The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-04-19 00:00:00

tit sStou4ribge Ototrfur.

SATURDAY. APR1L;1941873.

THE NATIONAL PROSPERITY AND THE

W OEMNG. CLASSES.

It is no exaggerated figure of speech to say that
the nation is now in the flood tide of its prosperity,
and that despite wars and rumours of wars abroad
and commercial panics and strikes at home the na-
tional coffers are full and our wealth is increasing
day by day. And Jt requiresno_sente intellect or
subtle calculator to tell this, the smallest knowledge
of arithmetic ia all that is necessary to comprehend
the gratifying condition of our finances. Again do
the revenue returns tell a tale of continued progress
and expanding resources of money flowing into the
Exchequer in an ever-growing volume, and with a
Budget showing an estimated income of ..k76,007.000
an expenditure of X 71,871,1100, and • consequent sur-
plus of £4,746,000, Englishmen of all shades of
politics have every reason to be satisfied. It is not
our intention to touch upon the manner in which Mx.
Lowe intends to dispose of this enormous surplus,
the scheme he has unfolded will doubtless find many
supporters and as many opponents, but for the pre-
sent tt 0 are content with a perhaps egotistical and
eoii-ougratuJawry glance at the advancement of_the
country.

„ It may perhaps be urged by those who are fond of
comparing the past with the present to the exaltation
of the former, that an increase in the revenue really
means a proportionate increase in tuition, they may
argue that thirty years ago the incutuelof the nation
was klittleuuder ,g 2 per head of population, whilst
now it iii.uearly ten shillings more. But they fail to
remember that a large proportion of our present
revenue is not obtained
_from taxation at all,
but
_front ! the l'ust-office
_and the Telegraph
services, surplus lees, unclaimed dividends, Ac., re-
ceipts which at the period umned,,barely amounted to
four, but now constitutes at least 13 per cent. of the
revenue. Such it deduction ass this would of count: ,
bring down the taxation per Lead to, roughly caleu- '
lifting, about .t 2 Is, in other words, S per cent.
higher than it was thirty years ago; but when we
co:is:der the expenditurciof the State upon education
and in the supervision of wines, factories, audtenti-
grant ships, although exclusively for the benefit us
tete particular section of the community, we find no
in accounting in a most complete and satis-
lactory manner for the increase. And it must also
be borne is misd that the tax-paying powers of the
upper and middle classes has increased in the same
spites of time, as the income tax returns show, over
50 p.'r cent., whibt the working classes have by the
recent agitations in the labour market secured ad.
vaaces in minis and more favourable terms of em-
ployment, and t is here we come in contact with a
111n3L stern and unwelcome fs,t, and one which ought
to excite in us all the mu-d ~Ti,MS misgivings, for
wit. we find upon examining the Items of the Bud-
get, that the spirit and malt duties product!
-42'",000,000, the question witorally arises—” DOeli
the advancement in the prosperity of the working
classes mean an advancement in the consumption of
intoxicating drinks?' And Sir Wilfred Lawson, in
the speech he delivered in the 1101ISC Of COMMIS-IS
during the debate upon the Budget, answers the ques-
tion boldly, and without hesitation or reserve. Says

the bonouraMe baronet, The Increased revenue
frolll I 110 Excise was i be oceunted for only by in-
creasing consumption on the part of the poor. The
drinks of the rich had yielded an increase of only :Si !
per cent., but the consumption of gin had increaued
11 per cent, and of beer 13 per cent." It is an old
saying but a remarkably true one, that there is no
, getting over facts, and the facts which cannot be
overcome are in the first place the welfare of the lab.
oaring classes, and in the second a vastly increased
liquor traffic. When the connection is contemplated,
a regret may be readily forgiven; and although the
speech of Sir Wilfrid Lawson was a little tinged with
a certain tendency to over colour the natural result
of earnest and sincere convictions, it deserves the
attention and study of every thinking mall. Are the
habitual drunkards to be the sheet anchors of the
British Constitution? But it seems that no Licen-
sing Act or Permissive Prohibitory measure will eflee-
! tually stamp out the craving ill the labouring masses
for alcoholic stimulants, and we can only rely upon
the spread of education and religion, combined with
improvements in their dwellings, ever to do so. In
the meantime, let us hope that the able and conscien-
tious statesmen who sit on both sides of the House
will direct their attention to this serious subject, and
we trust that the thoughtful working men, now that
they obtain good returns for their labour, and Eng-
land is in the zenith of its power and wealth, will
avail themselves of the advantages which the Savings'
Banks and the Benefit and Building Societies, scat-
tered over the kingdom, hold out to them—advanta-
ges which they can only secure by frugal and tempe-
rate habits.