THAT FIVE MILLIONS.

Hokitika Guardian, 10 June 1924, Page 4

THAT FIVE MILLIONS.

THE CALL FOIL ECOXOAIY

(Contributcd)

It is gratifying to have the assurance of the Prime Minister himself that 110 welcomes criticism of his finance for tho good reason that it affords him an opportunity to correct inaccuracies and to remove misapprehensions. This is tho spirit in which all public discussions should he conducted, and I trust that in offering .some comments upon Air .Massey’s reply to my appeal for further public economy J shall he no less courteous than the Minister has been.

Air Massey complains that while emphasising the growth of the public cxondipture during recent years, I have said nothing about the growth of the revenue. “The criticism in this article” he says, referring to my appeal, “concentrates wholly on the expenditure figures as published, withyut regard to the revenue side of the balance sheet, or to the inflation common to all values during the last decade. The futility of such one-sided criticism at once becomes apaprent when the revenue and expenditure accounts of the two Departments, Railways and Post and Telegraph, are examined.” To this indictment 1 must plead guilty, so far as my failure to concentrate on the revenue figures is concerned; but unfortunately as an outsider I have not had access to the departmental balance sheets for 1022-2;). now more than a year over-due. which are absolutely essential in a precise examination of the position.

It is possible. however, without thiinformation to look at the Railway De partmeut’s accounts trout a dilfercn

angle than the one Air Alassey has selected. In lOl.’i-l I the revenue of the Department exceeded its expenditure by !.7 per cent., and in 102.T-2I by ;t.|.<) pci- rent. Thcndditiniinl expenditure between I fil'd-1-1 and l!L’.l--’l amounted to £2.1 IK.Otid show ing an increase of 71 .0 per cent. It would seem, therefore, that the 71.7. increase in expenditure brought about an in ••rea*o of only 1.2 per cent, in surplus revenue, and this with the cost ol ail railway services to the public very appreciably increased. It is not |»etcltded that this is a complete examination of the position, but the figures standing alone suggest that the additional expenditure has produced little praetieal result. As for the Po t and Telegraph Department, this is a hraiteh ol the public service that should have no difficulty in maintaining its finances in a I.tu. \- ant condition. It holds a vciy 'tiltiahle monopoly, its requirements ate readilv asiertained and its expenditure could Is. easily controlled. Yet there is a feeling abroad that it i.s lint obtaining the results it should from the upper!ninnies it enjoys and that its staffing arrangements anil its general methods could he revised with great advantage. Ihe fact that between IHIH-II and lfil.M-21 its revenue increased by Ho.) per ecu 1 . does not altogether dispose of this somewhat nebulous criticism. In IHIJ-I-I the Department showed in its returns .!< 1.<122,120 individual services to the public.. carriage 01 letters, dispatch oi telegrams, issue of money orders, telephone connections and k ,. foilli and in 1022-2:1. :)71.717.011 similar services. From these figures it would appeal that the services rendered in 1022-2-1 were fewer by 201.170 than those rendered in IORI-I I. and yet in the interval the stall' hail increased from .'>.:i7o

10 7.07.7. In 1021-22. the latest year for which an official balance sheet is

available, the capital account of tV Department -tood approximately at

£7, Hit).(f()o. and the as-et'. plant ami ston*.*. approximate.*lv at ['lit* surplus revenue lor which quite naturally, has given Air Masscv much satisfaction, was £7.00,280. With these figure, it i- easy enough to rnu-

-truct a skeleton balane. 1 sheet • bowing Hu: result - obtained liolii the Ibqiurtiitoiit during this purticiilnr tear. Du the debit side there is interest at I! per cent, on the capital employed, £;);«.<;;ill. and depreciation on the assets at IP. per cent, £2M2.odh a total of £7jfi.>,7i();). tin tin* credit side there is the surplus revenue of £7>d:).2So. leaving a delcicuct for the year ol £(>2.211. Her” -ure|\ i- evidence that something niorin the way of economy requires to le done before this trading Department can he regarded as self-supporting, let alone profit yielding.

