ON FINANCIAL BUSINESS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1579, 24 October 1912, Page 6

ON FINANCIAL BUSINESS.

. «. MR. ALLEN'S MISSION TO LONDON. In the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon Mr. A. 11. Myers (Auckland East) asked the Minister for Finance, without notice, whether the statement which appeared in The Dominion' of that day that .£74,000 of last year's Public, Works Loan was still nnraiscd, was correct, and if so, whether this was in addition to the .£1,050,000, the balance iof the 1911 loan still available. Would not this amount of .£74,000 increase avail-' able ways and means? The Hon. J. Allen (Minister for Finance) said the amount of a littlo over a million which the honourable gentleman had referred to had been practically all pledged, and the amount really available for Public Works was a little over .0300,000. With regard to the .674.000 the honourable gentleman would recollect that thero was an amount of over ,£.200,000 of the Public Works Loan not included in the allocation of the four and a half million loan and that the Government had been' able to transfer between £11)0,000 and ,6160,000 from the naval defence loan. The Dreadnought qruiser was not going tpcost as much as was oxneeted, and portion of the moneys raisen was thereby released to be transferred to the Public Works Fund. This left still .674,000 of the Public Works Loan to bo. raised. Even after it was raised it would not put the Public Works Fund in a very sound position.

Mr. G. W. Russell: Might I ask whether it is a fact that the Minister for Finance intends to go to London directly after the session ? / Mr. Allen: Ask the Prime Minister. v Mr. RuMell: Very well, I ask the Prime Minister then.

Mr. .Myers: Might I ask Uie Prime Minister what instructions will be given to the Minister for Finance as to what attitude he shall adopt on the nuestion of naval defence?

the Hon.. W. F. Massey said it was the intention of the Government that the Minister for Finance should go to England on financial business as soon as possible. Ho suggested that Mr. Mvors should put his question regarding naval defence on the Order Paper. Mr. Myers: As Minister ho will bo accredited from New Zealand, and presumably he will represent Now Zealand at meetings of the Imperial Defeuco Committee.