The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the House of Commons
on Thursday, August 3rd, said that we recognized to the full our obligation to America and did not mean to evade it. He pointed out at the same time that our burden of debt was heavier than that of any other nation. We had a debt of £7,766,000,000, or £181 per head, as compared with America's debt of £5,147,000,000, or £47 per head, and France's debt of £6,340,000,000, or £162 per head. We taxed ourselves more heavily than either America or France did. Our taxation was equal to £17 17s. a head, while that of France was only £9. Our income-tax was £7 10s. per head, while the French income-tax yielded only £1. Our taxes were twice as heavy as those of America. Therefore the British taxpayer could not shoulder the whole burden of repaying war debts. The figures deserve to be placed on record.
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