.)

CHAPTER IV.

The Money-Market-Bank rate of Discount-Railway Accidents-Board of Trade Circular-Ministerial Crisis and Scandal in Canada-The Ashantee War-Circumstances and History of the Gold Coast Dependencies-Impending Famine in Bengal -The Russians and Khiva-Negotiations.

THERE is nothing of marked interest in our domestic history to be recorded after the close of the session. The year proved, to the end, generally prosperous and tranquil. Frequent derangements of the Money-Market, produced by external causes, passed over without disastrous results. The enormous payments made by France to Germany on account of the indemnity produced little disturbance; but the German demand for the establishment of a gold coinage sometimes caused inconvenient pressure. The reaction from a period of excessive speculation produced serious embarrassment on the Stock Exchanges of Berlin and Frankfort, and at Vienna the difficulty amounted to a panic. In the autumn a still graver crisis commenced in the United States with the failure of more than one bank which had commanded general confidence. The immediate cause of stoppage was the investment in railway construction of an undue proportion of capital, and the immediate consequences were alarming. For a short time all the banks virtually suspended payment, except in the form of certified checks. The moderation and prudence of the commercial community, and the intrinsic soundness of the banks themselves, facilitated an early resumption of payments, and the financial crisis was, apparently, at an end; but every kind of enterprise was seriously discouraged, and the interruption of trade and the dimunition of the demand for labour threatened to cause much distress during the winter. The effect of foreign disturbances in England was indicated by rapid changes in the value of money, but timely vigilance on all occasions provided against impending scarcity. The bank rate of discount was reduced early in the year from 5 per cent. to 4 and to 31. In May it rose to 5, and in June to 6 and 7 per cent. At the end of August the rate was 3 per cent.; in September and October it rose again to 7 per cent., and in November to 9, from which it has since fallen to 4. Trade in general continued moderately active, though the rate of increase was diminished. A very unpleasant feature of the year was the increased frequency of railway accidents, which have arrived at such a measure of excess as to constitute a national scandal. Mr. Chichester Fortescue, the President of the Board of Trade, thought himself bound to emerge from the usual official reserve by addressing a circular to the directors of our numerous railway companies, calling their attention to the Report of Captain Tyler upon the accidents which took place on railways in the year 1872, the number of which was greatly in

excess of that of the previous year; and to offer some remarks as to what appeared to be the leading causes of this unsatisfactory state of things, which he suggested were clearly attributable to omissions or neglects which the managing body were, or ought to be, competent to remedy if they thought proper. It was further intimated that if the warning thus given should not meet with the attention it was entitled to demand, the Government would "reserve their own liberty to consider at any time the expediency of legislation upon any part of this important subject."

It appears that there have been reported to the Board of Trade as having been killed in 1872, 1145 persons, and injured, 3038, by accidents on railways; of whom 127 killed and 1462 injured were passengers, and the remainder, 1018 killed and 1576 injured, were officers or servants of the railway companies, or trespassers, or other persons who met with accidents under various circumstances. There is too much reason to apprehend, however, that these returns, appalling as they are, are far from meeting the real truth of the case. A report on railway accidents by the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, Edinburgh, recently issued, points out that from investigations made by them, the return of "killed" only includes those who die on the spot, whilst of those returned "injured" many died of their injuries in infirmaries or elsewhere. The returns from infirmaries in Scotland alone give thirty-five actual deaths occurring in them; whilst the reports of the railway companies give only thirteen, being only 37 per cent. of the real number; and the Committee argue that if a similar inaccuracy were rectified in the official returns throughout the rest of the United Kingdom it would result in adding 128 to the return of deaths. This, also, is exclusive of deaths from injuries occurring elsewhere than in infirmaries; the general result, according to the calculation of the Committee, being to bring up the number of deaths from railway accidents in 1872 from 1145 to 1370, a number which they fear "would still fall short of the truth." Upon other grounds there is reason to believe that the returns of death and injury amongst the servants of the companies have, through defective returns, or the total omission of reports on the subject, fallen far short of the actual casualties; an error, however, which, as far as deaths are concerned, will probably be remedied in future, under the provisions of the new Act, which render it imperative upon coroners to report to the Board of Trade all inquests held upon railway servants dying from accidents.

The London and North-Eastern Railway has the unenviable distinction of heading the accident list, having increased from 22 in 1871 to 36 in 1872; the London and North-Western coming next with 35 in 1872, against 21 in 1871; and Lancashire and Yorkshire with 31 for 1872, against 21 for 1871; the summary of results being that out of 238 train accidents in 1872, 108 have occurred on these three lines, and of these 108 accidents no less than 76 were occasioned by "negligence, want of care, or mistakes of officers or servants" of the companies named. A fruitful cause of accidents of

the latter class is found apparently in that inherent vice of railway management, unpunctuality. Mr. Chichester Fortescue puts the case under this head very plainly and forcibly. In addition to the inconvenience and loss occasioned to passengers by this unpardonable offence," the service of the line is disarranged, the chances of accidents are multiplied, the trains are forced, in order to make up for the lost time, to travel at excessive speed through complicated stations, or under any other circumstances where such travelling may be equally dangerous." In a word, the whole bustle of railway working, particularly at crowded junctions, resolves itself into a matter of chance, which the bewildered officials and servants are so well aware of, and habituated to, that in constantly-recurring hazardous predicaments, they resign themselves, scrambling through the business as well as time and means will allow, to leave the issue to the "chapter of accidents," as they have always been accustomed to do. As might naturally be expected, the threatening circular of Mr. Chichester Fortescue did not escape remark from some of the railway companies; but, unfortunately, what they have advanced in reply very little affects the arguments contained in it, if, indeed, it does not confirm them.

Upon the whole, it must, we apprehend, be admitted that the state of affairs in the management of our railway system is so unsatisfactory, and so threatening, that it cannot much longer be left entirely to the wisdom, practical efficiency, or conscientiousness of those who at present have the management of it.

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The year has not added many marked incidents to the history of our Colonial Empire. The elastic connexion of the Imperial Government with the larger colonies has of late years been seldom liable to a strain; but a ministerial change in the dominion of Canada has been watched with painful interest. The chief founder of the great Northern Federation, a statesman whose tenure of office had been unprecedented in duration on the American continent, has been compelled to retire from office, with his colleagues, in consequence of charges which gravely affected the political character of the ministers, although their personal honour was unimpeached. The Canadian Government had for some time past contemplated the construction of a Pacific railway to unite the Eastern and Western Provinces and, in consideration of the concessions made by Sir John Macdonald on behalf of Canada during the negotiation of the Treaty of Washington, the English Government had guaranteed a portion of the cost. By two Acts of 1872 the Canadian Parliament incorporated two companies, giving them power to contract with the Government, for the construction of the railway. A strong feeling existed against the participation in the enterprise of American speculators, who might, as it was supposed, be influenced by their interest in rival railways. Sir Hugh Allan, the richest capitalist in the Dominion, was required to separate himself from his American partners; and he ultimately obtained the concession on behalf of a body of adventurers distinct from both the incorporated companies. That the terms of the bar