§ * THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. ASQUITH,) Fifeshire, E.It is the custom for every new Chancellor of the Exchequer in turn, when he opens his first Budget speech, to make an appeal for a special measure of the indulgence of this Committee. Never, I am certain, has that claim been put forward with more sincerity, and rarely, I venture to think, with more reason, than it is by me to-day, for in the statement which it is my duty to submit, I shall have to deal with the finances of one year for which I am hardly at all responsible, and with the finances of another year for which, although I have direct responsibility, yet, when I assumed it, I found the field of possible action already to a very large degree limited and circumscribed. One result of these conditions—;a very unhappy result—;is that I am afraid I shall not be able to compress what I have to say, with due regard to the necessity of adequate explanation, within the limits I am accustomed to observe, and which certainly as a rule the House is entitled to demand. Let me add to that appeal for the consideration of the Committee an expression of the most sincere regret that my predecessor the right hon. Member for East Worcestershire, the only man now left, I think, in this House who has held the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, is disabled by continued ill health from being in his place to-day. We all of us, and not least those who are or have been his political opponents, wish for him complete recovery and a speedy return to the labours of this House.