WORLD OUTLAY ON ARMS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19979, 3 July 1939, Page 5

WORLD OUTLAY ON ARMS

FIVEFOLD RISE SINCE 1932 BRIT! STI EX PEN I>i Tl' R E RECORD SINCE GREAT WAR (Elec. Trl. (.'npyi-iglit —I’nili'd J’ivss Assn.) (Reed. July 3, 9 a.m.) LONDON, July 1. The .Exchequer returns for the first quarter of 1939 underline the enormous growth of the defence expenditure which totalled ,£123,850,000, double t'he amount for the corresponding period of last year. The heavy increase of this and other expenditure is only partially offset by the expansion of revenue. Consequently, the deficit, including £14,750,000 of defence borrowing, stands at £151,800,000, the highest since the war.

The total expenditure for the quarter, exclusive of defence borrowing, was £281,137.000, and the revenue £ L44',056,0.00. .

The armament bill of the six great Powers has increased fivefold since 1932. The expenditure in 1938, which was estimated' at £36,000,000,000, has since been far surpassed. Britain is spending at least 47 per cent of her Budget, France 50 per cent, Italy 45 per cent, and Japan over 72 per cent.

When war pensions and other unproductive expenditure are taken into account, out of every 100 marks, francs and lire paid by the taxpayer, scarcely 20 are applied to normal State expenditure. The rest goes to pay the cost of past wars and preparations for future ones.