THE BRITISH BUDGET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13745, 9 May 1908, Page 4

THE BRITISH BUDGET.

The hand of the Asquith Cabinet has been forced by the evident revol of the British electors, and in th< new Budget Ave see provision mad< for an Old Age Pension— begii at- 70. With an estimated expendi ture of nearly £153,000,000, to be se against a revenue of . £158,000,000 there remains the very respectabli balance of £5,000,000, which 1' at the disposal of the Governmen for public purposes. This is to bi applied partly to the reduction o the sugar dutya purely re.venui and not a protective import—bu chiefly to the institution of Old Agi Pensions upon a distinctly penuri ous basis. Mr. Asquith proclaimed some time ago, that he was favour able to the Pension, but did not se how the necessary money was to b raised. He has not succeeded ii .raising the money to pay Pension at the ages of 60 or 65, which hav been hitherto spoken of in the discus sion, but has sweepingly reduced th amount required by raising the ag to 70. Considering that the grea majority of aged poor of the .Unite* Kingdom become decrepit and di long before they reach " the allottei span," it is hardly likely that Mr Asquitlr's proposal will have th popularity evidently hoped for. 1 will probably only add to the grow ing feeling that the present Imperin Government is quite incompeten to solve in a satisfactory manner an, of the pressing problems that cor; front British statesmen. And th certainty that any reduction of th proposed Pension age must lead t an increased expenditure which, ruder Mr. Asquith's regime, can onl be met by starving the naval an* military forces, but which, under th preferential trade proposals, woul be obtained by a process that woul at the same time increase the oui put of British workshops at the e? pense of the foreign importer, wi probably swell the turning tide sti' higher against the Administration.