The humblest Jamaica negro, if he can read and write, may at least know the purposes for which the revenue he pays in taxes is expended. He may even have the pleasure of deciding which of these items of expenditure he regards the least important. At the present moment the annual cost of education, $350,000, is regarded as too high, and a proposition to reduce it to $250,000 is pending. The total expenditures of Jamaica have reached nearly $4,000,000 and additional revenue is necessary to meet these expenses. The customs tariff is in course of revision, with a view of increasing the revenue, and many articles formerly on the free list will have to be put upon the dutiable list, while the general ad valorem rates of duty must be raised from 12-1/2 to 16-2/3 per cent. Before going into the future sources of revenue, it may be well to look at the present sources, and for that purpose the subjoined table has been compiled from official sources: COMPARATIVE TABLE OF REVENUE OF JAMAICA, 1896-97 REVENUE. Pounds. Dollars. Customs 321,780 1,608,900 Excise 122,735 613,675 Licences 732 3,660 Stamps 23,947 119,735 Post-Office 24,072 120,360 Telegraph 5,364 26,820 Tax on Stock[3] Court Fees 8,284 41,420 Tax in lieu of Education Fees 11,243 56,215 Fines, etc. 4,412 22,060 Jamaica Railway 208 1,040 Reimbursements 35,969 179,845 Miscellaneous 13,992 69,960 Revenues now appropriated 181,663 908,315 Interest on Sinking Funds 14,199 70,995 Savings Bank 3,927 19,635 ------- --------- Total 773,527 3,867,635 IMMIGRATION REVENUE. Capitation Tax, etc., Laws 7 of 1878 and 14 of 1891, 1,476 7,380 Miscellaneous 205 1,025 ----- ----- Total 1,681 8,405 APPROPRIATED REVENUE.