Rebuilding Britain Part 6

(1) The spending departments make definite estimates or are supposed to do so. Since the War, this has not been the rule. Of course, there are many cases in which it would have been absolutely impossible to let the items of proposed expenditure be published or discussed in the House of Commons; but, as soon as War requirements permit it, proper estimates should again be prepared and pressure put upon the departments to reduce them. At present the pressure is all the other way; the heads of the departments apparently like to have a large establishment as well as to extend their jurisdiction. It is not merely to give their department more importance and a claim therefore to higher salaries; sometimes it is the natural tendency of the vigorous man to enlarge the scope of his influence. _Boni judicis_, says the old maxim, _ampliare jurisdictionem_. ("It is characteristic of the good judge to extend his jurisdiction.") It would be a good thing if instead of estimates being laid directly before a Committee of the whole House of Commons, where some small item is often the subject of long and acrimonious debate and millions are pa.s.sed without comment or consideration in a few minutes, the estimates of each department were fully considered as a whole by some small competent Committee of the House, uninfluenced by party feeling, and representatives of departments could be asked questions on their estimates.

To compare small things with great, a committee of this kind has been found of the highest value in inst.i.tutions where there are various departments requiring large expenditure. It is usually then felt by each person who sends in an estimate that it is to the credit of his department not to make claims for expenditure which cannot be justified.

When the scale and character of the expenditure have been scrutinised and the estimate has been pa.s.sed, it is much better to leave a very free hand as to the exact mode of expenditure. Outside control then becomes irritating, and is itself a cause of extravagance; it means more accounts, more correspondence, more consideration of papers.

(2) The Treasury is supposed to have the function of control, but a change appears to have taken place, and it has now to a great extent lost its control, and has even itself become a spending body. Professor A.L. Lowell, in the work above referred to, after speaking of the Treasury as the department which exhibits in the highest degree the merits of the British Government, points out that even ten years ago, "with the waning desire for economy and the growth of other interests, the Treasury has to some extent lost its predominant position; although it will no doubt maintain its control over the details of expenditure, one cannot feel certain that its head will regain the powerful influence upon general or financial policy exerted thirty years ago." A very guarded statement, as was becoming in an author writing in another country at a time when the tendencies to which he alludes were only beginning to show themselves. Things have advanced during the last ten years in the direction Professor Lowell indicated as probable, and it is high time that this advance should be stopped.

We might venture to ask, indeed, the following questions: (i) Has not the Treasury during the last ten years lost a large portion of its control, and since the War almost its whole control over expenditure on a large scale? (ii) Is the Treasury not more concerned with paltry details than in imposing any real check on the extravagance of spending departments? (iii) Has not the policy sometimes been actually to encourage expenditure, and has not there been one case at least, even of introducing vexatious taxation where the amount collected is far less than the cost of collection? (iv) What has the Treasury done to prevent or control "the orgy of extravagance" since the War began? The department of State which has to do with revenue, with getting as much as possible and spending only what is necessary, which has the duty of "making both ends meet," ought to resume its functions and regain its influence so that the Government may be conducted "on strict business principles," to use Professor Lowell's phrase, "as it was throughout a great part of the nineteenth century."

(3) The Cabinet should exercise more controlling power, and recognise its collective responsibility for keeping down expenditure. As Professor Lowell points out, the position of the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Cabinet was one of almost commanding influence. In Mr. Gladstone's time his powerful personality, regularly exercised in favour of national economy, did certainly have a great effect in preventing extravagance, and some other Chancellors of the Exchequer no doubt used an influence in that direction, but can it be safely a.s.serted that there is in the Cabinet as a whole sufficient attention given to retrenchment?

(4) Lastly, the House of Commons is supposed to control expenditure.

That control has generally been used, and quite rightly, as a means of calling attention to grievances, and as giving an opportunity for criticism of the executive; but the House of Commons should also put pressure on the executive to curtail expenditure, not so much by discussing small details which would be far better dealt with by such a small Estimates Examination Committee as suggested, but by using its influence generally against an increase of expenditure unless a clear case for it is made out. During the War, Parliamentary control, at least until the appointment of the Committee above mentioned, seems almost to have gone. The House of Commons does not now exercise its influence as it ought, to check extravagance, and probably the more widely the electorate is extended, as already said, the less will the House of Commons care to exercise rigid control in favour of economy. It is always an easy way of getting popularity to be what is called "generous"

