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NOTES OF THE DAY

A little simple arithmetic may servo a useful purpose just, now in bringing home to people some idea of tne changed conditions brought, about by the war as they affect the financial obligations of the country —and its people. Let us take, in the first instance, the annual expenditure, which, apart from the cost nf. Working Railways, represents the sum required for meeting our borrowing obligations, pensions, and cost of government. To better show the position, We have taken the five-year period preceding the war and the five years following The figures do not include exnenditure under the Public Works Fund. Annual Increase?, Year ended Expenditure. 5 years. March 31. £, - £ 1910 8,990,95.'2 - 1915 12,379,5('3 3,388,881 1920 (estimate) ... 22,141,057 10,071,251 There it will be seen that our annual expenditure has been increased over ten millions during the five years ending March 31_ next, _ as against three and one-third millions in the previous five years. And tho position is still worse when we take our permanent charges alone, that is to say, the charges arising from interest and sinking fund- on our debt, war and other pensions, etc. Permanent appropriations. £ 1910 3,511,409 1915 4,505,177 1920 (estimate) '..., 11,500,000 In the five years prior to the war the permanent charges on the country's finances increased by about ono million, whereas in the succeeding five years they will hs.vc increased by about seven millions—a'continuing charge. That is to say, while they were little oyer £3 10s. per head of the population in 1910, today they are over £10 per head. It is the same story in regard to taxation, only more so. Revenue from Taxation. Per head. £ £ b. d. • 1910 4,180,516 t 5 0 1915 5.880.811 5 7 5 1919 (about) 13,500,000 12 2 0 Yet there arc peonle, members of Parliament included, who, with these facts staring them in the face, still talk lightly of throwing further millions about and piling vtp tho burden still higher.

The lull support given at the conference of education boards to the establishment of an administrative council to exercise central control over education is noteworthy, following £,s it does upon the proposal on similar lines approved by the New Zealand Educational Institute at its last annual conference: The teachers of the Dominion and education boards are, of course, opposed on some important issues; indeed, the teachers aim at securing the abolition of the boards in their present form. The general agreement of teachers and boards in regard to a central administrative council is on this account so much the better evidence that the constitution of such a body would be a move on right lines. At present the only central authorities over _ education are the Minister and his Department. The existing Council of Education is; only an advisory body. There is undoubtedly a widespread and well-ground-ed feeling that in the existing control of education there is a serious lack of initiative and enterprise and an undue devotion to routine procedure. An efficient administrative council might easily effect an enormous improvement. Such a body should consist not only of educational experts, but of representatives capable of dealing from the broadest, standpoint with cdu-

cational standards and aims. In the interests of reform it is ncccssary_ first and foremost to conquer the isolation of the Department of Education and correct its' mechanical methods and jog-trot routine. Parliament and the people ought to be in intimate human touch, with the educational system of the Dominion, and though the transfer of authority from the Department to an administrative council is not the only step that must be taken to' that end it is probably the most important. It is hardly necessary to point out that as chairman of such an administrative council the Minister of Education would be strengthened in authority and in every way better placed to do useful work than he is to-day.

One little disclosure during the soldiers' gratuities debate in the House of Representatives in the early hours of yesterday morning will take a lot of explaining away. It would seem that when the gratuities were under discussion in the clays of the National Government «■ much lower scale of payments than that now brought forward was contemplated. The question came up early last December, and Sin Joseph Ward then arrears to have taken very little interest in it. So much so that when the proposal was mentioned to him by the Defence Minister he apparently did not trouble to even express an opinion on it. The curious thing about it is that when ihe Minister of Defence vi>. i»ind"d him yesterday of Hie Rational Government's decision Sir Joseph Ward sought to repudiate any responsibility by claiming that "he had not acouiesccd [as had been alleged]; he bad simply offered no objection." This is lame enough in all conscience; but he appeared to even less advantage in his_ further attemoj, to escape responsibility by claiming that he had not attended the Cabinet meeting next day at which the matter came up for decision. Presumably Sir Joseph Ward is unable to see what this neglect implies. Where was his concern for the interests of the. soldiers or the interests of the country (for he was finance Minister at the time) when he did not even take J .'he' trouble to attend the sitting of Cabinet at which he knew the million of gratuities was to be decided?

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19190926.2.27

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 1, 26 September 1919, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
901

NOTES OF THE DAY Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 1, 26 September 1919, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 1, 26 September 1919, Page 6

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