A ONE-SIDED VIEW.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8864, 26 October 1907, Page 4

A ONE-SIDED VIEW.

Speaking in the House of Representatives last night upon the Imprest | Supply nil), the Premier drew a rosy picture of the financial position of the dominion. The revenue for the past six months, he said, amounted to £3,829,304, as against £3,482,569 for the corresponding period of the previous year, the increase being £346,735. These figures, declared Sir Joseph Ward, showed the wonderful buoyancy of our finances. Mr Massey pertinently asked "Have you go!; the expenditure?" to which the "Minister of Finance" answered negatively; but, he promptly added

—"The revenue is the barometer which shows the prosperity of the country." Our business, trade and industries in the aggregate, he went on to say, were doing well, and this he considered to be especially satisfactory in view of the. important financial occurrences in certain other countries. The dominion was strong financially, and there was enough money to meet the require- ! ments of every class. "The country," he concluded, "is more self-con-tained than ever it was before." All this is certainly very gratifying, but there is just a possibility that the picture may be somewhat dimmed when the expenditure is set off against the revenue side of the | account. For years past the everincreasing receipts have been accompanied by an expenditure that has increased in still greater ratio, and it would have been more satisfactory if Sir Joseph Ward had been as prompt to give the expenditure for the halfyear as he has been to exhibitthe revenue.