“GOVERNMENT IN BUSINESS.”

Hokitika Guardian, 13 March 1928, Page 4

“GOVERNMENT IN BUSINESS.”

A FORGOTTEN SLOGAN. (Taxpayer.) At the last general election the Prime Minister framed for himself and his party the very happy slogan, “ Less Government in business and more business in Government.” It was one ol the most cheering messages that had fallen from the lips of a responsible Minister of the Crown in this country since the conclusion ot the war. 1 lie conflict between the nations had necessitated a certain measure of State intrusion upon private enterprise,'the commandeering of‘both goods and authority. That is the way in all such national crises. But Mr Coates, it wit. thought, had awakened to the fact that the time for a return to normal conditions had arrived. He had proclaimed to the world at large, and to the people of the Dominion in particular, that henceforth there would he no unnecessary ministerial interference with private business and that the Government itself would eontorm as closely as might he to business methods, llie message met with universal approval, except from the diminishing section of the community that would socialize Die means of ‘‘ production, transport and exchange and their various ramifications.” But by some curious lapse of memory, or under some strange delusion, Mr Coates seemed to have forgotten all about the sound policy to which he had pledged himself and his colleagues, and to have broken out into a veritable orgie of “State interference.” This was made all the more remarkable by the fact that there had been no agitation for any such proceeding except by the section ot the communitv just mentioned. STATE INTERFERENCE. The Government's embarkations upon i saw-milling, house-building. omnibus services, am! similar activities previ- ■ on sly left to private .enterprise are familiar enough to the public. Everyone of these ventures have resulted in ; a monetary loss to the taxpayers, great or small, among the greater being the i loss of £01.240 upon the Railway Department’s dwellings during tile financial year 1925-2(4 and of £54,172 during the financial year 192(5-27. 'lhe approximate expenditure upon dwellings, i so far as can he gathered irom the i inadequate figures available, was a million and a-hall, and, as the interest charged is only 41 per cent it may he 1 fairly assumed that a further 1 per cent would he required to cover the cost of the money. This would bring ' the total loss in 1925-20 up to £75.20G and in 1920-27 up to £(59.172 without taking compound interest into account. ; AVliat would he an amusing commentary upon the Government’s penchant for interfering with private enterprise, were the subject not so serious, would he furnished by a statement made by ' one of .Mr Coates’s colleagues, no less 1 an authority than the Minister ol finance, when addressing his constituents in Dunedin the other night. “ Experience shows,” Mr Stewart said, that 1 nationalized industries too often pro--1 duce only deficits which mean adding to the burdens of the taxpayers. The profits which industry earns in private 1 hands tend to disappear under the heavy hand of the State.” -Mr Stewart, it is scarcely necessary to mention, is the financial brains of the portion of the Cabinet sitting in the House of Representatives. “ DON’T LET THE PEOPLE INTERFERE.” That the Prime Minister himself neither clings to his very admirable slogan, lair shares the views of his capable Minister of Finance, may he judged from a .speech he delivered at a social gathering during his recent visit t > Dunedin. “It is possible,” he told his hearers, “that within the next low years the Railway Department will be faced with the hardest tight that has yet fallen to its lot; but I am certain of its ultimate success, for already it has achieved singular results. At present we are meeting with keen competition from road services alone. \\ e are not out for a complete monopoly, but we have to he prepared for all possibilities. and to he.first on the mark at all times to handle competition, and we cannot do this unless we have the equipment to give complete satisfaction. . . We have got to live up to what other people want and if we can complete the rail system, conjointly with other transport systems, a great avenue of business and opportunity will open for ns. . . ft is quite possible that you will lose money tor the first few years, hut don’t let people interfere. Complete your scheme first, although it may involve you in quite a number of millions—and indeed it wil* —but the requirements are essential.’ If all this means anything at all it means that the taxpayers of the Dominion—every adult and many “infants” that is—will he required to find “quite a number of millions ” in order that the Government may equip the State railways for a long struggle with more modern methods of transport. WHAT ENGLAND IS DOING. Almost at the very time the Prime Minister was speaking in Dunedin a Press message from London was telling of the amalgamation of three big road tractor companies in England, which, for some time past, have been gravely alarming the great railway companies. “ The cheapness of the fares on the road services already in existence,” one passage ran, “is astonishing in comparison with rail fares, while tbe speed and luxury of tbe new motor coaches rival first-class railway pullman accommodation at under thirdclass fares. Tbe run from London to Southampton, seventy-nine miles, costs 0s Gd return, against the railways’ 19s lOd. The motor coaches maintain thirty miles an hour average speed. The rapid multiplication of inter-urban-door-to-door service is one of the secrets of the railways’ urgent efforts to secure competitive road rights. The latest j types of motor coaches equipped with , kitchens and lavatories, and seating i thirty or more, are splendidly equip- ! pod.” It is stated that last year the] London and North-Eastern group of | railways carried forty-seven million I fewer passengers than it did in 1925 ! and that the management attribute the i decline chiefly to the comeptition of road vehicles. Of course all these | statements have to lie'examined and | verified before they can be applied to the position in New Zealand. But , surely before tbe Government proceeds ; to tbe expenditure of “ quite a number j of millions ” upon preparations for a ; transport war. which in itself may cost millions more, it should pause to ascertain whether the problem by which it is ■. confronted not been already solved, i AYellington, Bth March. 1928. j