FINANCE BILL. 1909 147 



duties, after making provision in respect of existing duties on 

 motor cars, is to be carried to a separate account to be established 

 under regulations made by the Treasury, and to be appropriated 

 to the development of roads in the United Kingdom. The 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer estimates that the amount to be 

 placed to this separate account during the present financial year 

 will be 600,000. The Finance Bill does not lay down any pro- 

 visions as to the application of these duties ; they are to be 

 appropriated in such manner as Parliament may hereafter deter- 

 mine, the only important point being that the amount is for 

 " development of roads " in the United Kingdom. 



Some amendment is necessary in order to define the term 

 " development of roads." An attempt will be made to restrict 

 the money to the improvement and construction of roads, and 

 not on maintenance, the latter being still paid for by local 

 authorities out of local rates. If this is done the Bill will not 

 afford any relief to the rates, but there may be a constantly 

 increasing expenditure, owing to the increase in the road area. 



The Finance Bill should be amended so that those duties might 

 be applied, not only to defraying the cost of making and the 

 maintenance of new roads, but also in aid of the cost of improve- 

 ment and maintenance of existing roads. Further, a fair pro- 

 portion of the fund should be spent from time to time in each 

 county, and each County Council should prepare a scheme for 

 their respective areas to be submitted to the central authority. 



It is true that the Chambers have frequently expressed a 

 desire for the creation of a central road authority, but that was 

 only as a corollary to the cost of maintaining main roads being 

 defrayed by the National Exchequer. That is as widely different 

 to the present proposal as possible, and your Committee protest 

 most strongly against a central authority having uncontrolled 

 spending powers. 



CIDER TAX. 



That the duties proposed to be imposed upon cider makers, 

 under the Finance Bill, will seriously damage a growing agri- 

 cultural industry, and this proposal should be withdrawn. 



In November the Council decided, on the recommendation 

 of its Committee, that, as the objections to the Bill raised in 

 their previous reports had not been met or removed, a deputa- 

 tion should wait upon the Leader of the House of Lords 

 (Marquis of Crewe) and the Leader of the Opposition in the 

 same House (Marquis of Lansdo wrie). There was a very 

 animated debate on this proposal, opponents of the motion 

 (ten in number) being Members of Parliament sitting on the 

 Government side of the House, who argued that the House 

 of Lords had no power to amend or reject the Finance Bill ; 



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