FEDERAL FINANCE.
diture, and would not have to rely on contributions from the exchequers of the several countries.
6. There would be little difficulty in collecting the beer and spirit duties, and in preventing frauds on the revenue, and these duties would be willingly paid if the whole or a considerable proportion were earmarked for national purposes and paid into the national exchequer.
7. It imposes on the national authorities the financial responsibility of meeting their expenditure to the extent that if their expenditure increases, they must raise funds to meet the increase; and if economies are made, they can reap the benefit of those economies.
The main objection.The strongest objection which has been urged against the scheme, and it has been urged by one whose opinion is entitled to the greatest respect, is that the hands of the Chancellor of the Exchequer would be tied if he wished to change the rates of the beer and spirit duties. For every additional pound he wished to raise for Imperial needs, he would be obliged to raise a further sum of, say, one pound, which would have to be handed over to the national exchequers, although they might not need it. If, on the other hand, he wished to reduce the duties, he would be debarred from doing so by the consideration that the national authorities would be suddenly deprived by his action of revenue on which they were counting. These objections might be overcome in the following way. If the Chancellor of the Exchequer wished to increase the duties, it could be provided[1] that the additional yield of a
- ↑ Cf. financial scheme of Home Rule Bill, 1893, adopted in Committee of the House of Commons, clause 6: That if any special war tax should be imposed, the whole of the proceeds collected in or contributed by Ireland should go to the Imperial Exchequer.'
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