The London County Council estimates for 1908-9 were explained by
Mr. Hayes Fisher on Tuesday. The income for the year is put at 210,261,942, and the expenditure at 210,557,935, leaving a deficit of 2295,993, which can be met out of the balance from the previous year. There is an addition of one penny to the Education-rate, which stands at 19d., and the general rate remains at 17d., the total being three shillings. The increased Education-rate is the same as under the old Council, but it ought to be said that the reduction last year of one penny was avowedly made out of balance, and not through any reduction in the cost of education. Mr. Hayes Fisher urged the Council to consider whether the general rate of 17d. ought not to be regarded as a maximum. The debt of the Council is nearly fifty millions, and a new loan of two and three-quarter millions at 3i per cent. to be issued at par has just been sanctioned. The last 31 per cent. loan was issued at 97. But in spite of this sign of improved confidence, there is much to ponder in Mr. Hayes Fisher's words. New responsibilities in education are thrust upon the Council by Parliament, which has not considered the expense. And the habit of regarding rates as an original source of wealth, instead of as a drag on individual prosperity, will become incurable if this extraordinary delusion is allowed to persist.
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