The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. FRIDAY, MAY 29, 1925. THE NATIONAL ACCOUNTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 125, 29 May 1925, Page 6

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

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 1925. THE NATIONAL ACCOUNTS.

for the cause that lacks assistance, For the urrong that needs neistarwe. For the future in the distance, And the good thai v>? can da.

There is nothing sensational in the national accounts for the past financial year, but there are several features that should be noted. The surplus is, roughly, a million and a quarter, as compared with £1,812,000 in tho previous year. The Minister of Finance prepared a Budget in which revenue and expenditure were about equal. In comparing the two years, however, one must bear in mind that In 1923-24 half a million of interest due from the soldiers' settlement account was withheld from the revenue, and that this sum -was paid in during ID-24-2.5. This 6Um accounts for most of the increase in revenue during the past year. The total increase in revenue was £082,000, and the increase in expenditure a million and a quarter, which re-emphasises the need for economical administration. Among the permanent charges interest and . sinking fund payments show a small increase, but the pensions bill is smaller. Among the Departments, railways, post and telegraph, and education, all show considerable increases. The outstanding feature of the revenue returns is the amount collected by the Customs. In 1923-24 the amount was seven millions and a quarter, and Mr. Massey estimated that there would be an increase of about £100,000. Tho 1 increase was more than £300,000. Customs taxation furnishes more than I a quarter of the total revenue. For *ome time there has been uneasiness about the volume of importations; only a few I days ago a member of the Ministry said something, on the subject. It is considered that the country is spending too much on imported luxuries", arid is not saving enough. The value of imports Jis regarded as too high for a healthy balance of trade. Another noteworthy feature of' the revenne side of the ■ accounts is the good showing made by j the railways in a year that began with ;a strike in the service and ended with an epidemic that curtailed travelling. Despite these handicaps the railways earned more last year than they did in 1923-24. On the other hand, expenditure increased by about half a million, go that the net revenue of the service was not so large as in the previous year. In 1923-24 there was a' profit,, after allowing 3? per cent for interest, of £32,000. Last year there was a deficit, but how. much it was cannot be estimated until the capital total is known. lOn the whole, the figures, taken in conjunction ■ with those of the previous year, ■ indicate that railway finance is improving,'and we mtist attribute this largely to the ' new policy at headquarters. I The national finances continue to I require the most careful management. Taxation has been reduced, but bedrock has not-been reached, and it- is to the interest of everybody that further reductions should bo made. .To balance these reductions there must be economy in administration and ' greater production I by'the nation. The country needs'more population- and settlement. In tho rearrangement of portfolios the new Prime Minister will, have to find a Minister of Finance. Mr. Nosworthy occupies . the position temporarily, but not even his best friends would euggest that lie is well fitted for ■ it, Unless Mr. Coates can find a financier outside the Ministry —and Rollcston, of Timaru, occurs to us as well qualified for the position he should hand finance over to Mr. Downie Stewart. No other member of the Ministry has shown any grasp of the intricacies of national finance.