Notwithstanding the plausible balance-sheets annually submitted to Congress, the revenue and expenditure of Spain are still far from being in a satisfactory condition. The writer above quoted states that "enormous deficits in the budgets (however nominally balanced) have been the invariable rule in Spain during a long course of years, under every sort of _regime_ and under all circumstances." In the last budget, 1879-80, the revenue is stated at 32,494,552_l._, and the expenditure at 33,129,484_l._ Supposing these figures to be correct, the deficit, 634,932_l._, would be far less than for many years past. The principal sources of Spanish revenue are, in round numbers:-- Direct Taxes L10,500,000 Indirect ditto 5,500,000 Customs 4,500,000 Stamps and Government Monopolies 9,000,000 National Property 1,750,000 Miscellaneous. 1,000,000 ---------- L32,250,000 Of these the items most foreign to an Englishman's notion of taxation are the produce of the seven great tobacco factories, Seville, Madrid, Santander, Gijon, Corunna, Valencia, and Alicante, of which the net revenue is over 2,500,000_l._, the lotteries, which bring in 5000,000_l._ net, the consumo tax, a kind of octroi, and the territorial tax, which together furnish the largest contribution to the revenue. The national property comprises the Almaden quicksilver-mines, valued at over 250,000_l._ per annum, the Linares mines, leased at 20,000_l._, and other sources about 30,000_l._ annually. The heaviest item in the expenditure is the interest on the national debt, over 11,500,000_l._; the ministry of war and the navy exceeds 6,000,000_l._, while pensions absorb 1,750,000_l._, public works over 3,000,000_l._, finance over 5,000,000_l._, administration of justice more than 2,000,000_l._; the ministry of the interior, Cortes, the civil list, &c., make up the remainder. The total imports and exports of Spain were:-- Imports. Exports. In 1877, L16,340,672 L18,175,140 In 1878, 15,910,016 17,172,596 In 1879, 17,730,756 20,155,964