BRITAIN’S EXPENDITURE

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 October 1942, Page 5

BRITAIN’S EXPENDITURE

ANOTHER THOUSAND MILLIONS CHANCELLOR’S REVIEW RUGBY. October 21. Moving a supplementary • vote of credit for one thousand million pounds for the war, Sir C. Kingsley Wood first welcomed the visit of Mr. Morgenthau, Secretary of the United States Treasury, who stood very high in the councils of the United Nations. The new vote of credit, said the Chancellor, would make a total of four thousand million pounds this year, and 12,050 million since the outbreak. Since September 9 the average daily war expenditure had gone up half a million a day, and was how £32,750,000 daily, including £10,500,000 on the fighting and supply services. The Chancellor said the credit now asked for, together with the balance remaining from the thousand million voted in September, should last until February.' “It is possible we have now passed the period of striking increases in the rate of war expenditure, but this does not mean the problem of financing the war on sound lines would take an easier turn, or that we could relax any of our efforts. On the contrary, as the war progressed and we exhausted the accumulated nest eggs and other capital sums available for investment, we had to use other means of replacing them. In this still greater savings from current income and still greater economies in absolute avoidance ol all wasteful expenditure, must take high place. A decent proper standard of living was obviously essential, but if we insisted on spending for spending’s, sake, instead of saving the greatest extent possible, we would endanger the sound economic strue*UComparing the half year ending September 30, with the last year, the Chancellor said: Although ihe expenditure was higher by £350 million, the amount we had to borrow was £7O million less. This was partly due to the receipt of £155 million on account of the Canadian Government’s generous contribution, but mainly to the higher and unprecedented level of taxation. Revenue was doing very well both absolutely and by comparison with last year. The total volume of personal saving was increasing quarter by quarter. Sir. C. Wood announced the decision to make supplemental y issue of certificates in January at a definitely lower rate of interest. The purchase price would be £l. tne value would increase to 23/- aftei ten years, equivalent to an overall interest rate of £l/8/2 per cent tax free i He said: We are entering the fourth year of the war with little cause toi dissatisfaction at the financial position. The total expenditure to 193942 was about two and a hall times as great as in 1914-17, but the amount raised in taxation was lour times as much, representing 40 p'.w cent expenditure, compared with 21 per cent. Moreover, the average rate ot interest on the increase m debt, so ta. in this war, has been only 2.. pei cent, compared with five per cent, m the last war.

NATIONAL SAVINGS RUGBY,'October 19. Lord Kindersley, President of the National Savings Committee, and Lord Mattistone, Chairman, represented to Sir C. Kingsley Wood that the continuous increase in National Savings Movement necessitated further appointments for the direction of the war savings campaign. Lord Mattistone accepted the office of Vice-President and- Colonel O. Stanley that of Chairman. Loid Kindersley will continue to act a-> President’and Sir I. Chambers ano Sir 11. Macintosh will continue to give their whole time to the executive direction of the campaign.