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was made, and I think it is to the credit of the Chambers of 
Commerce that there was not one single Chamber of Commerce 
which passed any resolution objecting to the tax, They all 
supported my view that it was perfectly right as long as the war 
existed, When the tax was put up to 60 per cent. we objected, and 
we told Mr. McKenna that it was dangerous. When it was put up 
to 8o per cent. we objected far more strongly, both to him and to 
Mr. Lloyd George, and we told him it was going to lead to a very 
serious state of things in our industries, and that it did encourage 
awful extravagance and encouraged a system, as some other 
speakers have pointed out, which would be enormously to the 
detriment of the producing interest of this country hereafter, We 
had several interviews in this room, I brought” deputations one 
after another, all asking for the change.of the tax. We were 
assured when the war was over that this tax, admitted by yourself 
to be bad, would be dropped. We have approached the subject 
with the best will in the world to contribute our share of the burden, 
and we have made suggestions that we think are far more equitable 
than this tax, because the original basis is out of date altogether. 
It is out of date to go back to 1912 and 1913 and take your standard, 
because things have altered so much. Therefore, we maintain 
to-day, and it is not pure cussedness which makes us press this, it 
is a mistake to continue it. [It is a pernicious system. We want to 
encourage you to restore enterprise by starting some better system 
which will not create the handicap to Trade that the Excess Profits 
Tax does at the present time, I think there seem to be some false 
ideas of what the position is. Dr. Addison stated the other day at 
the Guildhall or the Mansion House, that there were £2,000,000,000 
in deposits in the banks in this country. He failed to recognise the 
difference between a cash deposit and a credit deposit. 
The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: It is one which is very 
much borne home to me. 3 
Sir ALcernNoN FirTa: That is true; but I think if you would 
persuade Dr. Addison not to make such wild statements as that 
you would do good, because that statement about there being 
£2,000,000,000 in the banks is one which is very prejudicial. If 
you will consult the heads of the leading banks you will find that 
they are making advances to all of us to-day in excess of anything 
that they would have considered prudent in the year 1914, or 
previous to that time. 
The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: I am only too well 
aware of it. 4 
Sir ALgerNON FirTH : I am delighted that you are, because 
that would be the strongest argument for you personally that you 
should do nothing to cripple the resources of those banks. What 
we have to do at the present time is to look at this position, Our 
profits in the last few years have been on a rising market. We 
have had to take our stocks at ever-increasing prices, and to-day 
we are on the edge of a precipice. Where we were paying 3d. or 
4d. for stuff, we are paying 21d. to-day. We know half of that 
might be knocked off any moment and we might have to meet losses 
of hundreds of thousands of pounds. That is the position which 
is facing traders. We have to build up our resources, and if you 
do not allow us to do that we are going to be in a position of very 
great jeopardy hereafter, :