THE FORESTRY DEPARTMENT.

Hokitika Guardian, 27 March 1924, Page 4

THE FORESTRY DEPARTMENT.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACCOUNTS NEED FOR ECONOMY. (Contributed). Although the ; deputation from the Wellington Forestry League which waited upon the Prime Minister last week with a request that the Government would provide funds for the purchase and conservation of certain hush lands did not meet with a very cordial reception, there is no need for tho league to he discouraged in tho very excellent work it is doing. The request had been immediately preceded by two other appeals to the Minister—one for £11.00,000 to “straighten up” tho Railway Superannuation Fund and the

other for a quarter of a million to complete certain public works appar-

ently <u indefinite value to tbe community—and naturally he was in no humour to hurriedly assume a still further obligation. . Rut Mr .Massey lias not shown himself averse to the preservation of tho beautiful forests of the Dominion nor indifferent to their great scenic and commercial value. Tt is to his credit, inueeu, that he has displayed greater interest in thoso subjects than any of his predecessors in office did, and that he has provided the means for a beginning with practical and scientific afforestation which promises to be of enormous value to this and succeeding generations. Out tho finances of the Dominion at the present time, as the Minister was careful to point out to the deputation, will not allow of any lavish expenditure in the acquisition of private lands or in the acceleration of the work hi which the Forestry Department already is engaged. There is urgent need for the strictest economy, compatible with efficiency, in every department of the Public Service, and for the earliest possible return for every pound expended. Thoso facts, necessarily, were in his mind when Mr Massey explained to the deputation that the Consolidated Fund was not, like the widow’s cruse, inexhaustablc, and that every item of expenditure had to be very closely watched. The Prime Minister’s remarks were intended rather for general than for particular application, but a glance at the last annual report of tbe Forestry Department should make it plain to anyone that the Government has been by no means niggardly in its treatment of this particular branch' of the Public Service.

Unfortunately the Department’s accounts are not presented in a form in which they can he easily analysed anti consequently it is a little difficult to obtain a clear idea of its financial operations. It seems, however, from the figures as they appear that the claim of the Director of Forestry to have made the Service “pay its way during the year’’ Tif scarcely justified. The total receipts, other than loan money, were £1(56,7-15 Is Id and the total payments, other than thoso set down as “capital charges,” were £63,500 3s fill. On a cash basis, therefore, the receipts exceeded the expenditure by £3,‘2-14 17s 7d. But included in the receipts is a sum of £47,462 I Is Id obtained from timber sold, timl>er royalties and timber trespass, anil a further .sum of £l,lOB obtained from opossum revenue. The bulk of the sum of £47,4(52 11s Id can hardly be regarded as revenue for tho year, as it is money derived from the sale ol an asset which disappears from the capital value of tho forests and cannot he quickly replaced, it is the same with the opossum revenue. This income has liut been created by any effort of tho Forestry Department and it could have been as easily collected by any other State Department. Deducting these two items from the receipts by which the Director claims to have "made good” we have a balance of expenditure over income of £45,370 14s Id, which represents the amount the Department cost the State during the financial year ended March 31st last.

These figures are not quoted for the purpose of disparaging the very excellent national work done by the Forestry Department. The- expenditure has been clearly justified by results. But it is particularly important at the present time to let the public understand tbe meaning and the significaaro of tbe departmental accounts, ft would be easy to imagine from a casual examination of the Forestry accounts that the Department had actually made a “profit'’ oil its year’s operations and that the Dominion had obtained a very line service at no cost at all. Quite likely the members of tile deputation that waited upon the Prime Minister were labouring under some delusion of this kind, and did not quite understand whj the Prime Minister shin'd have made their visit the occasion for a little lecturctto on the scarcity of money and the need for drastic economy They ever may have resented the emphasis lie gave to these matters of common knowledge. Hut it was necessary that they should understand plainly that the Forestry Department is not selfsupporting in the sense of providing all tho money it expends from its own resources. Its "work, .clearly, is worth all its costs; but Mr Massey, in particular, and the taxpayers, in general, have to determine exactly how much of such service the country can afford in tin’s time of financial stringency. The Prime Minister’s candour should set us all thinking about this and similar matters.