Of eour.se cverv one who has the in tcre-ts 1,1 the e.iniilvy at heart agree with Mr Musecy and I.L colleague, ill Alini>tei o c.; Education, that the pro

vision i f a sound system of national education 1, an ol.ligation th • prvsi m generation ..we- bull to ii-eli and to posterity; hut the oMicieney of sili li 1 sysolil is not necessarily expres ed in the amount of money it costs. R hal.eeii shown that there hate been duplications of administrative cxpciuhtnic. that the building votes nave 11 ,1 always been employed to the best advantage ami that even teach is' -alarms, if not extravagantly large, hate sometimes been injudiciously allotted. Here again the public wants In know if equally good results could he obtained l.y a substantially smaller cx| emiitlire. Air Masscv has directed my attention to it e i take in 111 v grouping uf Hie expenditi:r ■of the .lu-tiee Department : but if we ;.••,!;•• the grouping ot P.tl L in which Piis - Police. Stamp Untie 1 and Land Registry are included. 1 h reduction of ex; .-Inlil.tr e is only £<4.088, not £22.(7)'. as -. v claim:-. In other inspects my stiiieue i Is appear to have stood the searchi ig 1 ntliny of the experts to whom they were submitted without any material “inaccuracy" lK'iug ili-rovi red. The Prime .Minister

hopes to clear away -mb “misapprehension" as exists by quoting list 1 of figures which really convey no meaning to the average lavmau’s mind. J -y way ol exolaining the increases ■. i expenditure in other departments than those already mentioned, for install.”.

, lie tel!- the public that a sum of £1.27.7).7. 14 j, made up of varimiamounts, distributed between Naval D.»- . fence. Health, Roliee. Mental llnspi- , tals. Pensions, Internal Affairs. External Affairs. Audit. Valuation am! 1 Printing and Stationery. All this ear have been desirable expenditure Li.t only 1 he Minister himself i> 111 a position i;, ,jiy whether it was so or mu. T he point upon which the public requires definite and precise iiifoiinatiou is whet her or not every possible economy. consistent with efficiency, i- being practiced in the administration of the affairs oi the country. It is on the attainment of tin’s goal that the future prosperity of the Dominion depends. Had the five millions Mr Massey set out to save two years ago been actually realised lie would have been able to make a much larger reduction in taxation than lie did and so have imparted to the trade and industry of the country a far greater impetus than the one that followed upon the concession he was able to make. Rut for Indistinct promise to the contrary, it might he assumed that Mr Alassev hn« no reduction in taxation in contemplation this year. In tho accounts for the financial year just closed lie showed a surplus of £I,SI2.:JGo. but with the announcement of this result he let it be known that ho would require £1.847.700 for “additional expenditure” during the current year. It i.s unnecessary to remind the Alinister either of his promise or of the fact that an increase of revenue can be turned to other purposes than in- I creasing expenditure: but this so fie-I

quently lias been tbe use Ministers of Finance have made of their surplus cash that it is not surprising to find the present uncertainty creating grave misgivings.

One more observation in conclusion. The electors, as well as the politicians, have responsibilities in this matter. Economising is the most unpopular task a Government can undertake and even in ibis young country it has brought about tbo downfall ol more than one Ministry. If the need for a drastic revision of public expenditure is as great as many capable, well-inform-ed people believe it to be. then Mr Massey and bis colleagues in carrying out their duty will require all the sympathetic support the electors can give them. This is a question, which, if possible, should stand apart from parly politics. Perhaps that is impracticable. But it should l»e possible for party prejudices and party bias to be laid aside on an occasion of this kind, and for all parties to unite in a common effort to place the finames of the Dominion upon a sound and secure foundation, and so assure the public confidence which makes for national progress and prosperity. <