§ Mr. CHIOZZA MONEYasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state what proportions of the national revenues of Prussia, Saxony, and Bavaria respectively are derived from State-controlled industries; and what additions to the Income Taxes of these States would be needed to yield the amount of these revenues from nationalisation?
Mr. ROBERTSONThe following figures, extracted from the "Statistisches Jahrbuch für das deutsche Reich," give the official German estimates for the financial year beginning in 1910. Under "Industrial Enterprises" are included railways, woods, forests, and other domains, mines, etc.:—
State. Gross Revenue from all Sources. Gross Revenue from Industrial Enterprises. Net Revenue* from all Sources. Net Revenue from Industrial Enterprises.† Total. Proportion to net Revenue from all Sources. Million £s. Million £s. Million £s. Million £s. Per cent. Prussia 172.3 127.2 75.9 28.0 36.9 Bavaria 31.0 21.4 15.0 6.0 40.0 Saxony 19.4 13.4 7.9 2.7 34.2 * These figures are obtained by deducting from the Gross Revenue in each case (a) that part of the yield or the State enterprises, which appears to cover the working expenses, and (b) the part of the Gross Revenue which is paid over to the Imperial Exchequer. † No allowance has been made for debt charges, or (in the case of the railways,) for pension charges; or for expenditure in other branches of administration which are properly chargeable against the yield of the enterprises. The total debt charges of the States were:—
Million £s. Prussia … … … … 19.2 Bavaria … … … … 4.1 Saxony … … … … 2.0 It is not possible to state how much of the charge in each case has been incurred in respect of industrial enterprises; it 1237W would, however, appear that much the larger part has been so incurred. The surplus of net revenue from industrial enterprises over debt charge thus amounted in the case of Prussia to 8.8 million £s., or 56 per cent, of the yield of the Income Tax in that State (15.8 million £s.); and in the case of Saxony to 0.7 million £s., or 23 per cent, of the yield of the Income Tax (3.0 million £s.) Until the commencement of the current financial year no general Income Tax was in force in Bavaria, and official information as to the yield of the new tax is not yet available. It cannot, however, be assumed that these proportions correctly indicate the actual profit to the States (over and above debt charge) of these State controlled industries. The German Government expressly state that the net revenue does not correspond with what would be deemed profit in a commercial enterprise, and that several charges "which would be borne directly by private undertakings are included in the expenditure of the general administration and appear in other parts of the Budget, so that it is impossible to separate entirely the accounts of the States industrial enterprises from those of the general administration."