20 APRIL 1929, Page 30

Finance—Public & Pr i vate The City and the Budget IT would

probably be safe to say that a wittier Budget speech has seldom been delivered than the one made by Mr. Churchill last Monday in introducing to Parliament his fifth Budget. Nor is it any reflection upon the Chancellor to describe it as pre-eminently an electionering Budget. Whichever party had happened to be in power, it was inevitable that a Budget presented within a few weeks of a General Election should be framed, to some extent, with a special eye to public favour although Mr. Churchill, very cleverly, tried to disguise these bids for public favour by contrasting them with the more extravagant proposals which have been put forward by the Labour and Liberal parties.