Wirarapa Times-Age FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1940. WAR FINANCIAL DEMANDS.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 September 1940, Page 4

Wirarapa Times-Age FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1940. WAR FINANCIAL DEMANDS.

QPHAT very large amounts of money for war purposes must be raised by loan as well as by taxation is not in question. So far as the broad issues at stake are concerned, the decision of the Government to raise a compulsory war loan of a minimum amount of £Bm thus must be commended unreservedly. Weighty reasons appear, however, for holding that this decision would better and more wisely have been carried into effect under the legislative authority of Parliament than by way of executive action under the War Emergency Regulations.

With its compulsory and other provisions, notably those providing that it shall be interest-free for three years and subject to an interest rate of 2-1 per cent during the remaining ten years of its term, the loan intimately concerns the power of the purse with which it is essentially the prerogative of Parliament to deal. The ultimate authority of Parliament of course remains, but the exceptional action that admittedly is necessary to finance the war should have been submitted to detailed review by the representatives of the people. Parliament should not only be satisfied, that the provision made is at an immediate view adequate and that reasonable care is being taken to avoid imposing injustice and hardship on individuals, but should have been given an ample opportunity of considering the loan project in relation to our total national economy.

In view of the inevitably heavy financial demands that are being made and will continue to be made by the war, important problems of production and trade more than ever demand serious attention. There should be no question of attempting to find in the war an excuse for attacking rights and privileges enjoyed by any section of the community. There are excellent reasons, however, for considering, without prejudice and inthe interests of all sections of the community, in what particulars, if any, industrial and other conditions might be varied in ways that would strengthen the war effort and minimise, as far as possible, the deprivations occasioned by the war. Amongst other questions that greatly need to be raised from a practical standpoint is that of whether the present scale of some branches of State expenditure, notably that on public works, can possibly be justified or defended in time of war.

An unhampered discussion of legislation authorising a compulsory war loan would have given Parliament an excellent opportunity of dealing with vital aspects of national economy in time of war. Under the procedure that has been adopted, the discussion in Parliament of the compulsory loan prospectus is likely to be somewhat perfunctory. Why the Government has chosen to act under the general authority of the Emergency Regulations instead of submitting a War Loan Bill to Parliament is not apparent. Certainly there was nothing to prevent Parliament being called together to consider a measure of that kind at any time that was considered suitable.