ather a reason for making every possible effort to finance
it well Are we doing so? At first sight it is a great achievement to
have increased our total revenue from L200 millions before the war to
L842 millions, the amount which we are expected to receive during
the current year on the basis of the proposed additions to taxation,
without taking into account any revenue from the suggested luxury tax.
But, as I have already pointed out, the comparison of war pounds with
pre-war pounds is in itself deceptive. The pounds that we are paying
to-day in taxation are by no means the pounds that we paid before the
war; their value in effective buying power has been diminished by
something like one half. So that even with the proposed additions to
taxation we shall not have much more than doubled the revenue of the
country from taxation and State services as calculated in effective
buying power. When we consider how much is at stake, that the very
existence, not only of the country but of civilisation, is endangered
by German aggression, it cannot be said that in the matter of taxation
the country is doing anything like what it ought to have done or
anything like what it would have done, willingly and readily, if a
proper example had been set by the leading men among us, and if the
right kind of financial lead had been given to the country by its
rulers.

When we look at the details of the Budget, it will be seen that the
Chancellor has made a considerable advance upon his achievement of a
year ago, when he imposed fresh taxation amounting to L26 millions,
twenty of which came from excess profits duty, and could therefore
not be counted upon as permanent, in his Budget for a year which
was expected to add over L1600 millions to the country's debt,
and actually added nearly L2000 millions. For the present year he
anticipates an expenditure of L2972 millions, and he is imposing fresh
taxation which will realise L68 millions in the current year and
L114-1/2 millions in a full year. On the basis of taxation at which it
stood last year he estimates for an increase of L67 millions, income
tax and super-tax on the old basis being expected to bring in L28
millions more, and excess profits duty L80 millions more, against
which decreases were estimated at L3-1/2 millions in Excise and L37
millions in miscellaneous. He thus expects to get a total increase on
the last year's figures of L135 millions, making for the current year
a total reve