BRITAIN'S EXPENDITURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17651, 11 December 1920, Page 9

BRITAIN'S EXPENDITURE.

DEBATE IN COMMONS. ; POST-WAR ECONOMIES. NO PARALLEL IN EUROPE. By Telegraph-Press Association-Copyright. (Received 8.30 p.m.) A - and XZ - LONDON. Doc. 9. In the House of Commons to-day, Mr. G. Lambert (Liberal) introduced a motion to restrict the expenditure of the Government to £808,000.000. He .violently attacked the operations in Egypt, Palestine, and Mesopotamia. Expenditure, he said' must " come off in chunks." The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Austen Chamberlain, replying, admitted that the Government was on its trial, but the House was also on trial. It had to be decided whether the country was to be governed by irresponsible clamour or by the House of Commons. Since the armistice the national expenditure had been reduced from £3.150,000,000 to £1,282,000,000. This was a remarkable achievement. He admitted that there was genuine anxiety regarding the future. The over-hopeful and over-confident over-bor-rowing, over-trade and over-speculation of six months ago had been succeeded by a reaction. Trade was now stagnant, and orders hard to obtain. Nevertheless, he and his advisers believed that the Budget would substantially realise expectations. No other country in Europe could show a parallel to Britain. The only other country paying its way was Denmark. An expenditure of £808,u00,000 would be reached -without making any provision for unemployment, housing, or the cost of a single soldier, sailor, or atrman. It would be useless to discuss a Budget made on that principle. Mr. Chamberlain wound ■up his speech by reading a number of decisions of the Cabinet regarding next year's expenditure. Firstly, no new social reforms shall be carried out involving a burden on the Exchequer or municipal rates; and, secondly, spending departments shall be instructed that except with the approval of the Cabinet, schemes involving expenditure shall remain in abeyance. Mr. Chamberlain added that Cabinet was of opinion that the only method of effecting savings was through the War Departments. (Cheers.) The Ministries of Shipping, Food and Munitions would be wound up this financial year. The question of economising expenditure in the Middle East would be thoroughly explored with a view to drastic reductions. He hoped that Mesopotamia would be selfsupporting in a short time. In regard to naval construction there would be no programme of new construction until the lessons of the war had been definitely ascertained. The Committee on Imperial Defence was proceeding immediately to make an exhaustive investigation, and no programme of capital ships would be presented until this committee reported. The House, by 321 votes to 66, rejected Mr. Lambert's motion, and carried an amendment in general terms, .urging the Government to prepare the next Estimates with, the utmost economy.