MOTHER COUNTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 December 1918, Page 6

MOTHER COUNTRY.

COST OF THE WAR REPAIRING ITS RAVAGES. NEED FOR MORE PRODUCTION. London, Nov. 13. In the House of Commons, Mr Bonar I.aw, Chancellor of the Exchequer, in moving a vote of credit for £700,000,000, said that though a reduction in expenditure was expected the Treasury advised him not to reduce the amount. Great expediture would be incurred in bringing food to Europe. The expenditure for 302 days in this year had been £1,081,000,000. He predicted that there would be plenty of work in repairing the ravages of war. The loans to the Dominions now amounted to £218,000,000, and to the Allies £1,465,000,000, including £508,000,000 to Russia.. The country's main object in the future was increased production, to which he hoped that both capital and labor would harmoniously contribute. It waa essential to revert at the earliest moment to peace conditions. It was vital for the world that close unity should prevail while we were repairing the war's ravages, and he hoped for a better understanding between the aliled nations.

iProceeding, Mr Bonar Law paid a tribute to the part played by the Dominions and India. - The navy, he said, had played a decisive part. It was the blockade which sapped the foundations of Germany's military and civil life. We were really a great people. During the past two years no army in Europe had done so much as the British Army. We had won victory, but at a great price, and we must not forget it. Mr Reginald McKenna, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, said the Chancellor had an unexpended balance of £300,000,000, and therefore he presumed that the other' £700,000,000 was required to cover the period of the general election. He warned the Chancellor against borrowing, as the country required money for the reconstruction of trade and industry.