THE MURKY MAZE OF a FINANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 160, 9 July 1890, Page 4

THE MURKY MAZE OF a FINANCE.

The statement that I" figures can be made to prove anything" is not without truth' and recent events in New Zealand and else, where confirm the assertion. If there is one thing more than another that tends to disgust people with our whole Parliamentary system, it is the facility with which figures are employed to support; opposite contentions. Let ue take a few examples. The Atkinson Ministry claim that there is a real surplus of £115,000 from their point.of view; while the Opposition leader, Mr Ballance, looking at the finances from a different standpoint, maintains that the surplus does not reach d§36,000, and he even goes the length of asserting that when the accounts are properly eeparatod and classified there is a net deficit of £18,634 ! The main cause of difference in this case, by the way, is undoubtedly the primage duty, £65,827, which the Ministry include in the surplua and the Opposition oxclude ; but there are other items which each party claims as proving its own contention. This is a forcible instance of the way in which figures may be manipulated, and the principal trouble in many of these financial disputes is simply the method of keeping accounts. This matter of keeping the Government accounts is one of the very utmost concern to every country, as recent disclosures in South Australia strikingly prove. On Friday last we published an article which can be described as nothing less than an "eye-opener." The main featuree deserve recapitulation. We are told that " a panic was caused in the South Australian Assembly last week by the Commissioner for Crown Lands (Mr Howe) informing the House that the contingent liabilities in connection with payment for squatters' improvements under the Act of 1884, would be nearly £3,000,000. It tvas only by accident that he made the. discovery 1 He had occasion to interview the Surveyor-General, who gave him this intelligence, which astonished and startled him as much as it could any honourable member of the House. Up till now he had shared the general opinion that the outstanding liabilities for compensation for improvements could not amount to more than £100,000." We do not wonder that) " members were absolutely struck dumb by this statement, until one or two rose and said they hoped there was some mistake with regard to these liabilities, which, if real, utterly dwarfed the existing deficit of £1,000.000. ' In reply to the leader of the Opposition (Mr Playford), who trusted and believed there was some mistake, Mr Howe said the figures had been "carefully prepared by the Surveyor General." He allowed that matters were very serious, and urged that the law of 1884, under which compensation is claimed, should be abrogated, and that •• it would be necessary to place an additional £250,000 on the next loan in order to meet immediate, demands for compeneation. (Sensation.)" For the sake of South Australia, we sincerely echo the wish that there may be some mistake. There appears, however, little hope of such relief, and perhaps the next best thing is to improve the occasion by drawing a lesson from it that will serve to guard others againsb a similar disaster. Some one has no doubt blundered most awfully; but even should it be discovered that matters are not so bad as they have been represented, .South Australian accounts must bo delightfully mixed to occasion such confusion. Who is to blame, in any case ? One cannot resist the impression that has taken j such a strong bold of Mr P, Goldie, that the

actual work of running the Government rests almost entirely with the Civil Service heads of departments, and that these know far more about the true condition of affairs than Ministers themselves. At any rate the discovery, "by accident," of this £3,000,000 item, is a woful commentary on the method of keeping accounts in South Australia—either the ability of the officials or their honeaty is at fault —and we should fancy that an inquiry will follow. The moral of the whole subject is, that every member of Parliament, or of. a local body, should take the trouble to become thoroughly well-posted in finance, and not leave the matter to others. This is the best way to prevent such "discoveries " as that brought to light in South Australia. In the tortuous labyrinth of a multitude of funds, it is not difficult to perceive how a scheming Treasurer may hoodwink the people regarding tho public finances, and although the study of figures is voted "dry," they must be grappled with by every Parliamentary or local governing body if they wish to escape subsequent surprises.