A CHEERING SURVEY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2729, 25 March 1916, Page 5

A CHEERING SURVEY

OF BRITAIN'S FINANCIAL STRENGTH By !Megraph—Prosß Association—Copyright London, March 23; Sir Geo. Paish, one of the joint editors of the "Statist," lecturing before the_ Royal Statistical Society, said that Britain's annual income had increased by six hundred millions since the outbreak of tho war. Tho totahwas now three thousand millions. The nation had nearly succeeded in maintaining its productive power, despite the withdrawal of approximately four million men from industries. Allowing for the increased gold stock, the nation would be ablo to meet virtually the whole of tho war expenditure out of income without needing to draw upon accumulated capital. An official calculation of new taxation imposed up to the present was 197-J millions, [t was estimated that tho taxation for the coming year would reach 450 millions. On tho whole, the burden was light, considering the circumstances, compared with that of tho Napoleonic wars. Tho National Debt before thp war was 707 millions; it would.be 2400 millions by tho end of March. If the war continued for another year. the debt would not bo far short of 4000 millions.