CREDIT OF £1,000,000,000

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21246, 17 October 1940, Page 7

CREDIT OF £1,000,000,000

BRITAIN S GREAT WAR OUTLAY EXPENDITURE REACHES £64,000,000 WEEKLY STATEMENT BY CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Received Oct. 17, 11.40 a.m.) (Official Wireless) RUGBY', October 16 In the House of Commons today Sir Kingsley Wood, Chancellor of the Exchequer, asked for the vote of a credit of £1.000,000,000, and in giving an account as to how an equal vote granted on July 1 had been spent, he contrasted the war expenditure for the four weeks preceding the July vote, which amounted to some £55,000,000 weekly, or a daily total of £7,500,000 with the total for the four weeks ended October 12, which was £64,000,000 weekly. Sir Kingsley pointed out the great increase in expenditure which had taken place since March, w'hen the daily total for the fighting services was £4,000,000, 1 compared with £7,500,000 today. “I think that the fact that we have nearly doubled the rate of expenditure in the same short time and that the rate has gone up since July is increased evidence of our war effort,” said Sir Kingsley. Remarking that such a sentiment was unusual from a Chancellor, he said he hoped the rate of expenditure would be even further expanded. He made it clear that the £1,000,000,000 he w'as asking for was not enough for the rest of the financial year, and pointed out that even at a weekly rate of £64,000,000 such a vote would not last beyond March, and when that date arrived the Government would be able to judge the expenditure for the year and discuss how vast sums were to be raised. He pointed out that the vote of the credit was not a new estimate of additional expenditure, but simply a vote on account of expenditure foreseen and included in the July Budget. Stating that he had previously emphasised the undesirability of too frequent changes in taxation, and reminding the House that the increases imposed amounted to £529,000,000 in seven months, Sir Kingsley recalled the statement he made on October 15, wdien he said it was impossible to make a fixed time-table. He concluded by saying that he would welcome suggestions as to how r an effort could be made to reconcile the rapid prosecution of the war with a reasonable supervision of expenditure.

SHELTER OF BRITONS FRENCH DEATH PENALTY (United Press Asn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, Oct. 15 The Paris radio has announced a decree imposing the death penalty for the sheltering of Britons in occupied France. CHILD EVACUEES ARRIVAL IN ALSTRALIA (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) SYDNEY, Oct. 16 The first batch of children evacuated from the United Kingdom to Australia has landed from a speciallychartered liner, which brought 477 children aged between five and 15 years. Of these 241 came tc Sydney today. All were cheerful and well cared for.

OFFICER NOT DEAD WINNER OF VICTORIA CROSS PRISONER OF WAR DECORATION FOR GALLANTRY (Official Wireless) (Received Oct. 17, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, Oct. 16 The War Office has received information that Captain Eric Wilson, who was “posthumously” awarded the Victoria Cross, is alive and a prisoner of war. Captain Wilson was decorated for his gallantry, despite wounds and malaria, in keeping a key machinegun post in Somaliland in action for four days. The last sentence of the citation when the award was made was: “The enemy finally overran the post, when Captain Wilson, fighting to the last, was killed.”

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