The Chancellor of the Exchequer issued on Wednesday a revised
balance-sheet for a " normal year "—that is, a year in which there will be no superfluous departments like the Ministry of Shipping, no wasteful subsidies or unemployment donations, and no loans to Allies. In such a year the revenue is to yield £1,029,000,000, apart from Excess Profits Duty. The expenditure is estimated at £880,900,000, leaving a balance of £148,100,000 for further Debt redemption. The details are set out in this hypothetical estimate, but it is useless to criticise them. The point is that in a " normal year " the Government—for the Chancellor is. only the financial mouthpiece of the Cabinet— look forward to raising more taxation than the maximum. which Mr. McKenna, an experienced statesman and a shrewd financier, regards as economically possible. It is an appalling prospect, and we must decline to regard it as inevitable. The burden of taxation must be lightened by a rigorous reduction of expenditure. The suggested " normal " total is far too high.
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