Of course, some of the debt burden is responsive, so far as
the annual charge is concerned, on that part of the floating debt which
is reborrowed continually at rates of interest which follow current
money rates, but, even so, the burden of capital repayment remains. An
opportunity occurs for putting sections of the debt upon a lower annual
charge basis whenever particular loans come to maturity, and there may
be some considerable relief in the annual charge in the course of time
by this method.
What are the prospects of the two methods that I have mentioned coming
to our rescue in this "long distance" problem? It is a problem to which
our present "short distance" contribution is, you will admit, a very
poor one, for we have not so far really made any substantial
contribution from current revenue towards the repayment of the debt.
A CENTURY OF THE NATIONAL DEBT
Historical surveys and parallels are notoriously risky, particularly
where the conditions have no precedent. They ought, however, to be made,
provided that we keep our generalisations from them under careful
control.
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