The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-28
BY W. HAMILTON RHODES.

London, Feb. 27--England will soon l be staggering under a load of debt which promises not only to paralyze her financiers. but her statesmen as we'll
 With the insane desire to maintain a l two-power standard for the navy, with an insistent demand for an increase of the army, with the liability for old age pensions steadily mounting up- ward, and with the demand for insur- ance against unemployment and other fads the government Is pressed almost beyond endurance.
 The next Budget promises to be a "corker," and everyone Is preparing to face it with as much resignation as possible. In speech the other day to the Law Society. MT. Lloyd George, | the Chancellor of the Exchequer, de- clared that If a Chancellor of the FIX chequer undertook the framing or Budget in a retrtbutive or vindictive spirit against any class. he would pc not merely unworthy of his high once | hut not fit to be an excise man Tn a country village"
 This announcement seems to have pleased the Conservatives of all shades but 1t forecasts very daring buoset, II am going to be guided by hnanciai con onsiderations alone" said the chan cellor, which, being interpreted means T am not going to attack any hen- roost because 1t is the hen roost wnlcn has the most eggs in it." The capital yalue of land is the hen roost with the largest number of eggs, and. on man, cial consideration alone" MT. Lioyu George will apply tax on land.
 Such a tax, fixed at the rate or half-penny in the pound. would yieia $10O, ,00e, ,0e0 annually. ana II appears necessary at the present time. nj
 yA AdXAnIAKG whatever from the land. whose value they are cohtinually increasing by their efforts. but if the capital value o' land were taxed, the load on the "ork- CTS would in so far be fghteneu' MT Lloyd George has not only 10 cover d deficit of over $50.000,000 GIT the olu age pensions go on increasing tne n oe ficit will be one or soo,oo''Vo0 end s75. 900 .00O), but he has also 10 m" s2o 900 000 or S25,000.o00 for the navy.
 MT. McKenna. the First Lord of the Admiralty. said in a speech last Ihurs- day night that "the navy wouia oe maintained at such a pitch of efhciency as would secure England from all pos, sible foreign attempts at lnVasioh' and he added that the government lh- tended to carry out Mir. Asouiths pro nouncement in favor of the two-power standard. According to this at least s2lo00. 900 must be spent on the navy tb:s wear. and four Dreadnoughts alone must he laid down. Guided by financial necessities pure and simple MT. Lioyd George will be compelled to put tax on the capital value or lana;
 But there is no guarantee tnat' even with her enormous expenditures, Great Britain can keep up the t"o-po"eI standard against such countries as Germany and the United States. Both of the latter powers nave Eesoulo loee as great, If not greater. than Engianu, and both seem determined 10 puIIp m navies equal to hers in emciency; It would, therefore. seem thai Ensiano is rsaebinr out for the unattainable.
 In the last six years there has been an enormous growth in the municipai indebtedness of London. the iatesl figures are two years old, fault wnich the Local Government Board pcrsists in committing. Still good deal ean he learned from the figures of the years 1899-l900. and ls05-6. The lncrease in the six years reaches the gigantic sum of S945,0 ,000, ,000-an increase or e4 her cent. Most people, when they read such figures, console themselves with the idea that in the same period there must have been & corresponoins 'tse in revenue and in popuIauon' VT least in rateable value. But iihs sS not the case in this instance, The 
 the indebtedness. because the lnterest of the debt has to be paid: the rise in rates is. therefore. 4s per cent; but the rise in rateabIe value in six years is only Is per cent. and the rise in population only per cent. In other words, the local debt alone has in- creased in six years from ss.S7 g head to s8.52.
 England Is Backward.
 England's backwardness in aero nautics is being severely critieised-by the English themselves. It seems. however, that Colonel Capper. who has charge of that branch of the national iefense, is perfectly satisfied with his aeroplane, which, 1t will be remem- bered, rose in the air on the 18th of october last and came to earth again with such a bump that it was smashed to pieces. On the sth of January. the British army aeroplane. having been reconstructed. had another trial. but this time did not leave the earth. Col onel Capper expressed himself perfectly confident in the future; in fact, took up the position of the chairman of company that has been reconstructed. On Jan 26. 1909, the new army aero