The first striking fact in the foregoing statement is the large difference between “contributions” and “collections,” i.e. between the “true” revenue derived from Ireland and the sums merely collected there.  During the last two financial years this difference amounted to an average of L1,752,000.  The excise collections alone represent an excess of L1,920,000 over the actual contribution.  This, of course, arises from the movements of duty-paid spirits and beer between different parts of the United Kingdom.  The last Report of the Commissioners of Customs and Excise (Cd. 5827) gives the amount of home-made spirits on which duty has been paid in Ireland at 5,209,000 proof gallons, whereas the quantity retained for consumption was only 2,776,000 proof gallons.  A similar but smaller difference exists in the case of beer.  To credit Ireland with the full amounts of the duties collected in Ireland, as was done by Mr. Gladstone in 1886, and as is now proposed in some quarters, would, in effect, amount to a gift from the British Exchequer of L1,750,000 a year.  And there is obviously no security that the Irish Exchequer could rely on this boon being continued for more than a short time.  There would be nothing to prevent the British spirit merchant from removing his spirits to this country in bond and paying the duty here after arrival.  It is obvious that the Treasury would be compelled to grant facilities for this course.  The present system is merely one of book-keeping and administrative convenience, but as the withdrawal of this sum from the British Exchequer to which it properly belongs would have to be made good from other British sources, there would be every inducement for the British merchant to effect such slight changes of method as would transfer the whole of this sum from the Irish to the British Exchequer.  Having regard to the fact that on the other sources of revenue the collections in Ireland are estimated to fall short of the actual contributions by nearly L200,000, and that these are in the main direct taxes paid by the individuals concerned, it is not unlikely that a scheme which gave to Ireland the full benefit of her revenues as collected would in a short time be converted from a gain of some L1,700,000 to a loss of L100,000 to L200,000 to the Irish taxpayer.  Stability in the tax system and reliability upon the realisation of the estimated revenue could not be assumed if “collections” instead of “contributions” were to be made the basis of any financial arrangements.

Turning next to the contributed revenue upon which alone an Irish Parliament could rely, we note first the large proportion of the revenue represented by Customs and Excise.  Contrasted with the figures for Great Britain, it is seen by the following table that whereas in Ireland the revenue from Customs and Excise amounts to 60 per cent. of the total, in Great Britain the proportion was not more than 36 per cent.

PERCENTAGE OF REVENUE FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES CONTRIBUTED BY IRELAND AND GREAT BRITAIN RESPECTIVELY IN TWO YEARS ENDING MARCH 31, 1911.[51]