All the unions being now in operation, and their accounts being made up and audited half-yearly on the 25th March and 29th September, it is intended hereafter to substitute the latter dates for the return which has hitherto been made up on the 1st of January, at which time no perfectly authentic account of the expenditure could be obtained, owing to its not corresponding with either of the audit periods. This therefore is the last occasion on which that statement will be given; and it may here be convenient to exhibit in a tabular form its progress from the commencement, as shown in the several annual Reports— ───────────────┬──────────┬────────────┬───────────────┬─────────────── The year ended │Number of │Expenditure │ Number in the │Total number of December 31st. │unions in │ during the │ workhouses on │ persons │operation.│ year. │December 31st. │relieved during │ │ │ │ the year. ───────────────┼──────────┼────────────┼───────────────┼─────────────── 1840 │ 4│ £ 37,057│ 5,648│ 10,910 1841 │ 37│ 110,278│ 15,246│ 31,108 1842 │ 92│ 281,233│ 31,572│ 87,604 1843 │ 106│ 244,374│ 35,515│ 87,898 1844 │ 113│ 271,334│ 39,175│ 105,358 1845 │ 123│ 316,026│ 42,068│ 114,205 1846 │ 130│ 435,001│ 94,437│ 243,933 ───────────────┴──────────┴────────────┴───────────────┴─────────────── [Sidenote: Reappearance of the potato disease in the autumn of 1846.]