The Hokitika Guardian MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20th., 1922 AN IMPUDENT PLEA.

Hokitika Guardian, 20 November 1922, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20th., 1922 AN IMPUDENT PLEA.

Mr Massey like many another gw man. has reason on occasions to prr to he saved from his friends. His ov • desire must be to have his manageme of the finances of the country dra. • into the limelight as little as possii ' till the general election is well o\ c . but some of his political friends in - dovstanding the significance of li • ures as little as he does, are insistii ' upon blazoning abroad for all the wo 1 l to see the alarming condition ini > which he has muddled the public, recounts during tho three years he Jins hod pIIRTCP Pf til? Trefpiuiy. Tfcp "J 3

! million.” the chief organ of Reform, is perhaps the least discreet of all j bis toust in- this respect. “AVith a I policy of economy carried to its per- ] missuble limits,” this journal told its I readers the other day, '“the Dominion will still be faced by the necessity ' of r„i.sing considerably more than twite its pre-war annual revenue simply in | ordur to make ends meet, nnd continue | development works on the scale that is i iudispensilile to the restoration of gen- ' oral prosperity. A thoroughly competent and reliable handling of the national finances thus very obviously becomes a matter of supreme concern to all sections of the population. It is plain to all unprejudiced observers that in his capacity as Minister of Finance, Air Alassey has bandied the post-war financial problems with judgment, foresight and determination. As a financial administrator he has shown a capable grasp of essentials, and has achieved results.” Yes, he has achieved results! It is with some of these results we propose to deal very briefly. ’Tho annual public expenditure, exclusive of interest, sinking funds and pensions in 1919, wheh Sir Jos. AA aril left the Treasury, with all the special departmental war charges brought to account, was £11,387,287. After two years of Air Alassey’s administration with the war over, and the special departmental (hinges no longer necessary tie annual ext endituie li d increased to ”18.411,11 I. Last year when there (..as much talk of economy and some actual retrenchment the expenditure amounted to (.‘18.391.866—a- ic luction of £109,278 on Mr Massey’s peak year, hut an increase of £0.914.5,0 upon Sir Joseph AYard’s maximum in the most difficult year of the war. During this same period. between 1919 and 1922. the expenditure upon Railways increased from £3,415,595 to £6.473 233 on Education from £1,602.994 to £2.502.562: and on Post and Telegraph services from 01,699.541 to £2.448.08/. Tu every other department of the public service expenditure was allowed to run riot and apparently, as much beyond the control of the Government, as it was beyond the unhappy public ; And now this unlinpi y public is being asked to give Air Alassey another term at the Treasury on the score of his “thoroughly competent and reliable handling of the national finances wlreh has gone as near to landing the Dominion into bakrnptoy as any orgy of waste and extravagance could.