BRITAIN’S WAR BURDEN

Hokitika Guardian, 11 February 1930, Page 3

BRITAIN’S WAR BURDEN

COSTS £IOO9 A MINUTE,

{/United Press Association.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright. J

LONDON, Feb. 9. “The whole-time labour of two million British workers, throughout the year, is required to produce the annual cost of the War Debt Service alone. Yet, at the present rate of repayment, there will be one hundred and forty years required to liquidate that debt,” said Mr Philip Snowden (Chancellor of the Exchequer) in a “secret” broadcast to America, to which the people of Britain had no opportunity of listening. In emphasising the colossal burdens both of armaments and of war debts, which, he said, were not sufficiently realised by those bearing them, Mr Snowden recalled that Britain spent ten thousand million sterling in the Great War. Apart from the loss of wealth producing capacity, tho millions who were withdrawn from useful employment during the four years of the War had left Britain with a debt of seven thousand millions. This was now necessitating the raising every year from, taxation the sum of. £360,000,000 for debt services. The taxpayers were paying for this one million pounds a day and forty thousand every hour, and over six hundred per minute. r * "'Mit.ion thereto, there was £llo.000;C00 being spent annually upon Britain’s fighting services, and £56,000,000 on war pensions. This meant a total of £520,000,000 yearly, equalling £IOOO per minute.

“Thus ” said Mr Snowden, “threequarters of our taxation goes to paying for the past wars and to preparing, for future wars. "Hie average of our national local taxation works out at £IOO yearly per family. This says much for British financial and industrial power. There are more employed in Britain now than there were "before the War.'