Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1919. FINDING THE MONEY.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 September 1919, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1919. FINDING THE MONEY.

The. yoke of .responsibility is the pressure which determines the methods adopted for raising loan moneys. Those ssanding afar oif, and presumed to see most of the game, have many and varied opihions about borrowing money • for the State. There is the question of the rate of interest to be determined; in the case of special loans, whether they shall be free of income tax or not; and the particular terms Hinder which the money is to be raised. Just now, as at Home, there is the suggestion .to make a capital levy, while here there has been the proposal to get the money direct from i ihe banks. In either case, forced means j would act indirectly in such a way as to have the opposite result from that i intended. Bearing the money market in that way would make money dearer, and this would 'be reflected on local trading. The dislocation would have its effect on the general prosperity accordingly. In the Victory loan now before the people, and applications for which have only some ten days to run, the present Minister of Finance is raising the .money on the method hitherto adopted with regard to war loans. V'cu millions are being raised now, and it is believed this will be almost ample to discharge the country’s final pliabilities arising out of 'the Great Wai. There is authority to raise a further six millions, but the loan now cn the market will carry on till the new Parliament meets, when, if necessary, the final washing up in regard to loan moneys will take place. The loan is at the rate of 4J% free of incline tax. In speaking in the House Inst week, when, associating himself in. urging an appeal to the country for the loan money, Sir Josepeh Ward s.i'f! New Zealand had enjoyed throughout the war the cheapest money of any country in the world. Canada had borrowed recently money at per cent free of income tats. The United States had borrowed at 5 per cent free of income tax. Great Britain had borrowed at 4 per cent, with a discount of 20 per cent. The system followed by New Zealand throughout the war, and maintained by the present Minister of Finance, was calculated to keep the price of money down. It should not be forgotten that the people who were getting the benefit of the free of income tax provision, at the present time were also the people who would be required to pay three-fourths of the taxation of the Dominion in the years to come. The Leader of the Opposition suggested that tl.» Minister of Finance should tell the House ns nearly as possible how the £10,000,000 was to he expended. He believed that it would not be possible in put the war finance on a really definite footing for another six or eight months, but the time was approaching when the Minister of Finance would hove to calculate the expenditure and the liabilities, and put a clear statement before the House, with a view to fixing a time when the repayment of the war debt by means of a sinking fund would begin. Under the previous legislation of Sir Joseph Ward whei Premier, an. act was passed in 1910, colled the Public Debt Extension Act, which provides ways and means for extinguishing the public debt in years. This process goes on eaoh year by the Controller and Auditor-General calculating the sum required to be invested iannuially to obtain a capital | sum equal to' the public .debt in 75 years. It is the application of this extinction principle Sir Joseph now asks for in regard to the war debt, and tins appears to be very sound finance. Tn the course of Sir Joseph’s remarks in the House last week, a Labor membei interjected “why not get the money d'-rect from the banks?” The reply was that it would be a very dangerous thing to do, for thereby a stringency would be created, and those who wante money for ordinary purposes of trading would bo in a very difficult position. The banks would not be in a position tn make further advances. It is clear that the war finanec has been wellmanaged in this country, and the people have much to he grateful for for the magnificent services rendered. The present Victory loan 'can be faced, therefore, with every confidence.

T.\ the political world of the Dominion there is a strong feeling up growing for the '(nationalisation of the pones. The Industries Committee has just pronounced in favor of this, apparently more from expediency than from ideas of economy. The desire is to endeavour to bring about industrial peace in the working of coal, the great power which is so essential for the working of industries of tail kinds, transport, lighting and other great utilities which go to make up the amenities of life. At Home there is an aversion on tlie part of the Government to nationalisation which is being resented by the great majority attending the Labor Congress now' sitting. At Home as recommended here by the Board of Trade- a measure of control is proposed as a working basis to afford relief asked for by the workers. Tho real struggle on tho point has not como in Britain yet, but it is shaping that way fast, and it is expected the next general election in tho United "Kingdom will bo fought mainly on the issue. Tho issue will come prominently into the Now Zealand general election ulrc, and the fact that tho Industries Committee favors tho idea will carry

a good deal of weight. Sir Joseph Ward in the policy he propounded lately advocated the nationalisation of the eo;«! mines. Hero the conversion can be brought about at much, less money cost than in the Old Land. But there is rather more than money cost involved, there is a great principle in political economy, and if we have nationalisation of coal mines, why not the nationalisation of land also. The Land nationalisens hav e been dormant far some time, but the precedent spoke of will galvanise them into wakefulners, and they will agitate again for the land to go back to the Crown, also. Actually therefore, there is a greater issue at stake than the fate only of the coal mines, and the question must needs be viewed from all points before reaching a national decision.

The political affairs of Ireland again looir. large in the cable news. The unrest there is undoubted, for military authority is being strictly enforced. It is a sad commentary if not a severe reflection on British statesmanship tlinl tile Irish question remains unsettled. It remains unsettled not from any unwillingness of the British Parliament for schemes have been suggested in the past, only to fail from their very inception. Even when the rubjecD was relegated entirely to a conclave of Irish representatives, a protracted session failed to reach any agreement. And now matters appear to be going from bad to worse. The rebellious and disloyal spirit in Ireland is manifesting itself in its worst forms. Police and military, as the representatives of law and order, are being shot down by unknown persons, and the authorities which gave the disloyalists much latitude in the past in the matter of winking at the so-called Irish Parliament, have now gone to the other extreme; and are suppressing these outvinrd and visible signs of complete disloyalty. The Irish question is in as big a muddle as ever, and with the conflicting issues of North v. South there does not appear to be any royal road to a settlement which would give Ireland political peace. In other respects tic country is prosperous and must have a notable future before it; but in politics the people refuse to agree among themselves to a complete form 1 o° home rule, and so make the situation all the more difficult for the British Parliament to grapple with with any hope of universal satisfaction. Perhaps sooner than later the Gordian Knot must be c ut, for the unrest and • disquietude are intolerable, and the fact that the British statesmen cannot ir.eet the situation is a reflection on the nation’s prestige. The Empire ] wants to see the Irish question solved : hut the difficulty is to reach a satisfac- | tory solution.