Page 293 - clra62_0019-(GIPE)

ARE WE LIVING ON CAPITA';?
an excess of imports over exports, even if these things
do take place, are thus no proof whatsoever that
a nat\on is living on its capital. The test is whether,
on the whole, we are diminishing our investments
or not.
Tried by this test, then, we have simply to look, as
far as this country is concerned, at the return of the
assessments to the Income Tax. The assessments are,
of course, assessments of the amount of income yielded,
and not assessments of capital value, but the result is
much the same. The bulk of the income, although some
of it is personal, is really from property, and the value
of property, of late years, as we know, has risen rather
more in proportion than the increase of income. In
former years I have, at different times, drawn out an
estimate of the value of property in the country, based
upon these returns of Income Tax, and may do so
again, but it is unnecessary for the present discussion
to go quite so far. We can deal directly with the re-
turns. We find, then, that in the last ten years the
increase of the annual assessments to the Income Tax
has been from £631,000,000 sterling 1 to £759,000,000
sterling.' or an increase of £128.000,000 altogether,
and of 20 per cent. in ten years. In some way or other,
then, even if we have been diminishing our invest-
ments abroad in this period, we have not been expend-
ing our capital as a whole. On the contrary. if there
has been a diminution of our investments abroad, there
must have been a far more than equivalent increase of
our investments at home. In other words, we must
have at home far more houses, factories. machinery,
railway and other roads, and stocks of furniture and

1 The actual figure of the assessments in 1890 was £669,000,000.
but this included about £38,000,000 of income under Schedule B.
which is not included according to the method now followed, and
this amount has accordingly to be deducted in order to obtain a
figure for comparison with the present time.
• This is the figure for 1899 only. not quite a ten years' period.
The latest figure since published is £867,000,000 sterling.