WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 May 1922, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

' DEBIT BALANCE, £339,830. SPECIAL ttJ GUAttMAN. WELLINGTON, May 2<L The statement of the Pttblifc Accounts for the fliiaitciai year ended March Slst | last, issued with the “ Gazette ” last night, shows no di'paiture of any consequence Lorn tie figttr s quotbtl by Mr Alasscy lit his Feiidiitg speech of a fortnight ago. The revenue for the ..year-if. shown to have keen £2 .183,111, and the expenditure £28,406,837, leaving a deIcr. i f £183,32.0. Tlje Minister lias not converted this deficit into a credit bairn:-' by ti e transfer of surplus Cttst nos dttti s as le did at’ Fetid in™—that ,1 aving bee t merely by way of illustration—hut lie has reduced it by certain leeovrries,” amounting to £143,59(1, to £339,830. Considering the financial eruditions prevailing during the twelve v i.nths with which tho figures ileal the Minister anil the country may count themselves extremely fortunate in having got through so well. With the Customs revenue down hv £3,313.210, the income taxation shrunk by £6,002,135. and the railway revenue less by £235,157, the position might have been worse. The revenue declined by £0 209;575, while the expenditure increased by £398,209. and in.the ciretimv ai.cOS a deficit i f only £339,839 seems raker a matter ‘for cung;atulation. SAVINGS. The Minister of Finance lias been (■'■refill tu let the public know that the accounts for tne year just closed would pot shown n any n! the economies the Cuvcriink'iit is effecting. The “ savin-, ” piv.i-.ss. as Mr Massey has ex-,-,1 ined, is a slow on--. Services cannot l.e terminated on t'--p i’: n-us • ot the moment, aud employees cailnot lie retir’d without rea.somih'.g notice or aueqcate compensation. Hut there reall.v are some economies shown in the. accounts, though exactly what they represent in the. way of permanent Saving is hOt il.is-losed. Rost and. Tekgraph expemlitllre n <u>wh , ±-LL Ir.dustrios find Cbmihc-rce £1 :i3,011, lu-te-nal Affairs £-2117.230 Delence Cno,;V)2 and Land and Survey £' <>;B‘ I, v '- ii:- the expenditure of sryeral Other departments.has keen . materially .reduced In addition to dccieasnig its expenditure by £139.072 the Post and T Icgraph Department has increased its revenue by £108.323, so Hint it is fu.4.Uallv £217.995 to the good on the year’s operations. The PostinastorGenera 1 has him id at reductions in , bar-res. and A’ ey would he very accepta Id**'to the business community, .but in vi.-w of salary reductions. Mr Coates, on second thought, may not deem concessions entirely expedient. LIBERAL AND LABO R.

1J.12 IGI \ li a*’ . No official aniiouiieeinejit has been made vet cone ruing the .Mentions of the LiV.tVal-Labour Party in regard to tbo Dunedin liy-eleuiion. It ; assumed by people who still retain some in*e-est in such matters that Mr Villf„rl and Ids c olleagues a e endeavouring to brill a about all arrangement that will moiil vote-splitting ilminig tne pro-•<rj->«sive parties, and to ensure the ter„r,. ~f :1 candidal ° of the same party minor as ihe l-.i'e lenrosentative ol the (onsiitue-H-y. M,":iuwinV- .']v|l-, J '-- Holland, the lead, r ot the l arhamentarv Labour Party, is proclaiming the death and burial of the Liberal 1 arty, while the "Evening Post” is taking him to task foi fomenting opposition to the onlv passil.ie arraii-remei.t, as it thinks, that cab bring about the propfet i •,presentation of the mass of the people. The " Dominion,’ ’oil the other hand, is hoping, more than half in jest ot course, that Mr W.ilfoid will not allow the 1 iheral Partv to he dragged at the chariot wheels of Labour on its hist puhl'c appearance under his guidance. Air Wilford still has to prove Jus qua lties of leadership, hut he is not likely to he greatly perturbed by gibes ot this description. 1 I TU’lATl'l'lC.'f V f!

■ ADVRItTISIM*. There is a concerted effort just now |. v those interested in the welfare ot the Dominion ami its institutions to “boost” the Publicity Department cstablisl’.ed bv the present (Government just before tfie Prime Minister s last visit to liOinliiu. The " Dominion ibis morning, after recalling the failure of t' ell ifth Commissioner s Office in former years to keep the attractions of New Zealand before the. puhhe and the world at large rejoices over the fhange that has been brought about. ' 'm Publicity Department,” it says, " ms done a great deal of useful work during the past twelve months The ‘teipuucv with whieli New Zealand nmtU.s, which it is of <• mceM to us should be placed before the Pri'-isb trader and the British consumer, npo.ar in the llutish newspapers nowadays is in marked co 1tvast to the neglect we suffered undet in bvgoue day.**/’ Most of tins »s riie and much to the credit of tl.e Government, hut the authorities must hear ■in lifind that when they became "> svendors they accented the respans, b of supplying goods oi unimpeachable character.