MR. MASSEY IN REPLY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 811, 7 May 1910, Page 6

MR. MASSEY IN REPLY.

PREMIER'S SPEECH CRITICISED INCREASED TAXATION AND THE SURPLUS. THE DEFENCE PROPOSALS. SOME OF THE COUNTRY'S REAL NEEDS. (Br Teleenrh.—Snecial OorresnondenM Auckland, May 6. In an interview with The Dominion's 'Auckland representative to-day, Mr. W. F. Massoy, M.P., Leader of tie Opposition, tronchahtly oriticised tho Prime Minister's Wintcn speech. Mr. Massey. said:— "There are some statements made by the Prime Minister to which I think 6ome x reply is necessary. For instance, in connection with taxation, the hon. gentleman was a long way from being candid or. even fair. He told his audience, that the Government has steadily relieved the burden of taxation upon the workers, and.the great mass of the people. Now, it is not necessary to go further back than last session, iwhen taxation was increased on tho whole mass of the people by way of surtax on Customs duties. Then there were the increases of death and gift duties; the increase of- taxation on racing clubs and banks; the very serious increase of railway fares; and the increase of the burdens on local todies in country districts by the repeal of the legislation which provided i for the sinking funds of loans being contributed from the Consolidated 'Fund. ■ .

,- Lightening/Burdens? "ft is quite impossible for me to say what these increases will amount to, 3>ut if this is what Sir Joseph, Ward calk lightening the burdens of the masses of the people, I don't know what lie would admit to be an increase of taxation. The right hon. gentleman says, ihowever, that the increase has fallen flpon those who are able to meet the further burden. This latter statement shows'either a desire to mislead or a /want of knowledge which is deplorable. /Taxes cannot be imposed on any one (section of the community without offecting the whole public. If a merchant is charged extra Customs duty, be simply passes it on to his customers. So will the!;banks, while increases of [railway fares, and even increases of taxation on racing clubs, must seriously affect the spending- power of the people. 6ir Joseph Ward may make as many plausible explanations as he likes, but ithe facts, are against him, and I am surprised that he should make the statement that the only increases _in '/taxation that have taken place during jthe last seven- years were the increase an the graduated land tax,by 15 per rcent., and this' the Leader' of the Op.■position found it necessary not to vote [against. ' He is wrong on both points. ifThe Leader of" the Opposition did vote ■against the proposal, which wi>& really •an increase of 25 per cent., and not 15 /par cent. - Tho Surplus.

"Then, as to the surplus. The Minister for Finance denies that it belongs to two years, and says that the balance must be carried to the succeeding year every time. That is not the case •fit all. With the. exception of last year, I cannot remember . any year when the greater part of the balance of the previous financial period was not transferred to the Public Works' Fund. !For the year ended March 31, 1909, j£Boo,ooo was so transferred. At March SI, 1909, there was a surplus in the .Consolidated Fond of approximately •£184,000, but no part of that was transferred- The whole of it was carried , forward; and consequently is included in the so-called surplus for the jyear ended -March 31, 1910. Unfortunately the public accounts for the past lyear have not yet been published, and too are consequently in the dark with regard to the details of revenue and expenditure, and the saving which is ■supposed to have taken place by the retrenchment scheme; but it will be the 'duty of Parliament when it meets to insist on all necessary information being forthooming. The country is much ■more prosperous than it was a year '■■ago, but that is no reason why wo should go back to'the. wasteful practices which were to a great extent the ■ cause of the depression.'

Native Land. "The right lan. ,gentleman has repeated the usual promises- about- the Battlement of the Native land question. I may say at once that I have not the slightest faith in those promises. The Native land difficulty will never be settled by the present Administration. They have neither the desire nor •the energy to make muoh improvement on the existing position. They are simply hookwinking the people, and the public of both races know that perfectly .well. The whole country is crying out for reform in connection with Native matters, but before proper reform takes place the present Executive will have to be reformed out of existence. So ■with ordinary Crown lands, the present Government have tied tip half of our remaining Crown lands in such a way that settlement is seriously handicapped, but they will not face the position and endeavour to remedy the mistakes that have been made, and after their fiasco of last session I don't think there is a chance of getting a useful Land Bill through the present Parliament. I have no doubt though that more will be heaTd of this subject at the proper time.

