The Daily News. FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 1918. THE DOMINION'S FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 June 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 1918. THE DOMINION'S FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES.

Now that the revenue and expenditure accounts of the Dominion have been audited and the exact figures are available, a study of the country 's finances is by no means devoid of interest. Naturally, owing to largely increased taxation, the figures comprise a record, the revenue having risen from £12,239,661 in 1914 to £19,800,833 in 1918, while the expenditure increased from £11,825,864 to £15,120,287. If anyone in 1913 had been so rash as to prophecy that in five years the revenue of New Zealand would be in the vicinity of twenty millions he would have been regarded ps a freak, but the war came and with it the necessity for providing the necessary expenditure. A rise of £7,631,172 since 1913 emphasises not only the ever increasing demands on the taxpayer, but also the prosperity of the country which can increase the revenue by 'over sixty two per cent without feeling the pinch. As a matter of fact, for the past three years more money has been raised by taxa- , tion than was actually required to meet the expenditure, the increase ' in which only amounts to slightly more than twenty seven per cent in the five years. This shows that the Minister of Finance accurately estimated the ability of the taxpayers to bear largely increased burdens with light hearts and have plenty to spare to their credit. It also demonstrates the foresight tiie Minister in obtaining sob-< stantkl surpluses wherewith -,p)r>

build up r. fur.fl Hint will 1>« of value to 1 Ik: Dominion should a renelion set in after the war. Die poliey is one that should meet with :i|>j)i'o\al, and should have a most bcnciieial cfiVct oit A'.nv Zealand';-; credit at Home and abroad. The main item of revenue -which lends itself to expansion when the need arises is income tax, and from this source has been derived the greater part of the largely increased receipts:. In 1!) - the income yielded only slightly over. half a million, but for the year which ended on March 31, 1918, this tax had produced over live and a half millions—to be exact. 13,019,560 —or more than ten times the amount obtained thereby in 1914. Although the income tax was considerably increased, the yield clearly indicates that a phenomenal era of prosperity is being experienced and that more people are contributing to the tax than hereto/..re, while it extremely likely mat, if thoroughly conscientious and accurate returns of income were made, the amount of yield by the tax would be appreciably greater than it is, but it is too much to expect from human nature as at present constituted, so that the actual yield may be regarded as below the capacity of the taxpayers. It is just as well # that there should be a good margin, because the public debt of the Dominion must keep on growing, necessitating ever increasing revenue wherewith to pay the interest and sinking fund. It is worthy of note that this last named charge has nearly doubled in the past five years, having risen from £2,887,981 to £4,430,779, about a million and a half being due to war expenditure. With the calling up of the Second Division there will -be a further increase in expenditure, and besides this we must provide land for soldiers as well as war pensions, and meet repatriation charges. It has been estimated that at the close of the war the yearly interest bill may reach' close upon six millions, and the pensions' payments a million and a half. Fortunately the outlook so far as continued prosperity is concerned is very encouraging, but all the same it is vitally necessary to increase production and develop to the utmost the resources of the Dominion. Although it is thought by some that the high prices of our produce will decline, the fall is not likely to be 'of any great extent for some years. It has to be remembered that never again will the masses in Britain work for such small pay as in the past, so that they will T>e better able to pay higher prices for our produce, and the Dominions will doubtless receive an influx of emigrants who will be able to assist in making the land more productive. It has also to be borne in mind that after the war there is bound to be considerable development in the manufacture of laborsaving machinery, and that the process of making the Empire self-contained will keep the money from straying into foreign hands. The burdens of the future may possibly be heavy, but unless something unforeseen happens they can be met without undue strain.