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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1930-05-22, Page 2Britain's Huge Tax Incubus Canadians Have Cause to • Rejoice, and Say;; "Lo, the Poor Britisher," When They Consider His Income Tax 1 That'swhat ninny editor. think, at least, in surveyingthe budget of Chan, eelor of the Exchequer, Philip Snow i3en, which provides for 223; per- seta a of income tax, and involves, a Lehdon press dispatches advise us, a new basic rate of $1,12 on each $5 of income, While relatively Pew Britons pay the full rate of the income tax, cables a London 'correspondent vast numbers. 'are obliged to pay something, begin - ming on egin-ming'on incomes as low ea $675 for single .persons and $1,125 for the mar- ried. a 0 it a tl it its h< g vi aI the cooperation of his four brothers, body and works in close co-operation who help him with unusual devotion with the King's Cabinet of Ministers" in 'Under the new rates, this interment Cbancellor of the MecDonpld Labor Government, the London Daily Herald; official organ of the Labor party, de glares that the budget "places bur- dens on broad books" -0n the other hand, the London Times remarks: "The new taxes will certainly deepen the disquieting, impression that the wealthier section of the community is merely being exploited to Provide for the expansion of fleecier services for which the appetite of the eleptorate Is not likely to diminish as long as the voter is protected from the fiscal con- sequences of his own' extravagance." Ever since the war, writes a special adds, an unmarried man would pay ap- proximately $254 on an income of 53,000; 5442 on $4,000; 5629 on 55,000; 52,348 on $12,500, and up to $43,190 on 5100,000. a A married man without children,' it is further noted, would pay 5528 en 55,000; triple that amount on. 510,000, and up to '52,964 on 515,000.' Championing Mr, Snowden as the a1 it Government correspondent in the London Morning Post, Britain has been groaning under a load of taxation. In comparing Bri• twin's' burden with that of other come tries this writer cites Mr. Stanley Baldwin's Government; 'as having given the' House of Cotnnrons in De - cember, 1928, the following figures showing the national taxation per head in several countries: National Taxation per Head 1913-14 192.-27 Great Britain £3 11 4 Lil. 11. .8 Fran^ 3 7 0 7 7 0 Italy 2 2 0 4 4 0 United St tes 1 4 0, 6 c 0 This corespondent of the London Morning Post (Ind. Cons.) goes on to say: "Great Britair was tins paying in 1927 four times as much per head as before the war, and twice as much as any of the other three countries. In Januaiy, 19e0, Mr, Snowden informed the House of Commons that, according to the latest figures, British taxation was .215 is. 50, per head, while that of the nited States was £5 13e. 60., so that Brit tin's position had hecome re. ratively still more unfavo able as corn- pared rith :he United States, "This basis of comparison suffices to give a very rough idea of the bur- den of taxation in different countries. tt is nevertheless aelmittedlr inaccur• ate s a guide to the real burden of taxation. 'For, in -the first place, it takes ee- count of the national budget and emits local taxation,thepo P ro rtion of which to the national budget varies from country to country. And, sec - ondly, it does not allow for difference in national income, which is an im- portant factor in determining the ca - pacify of a country to bear taxation, "Unfortunately, exact calculations of national income are impossible, but sufficiently near estimates can be made which leave no room for doubt that Britain is tbe most heavily taxed of the great countries of the world lit proportion to her income. The follow - ing table, based on approximate fig- ares, shows the proportion of the ne- tional income paid out in all taxation, national and Iocal, by five principal countries: National All Percentage Income Taxation of Taxation Year £000,000 to Incnnie Great Britain 1928 3,750 826 22.0 Germany 1927 3,100 625 20.1 Italy 1926 1,100 200 18.2 France .... 