Thames Star SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1936. WILD FINANCE.

Thames Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 19622, 1 February 1936, Page 2

Thames Star

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1936. WILD FINANCE.

“With malice towards none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right.”—Lincoln.

In the United States, war pensions have always been used as a political means of bribing the electors. In 1900 nearly a million alleged soldiers or soldiers’ widows were in receipt of pensions, when the only serious war had been the Civil War in 1801-06. In 1933 the number had been halved, but the amount being paid in pensions, excluding Great War pensions, amounted to £47 millions, compared with £43 millions for the total pensions paid by Britain, including Great War pensions. In the United States in 1934 the cost of the veterans’ administration amounted to £IOO millions. After the war all American soldiers were given bonds to fall due in 1945 and provide for their old age. There has been a constant demand that these should he cashed at once, and when an election draws near it becomes acute. Presidents have succeeded in vetoing the proposal several times, but the House of Representatives has now accepted the proposal by 324 votes to 61, and the Senate over-rode President Roosevelt’s veto by 70 votes to 19. The measure thus becomes law, and the Government will have to produce £3OO millions within a few months. The State will also have to provide £IOO millions or more to meet the assistance to farmers formerly provided bv the processing taxes, which the Supreme Court has declared illegal. With such expenditure iti sight any approach to a balanced Budget vanishes and the Treasury will find the utmost difficulty in financing new loans to the amount required. It is suggested that the President may find it necessary to reduce the value of the dgllar still further to meet the situation. It makes one despair of democracy to find members oj- Congress so absolutely reckless in seeking to gain votes by demanding expenditure for which there is no justification. Countries ruled by dictators are, however, showing similar conditions. The finances of Germany and Italy are in a desperate state chiefly owing to excessive expenditure on armaments or to the carrying on of war. It is interesting to note that none of these countries has shown any desire to adopt the Douglas scheme, which we are told is the only real remedy for financial difficulties.