Mr. Bonar Law introduced the Budget on Monday, dealing easily
with the colossal figures to which all of us are now accustomed, though few can realize their meaning. The actual expenditure for 1917-18 was £2,696,221,000 ; the actual revenue was £707,235,000. The expenditure exceeded the estimate by £408,000,000, half of which ought to be recoverable from the sale of commodities and from the repayment of loans. We had lent the Allies last year £505,000,000, while America lent us £500,000,000 and also lent the Allies £450,000,000. The Allies thus received £955,000,000 in loans last year, whereas in 1916-17 they received £540,000,000—a striking illustration of the increasing cost of the war. However, we borrowed rather less from America than we lent to the Allies, and were thus self-supporting. Mr. Bonar Law hinted that America might arrange to increase her direct loans to the Allies.
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