1938-05-27 — Page 13

THE CHINA MAIL, MAY 27, 1988.

SIR JOHN SIMON DEFENDS FINANCIAL POLICY IN THE COMMONS

London, To-day.

The Finance Bill was debated in the Commons last night. Mr. A. V. Alexander, for the Labour Opposition reminded the Government that they had come into power in 1931 on the claim that they would safeguard the country's finances by orthodox methods and, he declared, they had increased the deadweight debt from £7,- 400,000,000 to £8,500,000,000, and started a ser- ies of unbalanced budgets after absorbing for expenditure the whole of the economies on the war loan conversion operation.

His criticism of the Finance Bill

he based on the contrast he sought

to

draw between the profiteering

which he alleged was taking place|

IMPERIAL

out of rearmament and from State AIRWAYS HELD UP

subsidies on the one hand, and the heavy indirect taxation on the other.

The Imperial Airways liner due from Bangkok to-day has been held up at Bangkok by the non-arrival of the mails by the main line machine. The date and time of her arrival is uncertain.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer. replying, rebutted the suggestion that burden of taxation was ine- quitably distributed and mentioned that as a result of the graduated scale and allowances, the only in- come tax payers who suffered the full' rate of 58. 6d. in the pound were those who fell in the surtax Equalisation Fund and nearly all of class and who numbered

it was supported by asset. only about 100,000. These 100,000, he estimated, pay £265,000,000 in taxa- tion while about half of that sum was contributed by about 10,000 out of the 100,000, whose incomes ceeded £10,000.

TWO PROPOSITIONS

ex-

A.R.P. SAFEGUARD

an

The Chancellor then made important announcement on the relief to be afforded in respect of air raid precautions. He said the government would introduce legis- lation to secure that the annual values of properties should not be Coming to the question of strict increased for the purposes either balancing of the budget, and bor-of income tax under Schedule 'A' rowing, Sir John Simon said he or for rating by reason of expendi- kept two propositions in mind inture incurred in structural altera- considering, the right course to tions, additions or improvements, adopt. The first was that borrow-made solely for the purpose of pro- ing only postponed payment, it did tection in the event of air raids. not obviate it; and the second that Turning to the charges of pro- the increased burdens they faced fiteering, Sir John Simon said there to-day were not likely to be reduc-was no proof that there had been ed quickly or substantially.

vast profiteering in armaments. As soon as the armaments programme

In these circumstances, ho began, the Government had set to thought he was justified in follow-work to try and devise machinery ing a middle course but as he to ensure that the rate of profit on expected he had been attacked from contracts should be reasonable and both sides by the financial not excessive. purists and by those who thought he should have borrowed to meet the whole of the exceptionally high expenditure on defence.

FACING BURDEN

INCREDIBLE FIGURE

In conclusion, the Chancellor spoke of the staggering increase of taxation and expenditure over re- cent generations. A £1,000,000,000 Budget would have seemed incredi-

He claimed the general good ble when he first entered the Com- that sense of the country as a whole ap-mons in 1906. He recalled proved the middle course.

there had been only one Chancellor .(of the Exchequer in recent

who had * never

He called attention to the fact generations that observers abroad and critics produced a Budget Lord Rán- all over the world were not re-dolph Churchill resigned in

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