1928 2.050 350 10.1 United States 1924 12.000 1,270 10.6 "It is thus clear that Great Britain bears a substantially heavier load of taxation in relation to her resources than any of the principal European ex- beligerents, and 000 of altogether dif• ferent magnitude from that of the sited States. Both the size of the Bra tish contribution and the comparison with that of other countries speak suf- Sclently loudly for themselves, "But we have not yet surveyed the whole field of taxation. Not included in either national or local budgets are the compulsory coutions by employers and workersntribto thepaid social insurance services. This is an item— unemployment lsuranee, health insur- duce, widows', orpbans' and old -age contributory pensions and workmeh'e compensarton—wbieh costs the em - ployee some 255,000,000 a year, in addition to over £40,000,000 paid by the workers." The Strong Man Of Afghanistan ---- • The Hero of the Hour in Afghanistan, It Seems, i5 King Nadir Shah Through rare courage and intellect, t is said, he is endeavoring t0 win for iis country, peace, prosperity, and prestige. The great revolution left Afghanis- Afghanis - an both sick and prnstratcT, writes he Peshawar correspondent of the 1aicutla Statesman, How Ring Amen- Blah was forced to flea with his wife ted retinue to Europe, and bow ifs nceessor, the "water boy," RingHaat- wllah, was overthrown, has been told e -these cohimns, The new phase of Afghan progress e now called to our attention. Mean - iddle .Chis Peshawar informant points ut that: "In some respects the great npheav_ resulted in conditions most satis- actory to Afghanistan as well as to he peace of Central Asia, "lt is not an exaggeration to say bat the peace of the world would ave been in jeopardy had it not been or the patience and great political oresight on' the part of the Britishver and the Lindon of Soviet ocialist Republics, "The way in which the Afghan situ- tion was handled by both these great 'ewers will go down in histry as a ['Bevel of diplomatic skill. "It is a mistake to think .that Ama- ullah's reforms were the basic cause f the revolt, The real causes were quite different, n0 the question of reforms and West- rn modes of living were. Only brought t to give the Shinwaris an excuse for rising, "Whatever the causes and the curse of the revolt, it is now clear let the revolution has resulted in the ttablishment of a stable and strong ove•nment, and the accession to the gone et Afghanistan of a man who among the best that Afghanistan is so far produced. "King Nadir Shah, who may be ap- oprjately styled the . savior of AZ. .of tanistan, lige been called upon to le and guide the Afghan nation in eft hour of. great misery." the King Nadir Shah, we are then ad- is sect, has many assets. The chief, it A nant, Ara bit, " naaaaan 'It ., .. n1� to discharge the responsibilities of Government. We read: "Two of his brothers have taken charge of the whole civil and military administration at home, One is Sara dor :Mohamad Hasham Kiran, the Pre- mier, and the other, General Shah hlabmud Khan, Is Minister of War and Commander--in-Chief. "Again, two of his remaining broth - ors have been placed in charge of the two molt Important resters of for - eign diplomatic intercourse; Shah `Pail Khan 1e Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James's, to London, and bf"hamad Aziz Khan is Minister at'Moscow. "IIe has thus distributed the most important Offices of State to his broth- ors, eatb, of whom is to my personal knowledge most capable of discharg- ing the duties entrusted to him." Other salient features of King Na- Shah's Government, this Pesha• war war informant goes on to say, are al- M- most identical with those of ex -King Amanullab's Government. 13nt, he acids, a wise step has been taken by the present king in securing the co-operation of religious leaders in his administration. Two well - known religious personalities have been already absorbed by the Govern- stent, this narrator states, anti con^ Butes: "The Hazrat Sahib of Sher Bazar, tbe famous religious leader who was responsible for Amanullah's downfall, has been appointed Minister Plenipo- tertiary at Cairo, and has already left Afghanistan to take up Ms duties, "His younger brother, the 33azrat Sher Afgha, is now Minister of Jus - tice at Kabul. "Again, in order to provide an op - po•tunity for the expression el their collective opinion, the King bas con- stituted a armlet-al-Mema- (Grand As - sembly of the Learned) which will help the Government in the discharge of their duties toward questions re - lating to the Shariat of Islam. 'This Assembly will indeed be help- ful in maintaining the equilibrium when ever the fanaticism othe tribal masses is fanned by some sort of real or imaginary grievance. "Persia also has such an assembly Mujtahids, and it bas proved of real assistance to the Persian Government. "There is again the Mejisis-i-Shoora, Grand National Assembly, which presided over by Abdul Ahad Khan, an experienced and able Wardak a n„+ nf. Ia,nttol nhiaf... Thio rtl o -fu ., Hart'A..1•Iassey fellowships have been .awarded by the American. nivev- •sity, to .0iv .fourth-year University of Toronto Students:: Howe H, Martyrs (left); in phfloaophy .honors at. Victoria College, who is the son of H. G. Martyn, vice-principal .of the Stratford Normalschool, and John T. Wilson. (right), in