MEN AND MONEY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 235, 5 October 1939, Page 18

MEN AND MONEY.

AUSTRALIA'S PLAN& WILL THE MOTORIST "KICK"? AIR RAID PRECAUTIONS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, September'-20.

At their congress,in Melbourne this week the Returned Soldiers' League passed a resolution urging that the special force of 20,000, which in most States is already over-eiilistod although recruiting has not officially begun, should be raised to 100,000. Xot much attention is likely to be paid to this well-meant resolution. By calling up the militia of 75,000 in two drafts for training and training the special force of 20,000, Australia is doing as much as she can for the moment. To attempt to do more would only cause confusion.

Most people have now (.'cased criticisirg (lie Federal Government for not doing enough,-and comment, has turned 011 other matters. One of these is the question of the rate of pay of the ppeei.il force, which it is generally expected will ho substantially the same as the old A.I.P. rate—s/ a day in Australia and 0/ abroad. Militiamen in camp receive S/ a day. Interest on Loans. Another subject of comment has been the rate of interest which should be paid on the new Commonwealth loan of £22,40.),000, of which all but £2,000,000 is for defence and war services. Sir Thomas Buckland, a former director of the Bank of New South Wales, who recently presented the Commonwealth with a warplane, was the first to suggest that war loan interest should not exceed 3 to !U per cciit. A low rate of interest has also been urged by the State Returned Soldiers' League and by the leaders of the Federal Opposition (Mr. Curtin) and Country party (Mr. Cameron). Mr. Cameron said there was no reason to believe that investors as a class were less patriotic than the rest of the community, and low interest rate loans would give them an opportunity of declaring themselves. Many people in Australia have been thinking a lot about the disparity ]>etween those who sacrifice their careers and risk their lives for their country for 0/ a day and those who are paid peace-time interest rates merely for lending their money to their country, but the indications' are that the loa'n will be floated at tile current market rate.

Apparently if Professor Mills, professor of economies at Sydney University, had his way there would be no war loans. Addressing the New South Wales branch of' the Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand, lie said: We should put as much as we can on the shoulders of the taxpayers. Taxes and more taxes should be our motto. We should borrow only in a small way at low interest until things get moving and then we should stop borrowing altogether. ]t would not he possible, even if it were advisable, for Australia to follow this advice; in fact, coming on top of the recent heavy increases in Federal taxation the new taxes announced in the -State Budget this week have made most people feel' that they have already had about as much put on their shoulders as they can carry.

Motorist Pays More. In addition _to about £2,750,00(1, which lie is raising by an increase in the wages tax to finance unemployment b lelief and social services, the Premier (Mr. Mair) is raising an extra £1,531,000 in other new taxes in order to keep his deficit down to about the figure of £1.500,000, which the Loon Council agreed to finance. The new taxes .ire spread over income tax (both individual and company), probate, death and stamp i duties, and motor taxation (registration • fees are raised by 121 per cent). Motori ists, who have had millions taken from i them over the course of years in taxes • on petrol and chassis, which have mostly . gone to Consolidated revenue, did not protest against the Federal Govern- ■ incut's recent increase in the petrol duty, becausc they regarded it as a wartimo sacrifice, but it is probable that they will really make a stand at last against the now State impost. Sooner or later they will have' to make the Governments realise the truth of the old saying about killing the goose that lays the golden egg. Mr. Jlair has .not softened his taxation blow by sonic recent remarks he made on economic prospects after the war (whenever that may be). When opening a. country show, he pointed out that under the urge of war, and resulting increased prices, every country would be increasing its agricultural production, and that after the war there was certain to be "severe economic dis-turbances—over-production, restriction on markets, and fluctuations ill prices." If production was to be expanded, he "•id, it should be on sound lines—but he did not go on to explain just what he meant by the latter phrase. In a later speech ho suggested that a. fund should be established into which surplus profits, due to the rise in prices during tho war, should be paid so that subsidies would bo paid from the funds to farmers in tho next peace-time slump which lie foresees. Teachers Attack A.R.P. Plans. Another matter which has been the subject of criticism this week is the A.R.P. plans for schools. The Minister in charge of emergency services (Mr. Bruxner), who intends'to hold a trial black-out of Sydney shortly, has been criticised from Canberra on the ground that there is really no necessity for it. On tlic other hand, the Tcachers'' Federation of Xcw South Wales contends that not enough has been done in A.R.P. for schools, The deputy-president said this week at a conference on the subject, representing 300,000 members of various organisations, that instead of helping school precautions, the \ Governments were wrangling about who was tn pay for them. Another teacher criticisod many of the precautions as useless. He instanced the drill in which children are taken into the playgrounds and made to lie down on the ground in groups. "In our pocket-handkerchief playgrounds this would be no protection," he declared.

The pathologist of the Royal North Shoro Hospital said that Australia was not likely to be attacked with heavy bombs, and therefore only light protection was probably necessary. He criticised the instruction that incendiary bombs should be lifted with lon#handled shovels and put in buckets of

sand. "I liavc had experience with thermite,'' he said "and; found that a. small piece scatters fire for van!* around. I for one would not. like, to have to ecoo£ up-a bomb with a shovel.','