o something under the proportion of 1 to
11-1/2. The bill fixes the proportion at 1/15th, or 1 to 14, this sum
being arrived at by a comparison between the amount of the income-tax,
death-duties, and valuation of property in Great Britain, and the amount
of the same particulars in Ireland. The amount to be contributed by
Ireland to the imperial expenditure being thus ascertained, the more
difficult part of the problem remained to provide the fund out of which
the contribution should be payable, and the mode in which its payment
should be secured. The plan which commended itself to the framers of the
Bill, as combining the advantage of insuring the fiscal unity of Great
Britain and Ireland, with absolute security to the British exchequer,
was to continue the customs and excise duties under imperial control,
and to pay them into the hands of an imperial officer. This plan is
carried into effect by the conjoint operation of the clauses of the
Irish Government Bill and the Irish Land Bill above referred to. The
customs and excise duties are directed to be levied as heretofore in
pursuance of the enactments of the Imperial Parliament, and are excepted
from the control of the Irish Legislature, which may, with that
exception, impose any taxes in Ireland it may think expedient. The
imperial officer who is appointed under the Land Bill bears the title of
Receiver-General, and into his hands not only the imperial taxes (the
customs and excise duties), but also all local taxes imposed by the
Irish Parliament are in the first instance paid. (See Clauses 25-27 of
the Land Bill.) The Receiver-General having thus in his hands all
imperial and local funds levied in Ireland, his duty is to satisfy all
imperial claims before paying over any moneys to the Irish Exchequer.
Further, an Imperial Court of Exchequer is established in Ireland to
watch over the interests of the Receiver-General, and all revenue cases
are to be tried, and all defaults punished in that court. Any neglect of
the local authorities to carry into effect the decrees of the Imperial
Court will amount to treason, and it will be the duty of the Imperial
Government to deal with it accordingly.

Supposing the Bill to have passed, the account of the Exchequer in
Ireland would have stood thus:--

RECEIPTS.

1. _Imperial Taxes_:
(1) Customs . . . . . . . . . . L1,880,000
(2) Excise . . . . . . . . . . 4,300,000