SOCIALIST TAXATION IN LONDON
[To the Editor of THE Sracra.ron .1
SIR,—As a former officer of the L.C.C. and the one responsible for getting the Council to initiate the policy of financing part of its capital expenditure each year directly from rate, will you allow me to correct the impression conveyed by the following sentence in the paragraph under this heading in your last issue : •
"It is also somewhat disturbing to find that whereas in the last two years the Council set aside £800,000 a year for redemption of debt the present Council is only providing £250,000." .
The misconception is probably due to the emphasis placed by Sir Samuel Gluckstein (when speaking to the Budget statement made by Mr. Charles Latham, the Chairman of the Finance Committee) on the redemption of debt rather than on the financing of capital expenditure out of main- tenance account which is the primary purpose of the standing order to which he referred (the secondary purpose being the acceleration of debt redemption beyond the legal require- ments). Sir Samuel's reference to the standing order (if The Times report of the 6th inst. be correct) was therefore hardly adequate, although he did make clear that the provision was in addition to the normal redemption through the sinking funds.
• Your readers may be assured that there can be no tampering with the annual allocations for redemption of debt (incidentally these are much in excess of i800,000) which have to be approved each year by H.M. Treasury.
• Personally, I am very sorry to see the reduction to the minimum provision required by the standing order, because the meeting of part of its capital expenditure directly from rate in the case of a large authority such as the Council is so obviously sound financially. I wish your space permitted nie to enlarge on this for the public weal.—Yours,
Cotswold,' Pixham Lane, Dorking. ARTHUR NETTLETON.
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