THE BUDGET BATTLE. LONDON, September 28.

Otago Witness, Volume 06, Issue 2899, 6 October 1909, Page 30

THE BUDGET BATTLE. LONDON, September 28.

I Mr Lloyd-George secured the rejection ) of (Sir P. Magnus's (member for London ' | University) amendment to exempt from I .the new land taxes all land, the income and profits of which are applied , to tne ' promotion of education, literature, science, ' and the line arts. The Chancellor of the 1 Exchequer stated that he had already j conceded two-thirds of the claims made on behalf of public schools. The Times says that Mr Lloyd-George's resolution charging the Consolidated Fund " annuaJly with a sum equal to half the proceeds of land values, mineral rights, and duties is one of the most outrageous of the year, and one for Which there is^ no purpose that can be named. The money is simply to be scrambled for some day by all the local interests in the country. The land taxers' theories had utterly broken down. , i It is widely believed in parliamentary circles that in th© event of the rejection of the Budget the Government will move the adjournment of the House for a few. weeks, resummoning Parliament in De- ' cember to consider mieasnres necessary to meet the financial stress, and to pass resolutions strongly condemning the Lords' action. j j Mr A. Ure, K.C. (Solicitor-general for Scotland), speaking at Gateshead, said he ' believed the country would get a revenue from the Budget that would increase each , year until they drew millions a year out ' of land without inflicting a particle of injustice on sny human being. The people, however, must settle the question of the Budget for themselves, and they '• would have an early opportunity of doing so. • , ! ' September 30. ' | Sir John Gorst, speaking at Corsham, defended the Budget. He added that word -had gone forth from the real leader of the Tory party and the House of Lords to reject the Budget.^ The parties' nominal leaders would be unable to restrain them. October 1. The Daily News declares that the omens tell strongly in the direction of the Peers passing the Budget. It states that the ' influence of the Court on the Lower and Upper Houses has often been used to a.vert a constitutional crisis, and that j influence is to-day as powerful as ever, j I The Daily Graphic understands that Lord Lansdowne will shortly visit King Edward. This evidence of the King's interest in the pending crisis is of the highest significance, especially after Lord Rosebery's five days' stay at. Balmoral. A petition has been prepared for signature by bankers and merchants in the city urging the House of Lords to adopt such action as will give the people an I opportunity to express their views on the Budget before it paeees into law. An interesting feature of- the Budget debate was Mr Balfour' s support of the Governm-ent in connection with the clause ' empowering the Commissioners to accept j -land in payment of death duties. Mr Balfour remarked that this was a cheap means of obtaining land for public purposes, including afforestation, and also for enabling the multiplication of the number of small land-owners. i I Another incident was Mr Lloyd-George's severe castigatiion of Mr Snowden, who protested against the relief in regard to income tax given in connection with maintenance and repairs by land-owners, t and who .suggested a reduction in the duty on tea. instead. The Minister repelled the idea of imposing a fine on owners for j making the houses of the people habitable. When the landlord did his dufy to his neighbours the State ou^lit to , recognise the act, not to penalise him for his con- j duct. October 2. In the course of the Budget debate Mr Hunt moved in favour of the repeal of the duty on raw cocoa and a reduction in the duty on manufactured cocoa by one-half. He declared that Ministers had devised the protection for their partial- j l.ii- friends; hence they were inconsistent in Freetrade principles. One great cocoa . manufacturer not only chiefly ran one j of the grert Liberal newspapers, but also gave £20,000 jnst before the general election to help the Freetrade party. • » Mr Hobhouse (Financial Secretary to the Treasury), in reply, said the proposal meant a reduction of £290,000 in the revenue, which, the Government was unable to afford. The amendment was negatived by 130 vows to 47. . • ' October 3. According to the Standard, Mr John Buns (President of the Local Government Boaid) and Mr Lewis Harcourt (Cominis-

sioner of Works) are emphatically of opinion that the House of Lords will no£ reject the Budget. October 4.The Chronicle has addressed a telegraphic question on the Budget to several Unionist Peers. Viscount Peel Teplied as follows: — "I hope the House of Lords will pause before it takes the extreme step f of rejecting the Finance Bill." Earl De la- Warr says that in rejecting the Budget the House of Lords will be taking a very great risk. If- its action, is not endorsed its power of veto will be rudely shaken. Baron Monteagle says : " Much as I disapprove of the Budget, I do not approve of the House of Lords rejecting it." Lords Avebury and Kinnoull are in favour of the House of Lords giving an opportunity, for an appeal to the country. The Spectator anticipates that the House of Lords will reject the Budget. It would j prefer its passage lest an election would j give a lease of power to the Radicals* i whose return would do grave mischief. ,It believes that the country's disgust within six or eight months would force a general election, when Socialism could be fought to better advantage.