The Gisborne Herald. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED "HE TIMES” GISBORNE, FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 1943. AN UNINSPIRING BUDGET

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21112, 4 June 1943, Page 2

The Gisborne Herald. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED "HE TIMES” GISBORNE, FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 1943. AN UNINSPIRING BUDGET

The Budget presented by Mr. Nash last evening followed largely along the lines which any intelligent anticipation wou.lt! -have suggested.y .There, can have been few people, however, who expected such a drab and uninspiring' speech, more particularly since this is election year and there was some reason to look for a statement of Government policy. Inevitably, the Budget was over-shadowed by considerations of war finance. In the current financial year the Government expects to expend an aggregate ol more than £200.000.000. of which £148.000,000— equal to £3.000,000 a week —is required for war purposes. It is an enormous bill for a country oi less than 1.750,000 people and it is obvious that it can only be met by subordinating everything else to the task of meeting it. It is significant that this year only £46.000,000, or less than one-third of the total, is to be found from taxation. The balance of more than £100.000.000 is to be borrowed, and of this sum just over hall is to come from Britain and the United States. The fact that it is election year probably explains why there is no increase in taxation, since the Government is falling far short of its original aim of providing half the war costs out of taxes. This new policy means, of course, that the burden for the future is proportionately increased. The general tendency is to regard war expenditure as inescapable and although the public may suspect waste and extravagance it has little opportunity of checking it, since the accounts arc not subject to detailed review by Parliament. This does not apply, however, to the consolidated fund, which reflects the normal civil expenditure of the Government. The public has reason to complain that this expenditure, ftir from being curtailed, shows another increase of £3.000,000. Since the present. Government as•aimed office, departmental expenditure has risen by £16,000.000, or more than 60 per cent, without allowing for the £17,000,000 to be spent on social security. The total Government expenditure, other than for war purposes, has more than doubled in the last eight years. In addition to this there has been a record increase in borrowing for other than war purposes. . The point that stands out is that if the Government had been less extravagant for its own demands there would hove been a substantially larger amount of revenue available to assist Lhc war expenses. Had it, for example, been content with a modest increase of 50 per cent in ordinary expenditure, instead of more than 100 per cent, there would have been an additional £15,000,000 available this year aloilc. Unfortunately, it is probably true that the chief public interest in the Budget lay in' the extent to which further impositions or concessions might be made; the financial stability of the country and the prospects for the future are, with rhany people, matters of secondary consideration. From this angle, most people would find the Budget at least satisfactory, in that there are no increases in taxalion. It is possible that the Government realises that the limit has begn reached, but this aspect apart it was not likely to impose increases in election year if they could be avoided. On the other hand, some sections ol the community, notably the pensioners, actually secure further benefits from the Budget. • Age benefits are increased by Is a week, family allowances by Is fid, and widows’ pensions by 4s. This is doubtless some recognition of the extent to which living costs have been increased and since the increases are very modest compared with those granted to other sections few people will be inclined lo complain. More substantial increases have been granted in respect lo ex-servicemen’s pensions and the new rates might almost be regarded as liberal, although much depends on how the system is administered. The increased payment to hospitals is a tardy and half-hearted remedy of a rank injustice.

As to the general comment contained in the Budget, the public is not likely to find much to enthuse over. The information in regard to lendlease operations is of considerable interest, but the emphasis of the need for stabilisation, the importance of subscribing to the war loan, and the platitudes regarding rehabilitation ail strike the old familiar note. It is significant that the Minister has again gone out of his way wholeheartedly to condemn the issue of currency by the Reserve Bank; and it is difficult to reconcile His denunciation with the fact that Reserve Bank credit, has been, and is being, used to the extent of many millions of pounds. What is most striking about the whole Budget, however, is that it contains hardly a word to indicate the Government’s policy for the future. There is no reference to the effects on the Dominion of the Atlantic Charter and tire lend-leasc agreements, no mention of land settlement or immigration, no concrete proposals for rahibilitation or post-war reconstruction, and nothing to suggest that the Government is concerned with increasing production in order that its present and future commitments can be met. There is, of course, still time for these things to be dealt with but the public has reason to be perturbed that they should apparently 'have been lost sight of in the Budget.