WELLINGTON NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 September 1923, Page 1

WELLINGTON NOTES.

national FINANCE

REVENUE AND EXRKNDITUItE.

[Special To The Guardian.]

WELLINGTON, Sep 21

The Prime Minister did well in entrusting the portfolio of Finance to the Hon. IV. Downio Stewart. Tho Minister of Customs, benvond any of Mr Massey’s other colleagues, is alert, observant, widely informed and uncompromisingly thorough. The statement of the Dominion’s finances for the first live months of the current financial year which he made at a social gathering held by the Canterbury Industrial Association last night and which is summarised in the newspapers this morning, is a very model of eonsiseness and clarity. But, of course, Mr Stewart cannot depart from the methods of his chief and of the permanent officers of the Treasury, whose business it is to present the national balance sheet in the most reassuring form possible. The gist of the official figures is that during the period under review the revenue has increased approximately by £848,000, while the expenditure has decreased by £250,000. This, though neither Mr Stewart nor the officers of the Treasury make any attempt to disguise facts, might lie taken to metm that the financial position of the country had been improving at the rate of over two millions a year during the five months. But a closer examination of the figures scarcely confirms this suggestion. CUSTOMS AND RAILWAYS.

The two items that colour the whole face of the Minister’s balance sheet are the additional revenue from customs and the reduced expenditure on railways. The additional £715,701 obtained from Customs duties is no doubt a very acceptable contribution fo Ib' Treasury, but it really represents increased taxation on the mass- of the people and indicates no improvement in their condition nor implies any relief from the burdens they are bearing. The decrease in the railway expenditure, on the other hand, is mainly due to lhe lessening of services, which, as a temporary oxpendient, in war lime for instance, may have been justifiable enough; hut as a permanent policy must restrict production and delay tho progress of settlement. The saving in Rost and Telegraph expenditure has been made without impairing the efficiency of the department in any way and it will be disappointing if the "new brooms” now installed at headquarters do not effect further economies before the eiul of the financial year. Education is surrounded by a certain halo of sanctity when expenditure is in question, but the persistent increase in its cost must provoke inquiries as to whether or not the country is obtaining value for its money. THE FRIENDLY YTEW.

Tlio “Dominion,” making the best of not very encouraging material, offers congratulations and advice to the Government. “Figures of railway working for the first- iff) weeks of the current year,” it says, “shows a very great improvement on those of the corresponding period last year. The amount of net revenue for the later period is more than doubled. The returns to date this year are in the main those of lean months. If the improvement disclosed is maintained proportianately during the months of maximum freight and passenger traffic, the financial results of the whole year should make an excellent showing. They should do this even if the Department makes some of the concessions in rates and fares that have long been looked for. Concessions made wisely and in such a way as to attract additional traffic need not entail a dead loss of revenue,. The improvement in returns this year is much more pronounced in the North Island than i:/ the South. Of the net revenue realised this year up to August: 18th, nearly four-fifths was earned by the North Island lines. The Smith Island lines earned less revenue than ill the corresponding period last year, and it. is only on account of a reduction ill expenditure that they show a better balance than they did last year.” ’ That, obviously, is the insular view of the situation. RAILWAY FINANCE. The popular - opinion in the North Island is that the railways on this side of Cook Strait, in a financial sense, are carrying the railways on the other side on its hack. Of late years, the returns have given some colour to this impression, but the South Island always has been at the disadvantage of having only one of its trunk lines completed and that running in direct competition with sea carriage. The position ought to he improved by the completion of the .Midland railway, between .the East ami West Coasts, but this is not yet, and the completion of the main trunk line between Dunedin and Picton still .isafar off. A curious tiling about .railway finance is that no serious attempt ever lias been made to ascertain the actual cost, including construction and interest, of the various sections. The Railway Department is understood to have made several attempts to obtain this information, but the other Departments concerned have placed obstacles in the way, and beyond the finite useless return included in the Public Works Statement each year no figures are available.