NEW TAXATION
Sin,—The myth that the vast sums of money needed to finance our war effort come from taxation must be dispelled once and for all. The banks create the necessary credits and issue them as a debt to the nation. If this super confidence-trick is allowed to continue, we sill be saddled with a huge, unpayable, fictitious war debt which will effectively stifle any- post-war plans for reconstruction. The only conceivable use of taxation is to equate the money in circulation to the goods and services available, thus eliminating the possibility of inflation.
At the present time the Government is trying to avoid inflation by imposing a stupendous income-tax, various indirect forms of taxation, a too per cent, excess profits tax, by floating National Savings cam- paigns and warships weeks and by stabilising prices. Their efforts are tot, however, achieving the desired end, and there is still a two million pounds a day deficit. Moreover, the income-tax and post-war credit scheme has involved opening more than 11,00o,000 Post Office savings accounts. The amount of complicated arithmetic involved will reach fantastic proportions, and unless urgent and drastic steps are taken to relieve the strain, the income-tax machine will come nearer to break- down than ever before. And yet, your correspondent on the taxation of land values proposes to add yet another tax to the multitude of complicated and useless forms. of taxation! Has he not read the roverb of the camel and the straw? , We are trying to solve, by roundabout adjustments already out of to and totally inadequate, a problem that calls for entirely logical thought and action. It is high time that the ideas of men like John Hargrave, with his debt-free, make-and-take accountancy scheme, Should be given a full consideration.—Yours sincerely,
E. K. WESTLAKE.
Leighton Park School, Reading, Berkshire.
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