MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 289, 2 September 1919, Page 6

MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS

THE CRAZE FOR STATE 'EXPENDITURE. Sir,—Tho Governments and the local bodies having by vexatious legislation and the imposition of heavy rates and taxes driven private' enterprise and town builders out of the building trade in this city, a 'dozen or so of citizens who have never in their lives ventured one single shilling of their own capital or savings in building housestto let are loudly clamouring to the Government to spend or give them ,£16,000,000, of other people's money to spend in "building, worliing men's homes," and threaten that if the Government refuses to give them nil they ask for or demand they will 6ond the Government to perdition. These people 6eem to have unbonnded faith in the ability and willingness of the Goveminent to grant them anything they like to clamour for. Another dozen or so are just'as loudly clamouring for more millions for nationalisation of all the coal mines in our Dominion. Another wwtion of the community are just as loudly demanding the nationalisation of the shipping and shipbuilding at a cost of many more millions of taxpayers monev. Others, again, are demanding tens of millions of money out of the same pockets for providing water for everybody and everywhere. Then, again, other people, chiefly in the country, want about 50 millions to spend on railways, roads, and bridges, and "will not be happy till they get it.' Hniy, the simple faith of some people in Hi* power and ability of the Government and Government Department? to do every, thing for them is unbounded. Ten years ago, when the first Labour Government caine into power in New South Wife, thev took a large block of Government laiid in Sydney and laid it out in sections 40 x ISO feet as a garden suburb, and named it Dacevville, after the State Treasurer. They laid on Hi« water and sewerage, electric light, gas. etc., also the Government tramways, and spent, large suiins of Government money on the place, making provision for upwards of 2000 houses. After all these vears there are only 300 houses limit in the Government suburb of Daceyvilie. Many yenra. a<ro the Federal Government of Australia started out to build a magnificent capita l , city m the bush and called it Canberra. Vast sums of n«onPv brtvo been spent tliove, A reporter for tlie Sydney "Daily Telegraph visited the place less than a month-, aero, and said in his report: "So that waste went on. Money was noured into Canberra as into a sink, and there is remarkably li tie left to show The roads are mv.etic. ally deserted, and durfng Hie vhols tour nf the site hardly n veluc' 0 and only an occasional pedestrian. So on this deserted plain, with here and (here tinv vil.'a-res, there has r »een oxspended £%000.000.' and about all there is to show for it is a netwoik of ex-, cellent roads, the finest fence in the Commonwealth (with concrete nosts), dam that is in the wroue »l«ce." *10, am. etc., -T. H. COLLIE!?. , Northland, September 1, 19111. i