The Hokitika Guardian WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10, 1923 THE PUBLIC FINANCE.

Hokitika Guardian, 10 January 1923, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10, 1923 THE PUBLIC FINANCE.

With the decision of the WaiLumo Flection this week, more definite knowledge will !,e available as in L.e state of ihe (oil l lit ad parties Mi Mu'sey has re-olr ("1 already to call l’arimein logoi her next iin in 11 1 . That Parliament k not called earlier is due probably to llie fan that, tile Prime Minister can M‘e liis way clear to early on. but tile del'orrment may assist in making assurniice doubly sole. I here is in t a \ciy general desire lor a Ire-h election under the conditions which prevailed last month, for I lie reason that the issue h • not changed. and tile result might he expected to be on lint's not (iisMiiiilU; to the last results. P,ut the tinimeial position of the country certainly calls lor a stable, and particularlv an able government to be on the Treasury benches. In the matter ol the public debt. Mr Mas-ey > party has certainly gone the pact*, lor in the last financial yea< it has been pointed out the Government lets hon owed very

eels . In Iha I pi. noil Up" aviL el I hir ■ teell millions "ere added to the |ul>iie debt, me.mine a heavy annual interest charge spiead all over the country. In the matter of finance the country hits been too indifferent in the natural result from the frei|ucut resort to borrowing. Borrowing is a simple and ready means to meet pressing obligations as the ordinary individual Knows, but it is a debt which has to he repaid, and while it is a deferred debt, it earlies obligations to pay interest on tile ninni'v outstanding. Borrowing on a large scale is therefore a reckless course for any government to pursue, and this country which has a tremendous public debt, must demand of any Government in power that, a tapering off policy in regard to borrowing sita'l he one of the first planks in any public policy i f those in | ower. During the lute election, prominent Liberals pointed out the alarming di ill of the liimn-

rial position of tile country toward* chaos, and now that, the he'd of the contest has died down, it will be in the interests of the Dominion as a whole If those remarks are taken to heart, and the country sets about a fresh line of action A couple of decades ago when the Liberals wen- called back fo power they bad to face a financial position akin to the present and the slogan of the Liberals in those days was self-reliance. They pursued tile purpose in mind with such success that they (piicklv retrieved the financial fortunes of the Dominion and a period of prosperity set in. The Minister of Finance to-day has no set policy to meet the position which has arisen under his own administration. It is time lie recognses that borrowng must be reduced, but Mr .Massey lias not a definite scheme to that end. Probably if be is able to meet the House with a bare majority on noconfidence issues, lie will be more penitent- in deed as in word, and will set about the task of setting the finances in order with some regard for the taxpayers’ [lockets and with definite preposals to economise. The task calls for a good deal of determination from one who has hitherto been able to go upon the money market ns pressing necessity prompted, but that period should lie now past, and the financial position of the country calls for the abandonment of recklessness, and the settling down to a resolute determination L, meet the position by the resources of the country soundly administered, iusteudy of rushing regularly on to the money market.