Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-03
BRITAIN MAY ADD
TO PENS|ON TOTAL
Macdonald Government Is
Facing Problem of Caring
for More Unemployed.
BY JOHN r. SINCLAIR.

BY JOHN +. SINCLAIR,
Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, November 2.-When
Ramsey Macdonald, prime minister of
Great Britain, returns to his seat In
Parliament tomorrow after his history
making trip to the United States, he
will find plenty of work piled on his
desk. The domestic problems Of Great
Britain are far from solved.
Prime Minister Macdonald has been
in office only q short while this time,
and yet he finds an increase of 114,000
in the number of voorhees, people since
he took cfdce-partly seasonal.
England has always had an unemploy-
ment problem on her hands, but she
neutralized its effects to a large extent
by putting the unemployed into her
army. Now, with a decrease in her
army and the spirit of the people more
a different system-that Of doles and
pensions.
Today it is said that there are more
than 100000 people in Great Britain
who are beneficiarieS under the various
pension, insurance and unemployment
dole provisions of the government.
May Increase Pensions.
Already 43 per cent of the money
raised by taxation goes for this pur-
pose, and the amount is increasing
constantly.
Parliament's new session will consid-
er adding $40,0O0,00O to widows PEN
sions. Another measure proposed Is to
lengthen the period a child must re-
main In school, and to lower the age
OF eligibility to old age pensions. This
will temporarily alleviate the situation
by keeping the young out of employ
ment for an added year and by taking
old people out of competition for Jobs
earlier. Yet it will add more expense
to the alreday heavily burdened British
budget.
1t takes aSbig man today to handle
the, British budget-far bigger than In
the days of Sir Robert Peel, william
Pitt and William Ewart Gladstone.
Road Taxes Disappearing.
The old road tax--so popular q gen.
Grafton or two ago-has virtually dis
appeared in the Omitted States. In Peru
they are still using it. Men between 20
and SO are required to work on the road
IL days each year, or to hire some one
to do 1t. This old-faShioned method of
getting road funds, loose and ineffcient
in operation, was based on the sound
pinciple that every one Dement'S from
good roads.
For the constant road user the benefit
Is obvious. For the occasional driver
the beneflt was there, too, although in
lesser degree. But didn't the horse
and wagon transport the things that
went on the table, or the fuel and the
clothing that kept the little towns alive?
Gasoline Tax.
The automobile has changed this. The
gasoline tax has been selected by all the
States as the most desirable method of
obtaining funds to develop and main
less than 2 cents q gallon on gasoline,
while Florida and South Carolina get
cents.
Are the gasoline taxes so high that
they are restraining road travel? 1t
does not seem so. While the total gas
ol1ne tax collected last year was 81 ,0O0,-
600 day, the burden on the average
automobile owner was relatively small.
1t has been figured out that the average
motortst uses no more than 400 gallons
OF gasoline year. At cents gallon
1t would be only an SO tax, and at
cents the rate would be only $24.
The tax on gasoline, made equitable
and fairly uniform, is here to stay.
Bonded Indebtedness.
Since 1925 many shrewd corporations
have paid of their bonded Indebtedness
by the sale of their common stocks at
prices which look high at this moment.
IN this way these corporations have
eliminated considerable overhead ex-
pense. People apparently no longer in
terested in bonds were willing to ex-
change them for stocks because of the
possibility, almost probability, OF their
increasing value
This is good time to remember that
lie d.
pot the only factor to consider. There
is safety Of principal-the most irnpor-
tant OF all factors.
In the old days a man who bought
common stocks expected to take a
chance. II the company didn't do so
well he got no dividends, but the owner
OF bond, prior lien on earnings, usu-
any got ms interest. Then II trouble
developed the bondholders were paid of
IN ful 100 cents on the dollar before
the common and preferred stockhold-
erS got anything.
To disregard the fundamental differ
ence between bond issues and stock Is
sues Is the present custom, but the pen
oulum VIII swing back. Bonds, espe-
claly those with convertible features,
WIZ come more and more into their own
Wnen people put their feet again on
solid financial ground.
OohauA anu NrO1u STANDARD.
Has Canada temporarily abandoned
the gold standard? One of Canadas
dallles has said that Canada has been
unomcially on the gold basis for the last
SIX months. 1t seems that J, A. Robb.
Canadian minister of finance. asked the
Canadian banks some months aro tn
refrain from shipping gold outside the
country.
Canadian money has been at a dis
count Tor some time, It would he
profitable now to ship gold to New
York, but the Montreal Star saws the
nnance minister was forced 10 exert
more than the customary pressure uDon
the Canadian banking institutions ain
order TO bring them into line with this
Canadian funds were at a discount
o. A'IS per cent in New York Thurs
usy, put no move was made to bring
aoout 2 lower rate by shipping the gold
The Financial News of London ex-
pressed It's regret at this Canadian pro-
cedure and says that it has been i'm
possible TO fix any definite date from
which the currency Of the Dominion
ceased TO be on gold basis"
Embargo on Gold. I
"Curiously enough says the Finan-
cial News, 1.-The embargo on gold coin
cloeS with the virtual shortage on
wneat, which the wheat pool is hold
81 the Government In the hope Of
obtaining better prices later"
apparently the Canadian authorities
feel that the demand for New York
exchange would be lessened by a crash
~ the market, and that the Canadian