THE SENSE OF FUN DT MORTAL THINGS. [CommuncATED.] T HERE is

much that moves the sense of tears in the subject of finance, and therefore in the Geddes Report. Happily, however, there is also in the Report, as in so many other serious things, the sense of laughter, though we admit it seems unlikely. The way in which the Report went first to the Cabinet, and was there very nearly suppressed by its enemies, the way in which it came out, the angry retort of the Admiralty, the general confidence which seems now to be felt by the bureaucrats (without warrant, we are sure) that they will be able to defeat this horrid innovation and their consequent air of super- cilious contempt for the men who get angry about high taxation, is all described with an uncanny air of prophecy in that admirable poem, " The Message to the Fish," in Alice in Wonderland. One can hear the Ministerial voice in the following couplets—the fishes are, of course, the bureaucrats :- " I sent a message to the fish :

I told them This is what I wish.'

The little fishes of the sea, They sent an answer hack to me.

The little fishes' answer was,

' We cannot do it, sir, because-1

I sent to them again to say, ' It will be better to obey.'

The fishes answered, with a grin, Why, what a temper you are in ! ' "

It will be remembered that the next step in resistance was that the little fishes like true officials tried to avoid the issue by seeking cover. They went to bed :— " Then someone came to me and said, The little fishes are in bed.'

I said to him, I said it plain, Then you must wake them up again: I said it very loud and clear ; I went and shouted in his ear.

But he was very stiff and proud ; He said, You needn't shout so loud !' "

But, alas ! the poem seems to leave the issue doubtful :- " I took a corkscrew from the shelf ; I went to wake them up myself.

And when I found the door was locked, I pulled and pushed, and kicked and knocked.

And when I found the door was shut, I tried to turn the handle, but "

The people of England must determine that they will not allow the door to remain locked, and that here, the " but " means, not defeat, but victory.

Curiously enough, the great elegy on " Who Stole the Tarts ? " also has in it the spirit in which the Departments are evidently going to resist the process of cutting down. This sounds uncommonly like the interchange of Memoranda and Protests which is going on at the present moment :— " I gave him one, they gave him two, You gave us three or more ;

They all returned from him to you, Though they were mine before.

If I or he should chance to be Involved in this affair, Ho trusts to you to set them free, Exactly as we were.

My notion was that you had been (Before he had this fit) An obstacle that came between Him, and ourselves, and it.

Don't let him know he liked them bust, For this must ever be A secret, kept from all' the rest, Between yourself and me."

That great poem, it is to be remembered, is based upon the principle- " If he should push the matter on, What would become of you ? "

It looks, indeed, as if the Departments, aided by a section of the Government, were preparing for a sort of " Hunt the Slipper " game such as is represented in the poem. If not, why did they make the Terms of Reference read so curiously ? Here is the full text :- " To make recommendationsto the Chancellor of the Exchequer for effecting forthwith all possible reductions in the National Expenditure-on Supply Services, having regard especially to the present and prospective position of the Revenue. In so far as questions of policy are involved in the expenditure under dis- cu3sion, these will remain for the exclusive consideration of the Cabinet ; but it will be open to the Committe to review the expenditure and to indicate the economies which might be effected if particular policies were either adopted, abandoned or modified."

Happily the Committee did not take a pedantic view of their duties, but have told the Government and the nation in plain terms what they must do and must refrain from doing to find economic salvation. IGNOTUS.