THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1901. PUBLIC BORROWING.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 115, 15 October 1901, Page 2

THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1901. PUBLIC BORROWING.

In an another column we publish a short article on the finances of the world, and this is of great interest at the present time. It will be ■ seen that noWiere, except within our own Empire, ( are the public, finances of any country in a satisfactory condition. France, Belgium, Italy?., Germany, the United States,, all have their money troubles.at the present time and, as no one country stands alone in a matter of this kind, evert Great Britain is affected. It cannot but J)e gratifying to ns to loam of the

sound financial positioned! our ■mother country, which has been undergoing the cost o! an expansive ' war for over two years, during which time the national debt has been piling up, and the burdens of the taxpayers getting more and more > It will be seen from the article in question that we must now exercise great cautio vin our financial dealings or else we will be .caught in the whirlpool of disaster. The finances of New Zealand are right 1 now because yre have had prosperous years lately, but the continued low prices of grain and wool must tell, and a slump will be the consequence. The present is not the time for any more .experimental legislation, which is likely to injuriously affect

existing or prospective industries. It is not the time to heap more burdens upon the producers of our wealth, or to throw stumbling blocks in the way of increased manufactures or increased trade. Our colony has been borrowing at a great rate for a number of j years, and our burdens from that cause are increasing. It has been estimated by an American statistician that of all the nations in the world that have national debts, the Australasian Colonies have the most to pay per head for interest. These colonies pay on an average 42s 3d per year for every man, woman and child, to provide interest on the debts that have been incurred by the colonies.- France, the next most heavily weighted country* pays 26s per head per year for. this purpose, as against 7s 6d in the United Kingdom. Against this, of course, we have our post and telegraph properties and Crown Lands, which have been largely provided out of borrowed money, but the fact remains the same, that payments on this head are too heavy. If a tax of per £ on all incomes,, both small and large, were imposed there would be a howl from one end of the country to the other, bht that is the amount paid away each year as interest on loans. Of course the payment is indirect.

and while the people pay it indirectly they do not recognise the source from which the demands for ibis amount cbrho. It .. NEW it ■ - sinking fund, so that in the course of time we should be freed from that “ old man of the sea,” debt. Borrowing for such purposes as buying land can, of course, be defended, as iri most cases the settlements under, the Crown return a profit over and above the interest paid oh the doan. But all profit arising out of such sources as this should not be put in the general funds of the country, but should be earmarked exclusively for the repay-* ment of loans. On no other system will the colony ever get into a position financially, that will be good in any crisis.