WHAT BRITAIN HAS DONE FOR HER CHILDREN.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 108, 8 May 1909, Page 10

WHAT BRITAIN HAS DONE FOR HER CHILDREN.

A. THOUSAND MILLIONS FOR EMPIRE. (Specially written for The Post.) The irony of fate that has been is the destiny that is on record. Had Napoleon never been born Great Britain might be six hundred millions to the good of what the position is now. Had Napoleon been Jess of a tyrant towards the Jews, a certain German- Jew might not have found an asylum in England, and Pitt might then have found it more, difficult to raise the money necessary to crash the Old La-nd's enemies. ,The National Debt of England was started ignobly, but this might be described as 2, trifle, as the amount was trifling. Ihe "Glorious Revolution" whicb placed William 111. on the Throne cost sixteen millions. That, again, was a trifle, and in any case has not the Imperial aspect which it is desirable to emphasise. But when "England set the world ablaze, in good Queen Anne's most glorious days," as the opera has it, our forefathers had to raise £33,000,000 pretty promptly for the famous Maalborougb Wars. Well, it went in gunpowder and glory, and, the nation took a short rest afterwards, satisfied with its efforts. But George 11. saw the flag unfurled again when hammer and tongs went on, on sea and land, and £87,000,000 was the price of it. Again there was a respite, and then George 111 came in, and eventually blundered into snpporting a Ministry which thought that the British Empire should pay for defence on something of an equal basis. The tea thrown overboard in Boston Harbour was a mere incident, and of far less importance than the principle at stake. Obstinate George 111. was, as history to be may yet consider, merely obstinate in' endeavouring to impress the Empire at a distance with its obligations on the question, of defence. However, he probably went the wrong way about it, and in any case the thirteen colonies, constituting a fifth of what is now the United States, objected to his landing troops to punish Americans. That is why the sword was drawn, but it was drawn by France and the colonies together, the former as the latter's ally, and £121,CCOjOOQ was the British bill to the time <s£ Cornwallis surrendering to the French commander (not General Washington, as supposed) at Yorketown. Again there was a rest, but not a long die, as the French Revolutionary War ">ioke o»t, and the sun rose on a scene \fk turmoil which was ordered by infceratable Providence to last for years amd to embroil all Europe. Very soon tiha star of Napoleon began to rise, and tbse instant that it did England found die was in for tha task of her lifetime — tiie defence of herself and her young (Empire equally and at any cost. Here ij what she raised to accomplish that purpose: —

Our likely foe now was our great i'rnend then. Our friends now, so far as Europe is concerned, were largely c«r enemies then. The stupendous sum given in detail above amounts to G>6Q1,500,343.

Not all of that great sum 'went to crush Napoleon, but every farthing of it went to defend the Empire. In 1813, when the Old Land %vas in the throes of it in Europe, something happened which the United States n*a6 perhaps too ready to take exception to, and at once England found that she .vas at war with the French in Europe and the Americans in America. Lucky it was for Canada that Nelson had done his work so well that when the American 'Maddison War came she was able to send out a fleet without concern as to the depletion in European •waters. For America invaded Canada, and then the '3ritish invaded America, and finally it was a draw, but with a great addition to -what it cost to crush Napoleon. The last cannon-shot of the 1-800-16 campaigns was not fired in Europe, but at the 'Battle of Orleans, when the Americans — to be frank — won, despite 'Britain sending a fleet which left Nelson's in the shade. However, peace was declared, and the nations bound up their wounds as well as possible. Geography was ordered to retwist some of her boundaries, soldiers and sailors were dismissed in all directions, and England's Empire was saved; but at the fearful cost mentioned. How many Australians know that tho French had half a foot on the southern shore of Australia before Trafalgar, and that only Trafalgar saved the situation. "Terre Napoleon" stretched from the west of Adelaide to well over Victoria, and the gulf that commands Adelaide was, to the French, the "Gulf Napoleon," with a smaller inlet there, the "Gulf Josephine." Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, and Canada were saved by that glorious victory, and by that alone, and on the cost of all that was done, England, Ireland, and Scotland have paid interest for one hundred years without assistance. Had the flag failed, then it would have failed elsewhere; and had it failed completely the British might be held to-day as the map shows — foreign flags everywhere. Of the £601,500,343 raised by Britain for the tremendous task of facing a world in arms, but £460,000,000 were ever found, as the financiers of the time, taking advantage of her necessity, pushed Pitt so closely that for many of the loans he had to give £200 worth of scrip for £100 accommodation. "Money -talks" in war-time, and where it is held it talks interest, big interest, and then bigger interest; and so it talked to Pitt when he appealed for it as England's chief, nay only, hope. Here are a few examples — For a loan in April, 1797, each lender of £100 got scrip for £125 at 3 per cent., £50 at 3 per cent, "reduced," and £20 at 4 per cent., or £195 in all, plus a bonus of 6s 6d a year for fourteen years. i[n April, 1798, lenders in a loan floated- then got £200 worth of 3 per cent, stock for each £100, and 5s indefinite annuity. The figures seem aji exaggeration, and yet they are strictly correct), .being taken ifrom very exact authorities. Thus, Aubrey, in his "History of the English People," says that the nation found during the years 17931816, loans and revenue together, the enormous sum of £1,548,000,000. How the burden of Empire pressed on the multitude may be gauged from the fact that Pitt had to impose a 10 per cent, income tax with a £200 exemption, a lower rate prevailing on incomes down to £60. The bare enumeration of the taxable articles during that awful time chows what a drag-net had to be used. Nothing escaped, because of the national necessity — the responsibility of upholding the Empire. Great Britain has raised from first to last much over a thousand millions of money for this purpose ; and had nothing ever been paid off the capital 6he would owe now would be over that amount. 'But frugal Treasurers in times of peace have paid off nearly £400,000,000 ; and that is how the debt is what it ie to-day. The last great addition to it was made when the Weary ITitan undertook the task of making things better for tho sons of the Flag in South Africa, when blood and treasure flowed, and Mr. Chamberlain's hair whitened daily with the responsibility he had accepted in the interests of justice.

Year. 1793 • 1794 ' ■ 1795 £' -1796 1797 1798 - " . -7199 " - 1800 - 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 . 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1816 1816 £ ... 4,877,956 ... 6,998,389 ... 30,464,831 ... 22,244,982 ... 30,356,875 ... 16,858,503 ... 21,714,863 ... 23,030,530 ... 27,305,271 ... 14,638,254 ... 8,752,761 -... 14,570,763 ... 16,649,801 ... 13,035,344 .... 10,432,934 ... 12,095,044 ... 12,298,375 ... 7,792,444 ... 19,143,953 ... 24,790,697 ... 39,649,282 ... 34,563,603 „. 20,241,807 ' .".. 413,059