The new taxes, according to Mr. Bona]. Law, were estimated
to produce £500,000 and only yielded £20,000, while the coati
of collection was half a million. As a matter of fact, they yielded 2327,000 and cost 216,000 to collect.—Here we may observe that nearly all of the 2327,000 was got from the additional income-tax on minerals, which has in reality nothing to do with the land taxes, and that the cost of valuation is eliminated.—Mr. Lloyd George said that he had col- lected half a million more death duties on suburban land in con- sequence of his valuation—this, again, is a most misleading statement, as Mr. Pretym an shows in Wednesday's Times—and in fine he claimed that the Budget of 1909 had proved an un- qualified success. The Government had met all their liabilities, they were reducing debt at the rate of three millions a year more than the Conservatives had done in the piping times of peace, and he was facing the future without any fear of putting on fresh taxation. As for Consols they had fallen 21 points between 1898 and 1905, when the Conservatives were in power, and only 12 points since. The causes of this drop were not even mainly political—it was largely due to the extension of trustee securities. The true way to effect economy was to arrest the growth of armaments, and that could only be done by removing rational envies and jealousies, fears and suspicions. The moment was aus- picious, and he believed that, with candour, frankness, and boldness, a better understanding between France, Germany, Russia, and ourselves was attainable.
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