when dealing with other people's money. Everyone who looks after the public interest by trying to prevent expenditure, whether national or local, which is not imperatively called for, is styled mean and narrow-minded, and his task is a thankless one. Everyone who wants money spent will be able to make out a plausible case, either that the amount is so small or the object is so important that what he asks must be granted, and he will have some eager const.i.tuents to back him up. The best chance for economy is to have a body of men whose decisions the House will respect and not overrule, except for really good cause, who have both the knowledge and the strength of character to go through the estimates and call attention to the cases in which substantial reductions could be effected, or proposals for increased expenditure refused. It will not be an agreeable task, and now probably less popular than ever. The ma.s.ses admire lavish expenditure whether by public bodies or by the private person who spends his money "like a gentleman," and it is to be feared there will not be much help from the women electors, as women, although they may practise economy occasionally themselves, usually regard it as a most objectionable virtue in a man. How often in families do we find the mother and sisters will admire the self-indulgent idle youth who spends money freely even if he borrows from them, rather than the steady, plodding son who, by rigid economy and personal self-denial, helps to provide them with the means of livelihood!

Turning to the other side of the account, what can be done to increase the revenue of the State? It has been estimated that for the year 1919-20 it will amount to 900,000,000, but of this 300,000,000 is excess profits duty, which can hardly continue--in its present form at least--beyond the period during which additional expenditure above the permanent normal requirements is needed, in order to carry out demobilisation. Putting the permanent charge to meet interest on debt and the cost of the public services at 670,000,000, there may be a deficit even if the present rate of taxation is maintained, and the normal expenditure remains at its existing level. There will be no surplus for the reduction of debt, or to meet new demands. Some new sources of revenue must, if possible, be found, and the old ones require readjustment.

Income tax, if levied on the present system, has touched the extreme limit. A rate of taxation willingly borne to meet the cost of war while danger threatened will be felt more and more burdensome as time goes on.

To meet a higher income tax there will be pressure to increase salaries paid by the Government and all public authorities. An official salary fixed at 5,000 a year when income tax was one s.h.i.+lling and sixpence, may be thought insufficient when it is nearly ten s.h.i.+llings including super-tax. Persons have incurred liabilities for rent and other fixed payments which they are not able to reduce. All along the line there will be claims for higher payments for services rendered or goods supplied. On the other hand, industrial undertakings will have to pay more for the capital they must borrow to carry on and develop their work, and 6 per cent. instead of 4 per cent. will have to be paid for debenture capital now raised by the best industrial companies. For those who have money to lend, the burden of tax may thus be practically met by an increased income, but for those whose money is locked up in permanent investments there will be no indirect relief in higher rates of interest. Income tax, house duty, and rates will absorb so much that the margin for voluntary expenditure will be small even out of incomes that are nominally high.

The death duties, especially where a deceased person leaves a large family, already cause much hards.h.i.+p. A general increase in the existing rates of estate duty cannot be made without discouraging thrift. It is a hards.h.i.+p if it is made impossible for parents to make reasonable provision for children some of whom may from various causes be unable to earn for themselves. On the contrary, where there are no children and no widow to be provided for, death duties might be much increased without causing hards.h.i.+p. A very much higher legacy duty might be charged in the case of large sums pa.s.sing on death to persons other than the widow, direct descendants, or other near relatives of a deceased person. On small legacies the present rates should suffice, but there is no moral claim for distant relatives to be allowed to take large sums. Would there be any real hards.h.i.+p in imposing a heavy duty of, say, 25 per cent. on gifts over, say, 1,000 to collateral relations not dependent on the testator or to strangers? Or there might be a graded scale according to the remoteness of the relations.h.i.+p. In case of intestacy it would be often a real advantage to take the _whole property_ for the State, if there were no relations within the third or fourth degree, i.e., uncles and aunts, and nephews and nieces being in the third degree, first cousins in the fourth. Economists for the last hundred years--Bentham, Mill, and others--have advocated such a change. Nearly every judge or officer of the Courts who has to do with the administration of estates would support a change which would do away with much wasteful litigation and disappoint no reasonable expectations.

No source of revenue should be neglected if it can truly be said that by imposing the additional taxation proposed there will be (i) no dislocation of trade or hampering of industry or commerce; (ii) no discouragement of thrift; (iii) no real hards.h.i.+p; (iv) no great expense incurred in collection in proportion to the amount raised. It is only sheer stupidity that refuses to adopt a means of raising even a small amount when the method proposed for doing so would have positively beneficial results in other ways.

