Orders of the Day — National Economy Bill.

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at on 29 September 1931.

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Photo of Mr Arthur Steel-Maitland Mr Arthur Steel-Maitland , Tamworth

I wish to support the Third Reading of the Bill. It is a Measure designed to meet an emergency and an emergency that demands quick and decisive action. The detailed provisions of the Bill have been debated at length in Committee, and my purpose is to commend it to the House on general grounds which in my judgment, and I believe in that of many Members of the House, are overwhelming in their cogency. The Debates on the Bill have produced a cascade of criticism of one kind or another. They have shown very considerable vigour in denunciation by right hon. and hon. Members on the Front Opposition Bench, but the vigour in denunciation has been accompanied by a singular dearth of any constructive proposals. If anyone present at our Debates had not known previously that we were face to face with a great crisis, I do not think that he could possibly have gathered the fact from the speeches made on the opposite side of the House. I do not think that he would have guessed from the speeches made from the Front Opposition Bench that we had to meet a huge deficit in the present year and a still greater deficit in the year to come. What is more, I am quite sure that he would not have realised the fact that, if these economies were rejected, adequate alternatives would have to be found in order to fill the gap.

I take, first of all, one alternative suggestion which was put forward by the hon. Gentleman the late Financial Secretary to the Treasury. In his opinion the Government have been entirely wrong in trying to find means, both by economies and by taxes, to meet the enormous deficits which confront us this year and next year. He was of opinion that the situation ought not to have been met by economies and by taxes, and that it would have been better met, by continu- ing to borrow on a very large scale. He said that there was no need to fear inflation as a result of such borrowing. The hon. Gentleman made that speech 10 days ago. I wonder if he would repeat that statement to-day. To-day there is 20 per cent. of inflation and the hon. Member should realise, if anyone does, that a dangerous degree of inflation, a degree that may ultimately mean the destruction of the currency, may be reached when you have an unbalanced Budget coming on top of an existing substantial degree of inflation due to other causes.

There is another question which I would ask the hon. Gentleman if lie were in his place. From whom would lie propose to borrow He, or at any rate many of his friends, stigmatise existing investors in War Loan as rentiers, as people who live on unearned income and practically as enemies of the people to be treated as such. If he and his colleagues were in power again, I wonder would he anticipate much success in inviting a new set of investors to take up the same position and to be the target of similar attacks. Another alternative suggestion which has been offered is the suggestion of a tariff. I myself believe that a tariff is necessary—