April.
Ritchie produced his first Bud; The opposition, ious occasion to make capital the can, call ita "Rich Man's the other hand some of then "Dissolution Budget "—tha vsizned to win popular to the constituent not be both, but a little of each. It is to talk about a Dissolufor the Government cannot ly intention of dissolving ut at present. But it ma: win popularity ly Mr. Emmett, the Radical mem n, came nearest. to hitting, the mark. "I do not. believe," he said, "that the ¢ nent are riding for a fall: but i ngnage of the cricket, trying to stop a bulk of the supporters party are of course to be found among the payers of income-tax and as. they are chafing considerably under the burden of a tax of fifteen pence, Mr. Ritchie has amount of relief which th me could hardly have hoped for. And with regard the worl lasses who pay no income tax. the Chancellor of th ive to appease them corn tax impined last Direct and Indirect Tax Tt isa very simple Budget. The South African war having come to an end, Mr. Ritchie finds that. he can reduce taxation to the extent of nearly eleven millions. pence off the income-tax, 500.000, and he which yields about his leaves him with little over £300,000 for This, of a "Rich Man's Budget" in the sense that the great indk of the revenue from income tax comes from the rich or the well-to-do: but Mr.
Ritchie has already explained his views on this question so clearly that nothing else was expected. And his arguments are really unanswerable. If ho were to abolish the sugar duty and the tea duty, the teetotal non-smoking working man would pay no taxes at all, and the moderate drinker and smoker exceedingly little. Is it right or expedient that the working classes, who by their voting strength exert an enormous influence over the government of the country, should be absolutely without direct pecuniary ressibility with regard to it? The Liberals, who are rousing the country over the enormous increase of our normal expenditure, can surely not expect to sce it reduced or its further increase checked if the great bulk of the voters are unaffected or only indirectedly affected by it. The increased revenue required for the war was nearly all obtained from the payers, of direct taxation, and they have sit rely the first claim to relief.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.