Lloyd George in the House of Commons. Tuesday, May 4, 1915 (The Daily Telegraph, May 5.)
...“What is the income of this country? The income of this country in times of peace is £2,400,000,000.
|| N.B. “Now it is probably higher. Why? We are spending hundreds of millions of borrowed money here. Most of it is spent in this country. Men are working time and overtime, their wages are higher; profits in certain trades are higher, certainly considerably higher; and the result is that the income of this country at the present moment is probably higher than in times of peace. || N.B. Some are probably making huge profits—(hear, hear)—and others have raised their income far beyond their ordinary standard.
“I have no doubt that it would be perfectly just when we come to consider, if we can have to do it, what taxes you have to raise or what contribution you have to levy in order to enable you to get through a war lasting two or three years—it would || N.B. be perfectly legitimate to resort to those who have made exceptional incomes out of the war (cheers).... What are the ordinary savings of this country in times of peace? The ordinary savings are about £300–400 (millions) per annum. The income is higher, and I do not think it is too much to say that in every country in Europe the standard of living is considerably lower—I am not sure to what extent.
| _|_ | N.B. “But the savings of this country during the period of the war when the income is higher ought to be double.”
And another passage from the same speech:
“We are an enormously rich country—certainly the richest in Europe. I am not sure that we are not the richest country in the world, || £4,000,000,000 in proportion to population. We have £4,000,000,000 invested in foreign and colonial securities of the best”!!
...“We have got to finance the purchases of most of our Allies”....
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