INROADS ON NATIONAL WEALTH.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 April 1919, Page 5

INROADS ON NATIONAL WEALTH.

STATEMENT BY MR. MYERS. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. Regarding the discussions that have recently taken place in the British House of Parliament respecting the inroads made upon the national wealth by the demands of the war, the Hon. A. M. Myers said that, by an authoritative source, he observed that the estimated national wealth of the United Kingdom was some £18,090,000,000. An amount equivalent to 34 per cent, of that figure had been expended by Britain on the winning of the war. The national income of the United Kingdom was estimated at some £24,00p,000,000 per annum, so that, on the same basis, Britain might be said to have mortgaged between two and three years' income in order to gain peace and freedom.

The Minister stated that, taking the pre-war estimate of New 2ealand's national wealth, it aggregated, approximately, some 400 millions, about 15 per cent, of which had already been applied to meeting our obligations incurred in taking a full share of the fight. Our national income was estimated to be some fifty-five millions, so it might be said that, up to the present, we had spent something over one year's income on the prosecution of the war. The dead weight of the debt incurred during the war could not yet be definitely stated, for the pension liabilities, the cost of repatriation, gratuities and allowances, etc., would continue for many yiars. The Minister added that, to make good the inroads upon our capital sanctioned by the Dominion for war purposes, every effort must be made to develop the resources of the country, applying scientific methods to our primary and secondary industries, to the end that we may increase our production to the greatest feasible extent.