21 APRIL 1923, Page 1

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

THE Budget—an excellent one—was introduced on Monday. We deal with it in our leading columns. Here we merely chronicle that the chief reductions in taxation are : Income Tax from 5s. to 4s. 6d., Cor- poration Tax from Is. to 6d., the duty on beer from £5 to £4 a bulk barrel. There are certain postal reduc- tions and simplifications, and a considerable reduction of telephone charges. Altogether, out of the estimated surplus of £76,000,000 slightly over half, £40,000,000, goes to debt redemption and the rest to tax revision. Mr. Baldwin was unable to persuade the brewers to contribute substantially to the reduction in the price of beer. A Select Committee is to find out whether we can bear sufficiently to recognize the fact that some men bet on horses to make them pay for doing it.