[TO TIM EDITOR or TH1 " SPZOTATOR."] SIR, — Your paragraph on
the War Loan and your remarks as to the faoility of borrowing and the difficulty of paying interest are good and to the point. It has struck me that the taxing of amusements should bring in a considerable sum. Take this city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, for instance. I am sure I am within the mark when I say that at least fifteen thousand persons pay daily for admission to the various picture-houses, &c., here. Now, suppose each ticket for admission had a war stamp on, the amount of the surcharge varying from a penny to sixpence, according to the value of the ticket. Let us put the average surcharge as low as twopence. That would mean that in Newcastle alone thirty thousand pence would be paid by fifteen thousand people. That equals £125 a night, or £750 a week of six days. Surely, grouping together the smaller towns, we should be safe in saying that the equivalent to three hundred Newcastles would in the United Kingdom contribute a similar amount. Added together, the sum realized in this way would amount to the huge total of £11,700,000 a year.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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