WELLINGTON NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 18 February 1924, Page 1

WELLINGTON NOTES.

FINANCE AND POLITICS.

A ii LSI NESS MAN’S VIEW

[Special To The Guardian.] WELLINGTON, Fob. 15 In politics the captains of industry —the big financiers, the great merchant' and the large manufacturers — usually manage to keep on good terms with the p;iriy in office, whether it happens to represent their particular views and aspirations or not. This is nut to say they are insincere or obsequious. but rather that they are philosophic and sagacious. They accept the me. liable and make the best of it. But. they are the candid® friends nf alt GovcniiimuLs and on occasions their scathing critics. In this dual capacitv one of their number, a prominent figure in the business life ol the capital city, had a good deal io say to-day that was both interesting and "iitcrtaiu i c.g; concerning the Prime Minister's address to the members of iho Christchurch branch of the Reform League as it was reported in the newspapers. He had not a word to say against the eulogies that had been pronounced upon .Mr .Massey by his southern friends. On the contrary, he endorsed most ol them heartily. He did not regard the Prime Minister as a heaven-horn financier, nor as the saviour of the Dominion’s credit, hut he had the wannest admiration for his industry and courage and tin" his breezy and irrepressible, optimism. BALANCE OF TRADE. But these admirable qualities did not, as he put ii himself. blind this authority to the Prime Minister’s limitations. Mr Massey, lie said, had found “great can-*' tor gratification in the trade returns for the year just, closed, the imports being valued at V. !:i, |s(i,A I I and the exports at c 15,!)<!7,1 IP, a total of L'B!>, 153.61U5, and an increase of L'l 1 ., '-’1 ,1b I over (he total for I Odd. These figures, showing flint tlm imports had increased dining; the year by Cd.ISI.HH and Hie export-', notwithstanding improved prices, bad increased by only C 3,2 111,870, bad occasioned many ob-

-ervant people, who thought they understood their significance, very grave misgivings: hut apparently Mr Masse'. had u('hymned them with satislaei j 1111. even with iuhi lat i( ill. lie buttid great cause lor gratification in the import and export figures lor Hid!!, he was reported as saying. The import iigures were large, he had the grace to admit, and some people might feel disquieted about them: hut as .Minister ol Finance he was looking forward to the large revenue which lie would receive from them. The .Minister, his critic admitted, might have been job ing. but if so his humour was misnlaeed and very untimely. What the Dominion required more than anything else in 'ts struggle hack to noruimal rondi lions was the strieiest private and public economy, and yet lie re was the apostle of this very gospel applauding the most, obvious and deleterious extra vagal lee. HOW IT OPERATE*. The Prime .Minister. his candid 11111(1 went oil to -ay, had tried to Ini tlior hoodwink hi- kindly ( iiristehurch audience by comparing the enormous balmier ol trade against the Mol her Country last year with the balance of two millions and a halt in lavour ot New Zealand. Great Britain. he stated, x\a: !;l-!5,03!i,0b0 on file wrong Side ot the ledger with tbs Cm ted Slat,--. LHiM. 1 -NO.UOO with the Argentine and Cgtl,lint).lll'll with Dull- - a total of These figure', of course, were were impres--ive. tun if thev had any lesson at alt for New Zealand it was that the Dominion should strain every nerve lo loach tile same position (iiianeially in ibis respect as the United States, the Argentine and Denmark were mniiiinining, and pay at. least the interest upon its outside debt in produce in--lead of in further borrowed money. This year there would he a balance ot four or live millions lo square up the old costly way, with money horde! mg on (i per cent, and yet Mr Massey talked as if everything in the garden were lovely and as if the huge increase in the imports were a matter for national rejoicing. This could not be his considered. »erious summing up of the position. ECONOMIES. The Minister, the business man said in conclusion, quite justly took credit for having elfectod certain economies He had done much exeejlent work in this direction, if he had managed to further reduce the expenditure during the first ten months ol the financial year, as he said he had, by £G17,500 he had done welt. There were certain classes of expenditure which were hound to increase with the growth of population and the expansion of settlement and real economy would have been required to effect the saving mentioned by -Mr Massey. But, in this department of administration there were several matters that required clearing up. The discontinuance of the wheat subsidy, for instance, had been counted among the Minister's economies, hut now it had reappeared in the' iorm ol a -Inert charge ujion the consumers. This meant that quite halt flic saving lot which .Mr Massey took credit h< d disappeared. Then there were whispers of other subsidies and grants, of extravagant expenditure at .Parliament House, of public offices still overstaffed, of superfluous services, and so forth. These matters all required the close attention of the public and of Parliament, for Mr Massey, after all, with all his good intentions, is only human.