IMPERIAL POLITICS

Otago Witness, Issue 3030, 10 April 1912, Page 26

IMPERIAL POLITICS

FINANCIAL STATEMENT. NO CHANGE IN TAXATION. EFFECT OF STRIKES ON REVENUE. LONDON, April 2. In the House of Commons the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Lioyd George, introduced his Budget. The surplus, he said, would be devoted to strengthening the Exchequer balance. If it were found unnecessary to spend it Parliament could decide what should bo done with it, or it could bo devoted to a reduction of the national debt. He estimated the revenue at £187,189,000 and the expenditure at £186,885,000. There would be no fresh taxation or reduction, and the prospect of a decrease, in view of the Naval Estimates, was not particularly bright. The strike had depleted last year's revenue of £440,000, and the further strike loss for the coming year he estimated at £1,200,000. THE BUDGET DISCUSSED. LONDON, April 3. In the House of Commons Mr Lloyd

George said the surplus was the largest on record. The prosperity in trade exceeded the most sanguine expectations. Before the strike unemployment had reached the lowest point it had ever touched. The product of the new taxation imposed in 1909 had increased from £10,000,000 in 1910 to £24,000,000 last year. Referring to the surplus, Mr Lloyd George said that although the Admiralty had underspent the vote by £1,500,000 that must be regarded as a postponement and not a saving. They I must also consider the contingent increase I mentioned in Mr Churchill's Navy speech. I If they were satisfied that Mr Churchill's i demands were necessary to secure the ! minimum of safety it would be his duty to | find the money. He deplored the enor- ! mous waste on armaments, but said that much depended on the inviolability of Britain's shores. If the Government erred, it did right to err on the side of | safety. The African protectorates had 1 demonstrated their increased prosperity, i and were now almost self-supporting. The increase in the estimated expenditure this year was due to insurance and telephonic purchase. The future depended on the readiness of capital to share its luck with labour and on labour's moderaI lion in pressing its demands; otherwise I nothing would mar a bountiful year. Mr Austen Chamberlain said he did not see the justification for reserving the surplus. The amount for naval contingencies was beyond requirements this year. The diverting of the surplus to the sinking fund was deplorable, and he urged reconsideration of the matter. Mr Masterman assured the House that the surplus would not be used for any other purpose than the Navy without the sanction of the House of Commons. Replying to the Hon. Harry Lawson, Mr Samuel said that, while the Government would welcome any British company laying an Atlantic cable, it was not I prepared to subsidise the scheme. The I Government sympathised with the desire ; for cheaper cables, but it was unable to ! demand further reductions at present or I to favour State-owned cables. The Times comments on the wisdom I of holding the surplus for naval contin- | gencies. The Telegraph welcomes the virtual | establishment of a naval emergency fund. The Radical papers view with mis- ' giving the impounding of the surplus. The Financial Times states that the method of disposing of the surplus introduces a doubtful principle, and deprives • the consol market of hoped-for s'upport. THE INSURANCE ACT. LONDON, April 3. The Employers' Parliamentary Federation is arranging for a demonstration by all the employers' organisations with the object of endeavouring to secure the

postponement of the Insurance Act until January 1, 1913, and to press for equitable amendments in regard to the financial terms. April 4. The Medical Association has prepared a scheme as an alternative to the insurance proposals unless the Government coincides with the doctors' amendments to the act. The scheme meets the needs of those who are unable to pay the ordinary fees.