The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo and The Sun. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1939. PAST AND FUTURE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 247, 19 October 1939, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo and The Sun.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1939. PAST AND FUTURE.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the torong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance. And the good that tee can do.

If the outspoken comments made by Mr. \V. Goodiellow on the financial plight of the Dominion had been made by an undiscrimiuating critic ul' the Government they would not deserve the widespread and serious attention which they are receiving. Xor is there any chance that Mr. Goodfellow was mistaken in his observations overseas, for practically every business man in the Dominion who has direct dealings with firms in the I. nited Kingdom, or in foreign countries, could from his own knowledge speak of the existence of the derogatory opinions which Mr. Goodfellow ha.- described. And they, like he, "resent very much the loss of our very excellent financial and commercial reputation." With the country at war recrimination is undesirable, but, as Mr. Goodfellow pointed out, for that very reason the Dominion should feel as.-ured that there will be no repetition of the costly mistakes of the recent past."

The Government should know that no such assurance is I'o.lt now. The circumstances leading to the loss of the Dominion's sterling reserves, the confounded and continuing muddle of the import control "system" and the inability or refusal of the Government to appreciate its farreaching consequences simply preclude any feeling of confidence in the iuture. It had been hoped that the impact of the war would cause the Government to pause and reflect, and to invite the co-operation and advice, on broad financial and commercial questions, of those whose experience and reputation would command the confidence which the Government does not command. But this hope was vain; since the war began the Government has passed the vital Reserve Bank Amendment Bill, in the face of the disapproval of the governor of the bank, and of responsible business organisations.

The Government has given its pledge to the United Kingdom, and to its own people, that New Zealand will play its full part in the war. It has appealed, and rightly, for co-operation. But co-operation cannot be one-sided. It is incumbent now on the Government to pursue a course of action in which it will receive comprehending and confident co-operation. And the beginning of such a course must be a revision and a curtailment of Government expenditure. This week an all-round increase in Public Works pay has been granted, but there is no sign of a determination to reduce the Public Works payroll. Yet on the same day as the increase was announced the Education Board had a report concerning a schoolboy who is obliged to do a half-day's work before going to school, "owing to the departure of the casual labourers from his father's farm to join the military forces." Such removable anomalies, and the failure of the Government to remove them, sap the people's confidence in the administration. They reduce the people's willingness to co-operate, because they throw the shadow of doubt on the Government's sincerity.