The Return shows that the total cost of public social
services increased fourfold between 1891 and 1918, if we deduct the cost of war pensions. In England the cost in 1891 was £20,696,000, and it rose to £37,845,000 in 1901, to £63,147,000 in 1911, and to £102,177,000 in 1918, apart from war pensions. In Scotland the cost increased from £2,500,000 in 1891 to £12,444,000 in 1918. In Ireland the cost rose from £2,609,000 in 1891 to £9,434,000 in 1918. The Irish total was not as large as the Scottish total, because the Irish ratepayer is not compelled, like Scottish or English ratepayers, to make any serious contribution to the support of the schools. The return, indeed, shows that, while Irishmen complain of being taxed heavily, they are rated very lightly. The social service expenditure from rates compared with the expenditure from taxes was in England and Scotland as two is to three, but in Ireland as one is to five.
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