GET DOWN TO WORK

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 142, 8 February 1932, Page 4

GET DOWN TO WORK

According to the Minister hf Finance; ih a Tider to a suppi'ementary Gazette deaiing with the natioriai accounts, for the nine months ended December 31, 1931, 1'revenue throughout the linancial year has continued to slip, and even now we do not appear to have reached the end of it." The figures and the facts undoubtedly support Mr. Stewart in his forecast, for a dlop of 1-2,425,110 in the national revenjae is revealed when a comparison is made with the corresponding period of the previous year. It is true that the Gazette discloses that .expenditure over the same period was £1,249,018 below the estimate over the nine months' period, but what small satisfiction the taxpayer is likely to clerive from the cont'emplation of the r esults of ecoiiomy arid his own sacrifices, is shattefed by the Ministef's final prophesy that the position is hot so favourable as the figures woulcl appear to indicate, and that, by the end of tbe year, expenditure will ultimately exceed the estimated figure. , CoriciiiTehtly with this cheerihg ahhouhcement, tlie Prime Minister has oiitlined the programme for the approaching emergency session of Parliament, arid in the face of the facts clisclosed by Mr. Stewart, the riecessity i'of further measures to deal with tbe position becomes increasingiy evident. Mr. Porbes also indicatecl that if unemployment registrations continue to gfow as at present, "extfa provision will Have to be made." We have already pointed .out that the progressive reduction ih the unemployment funds does not appear to be in propoftion with the extra reveniie derived by the Uhemploynient Board, but that, for the moment, is beside the point. What becoihes abundantly obvious is the necessity fcr pracical statesmanship at the forthcoming session, and a united determination on the part of the political parties in the House to cope with the positidri. The figures disclose that the bouritfy is still drif ting, and the country awaits from the Govefnfhent sonie indication of effective feriiedial measures. Work must be the keynote of the session rind quibblihg arid ridri-essferitiai issues musf be thrust irito the background. The programme outlined by Mr. Forbes certainly c'onjfines itself to matters of first importance, but as has so often beeh thq cris'e iri the j)Rst, th'e r'ehliSation of these issues on the part of members of the Iiouse, does ndt always display a proper appreciation of the bositi'on. Eniergehcy sessions have b'eeri held before, but the fact of their emergency has hot prevented members from was'ting their own time arid the time of the cdrintry in unnecessary verbiage. Matters of sucb butstanclirig iriiportance as amendments to the Arbitration Act, consideration of the recomrdendatiohs of, the Fconomy Commission, ratification;of the Canadian. Trade agrqement, _ and amendments to the.MpRtgagors' Relief Act, Undoubtedly deserve a full measure of debate, but they do not require the verbiose harangues ahd'introduction of irrelevaht sidfe issues which in the past have marked the discussion of matters of vital moment. Parliamentary sitting time costs the country £1 a minute, but many of our politicians appear to overlook tbe fact, s and say with Brownirig "leave time to dogs and apes, Mai! has forever."