AN EXTRAVAGANT PROPOSAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 15, 12 October 1918, Page 6

AN EXTRAVAGANT PROPOSAL

Cabinet seems to have had' an absent moment when it sanctioned an expenditure of £12,000 upon a temporary building to house the amalgamated Base Records and Pay Offices of the Defence Department. If there is anything to be said in favour of the project it has not been brought to light. On the facts available it invites condemnation as a piece of inexcusable extravagance. The proposal, as it has been made., public, is to erect a temporary building which would be used only during the remaining period of the war and in the demobilisation period;' and' afterwards, presumably, would be pullcd ( down. Probably, therefore, the useful life of the building would be limited to three or four years; it might not be. needed even for three years. In the circumstances thc_ expenditure proposed is far too high. The proposal is all the more extravagant in view of the high prices now ruling for all kinds of building materials. If the Defence Department really needs an addition to its existing accommodation it will best obtain it at this stage of the war by leasing some suitable existing building. This undoubtedly would mean a considerable saving as compared with the erection, of a temporary Building, even if. the war should" continue for another year'or' two. It is more than likely that the greater part of the money it is proposed to spend on the temporary building would be thrown away. _ It is evidently incumbent on Cabinet to reconsider the proposal, giving due heed to the fact that this is a time not only to avoid extravagance, but to practise all possible economy.