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C 0 G E NEEDED. '

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C 0 G E NEEDED. 1fl 1£1 N" Ii L oya George on National Expenditure. F) 8' "Ie. I F ace Res&oasibiiities" 1; & A stirring speech was made by the j Primo Minister in the House of Com- ]' Jnons yesterday when the debate was re- turned on the Government rcsolut 101, moved the previous day, "That this ifouse, realising the serious effect.s upon] the trade and industry of tbe nation of the enormous financial burdens resulting from the war, promises its hearty support to the Government in all reasonable pro- posals, however drastic, for the reduction of. "expenditure and the diminution of debt." Mr. Clynes (Lab., Platting) declares that th-e present national expendithre on war services is unjustifiable in view of the period which has elapsed since the signing of the armistice, and is of opinioll that steps should be taken at once to effect MORE DRASTIC ECONOMIES: .further, measures should be adopted to meet the present financial burdens and assist in liquidating the National Debt, f such measures to include the imposition ot a levy on capital and the reversion to the State of fortunes made as a result of the national emergency. The Labour Party cunsidered the finan- ced situation so extraordinary as to ciill f,ir extraordinary methods. Drastic pu t ion was required. (Hear, hear.) He ,11arl never regarded the policy nf subsi with favour He vrarneci the Govern- ment as to the consequences of any 'm- jnodiale cessation of the unemployment benefit "without some effective alternative in the shape or work He sugjoiteel an enquiry ;nto the capital levy, a levy on war profits, and the question of produc- tion. There AMS no argument against: the capital levy that had not been used against any form of taxation ever pro- posed. Th's «• >.s a time for t hose pos- sessed of wealth to come forward and cave *hc nation financially. (Cheers.) NOT BOLSHEVIK PROPOSAL. J,)''tK.?pcii('.<).h..?.tcmn!tound) lnui-oif ?'ialm?-t complete agt cement | >w'lh the h?t s-.akcr Those who doubted th?- w?dumo?'a capital levy were not I -people who grudged contributing what- ever was neeefisa.rj for the upkeep of the State. (liear, lr -.) What th-ey feared j Y..t'. whether, in poit of tac. it night 3}o': produce more harm than good. (!Ie lr'l Le?r.) It would be madness, however, to r?;u?c to enquire into 'h? question of a I capital levy, as well as the taxation of war fortunes. The proposal was put for- v. ard. no* by Bolshevist." or but by sober economic thinkers. Uoveriuuont department-, should be I allowed to spend up to a certain amount, and no moie. That was the best way to tiicourage fconoiiiy Mr. Bottomley (Ind., Hackney, S.) urged the adoption of a system of prize bunds, hy winch, be said, a ihi.¡u<;anù million.. ¡ to; Id be wiped off the debt. THE PREMIERS REPLY. I I.- I the i rune Minister, WHO was teceiveu i with cheers, in reply, said that he had in- vited discussion in that House because he I icw they bad an excellent case. He thought the discussion had been fully jus- tified, for never had there been a widely 'advertised case which had so completely 'cullop?d. The kind d epileptic scream I they heard dmnød ijito their J "i,i?l n? xeail.v and an echo in thø Housb of Com- mon?. But let them assume the wastrels had been thrown out and tl""C w.m another Ccahtion in power pledged t? ?'et.r?nch- ment. HOW? 1 I Tlioy would all agree they »mw»t have I rt-trt,nchni,iit-but how One section said the unemployment dole would hkvq to dis- appear. but the Labour party resisted that violently. As soon as it was suggested the bread subsidy should disappear there was opposition, and it was suggested wages Btiomd he increased by a shilling weekly. One section of the opposition said they should abandon housing s"hcm«s, but another section said they must build. So v flier ewas not very much agreement abotf reduction. When they came to education ?ome (Tjts said let u? ??ii??rend exndi'l ture on education, but that also wag ob- jected to. There was no agreement upon any su??cstion which had been made in course of the debate amongst those who vveie in favour of economy. ? The Government had taken steps to abolish the railway subsidy. Expenditure on the Army and Navv was being reduced. "flit, Russian expedition had been wound iip.Was that nothing? At the time of the truce the Army. Navy, and Air Force I numbered 4,400,000. Twelve months later there would lie 720,000. At the end of I March next the numbers would be under l 300,000. Next year there would lie a sub- stantial realisation of assets, which he hoped would go to the, reduction lof debt. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had prepared a scheme for the liquidation of the war debt IN FIFTY YEARS. I Was that nothing: It was testimony to I British courage and foresight. (Bear, hear). The first fact everybody had to I gi t into his mind was that there had been the.costliest war that the world had ever I seen. It was inevitable there should be an enormous debt. The eight thousand millions we had risked to save our lives, every )?nny of it was well spent. On I that d??t they must pay interest. There were certain special and exceptional (haryes whieb had fallen on this year'l because the first year after the cessation of hostilities was an abnormal year. DemobiHsation took time. August was ) the first time they were assured by those j in command of the Army that .t was j safe to begin to retrench. I NO DORROWING NEXT YEAR. I Next year there would be no borrow- ing, and tuere would be a balance on the right side. He did not think the use of paper money was responsible for high prices, and the pcsition here was better than in other countries. Was it a crime to take a hopeful view of the prospects of their own country? Why should patriotism and pessimism be identified." It be a crime to deceive or distort, to conceal, to suppress, or to colour in ord er to destroy the credit of their j native land. (Cheers). The nation's industry, trade, and commerce depended on its good crodit. They had to create confidence that Britain could weather ttip storm. Don't let them sav that the ship was rocking and w'nkincr. That was why he was glad the Chancellor j of the Exchequer's speech gave them new I hope and confidence, lor economy, as ?, t-ifcty, the price was eternal v i?,. w,L, l l d, hmce. and he iuvi?d the House to wa?h. (Applause). But don't let them mistake I economy for refusal to spend money on j objects esapntial h; national liftl j BLIND FEAR. reai- had no no cliscriniiiiafion. It was blind, and struck without concern for what it wss hitting down. Doo't let iierii cut down education or hou-sing. .i,h,L,y siioulcl ao all they could for the Health and education of the people. In- ireasecl production was the :alk, the truest of all economies. Tho heaviest tax cin the nation was the depreciation of the I sovereign, and the only way ço remedy was by increasing production. Don't lot I i hem make the mistake in the hour of i .'rror at the magnitude of their respon- sibilities lOf. saying tl)ey would spend no j more. Ho appealed to them to face their responsibilities, to pay their liabilities, to discharge their debts, and, above all, to discharge their debts to those who were prepared to sacrifice for the country i they loved. I MR. BONAR LAW. Mr. Bonar Law The Chancellor in his Budget had a smaller percentage of errors th-n any other Chancellor since the war. All the clatter outside was due to forget- fulness "f the fact that there had been war and to an assumption that in this year of peace we should meet all expendi- ture out of revenue. Never in the history of the country had there been such great efforts made by the Government to cut down expenditure. The matter of a capital levy was one which he approached with some delicacy. It gave him great trouble while he was Chancellor. If the war had continued it was an expedient he might have beer. bound to contemplate, but it it was pos- sible to get over our difficulties by the old methods without adopting it he would in- finitely prefer it. What was ly re im- portant than to pay off a thousand mil- lions of debt was to restore confidence, so that no one should feel their capital was unsafe. The House divided. Mr. Clynes's amend- ment was defeated by 50a to -ri0. The figures were received with loud checrs and laughter. The Government resolution was agreed to without a division.

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