28. The basic functions of a Federal Government are Defence, Foreign Affairs and the service of the bulk of the national debt, and they are all expensive functions, particularly in the light of the limited resources of the country. The head “Communications” would ordinarily at least pay for itself. The Federal Government may also have to assume leadership in the coordination and development of research and higher technical education. Normally, however, apart from war or large-scale internal disorder, the expenditure of the Centre should be comparatively stable. The needs of the provinces are in contrast almost unlimited, particularly in relation to welfare services and general development. If these services, on which the improvement of human well-being and increase of the country’s productive capacity so much depend, are to be properly planned and executed, it is necessary to place at the disposal of Provincial Governments adequate resources of their own, without their having to depend on the variable munificence or affluence of the Centre. The provinces must, therefore, have as many independent sources of revenue as possible. On the other hand, it is not practicable to augment their revenues to any considerable extent by adding more subjects to the Provincial Legislative List, without simultaneously upsetting the equilibrium of the Centre. We cannot, therefore, avoid divided heads; and what we have to aim at is to have only a few divided heads, well balanced and high-yielding, and to arrange that the shares of the Centre and the provinces in these heads are adjusted automatically without friction or mutual interference.