The Turkish Budget for 1875-76 was published on the 12th
July. The total revenue may be stated in round numbers at 119,000,000, and the total expenditure at £23,500,000, and the Ministers affirm that no reduction whatever can be made in the credits taken. The budget shows a decrease of receipts of £739,584, and an increase of expenditure of £3,035,612, or a worse condi- tion of affairs to the extent of nearly £4,000,000. The Ministers state that the service of the Debt costs £11,883,883 a year, or nearly three-fifths of the whole revenue, and admit, accord- ing to the telegram, that the interest on the public Debt has augmented in one year by £3,379,912, which seems incredible. They affirm that they intend to produce an equilibrium by a tax on patente,•by a revision of the customs' tariff, and by a modi- fication of the commercial treaty with Persia. These promises are, of course, futile, but the Government is not quite at the end of its resources, for it can apparently sell its Treasury Bonds at some rate or another, and it will, the Ministers state, issue them to provide for its daily wants. It is when the local power of borrow- ing comes to an end that the Sultan will realise the condition of his Treasury, and his first orders when he understands it will aettle the question of the solvency of Turkey.
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