War it did this—­from 1837 to 1857.  Mr. Wells tells us that, strange as it may seem, “there was not a single year in which the unexpended balance in the National Treasury—­derived from various sources—­at the end of the year, was not in excess of the total expenditure of the preceding year; while in not a few years the unexpended balance was absolutely greater than the sum of the entire expenditure of the twelve months preceding”.  But this history before the war is nothing to what has happened since.  The following are the surpluses of revenue over expenditure since the end of the Civil War:—­

Year ending June 30.  Surplus. (pounds)

1866 . . . . . . . . 5,593,000 1867 . . . . . . . . 21,586,000 1868 . . . . . . . . 4,242,000 1869 . . . . . . . . 7,418,000 1870 . . . . . . . . 18,627,000 1871 . . . . . . . . 16,712,000

No one who knows anything of the working of Parliamentary government, will for a moment imagine that any Parliament would have allowed any executive to keep a surplus of this magnitude.  In England, after the French war, the Government of that day, which had brought it to a happy end, which had the glory of Waterloo, which was in consequence exceedingly strong, which had besides elements of strength from close boroughs and Treasury influence such as certainly no Government has ever had since, and such perhaps as no Government ever had before—­that Government proposed to keep a moderate surplus and to apply it to the reduction of the debt, but even this the English Parliament would not endure.  The administration with all its power derived both from good and evil had to yield; the income tax was abolished, with it went the surplus, and with the surplus all chance of any considerable reduction of the debt for that time.  In truth taxation is so painful that in a sensitive community which has strong organs of expression and action, the maintenance of a great surplus is excessively difficult.  The Opposition will always say that it is unnecessary, is uncalled for, is injudicious; the cry will be echoed in every constituency; there will be a series of large meetings in the great cities; even in the smaller constituencies there will mostly be smaller meetings; every member of Parliament will be pressed upon by those who elect him; upon this point there will be no distinction between town and country, the country gentleman and the farmer disliking high taxes as much as any in the towns.  To maintain a great surplus by heavy taxes to pay off debt has never yet in this country been possible, and to maintain a surplus of the American magnitude would be plainly impossible.