MODERN WARS AND WAR TAXES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 125, 14 October 1912, Page 4

MODERN WARS AND WAR TAXES.

■An interesting attempt to measure the financial strength of the great military Powers, has been made by Mr. W. E. Lawson in his latest book, "Modern Wars and War Taxes." Mr. Lawson says "two of the most essential elements of Great Britain's well-being—food and finance—are being left entirely, to chance," War obviously requires armaments, but they cannot be created without food anil money or money's - equivalent—credit; while since, so far as we are concerned, we produce little more than six weeks' food supply in the year, the very avoidance of famine depends largely on finance. The book is full of valuable statistics concerning the revenue, expenditure, debt, the sources from which the revenue is derived, and the objects to which the expenditure is devoted of the eight great military Powers. From these figures it will be found that the United Kingdom is the most heavily taxed of all. Apart from the post office and the income from the Suez Canal shares, the country has practically no revenue except that from taxes, and in 1909 the proportion of tax revenue to the total revenue was 79.90 per cent., against 12.93 per cent, in Prussia, 28.84 per cent, in Kussia, 57.58 per cent, in Japan, 07.76 per cent, in the United States, 70.53 per cent, in France and 75.20 per cent, in Austria. The extraordinary difference between the sources of British revenue and those of Prussia is sufficiently remarkable, and it may be illustrated still further by a comparison with the total revenue of the German Empire and Prussia combined in 1909-10:

Britain Germanv £ £ " Customs duties 33,140,000 35,707,157 Other taxes ... 118,010,000 56,348,170 State property 1,720,000 8,104,987 Posts & tel'g'hs 25,714,000 32,972,922 Railways .... •Miscellaneous 2,220,000 89,371,354

Total 181,710,000 324/2G3,871 With Great Britain about £152,000,000 out of £181,710,000 is derived from taxation, while in the German Empire and Prussia tax revenue is only £88.055,000 out of a total of £324,263,871. The result is that, while in the United Kingdom taxes per head of population come to £3 6s 3d, in Germany they an: but lSs 4d, in the United States £1 4s 7d, in Italy £1 Ds Gd, and in France £2 lGs Id.