National Finance. (Murby and Co. 61. net.)—It will be interesting
to see, when his Majesty's Opposition become his Majesty's Ministers, how they will supply the " Demand for Retrenchment and Reform" which is formulated in this pam- phlet. It may safely be predicted that they will fall very far short of the ideals here set forth. In fact, there is much nonsense talked about the "intolerable burden of taxation." The thing that really weighs on the people in general is the local ex- penditure. Deduct Excise (and Sir Wilfrid Lawson will say that Excise is not really a burden because it is a tax on non-necessaries), Income-tax (and no one who pays one shilling to the Government and keeps nineteen for himself is really badly, off), Succession-duty, and the non-tax revenue, and the balance is not formidable. However, the writers, all members of the Eighty Club, have much to say that is worth reading. One thing they are very naturally reticent about, and that is the Fleet. The politician who for a party triumph imperils the national food will have, and ought to have, a short shrift.
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