The rising tide of British: prosperity ig reflected inthe Treasury returns for the frst nine months of the finat= ial year. when "the total revenue mounted £0."#402,000.000 a com= pared with £467,000,000 for the same period last year.
'Receipts from inland revenue items were over £8,000,000 higher this year. Estate duties and income tax shared fairly equally inthe increase, while only' surtax showed a drop of about Receipts from Customs were nearly £8,000,000 higher.
Expenditure for the period, however, also showed a considerable increase, rising from £2978,000,000 to The Army, Navy and Air Fores Ihave cost nearly £15,000,000 more, Optimism the Keynote The present deficit amounts, -to £114,000,000 as compared with £110,- (000,000 ass year, Optimism is the keynote of all business forecasts for 1936, he Newspapers draw attention to the fact Usat there are new 1,300,000 more insured persons working and 1,034,000 fewer unemployed than three years ayo, Mr. Euan Wallace, Secretary of the Gverseas Trade Department, points out that United Kingdom exports. in the first eleven months of 1035. were £20,000,000 more than 1024. Tis Is an increase of over eight per cent. compared with an increase for inc Fest of the world! of under two per cent.
New capital invested in enterprises in the United Kingdom is ¢5 per cent, more than in 1934, Mr. Wallace adds.
Retail sales, which have been rising every month' throughout the year, showed a seven per cent, increase November, justifying hopes that salutation' point in the ome market is still far from being reached.
Meanwhile, all reports agree that sled is booming.
The "Dally Telegraph" to-day forecasts that 1035 production will reach 9,050,000 tons, exceeding even the record of the war year 1917.
Shipping Improving On the subject of shipping, Lloyds Annual Review states that the shipping year ends on a note of optimism Undiseernible for many years.
The prime factor was tke British Shipping Assistance Act, which demonstrated that Great, Britain was SUM supreme in leadership when dealing with maritime problems, The tonnage of now ships to be built in 1936, not including naval orders, {8 expected to reach 750,000 compared with 500,000 in 1935, The "Manchester Guardian" ox prosies moderato hopefulness regard-ug cotton, but there ate still too many uncertain factors. Also, spinners are slow fo ngrec to regulate production and price levels.
Lancashire engineering prospects appear bright.—Reuter,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.