The land increment duty should be a warning as regards cost of collection. That cost relatively to the amount produced has been enormous. But actual cost of collection as returned, represents only a small part of the expenditure really caused by the tax. The time taken up in making returns and filling up forms and obtaining the necessary advice in doing so is a burden on those who own even the smallest landed property and causes real hards.h.i.+p and injury. It discourages people from acquiring small properties.

The only other source of additional revenue in immediate contemplation appears to be the luxury tax. If this can be levied so as to fall on articles which are really luxuries, i.e., things not required for full and healthy life, the effect of such a tax should be wholly beneficial.

If, notwithstanding the tax, people go on buying such luxuries the State will gain. If, on the other hand, the effect of the tax is to check expenditure on luxuries it will be a gain to the country, because its productive power and its purchasing power will be used to obtain articles which are really valuable and do promote national welfare. The idea that those who spend money on luxuries are helping trade, and so benefiting others, ought to have been exploded long ago. If the industry which has been devoted to producing articles which are really useless were diverted to producing things of utility, the aggregate of human happiness would be greatly increased. A difficulty in applying the tax is that the price of an article is little criterion as to whether it is a luxury or not.

There are two other sources from which additional revenue might be obtained.

First, to impose again an export duty on coal. Such a duty would help rather than hinder British industry. That industry is dependent absolutely on the supply of coal. British Coal Measures are an a.s.set which enables the country to keep industries going, but it is a wasting a.s.set. Deeper and better mining may have upset calculations made by Professor Jevons many years ago when he warned the country of the disastrous consequences of using up our coal supplies, but sooner or later the pinch will come. An export duty ought to be imposed on coal directly the present war restrictions can be removed. Our stores of coal cannot be indefinitely increased by increased industry. If the duty operated to reduce export of coal British manufacturers would gain, and be able to produce commodities at less cost. If the demand from abroad were so strong that export did not diminish, the country would gain to the whole extent of the duty paid by foreign purchasers. The ordinary arguments in favour of free trade do not support objection to such an export duty as this. There will be ample demand for all the coal that can be produced. Even if there were not, it would be well not to use it up so quickly. There are some kinds of coal, of which the amount available is very limited, yet until the War broke out quant.i.ties of such coal were freely sent to other countries, some of it to those who are now at war with us, and so used to help our enemies, who got the precious mineral cheap because we refused to allow the imposition of an export duty. Probably the duty when it was tried was not imposed in the best way, being charged at a fixed rate per ton instead of on an _ad valorem_ scale, but this fault could easily be corrected. Special exceptions in favour of Colonies or Allies, or for the supply of certain places, might be made by arrangement in consideration of some equivalent favour, or to meet some particular need.

The other suggestion involves more difficulties, and is of a more far-reaching character. Would it not be possible to replace to some extent the excess profits duty, which cannot be permanent, by a duty on "excess dividends," that is, on the amounts paid out of the profits of a business for the use of capital above a certain percentage? The excess profits duty, in spite of all its anomalies and the difficulties of a.s.sessment, has saved the financial situation during the War; a tax on excess dividends might "save the situation" afterwards. When a business is successful, paying, as many businesses have recently done, dividends of 30 to 50 per cent., and sometimes even more, the return made to those who have invested money in them is clearly excessive. From such profitable businesses those who have the responsible management no doubt may generally get better remuneration, possibly the workmen may get a small bonus or share in such profits, but those who by a mere stroke of good luck have embarked their money in these businesses, shareholders who very likely know nothing whatever about the conduct of them, benefit enormously. Such a tax would not discourage thrift or prevent a person from getting a reasonable return on his savings. Take the case, say, of two professional men. Both, by hard work and using up their lives in the effort, manage to make a fair income and bring up their families. One of them, to make provision for the future, invests 2,000 in safe securities with fixed rate of interest, and 2,000 in some company whose business is of a more or less speculative character, but by good fortune becomes able to pay a dividend of 30 per cent. The other invests a like sum in firm securities, and 2,000 in another company which turns out a failure. Neither of them has anything to do with the conduct of the business of the company in which he invests, but one has got a tip from some friend or other who thinks he knows of a good thing. The work of the two men is exactly the same; it is a mere fluke that one gets a huge return and the other puts his money into a company which, without any fault on his part, brings in nothing.

