The Chancellor of the Exchequer in a recent speech paid tribute to the calm manner in which British financial institutions had stood up to the strain of the recent crisis. Owing to the special, conditions prevailing today, it is probable that the strain must' continue for some time to come, and it is, therefore an encouraging sign that, as Sir John Simon pointed out, the London financial market is able to face all the demands made on it without undue difficulty. Even when the crisis was at its height there were- no signs of panic and delicate machinery of exchange continued to operate effectively. As the time for the preparation of the new Budget draws near, and the necessity of bridging the gap between normal revenue and the increased expenditure for national defence becomes more urgent, the importance of Great Britain's financial system cannot, in Sir John Simon's words, be exaggerated. If, as is thought likely, recourse is had to some form of Government borrowing, conditions are fortunately such as tò enable this to be done without risk either of inflation of prices or of disturbance in the financial market. The amounts required for national defence are no doubt impressive, but there are other amounts which are equally so, The total national savings, for example, exceeds £400,000,000 per annum, and in other directions: too there is daily evidence of the capacity of the capital market to subscribe large sums for investment, In addition, ordinary Government revenue continues to come in satisfactorily, and from the beginning of the financial year to November 12 it was nearly £10,000,000 higher than in the same period last year.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.