758 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



October I, 1913. 



until required by the programme (in 

 1 919). As the upkeep of H.M.A.S. "Aus- 



itralia" alone is no less than £204,000 

 per annum it is obvious that with 

 such a serious financial outlook ahead, 

 so sound a Treasurer as Sir John For- 

 rest could never sanction an additional 

 expenditure of £2,000,000 at once for a 

 new capital ship, which would also in- 

 : volve a further outlay of £1, 000,000 

 for upkeep during the five years she 

 would be in commission before she was 

 actually needed. 



A GLOOMY OUTLOOK. 



The real cause for uneasiness is not 

 this year's expenditure, but the financial 

 position we shall have next. Sir John 

 Forrest estimates that the revenue will 

 be down this year by £437,413. If that 

 proves correct, it is fair to assume that 

 it will hardly be more than £21,500,000 

 in 1914-15. The expenditure, however, 

 is not likely to stop at £18,000,000 

 nlus £6,000,000 or so returned to the 

 States. On the contrary, it must in- 

 evitably increase, as it has done, 

 steadily during the last three years. The 

 great spending departments (the Trea- 

 sury, Defence, Post Office, and External 

 \ffairs) demand more and more each 

 vear. Nor can this upward tendency 

 be stopped ; to a large extent is it auto- 

 matic, and even with the utmost 

 economy in all departments it is evi- 

 dent that several millions more will be 

 spent next year (1914-15) than during 

 the year dealt with in the present esti- 

 mates. If we put this inevitable in- 

 crease as low as £2,500,000, and it will 

 probably be much more, the outgoings 

 for the financial year following this 

 will be £26,500,000, and on the present 

 basis of taxation there can only be 

 £21,500,000 in the Treasury to meet it. 

 Where is the £5,000,000 difference to 

 come from? The prospect, financially, 

 is a pretty gloomy one for the Com- 

 monwealth. 



' BRADDON CLAUSE. 



ton is revenue is the great source 



ome. Protectionists urge the 



f the tariff, not to increase 



v e lit to decrease importation; 



free' " r ge its reduction to bring 



down the cost of living. The extra- 

 ordinary thing about it is that Pro- 

 tectionists and Freetraders both anti- 

 cipate a reduction in revenue if the 

 present tariff is altered either up or 

 down, and both must therefore search 

 for other sources of revenue. Taxation 

 of land would seem to be the only pos- 

 sible solution of the difficulty. It must 

 not be forgotten when surveying the 

 financial situation that the States are 

 getting much less from the Customs 

 since the passing of the Surplus 

 Revenue Act in 19 10. The following 

 figures are instructive:- — ■ 



1909-10 1910-11 1911-12 1912-13 



Total Revenue 11,593,000 12,980,000 14,710,000 IS, 553,033 



States Received 8,695,000 5, 196,000 5,824,000 6,230,000 

 Commonwealth 



Kept 2,897,000 7,784,000 8,886,000 9,323,033 



The Braddon Clause was still in opera- 

 tion in 1909-10; had it still been in 

 force the States would have got 

 £11,665,000 this year, and the Com- 

 monwealth only £3,888,000. 



FEDERAL PARLIAMENT. 



The chief sensation in the Federal 

 House was the count out on Friday 

 morning, September 19th. This was 

 effected by the Labour members absent- 

 ing themselves in a body. Apparently 

 the chance of scoring a point against 

 the Government was too great a temp- 

 tation for Mr. Page, the Opposition 

 whip, who, in his eagerness to embarrass 

 his opponents, appeared quite to forget 

 that he had given a definite promise to 

 " keep a House," whilst sundry mem- 

 bers of the Government Party were 

 away with the visiting Parliamen- 

 tarians. A momentary triumph of this 

 nature is hardly likely to do the Labour 

 Partv much good in the country. Mr. 

 Glynn introduced a Bill to provide for 

 the taking over of Norfolk Island by 

 the Commonwealth. It is likely to 

 go through without opposition. Nor- 

 folk Island will be the third territory 

 to be taken over. The existing Exe- 

 cutive Council is to survive, but may 

 subsequently be altered or abolished by 

 ordinance. The House devoted con- 

 siderable time to a discussion of Mr. 

 Irvine's retaining fee of £5 5s. from 

 the Marconi Company. The Attorney- 

 General defended its acceptance, and 



