Finance—Public and Private
The Nation's Realized Surplus
WHILE the Chancellor of the Exchequer has had many difficulties to contend with during his five years of office, including the Great Strike, Coal Stoppages and subse- quent depression in leading industries, he certainly cannot complain of his general luck as regards Revenue windfalls. In one particular year he had, of course, a large and inevitable deficit owing to the prolonged coal stoppage, but, for the most part, it has been a case of an under- estimating of the totals of Revenue, such underestimating resulting in some unexpected surpluses.
The past year affords a striking example of the good fortune which has attended Mr. Churchill's Budgets, and while there may be, and probably is, ample room for a critical analysis of the realised surplus for the past year, I propose in this article to deal simply with the facts of the position for the past year and then next week, and in anticipation of the Budget which will be close at hand, I will venture to suggest certain points of criticism, not for the mere sake of criticizing, but because, in the opinion of the City, they are points which should be carefully borne in mind in presenting the new Budget.
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