Water Supplies, "The Prime Minister proposes to expend £500,000 per annum in developing our water power. It is right that our water' powers should be utilised, and in some cases it may be necessary for the Government to act; but I see no reason why private enterprises should not be allowed and encouraged to 1 ' develop water power for mining or other industrial purposes. I.have,been repeatedly informed . that in '■ certain parts of the Dominion privately-owned capital was'available for this purpose,: and I think-that in the'interests of the country that it should have the opportunity. : .Tho Waihi : Company has been able to make arrangements for water power and why not others? Legislation, giving tho State power to resume, will alwayß prevent monopoly, but. it seems to me the greatest monopolists, both of land and water, are tho Government themselves, and i<he most difficult to. deal with. Defence. "I have already expressed definitely my opinion on the dofenco proposals, but I may repeat that I would like to see'tho Act of last year given a trial before extending its scope. That, however, will be a matter for Parliament; but I see no one at present in New Zealand competent to take tho lead in administering tho new Act, and if its administration is entrusted to the Defence Department in its present condition, then I fear for tho Tesult. Wo requiro a first-class man at the htad of the Defence Department —a good organiser, an experienced soldier, and possessed of common sense and tact— one in whom our dofenco forces will

have confidenco and it is the first duty of tho Government to find him whether in this country or out of it. Electoral Rolls. "I see that the Minister promises an Electoral Bill, -and I hope it will he proceeded with. 1 hopo also that the electors-will realise that in many instances the rolls are in a very unsatisfactory condition, and require careful looking into. Since tho provision for automatic purging was repealed thousands of names Save been allowed to remain on tho rolls which have no right to be there, and in consequence there are opportunities for improper practices such.as should be made impossible. ■ I hope, ■ too, that we shall have something better than tho out-of-date and unsatisfactory system of second ballot provided. What the Country Really Requires. "To me the speech does not' indicate a very interesting session in so much as 1 do not' think it reveals any desire on the paxt of the Government to give effect.to whit the country reaJly requires, namely:— "A progressive policy of land settlement. " "Systematic openjng -of the Native lands. , "Economy in connection with expenditure. "Non-political administration of tho different Departments. "Reform of our local government system.' "An all-round improTOment in our system of general government so as to do away with tie mystery which obtains, and allow the light of day to reach the dark corners in which some of our administrative machinery has been placed." *

PRESS OPINION. (By Tclocraph.—Sueclal perreaDoQdoat.l Chrlstctiurch, May 6. The "Press," in the- course of its comments on Sir Joseph .Ward's speech, approves of the proposal to establish a sinking fund for the liquidation of the debt, adding: "But we cannot help thinking that he (the Prime Minister) has been more influenced by the knowledge that it will be,easier to renew loans for _ which a sinking ' fund has been provided, than by a desire to protect posterity from the necessity of having to bear our burdens, as well as their own." In tho matter of defence, tho "Press" expresses pleasure at the Government's acceptance of Lord Kitchener's scheme, and that tho arrangements for putting it into practice are being pushed forward. "It is, however, unfortunate in our'opinion (it adds) that the higher officers, on whom the success of the scheme so largely depends, are not to be offered the pay which Lord. Kitchener thought necessary in order .to sccurei really good men. Sir Joseph Ward ad-' mitted that, with other countries competing for their services, New Zealand 'cannot expect to secure _ first-class men without paying what is reasonable, and what they- can obtain elsewhere. But he thought that the salaries suggested were higher than New Zealand could be expected to give. This is practically an' admission that the Dominion will have to be satisfied with- other than first-class men. It is bad policy to 'spoil- the ship for a ha'porth of tar,' and, desirable as economy may be, it would have been better to pay such salaries as would attract tho best men available. The difference between what was suggested, and what is to be offered would apparently not amount to a very large sum—probably a very small .proportion of tho total amount to be expended on the scheme— and to withhold it may make all the difference between the complete, or only the partial, success of the scheme. We hope that in this niatter 1 . better counsels will prevail. '',',., .„ "The announcement that there will probably be a new Land and . Income Assessment Bill will attract widespread notice. It is clear from Sir Joseph s remarks that the injustice and folly of the present Act, especially in regard to the manner in which it affects investments in towns, have been brought home to Km; The Government see'that the legislation by which they; apparently intended merely to.make things uncomfortable for the largo landowners has a much wider scope, and is hitting a much larger circle of electors hard. "The saving of a quarter of a million in the annual appropriations, which was to be effected by the Governments retrenchment scheme, is now seen, continues the' "Press," have been slightly under'£loo,ooo; Sir Joseph does not see any further necessity for retrenchment in the public services— an announcement which fully bears out public expectations.' We can only trust that the 'return to prosperity does not also mean a return to the unmitigated wasteful extravagance that has, in the past, characterised the administration of the Public Service. No one believed, for one moment, that the Government would ever reduce the annual cost of the service by a quarter of a million, but the mere fact that it has been possible to cnt it down by £100,000 shows only too clearly how unnecessarily the country has been bled for years past. Individuals have no doubt suffered from tho retrenchment policy, but the efficiency of the_ service has not been impaired, and it is quite possible that still further prnning could be done with advantage to the country. "Sir Joseph Ward is 'undoubtedly to be congratulated upon tho improved financial condition of the Dominion, which is so strongly reflected in the position of the Government's finances. All we can hopo is that _ the reaction from the recent depression will not lead him into fresh extravagances. We should be more confident on this point, wo must confess, if he were a trifle less exultant. We suspect him of overanxiety to doff the 'Hodden grey' of economy, and put on the purple and fine linen of borrowing and squandering." ;