British War Costs and Grain Duties
BECAUSE of the great expense incident to the war in South Africa, the Chancellor of the Exchequer recommends to the British Government that a duty of three pence per hundred weight be placed on the importation of all grains, with a correlative duty of five pence per hundred weight on flour and meal. The House adopted the recommendation of the corn and flour duties by a vote of 254 to 135. During the discussion in Parliament, the fact was brought out that during the last seven years there had been an annual increase in expenditure of over $195,000,000, a sum entirely out of proportion to the national enrichment. The Chancellor’s statement shows that during the year there has been an increase in the national debt of England to the amount of $283,040,000, and that the cost of the war in South Africa up to the present time has been $805,365,920.