Page 305 - clra62_0019-(GIPE)

ARE WE LIVING ON CAPITAL? 297
aggregate income of not less than £ 1,500,000,000 ster-
ling, Germany with an aggregate income of about
£I,t>OO,ooo,OOO, if not more, France with an aggregate
income, also, of £1,000,000,000, and Russia with an
aggregate income that must also now be closely ap-
1
proaching, if not exceeding, £1,000,000,000. The
question is whether it can be said that the expenditure
of such sums is likely to trench in any way upon the
capital of nations which .enjoy such large incomes:
Clearly, we may say, in our own case, that an expendi-
ture of £60,000,000 or even £80,000,000 sterling out
of about £1,500,000,000, that is, an expenditure of 4
or 5 per cent., is an outlay which can well be met out
of income. No doubt there are all kinds of other out-
lays connected with the Government of a great country,
but many of these outlays, especially those connected
with local government and those connected with Post
Office administration, are really outlays of a reproduc-
tive character, and hardly involve even the question of
burden upon the community affected. The really serious
burden for a State is always Army and Navy expendi-
ture. Bu~ in the case of England, the burden, in time
of peace, after all, amounts to no mare than has been
stated, and all the consequences of the mischief of
bloated armaments and the rest, in time of peace, as
far as this country is concerned, must arise from the
expenditure of about 4 or 5 per cent. of our income only.
With Germany and France, it will be seen, the position
is much the same, although, in their case, it has to be
considered that, probably, the taxable margin in pro-
portion to the aggregate income of the people is smaller
than it is in our awn case.
, I do not support these figures by detailed calculations, which
~ppear unnecessary for the present purpose. I may refer to the calcula-
tions of Mr. Bowley as justifying the figure stated for the United
Kingdom, justified as they are by the previous calculations of Dudley,
Baxter and others, and by considerations of the numbers of the
people, the income assessed to Income Tax, and the average earnings
of the working classes; while similar calculations can be made for
other countries.