THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1908. THE COUNTRY'S FINANCES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3039, 9 November 1908, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1908. THE COUNTRY'S FINANCES.

That the day of large surpluses and record revenues has passed for a time at least must be patent to every individual who has but very casually looked into the question of the country's finances. The reckless extravagance of the Government, combined with their wonderful capacity for spending large sums of money in certain directions, when works of infinitely greater importance are not pushed on with at a rate essential to the maintenance of prosperity, is going to affect the welfare of the people a good deal sooner than was anticipated, say, two years ago. The Government have not only been extravagant, a bad enough fault in any Government, but in their administration, they have, also, displayed a lack of progressiveness that will seriously i affect the financial condition of many ; people in various and important parts of the Dominion for some time to come. It is Mr Pember Reeves who has placed it on record as his opinion that "the reputation of a colonial statesman is not infrequently made by a ri?e in prices on the London

market." Since the Liberal Govern- « ment came into power a number of most successful seasons have been experienced, and the products of those < seasons, not taking last year into consideration, have realised exceptional prices. For years the exports as a whole have steadily increased in both quantity and value. Here at least was a position which any Government carrying on the affairs of the country in a cautious and efficient manner could make capital out of, not merely political [capital, which is valueless in a hard and mercenary world, but, surely,thev had the opportunity of placing the country in such a position that it could have withstood several bad seasons without hardship being suffered? How far, notwithstanding all the glorious opportunities, was the possible accomplished? Just to this extent—that a drop in the price of wool for one season has created something approaching mild depression throughout the Dominion! The credit of the country may be good, and the resources of the country great, but surely these facts in themselves constitute a condemnation of the Government's financial administration. While the exports were going up by leaps and bound", until they represented the huge sum of £20,068,957. while the revenue of the country was ever increasing until it reached the record revenue of £9,055,946, the Government were steadily piling up the public debt, until it had totalled the burdensome sum of £66,453,897 on 31st March last. The increase of the public debt was always "justified" on the | ground of borrowing for reproductive j expenditure, but critics of the Government administration have contended again and again, and rightly, that there has not been that expenditure on reproductive works that there should have been. The public accounts for this year are disclosing not only the financial position of the country, but what has been the real trend of the Government's administration in past years. The "Dominion" newspaper in Wellington has been tackling the accounts in question, and has been very strongly and adversely criticised by both the Premier and the AttorneyGeneral in connection therewith. In answer, the newspaper mentioned sa y S; —"if we were wrong in stating that the expenditure for the September quarter exceeded the revenue by £26,718, why does he not say so? If we were wrong in stating that for the September halfyear for several years past the increase of revenue has totalled over £3OO, QOO, whereas for the half-year just ended the increase was a little more than £3OO, why is he silent on the point? If we were wrong in stating that, on the other hand, the expenditure for the same period had increased by £478.000, why does not the Prime Minister denounce our inaccuracy? The plain fact is that Sir I Joseph Ward cannot question the accuracy of our figures. Ha knows ■ that we were correct when we stated : that the normal rate of increase in ' the revenue of the country had shown a marked falling away, ! whereas the rate of increase in the expenditure had grown greater." As a matter of fact the "Dominion" made rather a "hass" of itself, because it could have criticised the , accounts in an absolutely fair man- < ner, and then its article would have been virtualHy unanswerable. Of course, the quarterly and half-year-ly accounts do not indicate what the exact position will be at the end of the year, nor can the quarterly accounts be regarded as showing the average quarterly expenditure and revenue for the year. The Premier and his colleagues, naturally, declare that at the end of the financial year a very satisfactory position will be disclosed. However, there is really no sound ground, though there may be plenty of political reasons, for expressing such a belief, and it is beyond question that the present financial year will not compare favourably with several which have just preceded it.