Moreover, our rulers must remember this, that in War-time, when all the letters sent abroad are subject to the eye of the Censor, it is possible to control the export of British funds abroad; but that in peace time (unless the censorship is to continue), it will not be possible to check foreign investment by restricting the issuing of foreign securities in London. If people see better rates to be earned abroad and more favourable prospects offered by the price of securities on foreign Stock Exchanges, they will invest abroad, whether securities are issued in London or not. As for the curious suggestion that the profits of industrial companies are henceforward to be limited and the whole balance above a statutory rate to be taken over by the State for the public good, this would be, in effect, the continuance on stricter lines of the Excess Profits Duty. As a war measure the Excess Profits Duty has much to be said for it at a time when the Government, by its inflationary policy, is putting large windfalls of profit into the hands of most people who have to hold a stock of goods and have only to hold them to see them rise in value. The argument that the State should take back a large proportion of this artificially produced profit is sound enough; but, if it is really to be the case that industry is to be asked for the future to take all the risk of enterprise and handover all the profit above a certain level to the Government, the reply of industry to such a proposition would inevitably be short, emphatic, unprintable, and by no means productive of revenue to the State. VIII THE YEAR'S BALANCE-SHEET _April_, 1918 The Figures of the National Budget--A Large Increase in Revenue and a Larger in Expenditure--Comparisons with Last Year and with the Estimates--The Proportions borne by Taxation still too Low--The Folly of our Policy of Incessant Borrowing--Its Injustice to the Fighting Men. At first sight the figures of revenue and expenditure for the year ending March 31st are extremely satisfactory, at any rate on the revenue side. The Chancellor anticipated a year ago a revenue from taxation and State services of £638 millions, and the receipts into the Exchequer on these accounts actually amount to £707 millions. On the expenditure side, however, the increase over the Budget estimate was very much greater. The estimate was £2290 millions, and the actual amount expended was £2696 millions. Instead, therefore, of a deficit of £1652 millions having to be met by borrowing, there was an actual gap, to be filled by this method, of, roughly, £1990 millions. To take the revenue side of the matter first, this being by far the most cheering and satisfactory, we find that the details of the revenue, as compared with last year's, were as follows:--