The Daily News THURSDAY, JUNE 11. THE COLONY'S POSITION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 146, 11 June 1908, Page 2

The Daily News THURSDAY, JUNE 11. THE COLONY'S POSITION.

Some years ago then: were those who, in tin* In.i[it- ol achieving sonic trumpery advantage that might possibly result ' tu their party, did irjt slay to consider the interests of the country when tlicy promulgated statements in reference to the financial position of New Zealand. For a time the.-e statements took the form of grossly injurious misrepresentations intentional or otherwise in English papers; and there are gooil grounds fur believing that they were e maiiations from the mind of a bitter partisan disappointed nt the course events had followed politieally. For some three or lour years there has been a judicious silence observed in the quartgr from whence these .so-called "criticisms' came, but it would appear (Tint New /inland is aoout to sull'cr a revival of these experiences. Host business minds are aware that there is lioihing human so extremely sensitive as the limince of a people, and when it commercial or financial panic or sudden depreciation in values takes place there is hardly anything conceivable so farrcachiug and so fraught with disaster.

W hen, 1 here fore, statements under the .juisc of criticisms arc made in regard in the financial portion, the utmost care should be lakeu to ensure that they it re correct . They siioiild not be ill.* reckless ravings of a jaundiced party brain. '['he assertions of a Welkngton jmirn.il that upon a survey ol tiie liiiuncini position the "Treasurer. whs despondent, r and that it was probable recourse would haw to be made to further taxation, were of this nature. Not uuly were they untrue, but most impolitic. If the writer had been desirous of plunging the country into coul'usion he could scarcely have taken u more effective course. The revenue from Customs duties is generally accepted as a reliable test of the'prosperity or otherwise of a people. Ji operates an a kind of linaneial barometer. Notwithstanding the large remissions made last year, the duties taken off the necessaries of life, it is gratifying to find that this year the increase in the revenue from this source | totals no less than 1* 102,000. Followj ing upon the Customs as a test of prosperity. mines the railways. In hard time* people cannot afford to trawl, and the railway revenue falls away. This year the increase in the railway revenue amounts to t'143,000. It may be urged, of course, that the population and the tourist traffic have increased, but, even so. the larjge increase in the revenue, proportionately, points to superior chvunistanees in the condition of the people. Stamps afford another test, and 'here the remarkable buoyancy of the financial position is shown by an increase in the revenue derived from thi> source of ChSo.ooo. The land and income tax shows an increase of CI 17.000. Kven allowing for the fact that holders of landed estate over €40,000 in value have Im»pu culled upon to pay increased taxation, thi* large increase demonstrates that some of our citizens have considerably lettered their position. The four items, taken together, show an increase in the revenue of over WOO,OOO.

11l his address at, Christchurch 011 Monday night the Premier made reference to these four sources of revenue obviously because they were fair illustra tions of the high condition of prosperity to which this Dominion has attained. Looking at the financial position more broadly, surely a revenue of 110 less tlitnt tH.dii.'i.OMi) derived from a population not yet one 'million in number inu-t appear as something abnormal. A Treasurer who eould be "despondent" circumstances, a Premier who could contemplate '"fresh taxation ' with such a plethora of wealth flowing into the State colters, must indeed be hard to satisfy. It is not improbable (hat -the people generally will agree that it would have been better if the Premier bad refrained from noticing Mr. linn Mann. The more attention that is bestowed upon public agitators uf Mr. Tom Mann's sort, the better they are pleased, ft is in the nature ol exalting them into consequence. The lion. Dr. Fiudlay took uie proper ground when he declared that it was a \ain tiling 1u attempt to argue with "fanatic.-,. they are imconvincible. Besides which. the Premier was all wrong in tile position he assumed, ll io not the theory of the Socialists amongst, thi' audience lie was addressing that all land was to be repurchased by the (Jovernnieiil; that ' steamers, coaiinices. tlour-milts. and bakeries'' were (o be acquired ill the Millie way. The li.liovi i'i sol .Mr. Tom Mann propose to dispense with Ihe lit We trilling form ality of repurchase, mid therefore il. w.k a ua-tc oi effort to go into the •Mixtion of what the adoption.of such a policy would cost in pounds, shillings, and pence. 'The question of compensation doe> nut come in, tor all private property is to tie acquired by the simple process of an edict of the Socialistic brotherhood. The Socialists of the Tom Mann lype are "revolutionary.''

pro\inn> Now Zealand Premier once: biddly as^erti l *! that '"it was not the duly of ihe Covcrnnietit to find work tor tin- people." To carry this principle fur'her. he might have said that a tkivernment was not responsible for the condition of the country; yet nearlv in ever ease whenevcy. a motion of want of confidence is broughl forward the condition of the country constitutes the staple of ju>tilicalion on which it is lounded. Sir .In.-epU Wanl has emphatically iaitl down an opposite and certainly a more consistent principle, lie affirms that it is "the business of the Government to see thai there were no unemployed." lie is to lie congratulated upon the expression of Ibis liberal view. The lioverument must in every ea»e be held responsible.and in a young country abounding in resources especially. if the people are not prosperous it is the result of bad management. By opening up the lands, by affording every encouragement to agriculture, by the development of resources in a new land just recently entered upon the work of civilisation, there should be abundant scope for the labor of all, and as binding himself and hi> successors Sir Joseph Ward lm- done well to emphasise till' fact.