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v & 7 s /;:.. “\ { 2 : 1. Ceoix Auis i & A @ ,Q; 2, 77TH YEAR. CHRISTIANSTED. V.l U.B. A.. SATURDAY, 21st APRIL 1928 taxation, inecluding the levies on tea, sugar and similar comm)dities, thza lib eral and labour parties be ng very keen | for the free breakfast table. The Chan- | cellor held out the hope of some reduc- | tion in the sugar duty in the near future. | He also announced a numnber of small | reductions in post: ~harges, telephone | rentals an ] telephon ‘alls and confirmed | that the governmen. is considering a | tax on betting. The latter however, is | mostly regarded as too contentivus a | matter to bz lightly undertaken. The ; Chancellor laid marked stress on the | importanc: of the utmost possible debt | reduaciion. Taere would be, he said, | plen y of debt for our grandchildren | whe" they com». He eoneend2d further | that nothing eased tie finding of capital for industry so much as the recognized | policy of redeeming the public debt. R>- marking that last year’s surplus camc | from the best of all possible causes namely, reduced expenditures, Mr. Bald- win declares his cetermination to bring about further ecunomies in the coming year and announced that practically the - hole estimated yield from {d atl duti's in the next three years would be applied | to sinking fund purposes. The Chan- | cellor pointed out that under bi~ revised | proposals the country would .l be rais- 5 ing the enormous amount of 700,000,000 | nounds in taxation yearly. Dealinz with | tae revenu2, h 2 doabted whether there | had been any rise in the purchasing pow- | er of the pcpulation, He said the con- I sumption of beer and spirits and to a less extent, tobacco, had been touched. He | argued that it was useless further to ' reduce taxation at the cost of debt re- | demption, sayiig to postpone debt re- demption year after year means insol- i veney. Alluding to foreign indebtedness | with the exception of the American debt f particularly, all oth ts had been extin- guished, as they n.izht rezard the Caoa- | dian deht as virtually settled. With re- | gard to the United States debt, he said ‘ the sinking fund on this was 23 000,000 do'lars and the amount agreed upon to re- ; pay this year in respect to the United | States loan for the purchase of silver un- | der the Pittman act, 30§ million dollars. | Explaining the decision not to touch the sugar tax, the Chancellor thougzht it kigh- ly improbable that the consumer would be the gainer by any reduction for more than a very short time, a reductionin | the tax would lead to an increased de- mand and the money sacrificed by the Exchequer would go straizht iln o the THE ST. CROIX AVIS is printed and putlished daily (Sundays and Helidays excepted) by G. Johansen at the Avis Office. TERMS---50 cents monthly in advance, 2 cents per single copy. Entered as second-class matter May 26th 1917 at the Post Office at Christian- gted, St. Croix, V. I. of the U. S. A., un- der the Acti of March 3. 1879. TELEGRAMS. ST. CROIX STATION. London, April 16th.- Mr. S*anly Baldwin, Chancelo' of the Exchequer, d livered his flrst budget speeeh today to a crowded and intemsely interested house, which included four former Chan- cellors of th: Exc e uer, Messr . A:- quith, Chamberlain, Lloyd George and Horne, with a crowd of distinguished personages in the galleries. On the w ole, it was a sanguine, almost optim- istic, diagnosis of the nations financial and commercial heaith, delivered in a vigorous concise style and eliciting con- gratulations for Mr. J. Ramsay Mec Don- ald, leader of the opposition, for its man- ner but not entirelv for its substance. The Chancellor was able to tell of steady improvement in trade and industry and of hope for the future. He believed that the country was experiencing a series of transition years, but had passed the peak of depression. At the same lime he add- ed a warning that its hope might yet be frustrated by untoward events on the continent, or at home. In contrast with former times, when budget plans were kept a strict sccret until the speech was d-livered, Mr. Baldwin’s leading propos- als had become public, the removal of six pence oftf the income tax, reduction of the corporation tax by cne half and reduction of the beer tax of one penny per pint, come very near the forecasts but the surplus is only 36,000,000 pounds whereasa surplus of 50,000,000 pounds had been estimated Total exp2>nditures £ r the year are estimated at 816,616,000 pounds and revenues at 852,650,000 pounds. The last veai’s surplus of 101, 000,000 pounds went toward reduction of the debt and ‘h: Chanc lbr announc- ed that when the fiscal year came to an end on March.3lst, trade, both 2t home and abroad, had improved and there was congiderably less unemployment There will be some disappointment that no greater reduction is promised in direct No. 91. pockets of producers and retuilers, Re- garding the reduction in the price of’ beer, he said the trade would contribute four shillings p2r barrel, while the State would contribute twenty shillings to the reduction. He dilated on the disappo nt- ing results of the excess profits, announc- ing that the gross collection for the year was only 57 million pounds, instead of the estimated 75 m llions, while the re- funding of overpaid duty for the year amounted to 55 million pounds. He in- timated, that in his opinion, little further relief for the taxpayer could be hoped for, unless some new cources of revenue were discovered, His speech was a mass of fieures and statistics, presented in a highly businesslike manner. Mr. J. Rumsay Mae Donald, leader of the oppo- sition, whi'e ccngratulating the Chan- cellor on the manner of his speech. strongly conden ned his omission to re- duce taxes on sugar, tea and other com- modities, He declared that this was much more necded than a reduction in the income tax whieh, mainly relieved wealthy people. He especially condemned failure to reduce the sugag tax which bore heavily on the poor. Mr. Me Don- ald warned the Chancellor that the labour party wcu'd cffer hostile amendments to his prcposals. On the whole, the re- ception of the budget was distinetly fa- vourable. The strongest opposition came from the labtour benches, where two lines of att: ck will be made for further redue- tions of indneet tuxation and in favour of .stcme form of action on carital and more ¢ffective reduction of the public debt. ‘Lhe lapourites will also com plain «f the Chancellor’s failure to ledcvee or remove the tax on entertainmen’s. Gen- eral comment characterized the state- ments as being, i* not striking cr brilli- ant, at least prudent and showing strong common sense. Various resolutions, for th.e purpose of cariying out the budget proposals were fermelly agreed tain the House of Commons tonight. The debate was then adjourned. NOTICE. ALI, cane-deliverers to St {Croix Sugar Factory, Ine. are hereby invited to attend a Meeting at the Fuactory at Rich- mond (: ct the town office) on SATUR- DAY THi 21st O APRIL 1923 at 3 o’cl ck in the aft.rnoon preciscly in or- der to discuss the Price for canes. Sl. CLOIX SUGAR FACTORY INC.