The Dominion. THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1920. THE SESSION

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 231, 24 June 1920, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1920. THE SESSION

The first session of a new Parliament is not, as a rule, marked by industrious application to business, but it is possible to hope for a departure from normal in the case of the session which is to be opened formally to-day. The times evidently aro ill-suited to_ anything like drifting in a political backwash. In such.conditions as exist, Ministers and members probably will havo less. difficulty in deciding to cultivate habits of industry than'in selecting from tho innumerable demands' that aro boing mado insistently upon their time and energy, and upon the resources of tho country, as many as it ist humanly possible to meet. Ah the session opens; it 1b particularly plain that Parliament cannot hope to deal in the immediate futuro with more than a fraction of tho work in sight. Heavily burdened by_ the war. thrown out of its stride industrially .and in othor respects, aiid with a vast amount of leeway to be overtaken in development work, the Dominion is in n state which makes the task of its legislators somewhat < unenviable. The problems of the session obviously will centre largely in nuance. The demands for new expenditure that arc being raised in all directions constitute a staggering total. In the first place money has to bo found for wage and salary increases in tho Railways Department, the Post and Telegraph Department, the general Public Service, and the teaching profession. So long as they are kept within due limits, these demands represent nothing more than 'nn equitable adjustment, and obviously must be met. At tho same time, they make a serious addition to the country's financial problems, and will be met only in part by increasing Post and Telegraph charges and railway fares and freights. Other demands on the public purse

are being made almost without limit. Means will probably be required, for instance, for financing tho farmers of the Dominion in their export trade until our stores aro cleared and normal conditions of export are restored, or at all events approached. A substantial additional allocation is needed to complete the work of soldier settlement. Public works, including hydro-electric development, housing, and education (apart from teachers' salaries) are merely a few of tho more conspicuous remaining items. The existing condition of many school buildings and the heavy expenditure required to provide bettor accommodation are matters of familiar knowledge. It is agreed by all that soldier settlement and housing must not_ lag for lack of funds. Then, again, the country is heavily in arrears, not only in respect of road and railway construction and _ hydro-electric development, but in the prosecution of the important railway _ improvement works, which, according to the late General Manager of Railways, ought to have been completed long ago in order to keep the system up to date, and in a condition to cope efficiently with traffic. With one thing and another, ,_ it is particularly plain that Parliament and the Government will be faced this session by extraordinary difficulties in endeavouring to make ends meet. It is only too easy to set out proposals for expenditure each one of which has unimpeachable claims to attention, hut which in the aggregate hopelessly exceed available resources. No previous Finance Minister in the Dominion has ever been saddled with a more difficult task than is imposed this year on Mr. Massey. .Evidently., the' only course open to him is to maintain a big revenue, despite the fact that taxation is at such a' level that it must tend in some respects _to penalise and discourage enterprise. As tho outlook is shaping, some readjustment of taxation, with a view to removing anomalies and securing a more equitable distribution of burdens, is the utmost that can be expected in the way of relief for some time to_ come. The existing financial position emphasises the necessity of forwarding such reforms as will make it possible to securo better returns from a given outlay in public money. Thoro is, for instance, the old-but neglected question of relieving the Public Works Department from the hampering restrictions imposed by undue political interference with its detail operations.; There is no doubt that the Dominion would secure better results than at present if Parliament adopted the procedure of devoting a stated sum to be spent In a given time on the construction of roads, railways, or other works, and relegated to an independent expert authority tho detail apportionment and expenditure of : the funds thus made available. It is undoubtedly in the line of sound economy also that the State should assume responsibility for the' upkeep and maintenance of | all main roads, finding a substantial part of the necessary revenue in the taxation of motor vehicles, and maintaining an. adequate cquipmont of modern roadmaking plant. In conjunction with an amended system of subsidies, these measures would ensure a far speedier and more economical improvement in the roads of the.Dominion than is possible under the conditions that at present obtain. A time when very much heavier, calls are boing made on the- financial resources of the Dominion than can possibly be mot _is _ manifestly opportune for instituting progressive reforms of this character, and providing for tho prosecution on really businesslike lines of such undertak-hydro-electric- development. Available indications suggest, that the legislative programme of the pession will be exceptionally heavy. The_ revision of the Custom's Tariff, in itself a, very big order, may be postponed until- next year, hut the subjects likely to be.dealt with this wssion _ include Defence, Labour, Education, Public Health, Pensions, and many others. Immigration is not unJilwly to' call for some attention. It is at all. events desirable that the nrovisibns now governing t,he_ introduction of additional popuMion should be carefblly examined. The demands by which Parliament ia faced ar» =*? wide p* they are ex.afitinnr.. and it is n.s well to recocnisn that however willingly it mn.y bend *n its task+he limitations of public finance will lamely determine the scope of its useful activities.