EMPIRE'S FUTURE

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 22, 25 July 1935, Page 9

EMPIRE'S FUTURE

A POLITICIAN'S VISION

TERRITORIES AWAIT SETTLERS

A STRONGER BRITAIN

"The last Labour Government, which all will agree passed through pretty

difficult and strenuous times, paid in respect of the American. Debt

£79,500,000 in two and a quarter years. .^ This- Government in 'four years has paid £42,250,000," said Mr. Morgan

Jones, M.P. for Caerphilly, in the House of Commons.

"The hon. member for Caerphilly has made a most unfortunate use of that illustration because, as a matter of fact, during the period of office of the Labour Government, when they paid that ■i £79,590,000, they received £78,347,000 (from other nations in payment of war debts), so that the net amount of cash which they had to find in their two :and a quarter years of office was only , £1,243,000. During our period of office 1 we have had no receipts," aaid Mr. , Neville Chamberlain, Chancellor of the Exchequer, in reply. ■ * , . Two very interesting speeches were delivered from the back benches during the Budget debate in the House of Commons which did not receive ths attention they deserved in the daily newspapers, says "Public Opinion." "I have here," said Captain Harold \, Balfour, M.P., "what Lord Macaulay wrote in 1830 about Southey'a "Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society": ■ " 'To almost. all men the . state of things under which they have been used to live seems to be the necessary, state of-things. We have heard it said that 5 per cent, is the natural interest of money; that twelve is the natural number of a jury; that forty shillings is the natural qualification of a county voter. ■ ' ■; • "'Hence it is that though In every age everybody knows that up to his own* time progressive improvement has 1 been taking place, nobody iseems to reckon on any improvement during the next generation.' , ~ , A RISING TRADE. "Then, in. regard to finance: "' "A million a year will beggar • us," said the patriots of 1640. 'Two millions a year will grind the country to powder," was the .cry in 1660. "Six millions a year and a debt of fifty millions," exclaimed Swift. "The high allies have been the ruin of us." "A hundred and forty millions of debt!" said Junius,' "well may "we say that we owe Lord Chatham more than we shall ' ever pay if we owe'him such a load as this." "Two hundred and forty millions of debt," cried all the statesmen Of 1783 in chorus. "What abilities or what economy on the part o£ a Minister can save a country so burdened? . . On what principle is; it that, when we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to expect nothing but deterioration before ; us?' '_ ' ■•' "On what principle," continued. Captain Balfour, "is it that today weran ■see nothing but improvement behind us and expect nothing but depression and worse times to* be in frontof us? I beliew firmly that apart from all the acts of mis-government and good government of bur rulers, this country is becoming richer'and-richer. Now and then there has been a general stoppage. Sometimes there is- a short retrogres■••sion.'but, as to'"the general •■tendency, there''can be' no ddubt. -A single breaker''may recede", "'but-the tide is "cdmin'g 'ih'-a^ theHim&"'Ri'^ ; ; 3 ..," ~ Mr. 'Marcus ■Samuel, .^M.P., in'- the course of a'-fnaiden speech.vsaid:—_ "I- believe that: until we; are in 'a position to finance a large, migration policy we shall do no good at all, or at any rate make .very slow progress, in reducing unemployment. Those who have read Professor Stephen peacocks 'Economic Prosperity in. the British -Empire' and other, books realise the enormous territories which are awaiting population. .:. ' "I hope the Government will take the opportunity.afforded by the visit of representatives of various Governments to see if some startcan be made with a vast scheme of this sort. This is not the occasion-to go into details I will only say one thing. I think some such scheme might be. started this year' as a sort of Jubilee memorial dn honour of their Majesties. I have 'never seen any scheme which ■ did anything more than outline what could be done, and in no case have I seen a satisfactory method of financing such a scheme. ■ "It could only be successfully accomplished on the basis of help and good will of every member of the community. I have dreamed of a scheme embracing 100,000 families a yearfamilies of four psople—which in five years would. dispose of 2,000,000 people from the labour market; 1,000,000 young people would never come on to the labour market. NATIONAL. INCOME LOAN. "I visualise the realisation of this scheme by some sort of national income loan, which would be subscribed to by all on the basis of 24per cent, of the national income, which' .would give us about £100,000,000 a year, sufficient to provide a £1000 capital for each family who left these shores. Such a movement would assist exports, our shipping, our friends overseas would provide territories; railways would be built and new communities established overseas. "I believe that some such scheme might be considered. It may be that everybody would not wish to subscribe, as there would be a free market, and as there is a demand for investments bringing in 3 per cent., those who could not afford to hold their loahs could sell out. I think that people would sooner subscribe to something of that sort- than pay an extra 6d on the income-tax to maintain people for doing nothing. It has been an ordeal to get up, but it will be no ordeal to sit down. I thank the House for the patience in listening to my first and humble contribution to the debates of this House." v "When the right hon. gentleman spoke of the increase of exports last year, amounting to £30,000,000, there was a general feeling of pleasure and satisfaction," said Sir Herbert Samuel, , M.P. "To the public at large it seems a vast expansion of trade. "Let it be remembered, however, that in the three years from the beginning of the depression, from 1929 to 1932, this ■ country lost in exports £364,000,000 of trade. In the short period of three years, our export trade was precisely halved; we lost £ 364,000,000, and we retained only £365,000,000. TWELVE YEARS. "In'the following year, 1033, the figures were practically stationary. Last year there was this increase of £30,000,000, but it would take us twelve years at this 'rate to get back even to where we v/ere in 1929. We should not be there until the year 1947. And the year 1929 is not really a year to be taken as a standard of prosperity."

"Over £300,000,000 per annum, an cnoivnoi"? .■•hire of the taxation of the country," aairl Sir J. W.-irrllaw Milne, M.P., "comes from abmit 3.400,000 people who pay the whole n£ tho income-tax out of a population of 50,000,000 people. The number of those who come within the income-tax limit

is 7,650,000, and of these 4.250,000 are exempt through various allowances. That gives us a figure of 3,400,000 who pay the whole of the income-tax."

"One hon. member said that we have spent on social services an amount equal to £1 a week for 10,000,000 families," stated, Mr. West, M.P. "That comes to £520,000,000; That, however, leaves out of account entirely the fact that the people themselves make a very substantial contribution to these social services, amounting approximately, I should say, to between £120.000,000 and £150,000,000. If that be true, and I think it is, the' amount spent on social services is not £500,000,000, but something like £350,000,000. That is a large amount, and it is a wonderful and marvellous achievement for any social system, but let it be left at the true amount, £350,000,000."