physics;and geology honors at Trinity College, who is son. of J. A. Wilson, director of civil Aviation, Ottawa. - The new king, it appears, has spent a-lifetime..in the army, :is an experf- enced sdldter, and is keen on improv- ing and bringing to. an efficient stand- ard the forces of Afghanistan, He knows, declares this Peshawar correspondent, that on this army as on nothing else depend the peace of Af- khanistan and the stability of the Government. Turning to educational matters, we find that:' "King Nadir Shah has lost no time in re -opening schools for boys. The education of girls is for the present out of the question, "He has not laid down any clear line of policy with regard to the system of education in Afghanistan, but so far as I am aware, the system comtem- plated by him will differ in many re- spects from that adopted by ex -King Amcenullah, "Although he believes that it is necessary for the Afghan youth to learn European languages, be prefers Russian and English above all ethers, and he Is perfectly justified, "British India and Russia are both Afghanistan's immediate neighbors, and it is with these two Powers that Afghanistan has to deal politically, socially, and economically. "Why then should the Afghan youth be ignorant of the languages of their neighbors and let the vast field of literature, science, arts, and politics provided in these two of the world's best media remain unexplored? "Ring Nadir Shah is believed not to be In facer of sending to Europe boys of tender age. He favors the saner policy of having the children educated at Kabul until they grow up and complete a standard at home not less than that of the matriculation in India. Only after such preliminary education will the boys be sent to Europe. At present there is no such item in Ring Nadir Shah's program, for the education budget hardly covers the expenses necessary for education at home." Out On HIS Feet • Somebody has pricked the enormous bubble that was Primo Camera, It now appears that the giant Italian's pseudo -triumphant tour of the United States has been nothing more than a clossat fake from the beginning. His Opponents have fallen before bis great reach and windmill arms like wheat before a scythe, Some of them, in- deed, timing their falls inaccurately, tumbled to the mat before the huge Camera's fist established contact with their chins. One held off for six rounds, which was not at all aceod- ing to schedule, so one of Camera's seconds went round to the opposite corner and whispered magic in the obdurate boxer's second's oar, with the result that the towel weal into the ring instead of Camera. As a result, his license and that of hie manager have been cancelled, and now be can only fight in Alaska, the Panama Canal Zone, and the Hawai- ian Islands, in American territory. H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught uh g Canada joins heartily' with the rest of the British Empire in congratula- tions to K11.11. the Duke of Connaught on the attainment of his -eightieth birthday anniversary. His 'life hes been a Tong and active one, spent wholly, until very recent years, in the service of the Crown, and, there. fore, of the:Empire. As a soldier he established and retained a high re 1 putation, and many of the reforms ef- fected in the British army were due to his activities. He was a strict dis-' ciplinarian, but at the same time won and held the affection of all who serw- ed under him. lCanada was fortunate in having him as Governor-General from,1911 to 1916, and he ,was both popular and efficient, setting a sound example of scrupulous regard for the responsi-I bilitles, as well as the limitations, of his high position. His daughter, known to every Canadian as Princess I Pat, endeared herself to the people 1 of this country by her democratic: ways and her charm of manner, and' her name is permanently associated with Canada's war record as Honor- ary Colonel of the famous Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, a regiment.thatniade history and left a reputation that will never fade. The Duke, while in Canada, travel- led extensively, made himself acquaint- ed with all parts of the Dominion, and frequently revealed in his speeches a keen understanding and appreciation of our peculiar problems and needs. His tact and his long military ex- perience proved Invaluable during the first two years of the war, and' when be went home in 1916 he carried with him the good wishes of the entire Do- minion. The example he has set the Empire of hard work Is one that may be emulated by all. It is of parti- cular significance in that it embodies the principle that royalty is no bar to service and that a man in whose veins the blood royal