The Daily News. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1914. THE PRIME MINISTER'S CHALLENGE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 156, 27 November 1914, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1914. THE PRIME MINISTER'S CHALLENGE.

The Prime Minister (Mr Massey) at Christchurch on Tuesday night challenged anyone to prove, cither by means of Hansard or public print, that any member of the Government had ever stated that the Government would stop borrowing. "What the Government had done," he continued, "was to spend borrowed money to the best purpose." Mr Massey is taking no chances. Probably no one could literally disprove his assertion, but there is one thing that could easily be proved. That is, that both he and his colleagues condemned their opponents Tor increasing the national debt, and promised that when they got into power they would decrease borrowing. Here's his own words, uttered in 1911: "If the electors of the colony do not feel inclined to put the brake on, it will be a good thing for the country as a whole if the British lenders do." Up and down the country he went, railing against the prodigious piling-up of the national debt by the Liberals, and promising the pursuing of a more self-reliant policy. Mr James Allen warmly supported him. "It is my plain duty," he said on one occasion, "to warn lion, members and the people of New Zealand that the continued borrowing of large sums of money is not a-safe method of finance. There are four courses open—to raise money by taxation, or to decrease expenditure out of the Consolidated Fund in order to have more ordinary revenue available for public works; or to increase the amount of borrowed money; or, lastly, to bring within reasonable limits the expenditure of borrowed money." Well, they duly reached office. What happened? Did they put into practice what they preached, They did not. On the contrary, they cut out the borrowing pace faster than Sir Joseph Ward in his most extravagant mood ever contemplated. Here are the figures:—National debt, March 31st, 1913, £82,193,310; March 31st, 1913, £87,457,121; March 31st, 1914, £!il,(iS9,S3s. What it will be by March 31st, 1915, j s hard to say.. The Government has obtained authority to raise the stupendous sum of £12,425,000, of which two millions are for war, against which there can be no objection, if the Government can raise the wind, which is problematical, it will leave the debt of the country as a result oi its administration of its alfairs at a hundred millions, or some seventeen or eighteen millions greater than when it took office. The country must borrow to develop its resources, but there is a danger of overdoing it. Money should not be borrowed for unnecessary works. We regret to say that some of the proposed works for which the Massey Government is raising money do not come in that category. We need only refer to the Ililey railway loan of £3,200,000, which is to be spent on the duplication of suburban lines, large railway stations, etc. To us this is a crying shame when then! are hundreds of people, even in this fair province of Taranaki, crying loudly for means of communicating with the outside world.. The Government is not a sincere or honest Government, or it would never for u moment entertain a big expenditure on railway works that are not a necessity, but only a convenience, when thousands of people in the country districts have to suffer the dis- | abilities they do and from which the Reformers at last election solemnly promised to relieve them. A Government is judged by its actions, and the Massey Government's action in this matter does not coincide with its professions of regard for the interests of the small, struggling settler, who deserves, and should receive, all the assistance possible from the Government in power. For is he,not the backbone of the country?