16th Aprit.
THe telegrams which we publish to-day, announcing that the British Budget shows a deficit of £52,500,000, foreshadow a very unhappy time for the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the debate that will take place in the House of Commons. That a deficiency had to be provided for in the next Budget, on the basis of the estimated income for the current year, had most certainly been anticipated, but at the outside this had been estimated at £27,500,000, and it now appears that Sir Michxel Hicks-Beach will have to provide fora much larger sum than even this. To meet this startling deficiency the Chancellor of the Exchequer is about to have resource to taxation which is bound to provoke great opposition, even from some of those who usually support the Government as a matter of duty. The proposed increase of a penny in the pound in the Income Tax is not so serious a matter as would at first appear, owing to the exemptions that are allowed, by which incomes under £160 are entirely exempt; those under £400 have the first £160 exempt; those under £500 the first £150 exempt; those under £600 the first £120 exempt; and those under £700 the first £70 exempt. It will thus be seen that the burden of the Income Tax now falls on those fairly well to do, and on those who are well off; but it must be borne in mind that the income tax for 1900 was {one shilling in the pound, and that it was raised in 1901 to one shilling and two pence, so that the imposition of a farther penny in the pound will no doubt meet with strenuous opposition from the classes on whom if will fall. But the most startling proposal of the Chancellor of the Exchequer is that of imposing taxation on imported corn and other grain, and on flour and meal, as this is a return to Protection, pure and simple, and will provoke such rabid opposition from the Free Traders, and such a flood of debate, that unless the new Rules of Procedure come into effect in the House of Commons, it is questionable if the Budget will be passed in time. The agriculturists have for long been fighting for their own interests, and have apparently won Sir Michael Hicks-Beach over to their own particular views, but that the great body of the Members of the House will acquiesce is more than doubtful, 1 especially as this taxation will full upon food stuffs, and further increase jthe already heavy burden of the poor. It may be said that this impost on foreign grain and flour is only the adoption of protective mex sures in a small way, but it will be interesting 10 note what sort of opposition it provokes. If allowed to pass there is no knowing where it may end, Indeed it may lead to great changes in the fiscal regulations of Great Britain, as there are many advocates of a protective tariff who contend that free trade is a mistake under the existing conditions of supply and demand.
There is one hope for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and that is in the termination of the war in South Africa, The latest reliable news to hand shows that there is a good prospect that the negotiations now being carried on will eventuate in Peace.
That the British nation is determined to carry the war to a conclusion satisfactory to the country has long been demonstrated, but a cessation of the weary conflict would be heartily welcomed, provided that the supremacy of Great Britain in South Africa is secured beyond question. There is now some prospect that this consummation may be realized. If the Government can bring this about at an early date, the British
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.