WELLINGTON TOPICS

Taranaki Daily News, 6 July 1920, Page 9

WELLINGTON TOPICS

THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH. A PESSIMISTIC UTTERANCE. (Special Correspondent-) The Speech put into the mouth of the Governor-General by His Excellency's Advisers at the opening of Parliament was a singularly pessimistic utterance. Hitherto it has been the practice of Ministers when unable to paint the outlook in the rosiest hues to make the best of a bad job, as the homely phrase goes; but on this occasion Mr. Massey and his colleagues were eandii almost to the length of brutality. "The conditions created by the war continue to give great anxiety to the Government," "The Government is faced with demands for expenditure far beyond anything which the revenues of the Consolidated Fund can meet," and "The revenues can barely provide the great increases in salaries, wages and cannot be avoided," are only a few of the laments in which His Excellency, on behalf of his Ministers, indicated tjie grave financial difficulties besetting the country. MR. MASSEY'S TASK, That the position is bad enough there can be no question. While the huge expenditure in connection with the war has entailed an enormous increase in the annual charge for interest and sinking fund, the rigid restriction of expenditure in other directions lias left New Zealand with a vast accumulation of suspended public enterprises. It requires money for railways, roads, electric Works, education, land settlement, soldier repatriation, and a score of other things, and with the Mother Country in much the same plight, on a far larger scale, the Dominion must perforce look to its ovrti people for the money it needs, It would be idle at this time of day to discuss the differences between Reform and Liber.il finance, but it certainly seems unfortunate that Sir Joseph Ward, Sir .Tames Allen, and the Hon. A. M. Myers, all wiiii experience at the Treasury, are away from the country at this time of crisis when their ripe judgment might have been of the greatest value to the Prime Minister. \\*ANT 'OF CONFIDENCE. In the circumstances, the Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald, the Leader of the Liberal Opposition, cannot expect to escape a good deal of adverse criticism for his action in following the delivery of the Speech with a notice of motion expressing want of confidence in the Government. It appears to be no time, even if all the information concerning the financial position were available, to be inviting the Prime Minister to a trial of party strength. But from all accounts Mr. Mac Donald himself is in a somewhat embarrassing position. The members of the official Labor Party still are dreaming of driving the Liberals into a coalition with the Reformers and it is suspected that one of.their means towards that end is to table a motion of no-confidence themselves and force the Liberals to make a choice between Air. Massey pnd Mr. Holland. The certain rejection of Mr. MaoDonald's motion will not prevent this being done, but the fact of it being moved should finally dispose of whatever credence may have been given to the coalition theory. INEQUALITY OF SACRIFICE. To people who do not enjoy the confidence of the Government the proposal to exempt the salaries of Judges Ministers of the Crown and members of Parliament from income tax was even more surprising than Mr. Mac Donald's notice of motion. Some of Mr. Massey's best friends have received it with a gasp and are quite unable to find any colorable excuse for this departure from every fundamental democratic principle. That members of the House should be better paid than they are at the present time it is generally conceded but that they or gentlemen receiving from £I2OO to £2OOO 4 year from the State should be freed from a burden much less fortunate individuals are compelled to bear is a proposition every subscriber to the doctrine oj equality of sacrifice is rejecting.