The Finance Bill was read a second time in the
House of Commons on Tuesday by 163 votes to 21. Colonel Wedgwood, who opposed it on behalf of the Labour Party, complained that " the workers " only benefited by the reduction of the tea duty and that "the rest of the community" received twelve times as much relief through the reduction of the income-tax. Colonel Wedgwood is a very recent convert to Socialism, but he ought to know that vast numbers of artisans in receipt of weekly wages pay income-tax. Moreover, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer reminded him, the hard-pressed employers have been granted this small concession on their income-tax in the belief that they will thus be able to carry on business and provide employment for " the workers." Sir Robert Home likened the politician who would impose a capital levy to Tantalus. Just as the water receded whenever Tantalus stooped to drink, so capital would rapidly depreciate and disappear if the State tried to seize it.
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