The Daily News. THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 1919. STABLE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 June 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 1919. STABLE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS.

"There is no question as to our ability to meet our war obligations if all classes of the community will unite in preserving stable economic conditions." This pronouncement formed part of a statement made by the Acting Minister, of Finance (Hon. A. M. Myers) on Tuesday. There is nothing new in the assertion, it having manv times been made by members of the Ministry. Even had it not been made at.ali, the.spundaess <>£

the Dominion financially is so well known that the most casual observer has no doubt of the ability of the people to meet all our war obligations if economy is practised and an enlightened policy is pursued. Mr. Myers, it will be noted, lays the whole onus of preserving such conditions on "aF classes of the community." That, of course, is a very ingenious, but scarcely ingenuous, way of statng the position. The only part all classes of the community have to play in this connection is to find the money—to bear the burdens which a paternal Government;, imposes on them-.—without the option of refusal. Stable economic conditions can only be created and preserved by the Government, and no one is more aware of this fact than Mr. Myers. During the war, when the necessity for economy was so urgently emphasised, it was the people who practised this virtue. The Government consistently refrained from setting an example, except by starving education and public works on one hand, and taking little heed of large outgoings in other directions. There was a general expectation that the end of hostilities would witness an appreciable curtailment of expenditure, but the military machine is eating up money more greedily than ever, apart from the expenses of repatriation, pensions and other legitimate purposes. From the outset of the war right up to the present time Ministers generally have drifted with the stream, and lacked courage to cast anchor so as to initiate a policy of effective retrenchment. The glamor of talking in millions appears to have obstructed their vision where thousands were concerned, and this evil is still apparent. Mr. Myers' recent statement is full of millions. He pointed out that the national debt had increased by eighty-one millions—equal to £l7O per head of the population, involving additional charges for interest and sinking fund amounting to four million yearly. There is no good object achieved by his reference to the amount per head of national wealth anc! national income. It is not a question of national bankruptcy or solvency, but one of revenue and expenditure. The public is well aware that taxation must for some years be heavy, and that is the reason why there is a distinct feeling of anxiety at the failure of the Government to drastically our tail expenditure and institute an adequate policy of retrenchment. What is needed is a board composed of leading business and financial men outside rf Parliament, clothed with power to overhaul and adjust departmental expenditure to suit the new conditions caused by the war, but practical action of this kind would be scouted by the Government as an intolerable interference with democratic government, yet it is a gane and safe policy to adopt if financial difficulty <s to be averted. The people of New Zealand do not grudge liberal provision being made to those who have been adversely affected by the war; they do not object to pay for all absolutely necessary services of the State; but they do— I and with justice—resent expenditure that can be dispensed with, [ and they rightly look to the Gov- ' ernmont to set the lead in retrenchment instead of piling up expenditure. As evidence of the prosperity of the people, M". Myers points out that New Zealand is an easy first as to the amount per head in the post ofSce savings bank. It would be a wonder if it were net so, as the earnings and

conditions of life in the Dominion.) are superior to those elsewhere.) Apparently it is the wonderful prosperity of the country that induces Ministers to be neglectful of the duty of economy, and it would seem that they must be roused to practice what they so eloquently preach.