ABSTRACT
A Sound state of finance is of paramount importance for the political health of a nation. The slightest dislocation in that part of the body politic produces sometimes acute but more often chronic disorders in the national economy, and has, unfortunately, cumulative effect in undermining the very basis of national existence. The soundness of public finance depends both upon the right policy and good organization; but a great deal depends upon the latter, as the most unexceptionable financial policy is likely to be ineffectual, if not actually harmful, unless the mechanism for its execution is both adequate and effective. The constitutional history of England is, to a large extent, the history of the struggle of the people to gain control of the treasury and secure the supremacy of the common will. The victory has been won in England, and the popular control of the public purse is as complete or conclusive as it can be. The system is not perfect and has its aberrations; but it is a good system, and the political stability of England is, in no small measure, due to it. The other advanced countries in the world have, in their political development, evolved their own systems. These have necessarily been affected by the peculiar political and economic conditions of those countries. But the systems as they are, form an integral part of their national life, and give the characteristic tone to the working of their political systems.
