THE WAR ON CAPITAL.
A noteworthy feature of, say, the past twenty-five years has been the growing power of Labour in this country, a power expressed through the growing strength and domination of Trade Unions and their political power, and for many years there has been deemed to be justi- fication for the establishment and continuance of a Ministry designed, presumably, to serve the interests of Labour. I shall not stay to probe the question how far the establishment of this costly. Ministry has been justified by the requirements of the situation, and, indeed, those who are ardent supporters would no doubt affirm that the unemployment problem is itself sufficient to demand a Ministry with a large organization to deal with the distribution of Unemployment Relief, &c. Never- theless, the fact remains that since this Ministry was formed and since the National Expenditure in times of peace advanced by leaps and bounds mainly in the direction of increased non-remunerative social services, the prosperity of the country and the capital fund of the nation has steadily declined. During this period the interests of Capital may be said to have been invaded at almost every point and not only the capital of the individual but the capital of the nation, for there can be no question that the Estate Duties long ago reached a point directly encroaching upon the nation's capital resources.
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