DEFENCE LOANS BILL

Evening Star, Issue 22583, 26 February 1937, Page 9

DEFENCE LOANS BILL

SECOND READING MOVED CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER OUTLINES AIMS OF THE MEASURE (British Official Wireless.) Press Association —By Telegraph—Copyright RUGBY, February 25. (Received February 26, at noon.) Mr Neville Chamberlain, moving the second reading in the House of Commons of the Defence Loans Bill, welcomed the absence from the Opposition’s rejection motion of the suggestion made by Mr Attlee that the Bill was a “ war measure.” It would be very unfortunate, the Chancellor of the Exchequer declared, if any apprehension of imminent war were created at a time when there was no reason or justification for any such fears. Mr Chamberlain twitted the Labour Party on its repeated affection of ignorance of the relations which the Government’s rearmament programme bore to their foreign policy. He challenged Labour speakers to say whether they considered British arms should not be used for any of the purposes described by Mr Eden, or whether they considered they should be used for any purpose in addition. Not until they ceased evading such straightforward questions and gave a plain anwser was he balled upon seriously to deal with such obscurely insinuated criticisms.

Mr Chamberlain said that no matter in the whole of the problems connected with the rearmament programme had received more continuous or more concentrated attention than the prevention of excessive prices. “ I have no hesitation in saying that nothing human ingenuity can devise or human effort can achieve to this end has been left undone,” he said. The Chancellor complained of exaggeration in the statement that the proposals would adversely affect national credit. National credit had been steadily built up during the last s}x years. During the crisis other countries had added to their debts. It had been necessary to suspend the Sinking Fund, but in three years, 1933 to 1936, there were realised surpluses amounting to over £40,000,000, in addition to a debt redemption of £32,500,000, making a total of £72,500,000. Also the unemployment insurance fund had been put in a solvent condition and reserves accumulatead which, if no distribution took place, would reach by the end of the present year a sum between £52,000,000 and £60,000,000.

In 1931 the interest on the British National Debt was £282,500,000. This year the debt charge would be about £210,500,000, so that the saving of £72,000,000 in interest alone would be almost sufficient to cover the average rate of borrowing contemplated in the Bill. At the same time the standard of life had been protected by the provision of a constantly increasing sum for social services.

Referring to the prediction that the Government’s policy would cause inflation, the Chancellor called attention to the speech of Mr J. M. Keynes, in which the latter expressed the opinion that it would be possible for the Treasury to raise £400,000,000 by borrowing without causing inflation.