WELLINGTON NOTES

Hokitika Guardian, 2 June 1924, Page 1

WELLINGTON NOTES

t’FBLIC’ AND PRIVATE ECONOMY

(Spocial to “Guardian”.)

WELLINGTON, Alav.3o

The need for public and private economy lias been frequently emphasised hy the Prime Minister, hut Air .Massey’s performance lias not heen equal to his professions, or good intentions. A correspondent of a Wellington paper compares the expenditure of IL’RM I with the expenditure in the year just ended, and shows that in the ten years the expenditure on Post and Telegraphs increased by CO 17,f’>fi8; on AYorking Railways hi L‘2, 1-IS,!;(!(); on Education hy C1,.172,-7-13; on Justice hy £28,327 ; and on other Departments hy £1,200,0J5. The departmental expenditure (annual appropriations! in 191.3-1 -I totalled £7,d59,77(>, and in 1923-2-1 it was £13,-01)7,-133, an increase of £(!,107,(i.jG or just about SO per cent. The expenditure in the year 1020-21 was Cl!i,>.‘l 1,0(l"i, in the Mowing year the ex pendituro was just .Cl less, the total being Clo.S.’ll,oW. In 1022-2:1 the expenditure came down to £13,259,817, a reduction of £2.0i1,U55, hut in Hie year just closed the departmental expenditure rose to C1,‘1,(197,i50, an increase of £107,583. Mr Massey’s eo enomy craze lasted just one year, and the squander lust has begun again. It is useless expecting economy and a reduction of taxation under present political conditions. The people have become accustomed to being spoon-fei by the Government and in the course of a year the demands upon the Min-i-tor of Einanee for subsidies and contributions must run to many millions sterling, and it is the natural desire of .Ministers, as of the ordinary port icians, to placate the constituencies. There can he no teal, genuine ecu to tty in public linance until some radical changes are made in the system of finance. According to an authority i is our system of linance that is wauling. The .Minister of Finance and the Treasury should have no control over any surplus that may result from the year’s ndntiustration, and every '.cm of proposed expenditure should b, dearly shown on the estimates. Further more simply should not he granted for more than a month or six w< eh - beyond the financial year and Pathi.inent should meet early in May and not the end of June. The House icedto exercise greater supervision over the linanees.

DANGERS AHEAD. Financial danger- lurk in our ;- esent system of public finance and sooner or later we will lx- reduced to the position of some of the Australian States. The permanent appropriations, which have mainly to do with interest on public debt, pensions, etc, is now <12,500,000 per annum, or about- tonal to the total of the annual and permanod appropriations of 1013-1 I, and tins is a steadily expanding expenditure tor every loan adds to the amount of interest to he paid. It is ohvoius that taxation cannot come down to the it vel of that running in 1913-1-1, hut must ho about .K) per cent, above that, because the total expenditure oven with the strictest eiononty must exceed'lie I9RI-1I level hv 75 per cent to r -0 |er

cent. Some of the loan money will he interest hearing w hich will reduce l lie expenditure. The danger that looms ahead is the probability that load i duets such as we export may ''.ill to the level or very nearly tin* level, of pre-war prices. Cheese is getting ic ar that point, for in May Kil l cheese v as selling in London round about 71s per owl, and it is now about S.'is, i.it a very marked difference. Uniter !•: .May 1011 was selling at Hills per iwt, and it is now fpioteil at Kills. Shard butler show the same relative !o'’ii"o and fall to 123 s, there would he i -rt-

mondous crisis in the dairy indu ory. Such a fall seems impossible, it is certainly unthinkable. and yet it most ho borne in mind that il is of .lie! :<-h----osf importance to Mritnin. 1 nde-’d ior future depends upon it, fliat her n' fisans, meehanies and workers generally should he cheaply fed, lienee her markets are open to Ihe food products of tin l whole world. This means that year liy year we must face increasing competition, and unless we .can ,'reduce at a much lower cost than we are doing now the business will K* a losing one. The position has to he laced, hut that unpleasant duly will he postponed until the trouble is -..pr n us. and then thro is the Govern.moil to lie kicked by wav of consolation. TRADE STATISTICS.

it seems utterly impossible to s.,i up tin- Customs Department, the Government Statistician, am 1 the Minister of Trade and Commerce HT.in I'ownio Stewart) into recognising t lk* business people want the Undo statistics, that is the details ol exports and imports promptly alter the close of each month. The ligir'O-. frr Jlaroli are not available until the monthly abstract from the Statistical!’.-* oiliee was published on .May 111, or forty davs alter the close of the month. The figures for the month cl . t nl are not yet available, and they are not likely to he published niitil Mine time in .Time, when the May return:: would In* available in Dritain. M ine-

body needs a vicious prod tor I.is i:i> pardonable delay. I'lio latest hpi res available are for the lirst 'iirirtcr of the year, and these show that th.‘ exports for the |K*riod amounted >o /.-(>,• 070,00 d, as against CM,W0,021, t'u increase of £5,G55,.)57, and ol this wool aeeouiUed tor .£-!,.'33(1.£013. the wool sales in .January, February and .March were remarkable lor the high prices realised. Increases were also shown in cheese, Irozeii mutton and lama, ihe import*, for the lirst quarter totalled I'll>2d,SHl, :l ' compared with £11),SOU.581), an increase of over .Gl.fiOO.OO:). The value of the im lot vocalics imported in the lirst rpmiter wr.s “ill 111,087 against £'188,7-17 in the cor:.'.-.ponding quarter of last year