Abstract
MR. KENNETH LINDSAY asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the House of Commons on July 2 whether he would exclude the book trade from the Purchase Tax, in view of the dependence of book exports on the volume of home trade and the vital importance of the book industry to the moral of English-speaking peoples, but Sir Kingsley Wood said that he had given careful and sympathetic consideration of the matter, and regretted that he could not exempt the publishing trade from making this contribution to the revenue needed for the prosecution of the war. It is legitimate comment on this reply to point out that while the tax is collected from the publishing trade, the cost of the tax must fall on the public. As we have already pointed out (NATURE, May 11, p. 719), it is against the public interest both from the financial and the intellectual point of view to place a check on the sale of literature, a substantial proportion of which represents export business. The position is totally different from that in many other industries, where export trade does not depend on sales in Great Britain, and where it is desired for various reasons to reduce consumption at home. It is to be hoped that the Government may yet find a way of relieving the industry of the proposed burden.
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