MARK OVER-REACHED.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 341, 23 January 1937, Page 7

MARK OVER-REACHED.

Spending Policy Attacked By Chambers of Commerce. ; —— j ! So much has been said Govern- | mentally over the last 12 months about the imperative need for N w Zealand to get back to pre-depression levels and conditions in th;- matter of Stat? activities and expenditure that the taxpayer has vatche-d the great expansion of Stale op. rations in a state of semi-hypnosis, says a statement by the Associated Chamb rs of Commerce of New Zealand. II? is in danger of forgetting that high taxation is explained by high expenditure. The years 1929-30 have, through the depression, ben regarded as the days of milk and honey. State expenditures then were high. Th? Prime Minister, in the 1929 Budget statement, said that “signs are not now wanting that we are on the ev ? of a big forward movement in business.” Recent efforts by Government have been to get back to the Budgetary munificence of those prosperous days as quickly as possi’bl , not only by reinstating many things j which necessary economics of later i years dictated would have to be done without, but also by instituting many * new benefits. The tide of expendi--1 ture must be brought back to its old level; that is the watchword of the day. The trpuble is that the mark has b cn not merely reached but over reached.

Taxation Up a Third. How does Government expenditure for the current financial year compare with 1929-30? Analysis is illuminating. Estimated Government expenditure for the current financial y.ar will exceed the actual expenditure of 1929 30 by £5,854,000, or 23 p-r cent. The estimated yield from taxation (other than unemployin'iit taxes) is £6,546,000 or per cent., greater than the amount paid in taxes in 1929-30 —due principally to sales tax and other new taxes, h avily increased rates of income tax, and the institution of a graduati ed land tax on both urban and rural properties. Whereas taxation per h ad was £l3/3/7 in 1929-30, it is now £l9/3/- (estimated) per head — which, with local body taxes added, is higher than total taxation in the United Kingdom.

Public Service. The personnel of the Public Service—that great liability on the taxpayer which if is so easy to expand and so difficult to reduce —is being increased by leaps and bounds. The Public Service Commissioner, in his latest report to Parliament, says with regard to the Department of ‘ Agriculture, Labour D -partment, I Pensions Department. Public Woiks D -partment and Transport Department that “owing to cither the resumption of former activities or the passing of new legislation, the work i of these departments has increased greatly during the past eight months. It has been essential to build up the staffs ot these departments to in-I able them to meet the additional de- | mands made on them.” But the- pubj lie is wrong, says the statement, if lit thinks these departments are merely being brought back to pre-d;-pression strength. The following figures give a .comparison between the staffs of these departments in 1929-30 and to-day: Department. 1929-30 1936-37 I Agriculture 713 784 Labour 134 275 Pc-nsiofis 174 229 Public Works (not workmen) 739 747 Transport 9 66 Totals 1769 2091 The increase over 1929-30 is 322, or 18 per cent. This expansion compares ill with the recommendation of the National Expenditure Commission in 1932 that the Transport Department and Mines Department should be amalgamated with the Public Works Department, and Ihe | Lands and Survey Department with ; the Department of Agriculture. The burdens of the taxpayer are to-day so heavy that every possible reorganisation of top-heavy Government services should be effected in order to lighten his taxes. The National Expenditure Commission said that “the whole of our recommendations have beEin considered and submitted in the light of stern necessity, but many of the economies we have recommended should be continued even in prosperous times.” j However, instead of the depart- , mental amalgamations being effected, the Transport, Lands and Survey, ( and Mines Departments continue to I retain their individual identity, and | between them have increased their < staffs by 57 over last year, while the | other departments concerned have i also expanded. So the money goes’ j