Savins and Spending.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20097, 28 November 1930, Page 12

Savins and Spending.

The statement issued by Sir Apirana Ngata on behalf of the Acting-Minister for Finance yesterday is a confession of the Government's weakness and failure, whether the Minister thinks of it ia thai way w not. In explaining

why a special meeting of Departmental beads and Ministers had been called to discuss efficiency and economy, his purpose seems to have been to deny the suggestion that the Government is facing the possibility of a greater expenditure than has been budgeted for. It is of course some small comfort to know that the Government is not thinking of spending more than the excessive amount to which it is already committed; but when Sir Apirana describes the difficulty which has developed he cannot help exposing the Government. The difficulty is that revenue has already fallen off and threatens to lag well behind the estimates in several respects. The estimated Budget surplus is no help, because it was earmarked to cover the Supplementary Estimates and contingencies. Therefore the Cabinet is now forced either to reconcile itself somehow to a deficit at the end of the financial year or to discover means of shortening expenditure. It has already found one, in deciding to cancel restricted military training. But what the taxpayer will not forget is that he was told, a few months ago, that every possible economy had been made. This was not easy to believe; it was in fact impossible to believe, since the evidence to the contrary was abundant and plain. But what the Government said then it now by implication denies. It had not made every possible economy in the Budget, although every possible economy was necessary. It hoped to wriggle through, without doing anything difficult or defying the Labour Party. There has been no stroke of luck to save it; and it now finds that it must cut and save in order to make both ends meet. But whatever savings are possible now were possible six months ago, and ought to have been made then. The Government should strain every nerve to economise, undoubtedly, and if it tries to reduce expenditure it will succeed; but the greater its success, the more clearly the Government is self-exposed and sclf-condemned.