The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 1911. THE YEAR'S FINANCES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1123, 10 May 1911, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 1911. THE YEAR'S FINANCES.

The Acting-Minister for Finance, the Hon. J. A. Millar, made known last evening at Dunedin the financial results of the past year's operations. The figures came through too late to permit close analysis, but the totals are quite sufficient in themselves to show that the year has been a quite exceptional one from the point of view of. the buoyancy of the revenue. This was fully expected. Wc predicted some time ago that with the assistance of recent increases of taxation and the general improvement in trade the Government would be in a position to show a million surplus unless they preferred to cover up this evidence of over-taxation by transferring a portion of the money to the Public Works Fund, and our anticipation is fully borne out by the figures.Mr. Millar, had the Government so decided, could have made the startling announcement of a surplus of £1,356,483., This, of course, would have included the amount brought forward from the previous y-?ar, £•132,310, the actual excess of revenue over expenditure for the past year being £95-1,167. But as can easily be understood the Government has preferred to cover up the enormous amount of extra taxation that has been collected by a transfer of £■500,000 to the Public Works Fund, which still leaves the substantial surplus of £586,483, to bo carried forward into the current year's credit account. Before proceeding to compare the returns with those of previous years we must- - congratulate Mn. Millar on the very full and complete fashion in which he has placed, the figures before the country. For the purposes of comparison we have taken a period of ten years, which covers (lie five closing years of Mr. Seddon's period of office and the five years during which Sir Joseph Ward has been Prime Minister. The revenue returns for the ten years arc as follow: Seddon Government. ■ Eerenue. Increase. Decrease. £ £ £ 1902 G,053,070 200,304 — 1903 G,386,G10 333,510 - ISOI 7,021,380 031,770 — lSiO.") 7,282,870 201,181 — 1901) 7,581,359 301,-189 — Ward Government. 1907 8,399,075 814,716 - 1908 9,055,918- 058, S7l - 1909 9,001,185 — 51,761 1910 9,238,201 237,070 - 1911 10,297,023 1,058,702 — The enormous increase shown in 1911 establishes a'record. It means that the public has paid something like' one million pounds extra in taxation of one kind or another during the past year. Turning to the expenditure for the same period as shown above wc get the following figures: Seddon Government. Expenditure. Increase. > <£ 1902 5,895,915 416,212 1903 0,214,019 318,104 1904 6,-134,281 220,262 1905 6,035,902 201,621 . 1906 7,122,310 .480,438 Ward Government. 1907 7,734,975 612,635 1908 8,213,965 478,990 190!) 8,785,513 571,748 1910 8,990,922 205,409 1911 9,343,106 352,184 The expenditure, it win be seen, has increased by a substantial amount. As a matter of fact, since the professions of economy early in 1909 the expenditure out of the Consolidated Fund—which as our readers no doubt know is quite separate from the Public Works Fund—has increased by over half a million sterling. Comparing the expenditure for t-ne five years of the Ward Administration with the five closing years of the Seddon regime, it will be seen that while Mr. Seddon had succeeded at the close of the five years in adding £1,600,000 to the annual cost of government, Sin Joseph Ward, during a similar period, added over £2,200,000. That is to say, between these two administrators over £3,809,000 has been added to the annual cost of government in ten years, and of this huge annual drain on the country Sir Joseph Ward and his Ministry have been responsible for the greater part. _ The taxation per head of population on the figures shown must cclipse all records, but at the time of writing we have not the details to enable us to give the exact amount: A good idea of the financial results of the year's operations can be derived from a comparison with the previous year's figures in the following form: ° 1909-10. 1910-11. X Balanct brought forward, April 1 ' 32,316 Eevenue (excluding balance brought forwar(l) ...?. 9,238,917 10,297,023 Expenditure during y e ar 5,990,922 9,343,106 Excfss of revenue over expenditure ; 2-17,995 954,167 Transferred to Public Works Fund Nil ROO.OOO Balance* March 31 132,316 556.453

These arc the outstanding features of the figures placed before the public by M.R. Millar. Wc have not time to go into the details nor to discuss the opinions of the Minister thereon. While it is always a satisfactory thing to know that there is a balance on the right side when that balance roaches the enormous dimensions recorded above it pay reasonably be a ground for anxiety. When we find a Government persisting in retaining specially-impos-ed taxation in face of increasing revenue—piling up huge sums extracted by taxation so that the money comes to hand on the eve of a general election—and when in addition we find that same Government floating loans in one year totalling nearly seven million pounds, all available for expenditure on the eve of a general election, it is only reasonable that doubts should be raised as to whether the finances of the country arc being handled so a; to serve the interests of the people or whether thev arc being manipulated to further the ends of the Government. That aspect of the situation, however, must stand over for review on a future occasion.