The tax suggested would be levied on the excessive profits distributed in respect of the capital embarked in businesses of every kind. It was pointed out long ago that a tax thus levied on all alike would be paid wholly by the capitalist and "would neither affect the prices of the commodities produced nor the distribution of capital." The duty might be graded according to the percentage to be received on the capital of each investor. It might be reasonable for the first 10 per cent. to pay only the ordinary rate of income tax. Money in fixed permanent securities may now produce 5 per cent. or 6 per cent., and the additional 4 per cent. free from the excess duty would be a fair return for risk and an inducement to enterprise. The rate of excess duty might be increased according to the excess of profits above 10 per cent. until when the profits reached, say, 30 per cent. the duty on the amount in excess of 20 per cent. might be very high. The effect of the tax would not be to reduce the spending power of the community; it would only be that the State instead of the individual would to the extent of the duty obtain the power of purchasing what it required, and discharging its liabilities with the money it took from excessive profits. The amount of the tax, the method of grading and mode of levying it, would require careful consideration; but if the difficulties and inequalities introduced by the War excess profits duty could be met, there seems no reason why the difficulties of the tax thus proposed should not be also solved; at all events, an attempt should be made to see how it would work out.

Where money is rapidly acquired by some stroke of fortune and is not the result of steady industry the result is constantly unwise and often harmful expenditure either by those who have acquired it or their immediate successors. There is an old Lancas.h.i.+re saying as to fortunes rapidly made, that there are only three generations from clogs to clogs: "What is unreasonably gathered is also unreasonably spent by the persons into whose hands it finally falls." It may be spent "in a stupefying luxury twice harmful both in being indulged in by the rich and witnessed by the poor."

There is a great danger to the State at the present time from large amounts of money rapidly acquired being acc.u.mulated in few hands. There are many signs that we are likely to enter a period which may be described as the reign of the "nouveaux riches." The great financiers, the persons with enormous interests in huge combines, will exercise more and more an undue and dangerous influence on fiscal policy and political life. The old n.o.bility and the cla.s.s of country gentlemen will have less power. Their resources will be seriously crippled, and their families perhaps extinguished through losses in the War. The middle cla.s.s, which, in the last century, exercised the strongest influence on political life, and from which most of our men of letters and science have sprung, may now be crushed. On the more highly educated part of the middle cla.s.ses whose means are limited the burden of the War has fallen most heavily. Taxation seems deliberately arranged to place as heavy a burden as possible on those of the middle cla.s.ses who have children to bring up and to educate in the way they think best, and who endeavour to provide means by which their families can occupy the same position in life which their parents have done. The rate of income tax paid by a bachelor and a spinster is increased if they marry, although their necessary expenses will be enormously increased if they have a family to support. A bachelor with 500 a year may be living in ease and luxury; if he marries and has four or five children to educate he may find difficulty in meeting the needs of his family with 1,500. In the same way the death duties are absurdly small on the estate of the bachelor who leaves no family, but are a real hards.h.i.+p on the family of the man who dies leaving a number of children.

The tendency is towards a rapid acc.u.mulation of huge fortunes. In considering the incidence of taxation Bacon's advice might well be remembered: "Above all things, good policy is to be used that the treasure and moneys in a State be not gathered into few hands, for otherwise the State may have great stock and yet starve, for money is like muck, not good except it be spread."

CHAPTER XV

NATIONAL EXPENDITURE

_But where is the money to come from? Yes, that is to be asked. Let us as quite the first business in this our national crisis look not only into our affairs but into our accounts and obtain some notion of how we annually spend our money, and what we are getting for it. Not the public revenue only; of that some account is rendered already. But let us do the best we can to set down the items of the national private expenditure and know what we spend altogether and how._--JOHN RUSKIN.

The revenue and expenditure of the State have already been discussed; over that the State has a direct control. Over the expenditure of the nation the control of the State is only indirect. Though the two questions should be kept distinct, one affects the other. Both are vitally important and now more serious than ever in view of the huge debt and other conditions which will exist after the War. How are we to provide and pay for the commodities we need for the support of the nation? Before the War the balance required to pay for the excess of imports over exports was apparently provided, first, by interest on investments in other countries--Englishmen having provided capital all over the world--and, second, by freights. A large amount of these foreign investments has been sold. How far shall we still be a creditor country after the War? As regards freights, British s.h.i.+pping has suffered very heavy losses. One of the first duties both during and after the War must be to repair the losses and increase British tonnage available for trade. To this end no effort should be spared, and the State should do all that is possible to foster s.h.i.+pbuilding, or even undertake the work itself, if possible without interfering, as unfortunately it has already done, with the output of private s.h.i.+pbuilding yards.

