Discussing the split in the Australian Cabinet over the National Insurance Act, "The Economist" observes that, fundamentally, the issue is merely, the Australian version of the world-wide dilemma of guns versus butter. Whereas last year the Commonwealth Budget produced, a surplus of £3,500,000, this year it was necessary to impose extra taxes in order to meet the combination of rising expenditure for armaments and other services, with a prospective decline in Customs and Excise.
The journal points out that the Commonwealth Government cannot contemplate a policy of unlimited borrowing, and has already had certain difficulties in the capital market; of the last loan of £8,500,000 at 3% per cent, raised in February, £3,700,000 was left with the underwriters.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.