The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JULY 23, 1915.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLV, Issue 3989, 23 July 1915, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JULY 23, 1915.

Ths Financial Appeal to the Empire.

Tile cabled announcement that the Imperial Govern-

ment lias notified the Coin-

I men wealth authorities that it would be very pleased if tlio Conimomvealtli could manage to raise the money locally to meet the expenditure on their own iorces represents a matter of very considerable importance. At the outset of the war the Home Country, it will be recalled, undertook to supply the Overseas 'Dominions as well as Belgium and Servia and some of the small neutral nations with loans at the lowest possible rates. This arrangement was, of course, made subsequent to a conference, embracing representatives of Britain, France and Russia, at which arrangements were made whereby the resources of the Allies might he utilised to the very best advantage throughout the struggle. It has, however, become very apparent during the past few months that Britain will have to bo very careful in the matter of her expenditure if a severe financial strain within the Empire is to he avoided seeing that the total cost of her part of the war is soaring much beyond what was originally anticipated. Up till now the Homeland has stood the huge test of her financial resources much better than any other participant in the struggle. But the time lias arrived, it would seem, when further steps should he taken in order to make certain that the burden of war shall not.fall more heavily than is actually necessary upon any portion of our great Empire. Maybe tin's is one of the important matters in regard to which the Prime Minister of Canada is at present in London. We might mention, in this connection, that Mr Lloyd George dealt- very exhaustively with the question of the financial aspect of the war, so far as Britain is concerned, in a recent speech at the Guildhall. Addressing a very large and representative gathering of business men lie pointed out that there were four ways in which our Empire could assist her Allies in defeating the common enemy. Britain had, in the first place, the finest navy tin? world has ever seen and it was in the interest of her Allies as well as herself that the Grand Fleet should be maintained in the highest possible state of efficiency. It was the position, also, that Britain could, in a cornparativey brief period, gather together an Empire army which for } equipment as well as for capability would be a surprise to the whole world. Thou, again, Britain could further assist her Allies by providing! them with necessary munitions and | equipment on a tremendous scale. Lastly, and this was by no means the least important manner, Britain could, if it were desired, help her Allies and also neutral nations which were favorable- to the Allies’ cause with heavy loans from time to time. But here was Mr Lloyd George’s great point. It would not he possible for Britain to continue me policy of providing moneys for other nations mild at the same time to build up huge military forces, as well as strengthen and maintain her great navy, without, sooner or later, feeling a severe financial pinch. The real situation was also very plainly stated by Mr Asquith in His great speech also.at the Guildhall a week or two later or, to be more exact, on ,June 29. This is tho warning-note

which was uttered to the .whole Empire oil that occasion : “The annual income of Groat Britain,” Mr Asquith remarked, “was from £2,250,000,000 to £2,400,000,000, and the annual expenditure of all classes was £2,000,000,000. Upon a nation so circumstanced, there had suddenly descended a thundercloud that was costing £1,000,000,000 a year. How were they to meet this extraordinary draft upon their rest urces. There were four ways. The Ill'st was by the sale of their investments or property. Power to sell abroad was limited by the power of the coun tries, to buy, and besides, if they tried to pay for the war in this manner we should end it so much the poorer. The second expedient was by borrowing from abroad. The amount rerdisaite in any foreign market would be practically infiini.stesiinal compared with what was. required. The third course was the payment out of the gold reservo. That only needed to be stated to be discarded. They could not impair the basis of the great system of credit which had made London the financial centre and the capital of the world. There remained only one other way. That was to diminish their expenditure and increase our savings. If they saved more they could lend the State more. If they would spend less they could reduce the cost of the volume of imports and make a larger volume, of commodities available for export.”

Thus it comes about that .the request by the Home Government that the Commonwealth should now endeavor to meet the cost of its military forces out of a local loan need not he the occasion for any surprise- It is doubtless also the ease that, recently, a similar intimation was made to the Government of this Dominion for it will he recalled that the Minister of Defence, in touching on the question of the raising of a further big loan, plainly hinted that Cabinet was considering whether it would not be advisable to have at least portion of the pending loan raised in this country. We are quite prepared to believe that, say. a few people might raise objections to such a course being pursued on the ground, firstly, that all the surplus moneys in this Dominion can readily be expended on more or less urgent private developmental works and, secondly, that, if the aggregate of the i livestments in any such loan should prove very large, it might lead to an increase in fhe rates of interest to future private borrowers which would benefit chiefly moneyed people who had not participated in the loan. Bor our own part, however, we believe that a local loan of reasonable proportions would be genuinely popular and that the groat Empire considerations in its favor would he found to far outweigh the purely selfish arguments which might he raised against the adoption of such a step. It will, we think, he agreed that it is only right that Britain should expect that at least the super-profits (which are really war profits) that are being gained by the producers in tin’s or any other Overseas Dominion should be invested jn a local loan for the purpose of meeting the cost of its war expenditure. Lack of patriotism cat) assuredly be shown just as unmistakably by withholding surplus moneys from use by the nation as bv

withholding personal service which could be made available at the Fronton behalf of King and Country. We do not, however, need to labor the point, as ii must be generally felt that the response to this financial appeal a ill be as satisfactory in this country as is the great response that is being made to the appeal for troops from this Dominion.