BRITISH TAXES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 231, 30 September 1930, Page 7

BRITISH TAXES.

WORLD'S' HEAVIEST. |

Bottom of Depression Period

Reached.

AIDING RECOVERY. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, September 29. Mr. William Graham, President of I the Board of Trade, speaking at Carlisle on Saturday evening, said that within the aggregate national income about £4,000,000,000 a year, there Avas considerable room for direct saving and for a redirection of I expenditure from non-essential to essential services and commodities. That would provide a greater volume of employment and at the same time make for recovery. British taxation at £15 or £10 a head \yas undoubtedly the heaviest in the world. In the meanwhile British trade had encountered a first-class economic storm. Commodity prices had moved rapidly downwards since lc.st October. However, there were signs that the bottom had now been touched, at all events in certain leading commodities. There would le no general world recovery until the upward moveme: was of a definite character. Certain critics placed the improvement at the end of the present year and others in the .spring, but all agreed that it would be gradual in character. Sir Basil Blackett, director of the Bank of England, speaking at Buxton on Saturday, said the world as a whole was not storing up capital as fast as it ought to do. New capital was not being produced at a. sufficient rate to secure for the next generation that advance and well-being whk i the next generation was entitled to expect from this generation. Only savings could create new capital and at present the gospel of saving was out of fashion. Referring to the taxation question Sir Basil said that, quite apart from any theory of protection, there \yas a very strong case to-day—as was recognised by a large number of free traders—for a revenue tariff in order to raise the revenue needed by the Exchequer. In the course of a speech at Exeter, Sir Herbert Samuel, one of the leaders of the Liberal party, referred to the conferences between the Government and that party on unemployment and schemes for stimulating trade. He said the conferences had come to close quarters with many of I.lk principal aspects of the problem. Nothing eon l be a substitute for a general world revival of trade. That had been understood on all sides from the beginning, but there had been under discussion a, large programme of immediately practicable measures. It was not for him to anticipate any statement on the subject which the Government might make, but he had reason to believe that within a brief period the country would be informed of the nature of the proposals under discussion, and the Liberal party in due course would declare the specific measures it desired to see adopted.