As regards national as well as State expenditure, it will be essential, first, to increase the income, and second, to guard against every form of waste. To increase the income the only way is to increase production both from the land and the factory (_a_) of things needed for use at home, (_b_) of things which can be sold abroad, i.e., exported in exchange for the supplies that must be imported. In both cases it is necessary to consider not merely the increase in the amount produced or the volume of trade, but how far are the articles produced for home use or imported from abroad of real value in promoting the healthy life of the nation, how far are they things that are really needed. Books on political economy have sometimes stated that only "value in exchange is to be considered"; "value in use" is still more important. We want to ascertain the things that will really do us good, and devote our energies to the production and importation of such things. The teachings of the physiologist as to food values, the study of hygiene in its widest sense, must form part of political economy in the true sense as well as the laws of supply and demand or the theory of wages or of foreign exchange or currency.

Some of the methods for obtaining increased production from industry by better conditions of labour leading to more effective efforts have been discussed in another chapter; the question of obtaining increased output from the land so as to produce a larger amount of food for home consumption will be mentioned in a subsequent chapter dealing with reconstruction or reform relating to agriculture. Improved forestry may be regarded as a branch of the same subject.

With regard to expenditure, it will be inc.u.mbent on all cla.s.ses to act rigorously so as to prevent waste, but it is not to be expected that the national expenditure as a whole can be greatly reduced as compared with the pre-War standard. The expenditure of certain cla.s.ses of people might, of course, be greatly reduced without any injury to healthy life or development or in any way impairing real efficiency or even affecting their happiness; but as regards the majority this is not so. The conditions of life of the working cla.s.ses, especially as regards such matters as housing, require to be improved. It is a wiser expenditure, not a reduction in expenditure, that must be the aim for them. The expenditure on drink is, of course, unnecessarily large, and in many cases absolutely detrimental, and a reduction in this respect is required for national well-being. The manner of dealing with the question must be the subject of separate consideration; but it is a remarkable fact that, though no evil has been more prominent, though for more than half a century no subject has provoked more discussion, though none has been the object of more organised attempts at reform, in none has so little of value been done by State action or legislation, at least until the establishment of the Board of Control during the War.

A second source of saving would be to prevent the waste of food which goes on in all cla.s.ses. It is not only that food is actually thrown away, but that too little attempt is made to choose and to use the healthiest and most nutritious forms of food, and there is an indisposition to try any unaccustomed form of food. If one were asked what would be the most useful practical reform at the present time, probably the best answer would be, "Promote more general use of oatmeal porridge." Attention to the best choice and use of food would do much to make a healthy nation, and at the same time effect a saving in expenditure. "Grow more oats and eat them" would be a wise precept for the nation to follow. With that, an effort must be made to secure a fuller supply of milk at lower prices. This is vital for the welfare of the coming generation. The cost of transport and of distribution of milk might be reduced by better organisation.

Allied to this subject is the enormous waste caused by ignorance of cookery. A really excellent dinner in France or in Switzerland is often made from materials which would be despised in this country. Anyone who is in the habit of roaming about the country on foot or on a bicycle will know that in many parts it is impossible to get a decent meal; the provision made is frequently nasty without being cheap. In rural districts in France delicious meals can be obtained at a lower price.

Domestic economy should be taught in every school, and to people of every rank, but the teaching should be practical. I remember wis.h.i.+ng to see in an excellent school something of the teaching of domestic economy, and found the girls and boys, instead of learning to cook, were learning what was called science, writing down in copy-books "the operative principle of tea is theme." This kind of pseudo-science, teaching people to write a jargon which conveys no meaning to their minds, is one of the things which is called education, but is really mental demoralisation. The process may be continued, perhaps, in cla.s.ses on "practical citizens.h.i.+p" for adolescents, who will be taught to say "the operative principle for the amelioration of states is democratisation." Great improvements in the teaching of domestic economy have been made during the last few years in many places, but there is no doubt that an enormous amount of waste is due to ignorance and neglect in the choice and preparation of food.

