Finance Public and Private
The Growth in Expendifure—Ii
IN considering the growth in the national expenditure there are two standpoints from which the position might be examined. Comparison might be made with the year immediately preceding the War or it might be made with some four years ago, when it looked as though; a real turn in the position had been reached and that expenditure was at last taking a downward course. If comparison is made witli the pre-War level the figures are, of course, very striking, but to appreciate the extravagant tendencies, especially in the matter of social outlays, which had been displayed some years before the War, it is- necessary to look back to the-Budget previous to the famous. Lloyd George social programme of 1909, when we find that between: that year and the pre-War year -the- 3 expenditure rose from . about £152,000,000 to 1197,000,000, Civil Service outlays in that period having risen from about £32,000,000 to £54,000,000. It is only fair to say, however, that during those years, largely because of the gross under-estimates of revenue and over-estimates of expenditure, there were some considerable realized. surpluses,. .
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