runs may serve as faithfully and as ably as those of less- er birth. The wish of the Empire is that His Royal Highness niay be long spared to enjoy the leisure his self- sacrificing devotion to that Empire so richly merits. HEARTACHES Let us awaken to the divine privi- lege of sharing the heartaches of our friends; of the meaning of good fel- lowship; 00 that independence of spirit that does not imitate; of cour- age and pride that can endure adver- sity with: dignity, and without fear. COURTESY Give the other fellow a chance to talk. he'll appreciate the courtesy and you may learn something. An architect think the small houses,now being built could be much improved. For one thing they might be arranged so that the rooms would fold into the walls when not wanted. Blood -Spilling In India's 'Revolt Gandhi's "Soul -Force" Gam- paign for Independence Runs Into British "Vet. 'vet -glove" Policy in ._.'vt' India Then "violence" and "the iron hand" appear, 'Attempt to make a news -reel, of widely scattered developments 'in huge Indian provinces, following the, Mahatma's solemnly - defiant "salt party;" as ' told in the dispatches, would show at least: ' • Weazened Gandhi, on speaking tour, preaching non-violent civil .itis - obedience, even to death for 'it. IIF dividnals and crwods--disobeying the salt law by 'making' and selling salt•in .many places. Mrs, `Gandhi, minus Carrie Nation .violence, leading groups of women to persuade natives not to use liquor or patronize liquor shops, Other bands•of women on picket duty In the boycott of foreign made cloth: shops. Importing merchants Join- ing boycott for a year. Thousands of demonstration marchers In Bombay, Calcutta, • Madras, Delhi streets sing - Ing the official Nationalist .song "Bantle' .Mataram" ("Hail 'Mother- land"), but also "The Wearing of the Green." "Hartals"—both orderly and disorderly general cessation of work in factories, ,schools, exchanges, and business houses- Protesting crowds. outside trial collets, as well as strik- ers, throwing stones in conflict with police, 'Riot fatalities and arrests by the score. Hunger strikes among salt -making prisoners. Martial law prevailed in cities where Protest meetings anct general. strikes had been called and broken up. Then a band of revolutionary raiders at- tacked Chittagong a river port 01 Bengal, looted -the amorles of the police and auxiliary forces, killing seven persons, and fled back to the hills. Whereupon troops from Cal- cutta were ordered to the scene for pursuit, and Viceroy Lord Irwin reim- posed the ordinance enabling Bengal authorities to arrest and intern sus- pects without warrant or trial. Thus omoi•ges "the iron Land " News dispatches come from a tow city -centers and may be -subject to censorship, yet they give the impres- sion of spreading revolt, subject to many crosscurrents. Correspondents report:. "Nationalist campaigners adapt propaganda methods learned from Soviet Ituesia and China revolutions. There are more kinds of revolt than ever previously attempted in .India— econornic, educational, religious, soc- ial, feminist, and political, Com- munist leaders attack Gandhi's, disob- edience program as' futile and vislon- ary,' Some Moslem leaders refuse to co-operate. A caste anti -revolution• au party has appeared. Ruling Princes of native States have come to- gether seeking additional privileges front Government.. Besides Viceroy Lord Irwin's strategy in refusing im- mediately to make Gandhi a martyr, but interning hie chief lieutenants and taking necessary military meas - Mee to suppress 'riots," it is surmis- ed that the report of tbe Simon In- vestigation Commission, withheld for two years in. London may be thrown into the ring for a compromise settle- ment, short of independence at an op portune time." Most of our papers find It difficult to understand how Gandhi's psycho. logy can possibly win, although many continue to emphasize its .amazing character, and hedge enough to sug- gest that what wolrldn't go in the West may -or may not go far in the East. Uncertain editors agree that the one certainty seems to be that Britain has one of her hardest em- pire nuts to crack. Wins 133 -Mile Dash For Sputtery Sea Fleas THESE INTER,ESTiNA Sd T QRA, 1. E. Wilkinson in lits otut `arts ei' i ln5 record time of three hours, 27 minutes aiid T r „ RR GAINING WIDE POPULARITY 1mile race down Hudson rives, Prom Albany to New York, vee seeond5. Chicago's :Amazing Gang Merge "We Three" Win Merger Another Record Out Of the midnight sky a,sbadow, n� then, es 10,000'eyes streiue6 to follow- its .dipping =flight, an airplane grace filly circled, late the radiance of the 37,000,000 -candle-power iioodlighte of. Roosevelt, Field, and Lindy bad brolten another recent. 