The Daily News. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1921. PUBLIC WORKS LOAN.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 December 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1921. PUBLIC WORKS LOAN.

The House of Representatives must have been in a very complacent inood on Tuesday night to have passed, almost without discussion, the Bill authorising the raising of another- Public Works loan of five millions. It is generally recognised th“t there is a large arrear of public works consequent on the dearth of money

available for that purpose, but there were some important bearings on a new loan that should have been thoroughly threshed out, and doubtless would have been had the Bill been before the] House a month or so earlier. The debate was even more unprofitable than the. Financial debate, yet the borrowing of another five millions, inevitable as it is, was sure-' !y a matter deserving of special I onsideration. Already this year] 'he Dominion has raised five andi a half millions, which has apparently all been spent in England. According to the Financial Statement presented to the House last month, five' millions was allocated thus: Public works £2,250,000,! electric supply £1,750,000, railways improvement. £1,000,000. When summing up the Budget delate, Mr. Massey, in alluding to the half million loan, said 'the money was to be used “for general development purposes, for public works, and so forth.” The point is, not whether the money was wisely spent, but exactly how it was distributed, and in respect of what commitments. Under the present system of State book-keep-ing there are no means whereby members or the public can ascertain how much money is owing for expenditure on, say, account of public works when a loan is raised, so that it is possible for the whole of the loan to have been anticipated, thus leaving no funds available for work ahead. It is generally considered that was the position of the five million loan raised ly Mr. Massey. Naturally curiosity exists as to what will'be the exact financial position with regard to public works and development when the newly authorised loan is placed on the market. It might reasonably have been expected that the whole system of these loans would have been overhauled during the debate on Tuesday. The only piece of ,exact information given by the Premier was that a million of this new loan will be absorbed by the electrification of the Otira tunnel. How much of this allocation has already been spent, and how much more will have to be paid out before the loan is floated? What, approximately, will be the amount actually available for expenditure on works not yet taken in hand? These and other similar queries might well have been cleared up, instead of the public being kept in the dark as to the transactions. It is certainly time for the institution of strictly business-like balance sheets that will accurately disclose revenue, expenditure and loan transactions. Ir should also be a fixed rule that when the House is asked to sanction a loan there should be an officially vouched statement showing how much of the amount has been anticipated and how much remains for use on new or current works.

Members had the opportunity to enter into these matters, but there appears to be little interest taken by the. majority of the House in such important details. A Bill for a loan is brought down and passed as a matter of course, and there the matter ends. Practically the Government has a free hand to do as it pleases. That may be convenient, but it certainly implies a large waste of money in payment to members, besides being undemocratic. The. priugiple of

trusting the Government is perfectly right up to a point, but if it is to be carried to extremes, then ■ the affairs of the Dominion should be altogether trusted to the care of the Executive and the farce of Parliament ended. There is one point in connection with the new loan that needs special attention, namely, the statement by Mr. Massey that he will endeavor to raise the money within the Dominion. Considering that local bodies are unable to obtain loans in the Dominion, where money is greatly needed, the prospect of the Government raising the loan : locally is most remote,/and the failure so to do may adversely af- ; feet the terms to be obtained on ■ the London market. Manifestly 1 we must continue to look \o London for money for the development of the country’s resources.