defeated because it had too Jittle sy Rech ehh ne ate down taxation boldly and lightened iano a aes ing Fund for redeeming national Finance Minister, M. Chérdn, who Wanted to reduce taxation gradually, 50 as to have a better chance The Fatal Small Point 'The crisis occurred over a small question of income-tax. As the Taw stands, a (redesman' whose wife him regularly in his' bose ness (which is the rule rather than the exception in France) may not include hor salary or Wages in his list of deductions from gross. me come, whereas, if he employs one else to do what she cou! he can make the deduction. As one member put it in the Chambery if grocer and a milkman, for me stance, doing business in the same employ their respective wives' as assistants to them they obtain no taxation relief, but the grocer's wife works for the milkman and the milkmax's wife for the grocer, the deduction from Income will be legitimate for both tradesmen, and they "could save about 5/-" each! "Another member remarked that the present state of things was immoral, because it placed an unmarried couple in a better position than a married oner The implication that" ineomertax technicalities might induce couples to dispense with the mama ceremony appeared to Ye tak quite seriously by the Chamber.
To put an end to this anomalous and deplorable. position, a member of the Opposition proposed amendment to the Finance Act that the deduction should be allowed in respect of business not bringing in more than £100 a year. 'The lost of revenue which would result from change was variously estimated at between £160,000 and' £580,000 a year. M, Chéron plumped for the latter "figure, and proceeded complain that he was being cone stantly asked to agree to this, that or the other out in revenue, Never, he said. bitterly, had a Finance Minister been treated in such a manner or put to such straits to defend the country's cash resource He also complained, rather unwis ly, of Opposition attacks while the Government needed all its authority for the naval conference in London unfortunately happened that M. Tardieu was confined. to. his bed with influenza. Had he been in his place in the Chamber, would hardly have allowed' his Government to assume the aspect ofa cashier harassed by" hungry, claimants. As it was, M. Chéron for the n-th time, said the Govern. ment. would stand or fall by the Postponement of the amendment, This time, the Chamber took him his word, and the Government was defeated by 5 votes. Chéron and others on the front bench immediately gathered their papers and walked out, and the Government's resignation" wa conveyed to the President. of the Republi
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.