1 'This time the famous -"We" was 'a, trinity„ ,since Anne Lindbergh` rode e ,with her .famous •Husband 'across the continent, handling °`'the sextant, and taking 'her. turn at the controls, 1 "Anne is superlatively All ,right," is p a characteristic newspaper tribnte.- 'The '.old transcontinental record of Prank M. Hawks was made lust dune in a, non-stop flight of 17 hours, 3a urinates, 16 sacdnds. The Lindberghs: made the Los -Angeles -New York flight in 14 Mains, 446 minutes,. and 52 :sec- iEmphatically does Captain ends, Hawks assert that his reooi'd has been beaten, But not $o Lindb.er•gh. He refuses to take credit for it in the course of a 'brief -statement to the press, running' :in part as folows: "The flight was purely an expert - medal flight, .a flight testing the theory that greater speed and efi}ci- elicy_can be obtained by taking ad- vantage of better weather conditions in the higher altitudes. I•. "We made the entire flight at. alti- tudes varying from 14,000 feet to 15,- 500, Mrs. Lindbergh acting as co-pilot and navigator. Throughout the trip she used the aviation'sextant to take observations to keep us on our course. "I want to make it plain that I'real- ly did not break the transcontinental speed record, despite the fact that our elapsed time was less than 'the time taken by Captain Hawks on his trans- continental flight. The reason for that is tbat we Made one stop while Captain Hawks's flight was non-stop. "I don't believe that we would have made the same time if we had -at- tempted to come through non-stop." Thus Lindbergh' "remains the-, fore most knight of the air," declares the Albany News. The New Haven Jour- nal -Courier recognizes again that "distinctive tang of personality about his feats, "None of hie exploits is meaningless," 0010urs the Philadel- phia Record. "It was adventure." But, continues the Syracuse Post -Standard, "it was Intelligent and purposeful adventure; the intent of America's foremost aviat- or was -to secure data useful in high flying in transport and express service across the continent." There will be further experimenta- tion by the Lindberghs and others, but the New York World thinks "jt may fairly be assumed that the upper- air'levels will be increasingly used for very long flights." As the Cleveland News asks: "Since storms endanger, airplanes along the regular routes anti dense at- mosphere t mosphere bolas them back, why not ride above the storms in safety; speedily through the lighter: ah'?" Amazement Greets the An nouricement 'that :Chicago's Gangs, Have Amalgamat- ed t "Reduce the ' Overhead:" "To the man In ;the street it evil seem curiously fantastic 'that 'Al' Ca pone and ."Bugs' Moran, notorioil leaders of notorious gangs, :should have the hardihood to perfect' a mer .ger of their criminal interests„and tel Chicago all about it,” declares the Portland, Oregonian. • ,It 'does seem incredible, . but the Chicago Herald-Exandner assures us that "the erstwhile violent leader$ of the ,half -world armies 'have 'arranged to pool their interests and their forces, to amalgamate into one mighty eylldicate,fer the'!ol'derly' control and operation .of gambling, booze, and .vice. • And Capone, we are told, elms eleeteil'himself unanimously — an,d 'withotit-'opposition—to the chief of all the : works." "All for Al and Al for. All" -that Is the slogan of the new combine, ac- cording to The Herald -Examiner, which then proceeds to tell us more about this strange development in Chicago's "racket": - - 'Under ,the terms of the agreement the, gang coalition contemplatesmain- tenance of what might accurately -be described as a 'community chest.' "Into this chest will be poured all of the earnings 'of all of the gang's units—earnings from vice resorts, from gambling tables, from whiskey and beer distribution, and from labor rackets. "Out of the chest will come the pro- tection funds required, and, it has been decided, these fees will not be scattered indiscriminately, as hereto- fore, but will be paid to certain desig- nated esianated individuals, powerful enough to keep off the potty graft colectors." "The amalgamation of interests now supposed to have been effected was a characteristic Capone coup," writes Owen L. Scott, -Chicago correspondent of the Consolidated Tress :Association, "It means reduced overhead anti en- hanced profits, inasmuch as the main- tenance of private armies is about the costliest feature of the gang business. Good gunmen draw about 5100 a week and keep. The number of men on pay- rolls could be cut sharply with peace." Close behind this news came the an- nouncement, in the Chicago Tribune, that Capone, who recently completed a year's term in a Philadelphia