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Hokitika Guardian, 16 May 1922, Page 2

It will be a new experience for New Zealand to find that its recurring surplus has disappeared and this despite the heavy taxation levied on the people through all possible channels. The Government is face to face with a position now which must force strict economy however reluctant the task may be. To what extent taxation may be reduced in incidence remains to be seen. It is clear that in any case, customs revenue and income tax which have been so remunerative for the Treasury, will show, a substantial drop. Perhaps it is not surprising to find a deficit rearing its unwelcome head, To use a term coined by the Conservatives in other days, the present Ministry '‘has been galloping to a deficit” fop sopip time—gyep since the Coalition Ministry went out o{ office, T h e Ministry like moot pf the, folk content to go on living Hfidw Nia of pf ilwi f

Now the day of reckoning is in sight. It is not an opportune time on the eve of an election, and Mr Massey is trying to delude himself that there is not a deficit but really a surplus, “prove” this fallacy he carries forward the surplus produced above his estimate for customs income! But the figures speak for themselves and the jugglery will not be deceptive. The finances have been drifting for far too long. Mr Massey went to England and left matters in a muddle, which have never recovered. His successor told the country the Treasury was bare, and despite the lapse of time there has been little done of a concrete nature to retrieve the position. The drift has gone on, and the wonder is that the deficit lias not arrived sooner.

The little exhibition of West Coast pictures displayed at the Town Hall in connection with the Winter school is very creditable, and the feeling is prevalent that it was quite worth while. There is no doubt that a very good advertisement of the scenic attractions could he made if a display were organised in the cities of the Dominion. There is a wealth and variety of subjects to he treated, and an explanatory catalogue drawn up with particulars of travel and transport would be a material aid to the volume of traffic which will make its Way westward in the near future. The pictures shown depict scenery from Otira in the north to the Sounds in the south. Favourite places such as the lake* and glaciers are represented by numerous views in both paintings and photography. Most of the pictures shown are very artistic, and there is general admiration of the exhibition on the part of all who inspect the display. The pictures will be on view during the week, and the community is indebted to those who have loaned the pictures as also, to the Westland Acclimatisation Society which took up the work of organisation. Mr H. Peart who is an exhibitor of several new photographs of scenic spots, kindly under took the arrangement of the pictures and the result is a very creditable exhibition. No doubt the extent and scope of the display could he added to considerably, and it is that fact ! which prompts us to suggest that the | little exhibition should he transferred to a wider field and seen by thoilsahds in the cities who are contemplating a holiday jaunt in fresh fieids and pastures new.