OUR FINANCES

Hokitika Guardian, 9 October 1920, Page 1

OUR FINANCES

STATEMENT BY MR MASSEY. A SOUND POSITION. (Our Parliamentary Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, October 8. A statement of the national assets and liabilities was placed before the House by the Prime Minister. The gross public debt of the Dominion on March 31st. last as stated by Mr Masse was £201,170,755. The amount of the debt at the end of 1914-15 financial, year had been £99,812,510 and increase since that date had been £lOl- - 245. All of these increases, except about £12,000,000 had been due to the war.

Assets that could fairly be placed against the gross public debt were very substantial indeed. A total of £51,709,791 was made up of such items as follows —sinking fund, £7,157,000; investments of cash balances of public accounts, £90,206,000; bank of New Zealand shares £875,000; reserve fund 5e£14,478,000; cash in the public account entities, £800,000; State Advances £6,210,000 ; cash in the hands of officers £1,050,000. Th e Bank of New Zealand shares were quoted at what the State had paid for them.-, They probably were worth £2,000,000 'in the open market.

The expenditure of Government upon railways, public buildings, telegraphs, native land, settlement lands, harbours, lit rht houses, electrical installations etc. up to March 31st,, 1920 had amountto £72,327,643. These items were nearly all interest earning, and they certainly were worth. to-day much more than they had cost. The railways,for example, Were Worth a. great deal more than they had cost to build. The estimated value of the Crown Land remaining in the hands of the Government Was £15,000,000. The items he had quoted placed against the gross public debt, left an excess of liabilities over assets of £52,143,321. "This sum included money that had been spent on roads, immigration, State Coal mines, drainage of land and other indirectly profitable services. t The private wealth of the Dominion was estimated by the Treasury at £SOO- - and this item could be placed against the excess of public debt over the assets he had already quoted. He tlioulgh that the financial position of the Dominon was very strong indeed. No country could possibly be sounder. He did not know of any other country that was a well off financially as New Zealand.

He had not abandoned hope of getting some money from Germany as New Zealand’s share of the indemnity. Some payment would be made probably in the form of long term debentures, pay ing interest. Personally he did not believe the Dominion could expect more than four millions. The actual amount would be known within a couple of years. *

The outlook for New Zealand was good said.the Prime Minister in conclusion. Tmere was a general expectation of a period of depression, and he Was bound to say that he saw signs of depression in other countries. If the purchasing power of the overseas icbUntries declined, New Zealand would suffer, but he did not believe that at the worst the depression would last long and the people of New Zealand Were in a, - strong position. They had to face the fact that wool was going to ,be much cheaper this season than it had been during the war He had reliable information that within the last few weeks, the value of mutton had declined. The demand for lamb was being maintained. The future really depended upon themselves. If they worked together, produced more and increased the area of productive land and encouraged the secondary industries all would be well.