The Alaska citizen., 1911-06-19
]. BULL MUST PASS
 THE HAT
AND RECIPE kIpLiNG IF CHAL. CellOR LLOYD GEORGE
 WINS.

1 LONDON, May 6-"Pass the hat | for your credits sake.
 1 And pay. pay. pay"
 | lt would seem tonight as if Lloyd George, with his new insurance | scheme 10 tax the rich for the sake of the poor would compel all Britain to chorus kiplnes verses sung 12 years ago. when Great Britain was | lighting in South Africa. for pay, pay, pay is what Great Britain must do if the Chancellor's insurance for the sick and unemployed is to go on the statute books.
 lt il too early as yet. without the text of the bill at hand. to analyZe in detail Georges speech on Thurs. day to say that the whole measure may be summed up as follows: From him who hath it shall be i taken, and 10 him who hath not IL shall be overloaded" And to the onlooker the most amazing spec tacle is the peoples complaCency, not to say approval. of the whole proposition.
 General Plan Approved. Everybody seems to favor the general plan, the details only being criticised. No man of the COnSer- vatives apparently has had the nerve or the inclination to rise up and declare that property and they have some rights of expectation, and it is time to call halt to pay a pre-. mium on idleness and irresponsi bility. Apparently everybody is wi tn Great Britain horse, foot and dra- goons perpetuation of Lloyd George and the fortification of so. cialism.
 This unanmty, however, is more apparent than real The house of commons is unanimous, but as John Bright said, the house of commons is never unanimous except when 1t is wrong. The present unanimity is due 10 political expediency rather than to political economy The bcneficiaries under the bill are all powerful at the polls and party pol, itiCians act accordingly. Neverthe- less, while admitting that full crit icism is premature under the terms of the bill, the voice of criticism is already being upliftcd.
 Where Will the Money Come From?
 This naturally is directed to the practical finance of the scheme Two great questions must be faced in all such propositions: What will be the cost, and where is the money com ing from? The chancellor estimated the cost to the state of the insur- anCe of sickness when the plan is in full working order at s22,Oo0,Oo0 "a year. The states contribution under the scheme is reckoned at $3,750,o0O. totaling nearly S27,000,- 900. The chancellOrs original e3- timate for old age pensions was s30,000,0o0 a year. Already it is $G,000, ,000, and it is still rising. Shrewd critics predict that the in validity and unemployment insurance schemes, when in fu.. working order will cost the government not less than $50 100000 a year. Costing the government means costing the tax payer, that is the employers whose direct contributions 10 insurance funds the chancellor estimates at s45, ,OoO yearly This means an other S95.000, ,000 yearly out of the pOthetS Ol lllc ttll tduy ONel ueucu taxpayer. The critics ask: Can this be done without a considerable fol- lowing train of evils? Other con alterations suggest themselves.
 Effect on Workers.
 For instance how will the scheme affect the workers themselves? It seems a great probability that the sickness and employment insurance schme will increase unemployment. The direct cost to firm employing 1900 hands will be $39,OOO a year, for example. The cost of operating to the London & Northwestern, the Great Western, and the Great East ern railways will increase S65OOOO yearly It will cost the catering firm of Lyons, Ltd, $3O,O00 yearly. H. G. Selfridge estimates the cost to mer- chants and trades people at F to per cent more to do business. Small employers suffer in far heavier pro- portion Results naturally to be eX- pected are that reduction of la bor will bring about reduction of wages, or. at any rate. prevent them from rising. which they have been doing slowly for the mast 25 years