£45,000,000 A MONTH FOR THE WAR.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 16, 26 February 1915, Page 4 (Supplement)

£45,000,000 A MONTH FOR THE WAR.

ARMY OF 2,500,000 MEN SPRINGING UP.

INTERVIEW WITH MR. LLOYD GEORGE.

(By U. Jean Longuet. Socialist Deputy V for Paris.)

The Chancellor of the Exchequer received me at his residence in Downing Street, with friend M. Rtnaudel and our colleague, M. Painleve, \\ happened to be in London, with the cnai ing cordiality I always observed whenever I have met the illustrious \\elsh statesman. , , We spoke at once—naturally—ot the war, of our combined hopes, of our joys and our sorrows. , "I do not know," the Chancellor suddenly sa'd to us. "if our friends in France qu : te realise the effort- that is at present being made by England for tlio common eau.se of the A Hies. " Certainly," I replied, full account « taken in France of the vigour and resourcefulness with which Great Britain has entered upon and is carrying on tho 6 ''"Abo of the extent of the sacrifice of men and money that she has already made and especially of those she is preit would really be interesting for-m.if \ou would consent to allow me to tran»„H J, th. Frock ™Wic Xrit data that you, «th J than anyono can furnish to at. at tho nresent time." r,,.-n r "Very well. Do you know, firet.y, that Gi-eat Britain Ls expending as much—more, I believe, at present- -as France on the war, notwithstanding the of her tot m,tar, force despatched to Flandeis. '•Do you know that our monthly expenditure for the army and navy is at present £45.000,000, or one m:, lard hundred and twenty-five millions of franco, T>er month t (M Painleve remarked m th.s coiir nection that the figures supplied for France by M. Ribot, Minister of Finance, in an interview publ'shfcd in the " Petit Parisien," did not compr.s al our expenditure- But we f.naUvagreed with M. Renaudel that this total figure, could net. in any case, be higher than the English total figure.) "But," I observed to the Chancellor, " how is your enormous contribution to bo explained, even taking into account the cost of your formidable fleet, when it is remembered that your army at the front represents scarcely one-sixth or "In rep.l'ty," exclaimed Mr. Lloyd George "England has at present put more than 2.000,000 sailors and soldiers under arms. Certainly we had to it large- extent to improvise this rsst army, and, parenthetically. this is the strongest proof of the pacific goodwill wo maintained until the very last. "You have been able to see in London tho admirable and enthusiastic movement which by voluntary enlistments for the duration of the war, with out th; constraint of conscription, has enabled us to assemble nearly a million and a half soldiers since August 2, anel which svstem will shortly supply us with 2,500.060. "And fine soldiers, verily! All the pick of the nation, the best and tho bravest of all classes of society, intellectuals as well as workmen, r'ch as well as poor, the elite of our trade unionists as well as our most brilliant scholars of Oxford and Cambridge, the bench and the bar as well as the shop, the factory as well as the club, have furnished in four months these hundreds of thousands of vigorous young men of from 21 to 36 years, with whom my colleague, Lord Kitchener, has formed his new army. You know that my two sons have enlisted, as well a<» Mr. Asquith's sons. "Before the spring 500,000 new soldiers, superb, magnificently trained, and full of enthusiasm, will have jo'ned those who. side by side with the valiant sons of the French democracy, are struggling at the present time, from tho Yser to Belfort, to bring about tho end of Prussian militarism, and to establish the liberty of Europe and that of Germany herself. And this will continue unto the end, unto victory. The fiscal problem is everywhere one of the most difficult at the nresent juncture. Mr. Montagu, the untiring colla. borator of the Chancellor, who was present at our conversation, related howEngland had wished to avoid empirical solutions that might consist solely in calling for loans and in the- issuing of pauer money. "Yes," added the Chancellor, "so far as we aro concerned, we have persevered more than ever during the war in the principles of democratic revenue-rais-ing, which principles have inspired the Liberal Government ever since it arrived in office. You have seen my Budget? 1 did not hesitate to raise £40.000,000 by the income tax. I doubled it. and unanimously .it was passed by the of Commons." Rtnaudel and I looked at each other. Wo thought of our wealthy classes. We looked at M. Painleve. whose thoughts were evidently similar. And wt said nothing. RAISING £440,000,000.

"Tlrts, moreover, is not the full extent of our financial effort," continued the Chancellor. ''lt is nec'ssary to add to the enormous resources which we shall have at our disposal through the income tax th fl amount that our new loan will give_ to th.p cause of England and her Allies. This amounts to th. colossal sum of £ t id,ooo,ooo."

That is certainly, we thought, "biscuit" fcr tile campaign, lor. in ripitc of all her organising genius. Germany is quit!' incapable of collecting anything liko this vast amount of money tor tho carrying 011 of a war. Mr. Lloyd George reiterated to iu in ardent terms {he resolution of England to continue with inflexible tenacity the struggle undertaken against. German unitary Imperialism. He dwelt upon the highly democratic and humanitarian aim which animated England no less than tho other Allies, lie touched upon iho [irnblem of a definite international p' tee in a Europe liberated from the atro -ious burden of m'lit.arism and its (•(,'iicr niitan t mere war. A i ter vigorously shaking hands, 0111 host.. departed to the Cabinet Council, leav'ri" i'«. !'s a r Mill of our chat, more confebnt and coivfort"d.