jail, was "seeking new realms of profit, and had invaded the stronghold of po- litical patronage, planning to seize public jobs, public contracts, control of budgets, and the power that attends it all." Reading further: "The plan, as it has been described, has been to have a Capone man ap- pointed commissioner of the Bureau of Plumbing, with power to hire and lire the city plumbers, to create re- strictions and rules for building.in- staliations, resulting in a czardom over all plumbing work in the city," Meanwhile, Capone nien were re- ported to be "muscling in" on the la- bor unions. The police saw a tempor- ary setback in this scheme when a lone gunman entered a barroom and. shot to death three alleged members of the Capone gang, News of the Chicago crime merger seems to shock some of our editors, but most of them write of it in an ironical votn. Thus the New Orleans, Item wonders whether it will bring an investigation by the Department of Justice "to determine if the anti-trust laws are violated." The Economic Crisis in Canada Review of Reviews (London)); The fall in wheat, wool, copper, cotton, and other products will not in itself prove to be a bad thing eventually; but, temporarily, its effects are disastrous. It has caused serious emban:•,ssment to the chief producif.g countries like Argentina, Canada, and Australia. At the first -named country th,. gold standard has had to be suspended for the time being, but that country, un- like Canada through its wheat pool, was wise to sell its wheat and other products at .vh"tever prices they would fetch. Canada unwisely decided to hold wheat off the market in the hope that the price would improve. The opposite has happened and the situation in Canada Is serious. The funds of the banks are tied up in wheat, dee and the resultant credit strain is serious. It is the more seri- ous owing to certain scandals which the Canadian authorities are trying to hush up, Public and Private Enterprise Load Melchett in the Windsor Maga- zine (London) : It is hard to see how the efficiency of production could be inereased simply by the industry be- ing cpnducted by Government depart- ments instead of private individuals (andthere are very good reasons which indicate that it would actually be less efficient), although I agree that the efficiency of production in this country at present is not on the high.. est poseDble standard, Nevertheless, hire whole issue between "private en- terprise and "public enterprise" e fins to be tremendously over-exag- t},'ec41 fres all, the vital question ddb 31ot'twt.Q conducting industry, but, UV le la et conducted; not one of s ppoont] al th0eey, but one of industrial pitpei38enepo Babe Ruth Beginning to Earn the $80,000 Hitting at .356 Gait Washington.—After hie slow start. Babe Ruth is beginning to play the kind of baseball he is expected to de- liver for his 580,000 annual salary. Babe led the New Yoe- Yankees, at- tack in their 9 to 0 win over the league leading Washington Senators, with three bits in five times up His re- cord for the game: First inning — Singled to centre, scoring Cothhs a" Koenig^ Third inning—Rolled to Judge. Sixth inning—Flied to Rice, who made a spectacular catch against the scoreboard. Eighth inning—Singled to right, ad vancing on Gehrig's walk and scoring on Lanr-Ti's single. Ninth inning—Beat out a bunt along, the third base line, took third on Las- zari's single and scored on Byrd's. sacrifice fly. The excellent batting performance• raised Ruth's season batting marls from .3225 to .356. His r.1cord: G. A.B. 13. H. H.R. P.C. 11 45 12 16 2 .356 RESPONSIBILITIES We all shrink, like cowards, from . new duties, new responsibilities, We do not venture to go out of the beaten track of ourdaily life. Close to us. on each side of the road are those whom we might help or save with one good action, one kind word. But we are afraid. We say: "I am not pre- pared; I am not. ready; T have not Lime; I am not qualified; find some better person; send some one else." Perhaps we have only one talent, and, therefore, instead ofusing it, we bide it, and when the blaster comes we shall meat him With the old answers: "I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth. Lo! there thou • hast that is thine."—.tames Freeman Clarke, "Flaming Youth' Needs . No "Fling" . Hamilton, Ont.—"A 011110 is born a savage and; for the first 20 years the savage has to be civilized," said Magis- trate Burbidge speaking here on tbe Morale of Canadian youth, "Applesauce," was the term he ap- plied to the opinon of certain social workers that "Ilarning youth must have ire fling." He advocated more trict home training with frequent 1(0' P lication of the rod as - a remedy for wayward children,