HOPES REALISED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 93, 20 April 1932, Page 7

HOPES REALISED.

AND A LITTLE MORE. Hard Facts Faced and Remedies Applied. . TAXPAYERS SAVE BUDGET. (British Official Wireless.) (Received 12.30 p.m.) RUGBY, April 10. Mr. Chamberlain made his first Budget statement in financial conditions far happier than those which confronted his predecessor, Viscount Snowden a year ago. At that time the country was borrowing £1,000,000 a week to finance the Unemployment Insurance Fund, and Viscount Snowden was faced with a large prospective deficit. Hard facts were faced and drastic remedies applied by Viscount Snowden in the interim Budget last December, with the result that Mr. Chamberlain to-day was able to face a crowded House with the knowledge that the Budget has not only beein balanced but has even achieved a small surplus ani that 250,000 more workers than a year ago have found employment. The Chancellor spoke for 1J hours. "The changes in taxation will be neither numerous nor large," ho said. "Although we are beginning to see light between the trees we have far to go before we emerge into smoother ways." He announced the continuance of the concession of 12/ per cwt on home beet sugar, a revival of the duty on foreign tea of 4d in the lb, and a duty on Empire tea of 2d per lb, anticipating therefrom £3,000,000 per annum. There would be a reduction from next January on the tax on motor cycles to 15/, 30/ and £3, according to whether the engine had a capacity not exceeding 150 ex., 250 c.c., or exceeding the latter figure. This change was to give designers a freer hand. Taxation of Co-operative Societies. The Chancellor also announced a small impartial committee to inquire into the taxation of co-operative societies. He recalled that under Viscount Snowden's Budget, by the combination of economy and new taxation, provision had been made for a reduction of debt of £32,500,000, and a surplus of £1,500,000. They had tlio satisfaction of recording that not only had these anticipations been fulfilled, but they had produced a small surplus of £304,000. Economies had been more than made good. In addition, the reduction in unemployment came to their aid so, in the end the result was economies of £22,000,000. They showed savings amounting to £34,500,000. Mr. Chamberlain said that the Budget had been (saved by income tax and supertaxpayers who had not only effected a substantial saving in the cost of Treasury bills, uut the stimulus of their example had strengthened and invigorated the people in many other lands who looked again to Britain with fresh confidence and hope in her capacity to lead the world in overcoming its financial difficulties.

DULLEST BUDGET. Beer Duty and Income Tax Chief Causes of Criticism. EXCHANGE EQUALISATION. (Received 1 p.m.) LONDON, April 19. Opinion in the lobby admits that the Budget was one of the dullest on record, though it is agreed that Mr. Chamberlain was in a most difficult position. Chief criticisms are directed at his inability to reduce the beer duty, or revise the income tax allowances to married people. The reduction in the beer duty was so generally anticipated that a number of brewers had placed posters in public houses and clubs announcing an immediate reduction of a penny per

pint. The only other matter of comment is the new preference for colonial sugar. A director of Tate and Lyle, refiners, expressed the opinion that the duty will not affect the prices in Britnin, as the duty is paid by the producers. It is surprising that there was no additional preference for the Dominions. Presumably this is being left to Ottawa. Members of Parliament, generally, approve the Exchange Equalisation Account, and consider that it ought to help the movement towards sterling, a union which is going on all over the world. Sir Basil Blackett, who is a director of the Bank of England, however, thinks the fund should be described as a regularisation and simplification of the system already in existence. Labour critics ask if Mr. Chamberlain will hand the £150,000,000 for this purpose to the Bank of England or control it by the Treasury, and what level of stabilisation will be aimed at. Though Mr. Chamberlain carefully avoided naming the articles on which the new import duties would be applied before the end of the week it is taken for granted that these are iron and steel.

EDUCATION VOTE. Reductions Under All Heads Except Pensions. COMMONS STATEMENT. RUGBY, April 19. The Minister of Education, Sir Donald Maclean, presented his Departmental estimates in the House of Commons yesterday. He said they provided for an Exchequer expenditure of £42,692,076, which shows an economy of £5,500,000 on last year. In IOOG the estimates were about £12.500,000. With the sums raised from rates by the local education authorities ' there was about £100,000,000 for eduea-' tion purposes in Britain —more than half the total of the national expenditure for the year before the war. The Minister said he doubted whether there was any country in Europe to-day whose Lutlget contained so generous a provision for education. Regarding recent economies he said there were reductions under every head, except teachers' pensions and scholarship., to students.