garding local indebtedness are well
summed up as follows by Suthers: "The 'municipal debt' argument is a
bogey. The greater the municipal debt, the less private enterprise
there will be. The greater the municipal debt, the cheaper and better
the public services will be. The less private capital, the less
profits going into a few pockets, the richer the general public will
be. Up, then, with municipal debt."[684] These are principles which
threaten to make Great Britain bankrupt. "The annual report of the
work of the Local Government Board for 1907 shows that the local debt
of England and Wales, from being 17 per cent. of the National Debt in
1879-80, has grown to 58.5 per cent. of the National Debt in 1904-5.
The National and Local debts have grown as follows:

1879-80 1904-5 _Increase_
National Debt L770,604,774 L796,736,491 L26,131,717
Local Debt 136,934,070 466,459,269 329,525,199"[685]

Unless the Imperial Government interferes, the local debt will soon be
larger than the National Debt.

We have seen in the beginning of this Chapter that, as regards local
government, the Socialists pursue a twofold aim: (1) To level up their
districts; (2) To urge their districts to launch out into something
new. Therefore we find, as Mr. John A. Fairlie says in his book on
"Municipal Administration," that "the danger of excessive debt is most
serious in the smallest cities. The largest cities, while they have
the largest debts, have also the largest resources, and also the
best-developed financial administration. The cities of modest size,
however, which attempt to equal the works of the metropolis without
its available sources of revenue, are very likely to find themselves
in serious difficulties."

The time may come, and it may come soon, when British local
indebtedness will become greatly reduced by local bankruptcy and
repudiation. That process would have no terrors for Socialists. They
ought rather to look forward to it. As they demand the repudiation of
the National Debt (see Chapter IX.), they should logically also strive
to repudiate the local debt. A general repudiation of local debt would
be the fitting and logical aim and end of municipal enterprise.
Municipal enterprise aims at expropriating private property-owners,
who, rightly considered, are paid not in cash but in debt
certificates. The repudiation of all local debts would convey gratis
to the municipa