The Now Year.has started with the inevitable arrival of all the income tax forms, and it would not be a surprise if Mx. Snowden attempts to put the screw on a lite tle, since the revenue is. terribly down—about £160,000,000 below the final level of last year. Of course, there is always a big rush of payments in the final quarter, Dut there is a lot of leeway to make up. On New Year's Eve, there seemed to be @ general idea that it was a suitable time to preach the desirability of a national non-pasty settlement of the unemployment problem, Even the Archbishop of Canterbury held forth on this sub-elect, and the "Daily News", which has' slways.chempioned this cause, shed tears of joy over such an ile Justriows convert. AN this non party talk will, however, come to nothing, because the three parties have their own widely, different Views as to the appropriate cure, It is true that unemployment creased a little just before Christ vnas, but it always does, owing to the engagement of Christmas "cxkers.
There is not much likelihood of any improvement in the figures, because no trade really reports grent activity. For this-reason, the usual anticipatory articles on 1980, which are by no means optimism fast of them are written on the lines of "hope for the best and prepare for the wort In foreign policy, we are our eyes in trouble, particularly in India and, in a lesser degree, in China and Egypt, and there isnot single aspect of home polities over which we have much cause to congratulate ourselves. We are; it is true, handing out money, but there is very little provision of work to show for it, though really, ver to provide any extra employment at all, apart from any. improvement in trade, we hall have to fall back on some sort of scheme such as that sponsored by Mr. Lloyd George and the Li-boral Party. It would keep people in activity for a couple of years, if it did nothing else, and it would be better to insist on some return for the money we are giving away. One suggestion is that the unomployed should be placed in allotments on the Iand in vast number This sounds all right, but very few could make allotments pay, in view of the current prices of all agricul tural produce. The farmer makes 8 poor profit on most of his products except, perhaps, just now, on oggs and
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.