Now suppose that he approaches the problem from the other
end. He begins by saying " I have such and such an amount to spend. I must apportion that sum, and not a penny more, under the various headings of my expenditure." He dismisses from his mind all the items which he has come to regard as " necessary " merely because he is accustomed to them, and he discovers exactly how much he can afford to spend on food, rent, dress, servants, education, amusements, etc. In this way the thing can be done. It is being done in many thous- ands of households. If the Government had adopted this method they would not have provided for nine millions of fresh expenditure in the current Budget. They would have taken a fixed minimum of money to be spent and would have rationed the Departments. We believe that this will yet have to be done. In spite of all the aspirations and promises about economy some Departments are still over staffed and the hours and conditions of the Civil Service as a whole do not correspond to what may be described as commercial practice.
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