NATIONAL DEBT.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 March 1921, Page 5

NATIONAL DEBT.

AVERAGES £l7l 6s 8d PER HEAD. INCREASE IN TAXATION. Financial conditions in New Zealand were briefly reviewed by Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P., in the course of the political address he delivered at the Workers’ Hall last night. After remarking on the fact that the country was entering on a critical period in its existence, the speaker referred to the slump in the meat and wool markets, and he expressed the opin. ion that the drop in prices was largely due to the shipping rings and meat trusts at Home. New Zealand would not free itself until the people controlled the shipping necessary to take the produce away, and also controlled its distribution when it reached its destination. In regard to the financial position, Mr. Smith .felt satisfied that New Zealand was sound financially, but his complaint was as to the manner in which the finances were being handled. The best that could be said of Mr. Massey, as Minister of Finance, was that he should not be there. He was an amateur dealing with the finances of the country and unable to carry on'satisfactorily all the numerous duties he had undertaken. When a Minister had Railways, Finance, Customs, and seven or eight other departments he was not doing the job thoroughly. With the huge debt New Zealand had to carry and the big taxation which it was necessary to raise, one man should be centring on finance.

The speaker quoted a number of figures showing that at March 31, 1920, the total national debt was £201,000,000, or £l7l 6s 8d per head of population, as against £7B per head in 1911. This was nearly an increase of £lOO per head in the ten years. In 1918, when the war was on, the debt per head was £l5l, and in 1920, two years after the war ended, the amount was £l7l. Taxation had risen from £4,837,322 in 1911 to £16,251,769 last year, and Mr. Massey had stated that he saw no prospect of any reduction in the taxation for some considerable time to come. The revenue in 1920 was £26,000.081, and in 1921 the estimate was for £27,712,000. Taxation per head in 1913-14 was £4 6s lid, and to-day amounted to £l4 2s 9d. This was a very heavy burden to carry, but the people of New Zealand could carry it if the Government handled the situation. In criticising the administration, Mr. Smith pointed out that just as the banks were putting the “screw” on, the Minister of Finance limited the rate of interest which local bodies were allowed to pay to 5| per cent., or 5| per cent., when he knew perfectly well that it was impossible to raise money at that rate. The Minister might think that it was good finance to restrict the spending of local bodies, but where works of national importance, such as hydro-elec-tric schemes, were concerned, the 1 permission to borrow at a higher rate should be given. Personally he was against the rate of interest being allowed to mount, too high, but the fact must be borne in mind that values had been raised all round during the war, and they had to expect that the rate of interest should be raised. Whilst Mr. Massey was refusing a Borough Council permission to raise money at 6 per cent-, what was he saying to the banks, after April 1 next, would be charging 7 per cent?