LABOUR'S NARROW ESCAPE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 162, 11 July 1930, Page 6

LABOUR'S NARROW ESCAPE.

Once more the Mac Donald Government has escaped disaster by a very narrow margin, and once again the danger of defeat has been due to the defection of the Liberals. Probably "the conspiracy to kill the Government" which Labour members have. vehemently denounced is only a figment of the heated political imagination. But it is clear that, even at a critical moment, Labour cannot depend upon the support of Mr. Lloyd George and his followers; and the fact that the Liberal leader, while disowning any intention of defeating the Government, voted with the Conservatives is quite sufficiently ominous. But as a matter of fact there is much to be said for the amendment which so nearly involved Labour in disaster. The exemption of improvements in plant and machinery from income tax would certainly promote the "scrapping" of obsolete equipment and would encourage employers and capitalists to make their methods of production more efficient and "up to date." Mr. Snowden described the desired concession as establishing "a subsidy to every trade and profession," which would cost the country £30,000,000 a year "without reducing the number of unemployed by a single person." This is probably an exaggerated and partisan view of the question. In any case, it is certain that such exemptions have proved their value in the American industrial system. Professor Ramsay Muir, in his recent analysis of American industrial and social conditions, describes these concessions as playing an important part in securing progressive, efficient and economical methods of production in the United States,, and they would certainly have a beneficial effect upon British production, which is still in many instances conservative, unenterprising and hidebound by antiquated traditions.. : . -