B47

the general welfare of the Indian empire ; and parliament
 is enabled to control its financial arrangements,
The Receipts and the Revenue.
The receipts have risen from 420,000,000 in
1839-40, to £40,000,000 in 1859-60, and £68,000,000
in 1830. The expenditure has all along very nearly
kept up with the receipts. A large portion of the
receipts here shown are, however, really nominal,
The receipts shown are the gross receipts ; but on
the debit side are shown the cost of collection and of
maintaining many large departments whose expenditure
 equals their income. To take a couple of
examples, the postal and telegraph departments may
be mentioned. A large portion of their receipts.
consist of the value of work done on the government
service. Official correspondence carried by the post,
and official messages sent by telegraph, are charged
for by these departments against the departments
concerned. The cost is thus credited to the postal
or telegraph department, and debited to the departments
 employing them. A large portion of the
receipts thus represent financial adjustment merely,
While the government possesses a large revenue
proper, it has also large receipts which must be shown
on the same side of the account as the revenue.
There would be danger in having two accounts, or in
allowing the financial authorities to decide what
items should be included or excluded, and whether
headings of revenue should be exhibited gross or net.