The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun THURSDAY JULY 17, 1941. THE BUDGET AND THE WAR

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 167, 17 July 1941, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun THURSDAY JULY 17, 1941. THE BUDGET AND THE WAR

; Mr. Nash reminded the House of Representatives last night, Parliament has met "under the cloud of a war which threatens the , rcedom and, in fact, the very existence of the British Commonwealth." t is unfortunate that words, good words, become blunted by over-use. Ahat Mr. Nash said is a fact. The "freedom" and "the very existence" if this Dominion as a part of the British Commonwealth are endangered 11 this war, and the source of the danger will not necessarily remain m the other side of the world. It will not necessarily remain a far-off hing, something to read about in the papers. Nearly everybody knows hat to be true, but the important question is not what we know to >e true, but what our knowledge impels us, as a community, to do. Jne place in which to gain a general view of what New Zealand as i community has done, and proposes to do, in consequence of our •uinwledge of the great issues which are at stake in this war, is in ho Budget. There, in the record of money spent and to be spent, in lie explanation of how the money is to be raised and in what manner t is to be spent, there is to be found an idea of what the Government )f the day deems wise and necessary and—an important point—likely

; ( o be acceptable to a majority of the people, as the Dominion's part in he third year of a desperate war. ■". The outstanding characteristic of the Budget picture is, of course, m 'ts size. Total gross expenditure may reach £140,000,000. Where is ; ;il „ :his huge sum to come from, and how Is It to be spent? For administrative convenience the Budget is divided into three parts—Consolidated P'und, Social Security Fund and War Expenses Account—but it must be regarded as one. Of the total projected expenditure, about £57,000,000 •• is to be borrowed. The largest borrowing is estimated to be £31,000,000, ; . ~ advanced or to bo advanced by the United Kingdom Government on ' , j iccount of the cost of New Zealand's armed forces overseas. For defence Surposcs also £13,000,000 is to be borrowed in New Zealand, and in ulclition, tor the purpose of "national development," alias public works jf all kinds, £13,000,000 is to be borrowed out of a total of £20,615 000 .Some of the £31,000,000 may be repaid in the course of the year. Last year it was expected that over £19,000,000 would be advanced by the • , ,'nited Kingdom Government, but apparently only £5,988,000 came to ?harge. All of this has been repaid. How much was incurred is not ■ ~ stated, but that part which was incurred and not refunded will fall „ into this financial year. Into this year also will fall the beavy cost 'Si,. .;. of the N.Z.E.F.'s part in the Greece and Crete campaigns, and if, as ;..seems probable, the N.Z.E.F. is again actively engaged before the end - iof the year, there will be further additions, impossible to calculate It >~;;»kerns —though it is almost futile to guess—that the £31,000,000 allowed >~ '.may be too little. At any rate, last year's experience will not be ;* i . repeated. Wars cost money, and the cost has to be met sooner or later. i* .The main point which emerges from the Budget is that in our case a •■• j large proportion will have to be met later. In the meantime it is to \J ~be met, somehow, out of the Budget of the United Kingdom, which is \ 'A Itself heavily unbalanced. ,; j. While the direct war expenditure inevitablv mounts high, and a •f» J very large proportion of it is to be borrowed, the civil expenditure is ,•: (to continue at nearly the same high level as in peace-time—£37,7l2ooo t -from the Consolidated Fund, £14,673,000 from the Social Security Fund ;...'ji and £20,615,000 for "national development." These sums represent the ;. ... =ost of what, in the Government's view, must be done in New Zealand J* ;in war-time for the civilian population. "The war," Mr. Nash said " "must not be used to put the clock back. We have great advantages' : aver people in many other countries. .. ." Those advantages we are ■: ;,; to maintain, and at the same time play our full part in the war. Can ;jV ,|it be done? It can be done in the short run, because the full burden A sof war to date has not yet fallen upon us. Much of it has ►; jjibeen met by the "Tnited Kingdom Government, and has not yet "come % iito charge"; but it wi:' "come to charge"; there is no escape. The question ;-; ; -is whether we can expect, or should expect, the United Kingdom Governj iment, upon which rests a terrible burden, to shoulder part of ours for ft ;;any longer than is absolutely necessary. Can we, in good conscience •.; «sympathise with the people of Britain in their ordeal, allow them to r ~'pieet part of our share of the burden, and at the same time boast of i.^.!') maintaining our advantages? Mr. Nash evidently sees no discrepancy ■p.,': between our professions and our actions, but the discrepancy exists p.;.and doubts concerning it will not be stilled by the naturally welcome Vl*':j news that this year there is to be no increase in taxation.