THE LOAN BILL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1870, 2 October 1913, Page 6

THE LOAN BILL.

While there was little that was new in the debate on the Loan Bill in the House of Representatives on Tuesday evening, it served to bring out clonrly the points of view of the two political parties on the financial issues of the moment. The' criticism of the Opposition was directed almost entirely to two points: (1) the continuance of borrowing by the Massey Government, and (2) the failure of the Government to lend as much inoney through the Advances to Settlers Office as was done in the preceding year by the Ward Government. Both of theke questions have been fully thrashed out on'previous occasions, and the Opposition know perfectly .well that the facts of tho position, if impartially reviewed, afford no ground of complaint against the Government. But the exigencies .of party politics require that' they should find fault with the policy and administration of their opponents, and so they havo endeavoured to twist the facts in order to place tho Government at a disadvantage. On the question of borrowing, for instance, they seek to create the impression that the Reform Party' when in _ Opposition was opposed to borrowing. This, of course, is not tho case, and the Opposition are well aware of tho fact. They know well enough that no Government could carry on in New Zealand at the present time without borrowing, and that the Reform Party has always recognised this. To stop borrowing suddenly would not only seriously ninder the progress and development of the oountry, but would dislocate business in a variety of directions, throw hundreds of people out of employment, and cause widespread hardship and distress, i The Reform Party has never advocated the sudden cessation of borrowing, but it has urged that the finances of the country should_.be so strengthened by careful administration as to enable it to gradually taper off its borrowing. The question which most concerns the Dominion is the manner in which the money is expended, and the results likely to be derived therefrom. If the money_ which has been wasted in political railways, extravagant buildings, and in other unproductive ways designed to Eerve party ends since the borrowing policy was first inaugurated in New Zealand had been spent in reproductive works, New. Zealand would be an immeasurably wealthier country today than it is, and the necessity for heavy borrowing would bo materially lessened. As to the sccond ground of attack, that relating to the amount advanced to settlers, the Opposition again conveniently ignore the real facts of the position. The Government was only id office for nine months during last financial' year, and the state of the finances at the time mado it necessary _ to proceed with the utmost caution. The Opposition, of course, know this. They nave seen the official figures in the Budget, and they know quite well the commitments they left their successors in office to wrestle with. Moreover, they know that the year ending March 31, 1912, was election year, and that the Ward Government advanced that year nearly a million more than it had ever dono before, in order to sweeten the electorates. The facts arc on_iecord and cannot bo disputed. It is a significant thing that the only criticism that the Opposition have been able to direct against the Government lias been so plainly the product of party bias. They have carefully avoided any serious _ disputation of the claims of the Minister of Finance respecting the strengthening ot tho position of the various accounts and the placing of them on a sounder footing. They dare not attempt to disprove his contention that the finances of tho country, as the outcome of tho policy pursued by the Reform Government, arc on a bettor and a sounder basis than they have been for years past. The Continuous Ministry left the finances in a state calculated to embarrass the in- ! coming and now the worst they can say is that in the process of straightening out the tangle left him, tho new Minister of [..Finance moved warily, and refused

to commit the Government to loans or to expenditure until lie had the money to meet his _ obligations. That is what the criticism of the Opposition amounts to. They have grown so accustomed to reckless plunging in financial matters that they imagine it is an offence to exercise plain business caution. Tho public will no doubt judge by results, and these are to be found in the Budget laid before Parliament a few weeks ago, and In the general improvement 111 the finances of the country since disclosed.