THE SESSION AND FINANCE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 663, 13 November 1909, Page 4

THE SESSION AND FINANCE.

; Iris, members of the House' of. Eop'«sontativos\rcvjowcd the position in relation to the work of. the sossipn.. We': are now less than six weeks fiom ; ' Christmas' and practically the whole of the important legislative proposals •foreshadowed by the Government . liave yet to,'bo dealt .with.' The Financial Debate will -opon on Tuesday next, and judging by the number and importanco of the; issues raised .by >the ; Budget, .this debate .will take. up o.fc least.two. of the six '■-weeks, icavingV-only, four .weoks 'for everything eke, , including:.tho". Estimates..In these circumstances 'the proper course to follow: is to call on Ministers to mako a definite announcement, concerning tho business to be proceeded with, -so that members can do justice to tne'matters to; bo .dealt with.: '.Unless this , is 'done, members may be wasting valuablo time inquiring into.questions which .may comp before them for consideration until next- , session , ,' and neglecting those pro-i posals which they will ho called on to vote' upon'this year. -With so niany important matters on the Order Papon it is impossible for them to hope to 'give that full and careful consideration to all,: which is essential to sound legislation. The financial proposals of the Go'vpriiment alone arc sufficient to. fully occupy the attention of,members for tho balance., of the Eession, and ,in. nection we" must express'the hope that the Hou'sb will not. permit itself : to be ■hurried : into swallowing holus-bolus the PniME.'; Minister's, new taxation, proposals. It wil] bo tlio-.plain..duty, of: the Houso. to insist that- Sin Josepii Ward shall demonstrate that this added taxation is -unavoidable.; .To us it appears quiloinercdiblq that it, shpul(l'bo necessary to add,, in this sweeping tan shillings per head to tho. taxation of tho poople—to; oxtraot from private pockets something liko; half, a million additional cash to bo ibypendod' by the government, Whoiiitho' publio realises that this addi-

tional half-million is to be diverted from >. tho ordinary channels of trade arid -com- ' merco and oxpended : by Ministers, they i will better appreciate what, this heaping ' up of taxation really 'means. ; ..^' : ! We arc quite aware that the country, has . to meet certain special obligations which ■ did not exist last year, but what'do these i amount toT The Dreadnought offer involves an annual addition of £150,000: a '■ year; _ internal defence, £150,000 ;i and there is to be a special contribution of £30,000 to certain superannuation funds.: The total of this new specialcxperiditure, thorcfpro.'u! £330,000. .To meet this, Sin Joseph: Whkd proposes to take' out ) of the taxpayers'' pockets, by new or increased taxes, what ho estimates at £448,000,- b'ut : what will; we have not the slightest doubt, amount to over half, a million sterling. It should be pointed out that the full amount stated by Sin Joseph Ward to be 'required to meet the new obligations. will not bo wanted this year, and possibly not oven-next year. The payments for tho Dreadnought, for instance; will not bosrequired for sorao time,'and the new defenco scheme cannot bd put into operation hurriedly. Therefore, it must be plain that.the . Prime Minister is asking for a good deal more than is actually necessary for his immediate requirements. But what members and the public must bear in mind is the additional:"fact- that" Sib Joseih Ward kid tho country early,in the y-Jar, that after going carefully into the matter, he found - that. ■ he.. could save £250,000;. per. annum in tho way of Departmental ex-: ponditure witkmt'. impairing the efficiency of the public service. Not only do we believe that this can be done, ■ but we rrgard it. as a : public scandal that the public service should ever have been pcrV mitfcsd to grow into the , costly, and; wasteful thing it has been. In 1900* the annual appropriations—that is the Departmental' expenditure—totalled £2,854,809, and this is how the increase has gone on , .- /.• •

Seddon Government. Incieaseo\cr , - previous year £ £ 1905 3,904,930 144,566 190G .'. -1,252,233 287,303 WAHD GoVETtNMENT. 1807 • - ' . 4,736,800 484,573 1903 5,085,344 348 538 1909 . . 5,575,453 490,139 ]n the faco of this enormous annual in-' crcaßo, Sin Joseph Ward's proposal save £250,000 a year is a trifling thing. But has ho done it? His extravagance, as the figures show, completely eclipses that of tho Seddon Government, and now, after a very brief repentance and a promise of reformation, he has conic down with fresh taxes to take from the taxpayers further funds to enable him to continue his extravagant ways. It is for_ Parliament to say whether It v will

insist on economy and sound finance, or permit a continuance of waste and cxtravaganco with its inevitable sequel of added taxation. Had tho Prime Minister kept his pledge to' reduce the cost of government—which, by .the way, does not merely mean the dismissal of unfortunate members of tho Civil Service, but the removal of all the extravagances in the way of printing and literature and travelling expenses, etc—by a quarter of a million annually, he could havemet' the greater''port 1 * BP'&cf new obligations inourrod with tho money thus saved. Wo trust that this fact will be placod before tho country during the Financial Debate. Until the public arc made to seo tho foolishness and waste of the policy of continually increasing tho amount taken from tho pockets of tho people for tho purposes of government,' UiCi'o is little hop* of inducing tho present _ Prime Minister to conduct the administration of tho country's affairs on reasonably economic lines. It is easier to invent new taxes than to ocono--1 raise, so long 'as tho, people aro cora- | plaisant,