In a House of less than the ordinary animation, Mr.

Disraeli made his Budget speech on Thursday, which was bare and meagre in the extreme as regards the detail of our finance, but clear and concise as to the future. Mr. Disraeli compared cursorily the Estimates of his predecessor for the financial year expiring on the 31st March with the actual yield of the Revenue. The comparison„ in somewhat greater detail than he gave it, is as follows :— REVENUE FOE FINANCIAL YEAR 1866-7.

Mn. GLADSTONE'S ESTIMATE. ACTUAL YIELD..

Customs

£20,923,000 .C22,303,000

Excise

19,750,000 20,670,000

Stamps

9,450,000 9,420,000.

Assessed Taxes

3,315,000 3,468,000%

Income and Property ...

5,700,000

5,700,000-

Crown Lands

325,000

380,000.

Post Office

4,450,000

4,470,0001

Miscellaneous 3,100,000

3,073,568

£67,013,000

.C69,434,568-

—showing a gain of actual Revenue over Estimates of 2,421,5681., of which, as it will be seen, about half is in the Customs, and the greater part of the remainder in the Excise,—the latter due, says Mr. Read, M.P. for East Norfolk, to the malting of the good crop of barley of the year before last, not, of course, of last year's very wretched crop. Mr. Disraeli did not give us the detail of the actual expenditure, hut he said it was estimated by Mr. Gladstone (including the supplementary charges) at 67,031,0001., and was actually only 66,780,0001., showing an additional gain on expene diture of 251,000/,