Again, every possible effort should be made to encourage habits of thrift, and to provide satisfactory modes of investment for small savings. As regards this question, War conditions have positively had a beneficial effect. The need for all cla.s.ses to contribute to War Loans has been recognised; facilities to enable the small investor to contribute have been carefully arranged, and the War Savings Committees have done admirable work in bringing the question home to the people.

The result has been on the whole most satisfactory. Not only has a very substantial sum been provided towards meeting the cost of the War, but habits of thrift have been fostered, and the sense of having a stake in the country, a direct financial interest in the national funds, makes for order and will form an element of stability in national life which will be invaluable.

Notwithstanding the "ingrained prejudice against thrift" among the majority of all cla.s.ses, which is a marked characteristic of the English nation as compared, for example, with the French, the number of holders of national securities has increased enormously. Before the outbreak of the War it appears that only 345,100 persons held securities of the British Government. It was estimated that at the end of the year 1917 Government securities had been distributed among no fewer than 16 million persons, including 10 million holdings of War Savings Certificates.[8] It was further estimated that "during 1917 over 51 millions were contributed to the Post Office issues of War securities, which, together with the net value of nearly 64 millions from War Savings Certificates and an increase of deposits over withdrawals in the Post Office Savings Bank of no less than 5,683,000, provides in all a sum of 120,723,000 odd, the total contributions of small investors during the year." Since the beginning of the War the contributions of small investors already amount in all to a grand total of about 253,000,000.

Care in expenditure and a habit of saving will, in view of the financial position after the War, be alike necessary; the nation cannot afford waste in any form; after the War, as well as during the War, the national welfare demands that any balance beyond what is required for healthy life should be saved and made available to meet the national needs, including not only the fulfilment of the national obligations, which is an imperative condition for the maintenance of credit and prosperity, but also the provision of the means for future betterment, material or moral. We do not wish to reduce useful expenditure, but to get money for what we need by increasing production and by more careful spending. It will be a time for all cla.s.ses to refrain from expenditure on luxuries or ostentation, or in fulfilling those imagined claims which convention imposes. In different ways almost all cla.s.ses are fettered by these conventional obligations. How much of the expenditure of a person with fairly good income is devoted to things which give him no additional pleasure and confer no real benefit on himself or others!

Both rich and poor waste great quant.i.ties of food, sometimes because they are afraid of being thought mean if they did not do so. There is a strange power exercised over our acts and our liberty is curtailed by the opinions of our neighbours or members of the same cla.s.s. Much might be accomplished if we could enlist these conventions on the side of economy. Why, for example, should it not be considered "worse form" to take on the plate good food that is not wanted and leave it, than to eat peas with a knife? How greatly did an alliance with Mrs. Grundy support morality in mid-Victorian days! If we could turn social observances from encouraging extravagance to promoting economy, it would go far towards eliminating national waste.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 8: See _Economist_, July 13, 1918.]

Part IV

REFORM

CHAPTER XVI

THE FIELD

_Above all things, order and distribution and singling out of parts is the life of despatch._--FRANCIS BACON.

It has been usual to a.s.sociate the term "reform" mainly with const.i.tutional changes, and especially with the extension of the franchise. Fortunately, the present Parliament has dealt with that question in a manner which makes great further changes unnecessary, and will leave the new Parliament free to deal with others. Instead of taking up time with the discussion of alterations in the franchise and arrangements for elections, the legislative machinery should be ready for use. But it is not merely to legislation that we have to look. More and more will depend on the action of executive departments of Government. Their field of activity has been extended during the War, and new departments have been established. Some of the new activities should be continued after the War, others should be stopped as soon as possible. It will be necessary to discriminate carefully. The powers of local authorities may be increased, and those authorities may be urged to more energetic use of them. There will probably be strong demands for interference by the State and local authorities, and the advantage of the free action of private individuals is likely to be overlooked, although where it is possible for a reform to be carried out by private effort better results are usually obtained, and at less cost than by action of the State. We are suffering and shall probably continue to suffer from too much regulation. One of the first reforms will be to get rid of restrictions which the War has for a time rendered necessary, to restore liberty of action, and to stop the expenditure occasioned by State interference wherever such interference is no longer needed.

Using the term "reform" to include all improvements which can be made either by restoring former conditions or by introducing beneficial changes, it will be necessary to look into each question separately and see in what cases and to what extent action by the State is required to accomplish the end desired. The most convenient course will be to draw up a list of subjects which ought to be dealt with, and then see how far (i) legislation, and (ii) executive action by some department are called for in each case, and how far private action will be effective.