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ideal in taxation should be equality of sacrifice, and a National 
Debt makes against this ideal. A principle of life voluntarily 
passed in the enjoyment of the privileges of a Community is 
that in a time of stress a Nation has the right to demand from 
every citizen his life, all his labour and all his money. Our 
present economic troubles are the result of the ignoring of 
this principle during the war. When we embarked upon the 
policy of conscription we set our seal on the principle just 
enunciated. The policy should have been carried out to its 
logical conclusion, and conscription of Industry and of Wealth 
have followed conscription od 5 Life. Had this been done, 
there would have been to-day no National Debt and no War 
Fortunes, no profiteering, and I venture to think no Labour 
troubles. There would have been much hardship and injustice 
to individuals, but a smaller sum total of hardship and injus 
tice than the course we have followed has entailed. 
But I submit that the answer to Question No. 4, “ Does 
the existence of the National Debt entail injustice? ” is an 
emphatic affirmative. 
Questions Nos. 5 and 6. 
Question No. 5, ‘‘If the abolition of the Debt and its 
retention both entail injustice, is the injustice in each case— 
(a) Ascertainable? 
(b) Equal ? ’ ’ 
This question has, I submit, been incidentally answered in 
the course of our inquiry into Questions Noe. 3 and 4. To 
measure the injustice exactly is probably impossible, but that 
it is unequal and that the greater injustice is involved by the 
retention of the Debt must, I submit, be the conclusion arrived 
at by an impartial inquirer, and for the purpose of this generai