The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-06-04
"All Classes Are Satisfiedw

penny. If this sum went each year
to the reduction of debt by payment
another twenty-five years would
elapse before it was cleared. But it
does not. It leaves the principal UNI
touched except for the sinking fund of
6 40,000,00O per annum, which in turn
for the first time cannot come out of
the sales of war stocks. Fifty per
cent of it must come out of tax reve-
nue.. Next year all of it must come
out of taxation. And this is how the
pacifist Snowden clears up the mess
of the war; He would not be party
to revolutionary action to stop the
fighting, and now accepts with unc-
tious satisfaction the task of securing
the blood money for the investors in
the war, and looks to the spoils of
victory" as a means to easing the
burden"-the payment of war debts
by other countries to Britain and the
operation of the experts report to ex-
tract Preparations from Germany.
There is therefore no basic difference
between the Labor government and
the professedly capitalist govern
ments in relation to the financial or
imperial aims. 1t has been an object
of the victorious countries to pass on
their debts to the defeated countries.
Such also is the declared aim of the
Labor government, however much it
may be cloaked by the phrase, more
hopeful prospects of agreement in
~ So r&{1
clear is the fact that because the La
Dor party and the government de-
cline to attack the vested interests
they have no option other than to fol
low this commitment with the mate
rial means of imperial development,
which again intensiies the exploita-
ton of the masses and keeps them on
the pathway of illusions.
What the Money Is For.
In order to prove this contention it
is only necessary to examine the ex-
penditure side of the budget.
l. National debt
charges ................-...-.... 6 $50, 600, 900
2. Fighting forces ... 115,3OO,OOO
100000
out of a total of e794,O5O,OO0 Five
eighths of the total are direct mill
tarist charges against which the La
Dor party has not made the slightest
impression or threatened to make an
impression, even were its numbers
in the parliament greater than they
are.
The rest of the expenses are almost
covered by the civil services, customs
and excise and inland revenue, post
office, etc Then there is surplus of
e4,000,0O0 to begin the social efforts,
extension of pensions to widows, de-
velopment of old age pensions, the
housing schemes. 1t is calculated
that this surplus will be enlarged by
special efforts to collect arrears of
taxes. The total outstanding amount
to G22O,OOO,OOO
Conclusions.
The budget of 1924 is calculated to
rouse the hopes of the workers and
the lower middle classes. 1t satisfies
the industrialists, who want cheap la
Dor to meet foreign competition, and
is likely to intensity the wage strug-
gle. The exhaustion of war stocks,
the dependence upon the collection of
arrears and the collection of repara-
tions as the primary means for any So
cial developments are indications of
the critical position of British capital
ism rather than the signs of its recov-
cry. The exhaustion of the war stocks
as announced is equivalent to inform
ing the world that the means of reduc-
ing the national debt are at an end
without cancellation or vastly increas-
ed taxation In 1913 Britain was able to
meet 81 per cent Of her liabilities.
In 1924 she can meet only 10 per cent.
The budget is a masterpiece of party
strategy for the outmaneuvering of
the Liberals and Tories and the secur-
ing of a growth of the Labor party.
1t outliberals the Liberals and leaves
no justification for the existence of
the Liberal party. 1t fosters great il
lusions, kindles false hopes and fore
shadows a great but unpleasant
awakening.