To the Editor of the "NorrH-Cx1Na Dan News" sin,—I notice in to-day's issue of your paper, under heading "Our London Letter," a paragraph referring to the American Debt, Payments. With no desire whatever to argue the question, or to comment on the righteousness, the egality, or any of the other aspects of this matter, I should like correct one quite obvious misstatement of fact.
Your correspondent states: "But the annual amount of £37,000,000, which we have now to hand over to the United States in gold is equal to an income tax of one shilling in the pound."
surely can do no good to wanggerate one's cause, and it can no good so to mislead the aver~ fuge reader, who accepts such statements at their face value without investigating their accuracy, According to the "Statesman's Year Book," the total expenditure chargeable against revenue of the Cnited Kingdom for the veer ending March 81, 1923, wes £812,500,- U0. As the debt payment to the United States is slightly less than 6 per cent. of this amount, it is obvious that if the above payment feeounts for an income tax of one ing in the pound, then the total expenditure would amount to something more than 20 shillings in the pound—Iet us say a guinea in the pound approximately! This is, of course, absurd.
might also remark that the total expenditure on account of debt services in the budget for the ame' year was 324,000,000, of Continued on Poge,202)
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.