The Dominion. THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1912, A FINANCIAL SKIRMISH.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1507, 1 August 1912, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1912, A FINANCIAL SKIRMISH.

There were some lively passages in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon on financial matters, the Opposition taking advantage of an Imprest Supply Bill to assail the Government in time-hon-oured style. The trouble originated out of a small compliment paid to the Minister for Finance in the columns of The Dominion a few days ago. Mil. Myers, the ex-Minister, quoted as follows: The announcement recently published that the Minister for Finance lias been ablo to make satisfactory financial arrangements for some time to come in con : liection with the conduct of the country's affairs would seem to indicate that Mr. Allen has applied himself to his now duties with that industry and grasj) of financial questions which made him so searching a critic when in Opposition. ■ A harmless enough compliment this would seem; but it was read by Mr. Myers in conjunction with the accompanying news item: "The Minister for Finance (the Hon. James Allen) informed a reporter yesterday that satisfactory arrangements had been made in London for the renewal of nearly all the, loans falling due up to the end of the current year.' 1 Mit. Myers was hurt because (l) lie claimed that before lie leftjoflicc lie had made the. necessary arrangements for the renewals in question, and (2) that the arrangements had not been' made in London. Mr. Allen', of course, is not responsible for what The Dominion, or, we suppose, any other newspaper, chooses to publish; but unfortunately for Mr. the claim put forward by the ex-Min-ister was not supported by the facts in material particulars. Mn. Allen showed—in contradiction of tho statement of Mr. Myers—that portion of the renewals had'to be made in London and Australia, though the remainder —the larger amount —was provided for in New Zealand. Moreover, it was made absolutely clear that apart altogether from what Mr. Myers had done, his successor had arranged for some very important renewals. The incident was not one of any particular moment, except perhaps to show that the ex-Minister, in his desire to make a score, had been somewhat hasty and in certain particulars had fallen into error', . But out of this question arose another, and one of . some interest. Finding they had failed in this line of a I tack, the Opposition endeavoured to make it appear that (he Minister for Fill a tire. bad secured tbe renewal n? a loan from the Post Olliee at a rate prejudicial to the depositors in the Post Office Havings Bank. Sir ,lo=r.rii Warp was wise enough to disclaim any such intention, but the, .whole tone of the speeches went iu 1

th,if; direction and it was even so slated. As a matter of fact the Jlasskv (iovernnient secured tin; reimtvjil of tin' loan of £800,000 from tin; Postal Department uL exactly the same rate as the \Y,utn Govcrninent secured the original loan from tile l lcparliiient, thai: is at per cent; and this did 110 L in any way affect tin? rate of interest pai'd to depositors in the l'ost Oflice Savings Hank. Moreover, the necessity for this loan renewal was one of many similar legacies left to the Reform Government by the Continuous Ministry. Unquestionably Hi:: action of the Postal Depart lit in extending the period of the loan was a coib veniencc to the Minister for Finance ; but was it not also a convenience to the Postal ]lepartiiient to have this avenue of investment available for the large sum falling into its hands'! As a matter of fact the arrangement was satisfactory enough to both Departments,' and certainly the best thing possible in the circumstances for the country. Yesterday's discussion served one useful purpose: it served to eonvincc the House that, the new Minister for Finance has already probed deeply into t-ho position of the country's finances and that he will prove an awkward customer for the Opposition to tackle. It was a, little amusing yesterday to note, the eagerness of Ministers to join in the fray and demolish the points raised by their opponents. Plainly there is'plenty of good fighting material on the Treasury Benches, but Ministers will probably find as time goes on that silence is, on occasions, golden—that a still tongue at the right time, may serve a more useful purpose in helping on business than a fighting specch.