1 APRIL 1955, Page 25

BUDGET HOPES SIR,—The recent sharp increase in the Bank rate

and renewed prohibition of the most tempting types of hire-purchase selling seem to suggest that a 'soft' Budget may be contem- plated, since these measures might be relied on to preVent cuts in taxes from producing further inflation. Such cuts would be pleasant, but surely very wrong at a time when we arc expecting to have to meet vast expenditure on new means of defence, and also ought to be taking advantage of the present prosperity to effect some (practically the first) reduction in the colossal total-426,000 million—to which the National Debt was built up during and after the Second World War.—Yours faith- fully,