ECONOMY AND REFORM

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14406, 13 July 1912, Page 10

ECONOMY AND REFORM

"When the Reform Party wero in opposition a favourite plan adopted by their opponents, for the- purpose of discrediting them in the eyes of i hr public, -was to sneak of them as ''reactionaries," ■with a rooted aversion to all progrescive legislation, whose first efforts on attaining office "would bo merely to look after vested interests, without a thought for the welfare of the masses. Probably they repeated this fiction so often that they came at length to belicvo in it. Even now we note that some of tho Liberal newspapers, commenting on a reference in the No-confi-dence iebato to the "humanitarian, "liberal, and progressive measures" Mr Massey intends to placo upon the Statuto Boot, seem incredulous as to the possibility of a Reiorm Government doing .anything for the socialbenefit of the people, and at the same time carrying out the ursent -work of reorganising the finances. Another

journal candidb' speaks of somo of tho so-called humanitarian legislation of tho party with tvhich it has been .connected as mere temporary palliatives, leaving tho last state of tho people worse than tho first, by reason of tho enervating effect of such legislation upon tho national fibre. It wonders -whether "Conservative panaceas" will bo tho samo as the "Liberal palli"atires." In reference to tho first point, there is no doubt that tho most urgent duty of tho now Government is to place the finances upon a safo and sound footing. In view of the heavy commitments for maturing loans, fresh borrowing will havo to bo severely restricted. We shall bo very much disappointed, however, if it is not . found that, by moro careful administration, the country will cet moro substantial benefits from a lessened expenditure. We do not expect, for example, a repetition of the Hutt railway scandal. This has cost tho country £300,000, and it now takes subtly longer to get out to Trentham by train than it did before this money was wasted. An even creater scandal is tho hideous bungle in regard to tho new Parliament Buildings left as a legacy to tho now Government, Tvhich will cost tho country half rf million of money if carried out on the lines originally designed. Tho money wasted on the Dunedin railway station is , another conspicuous examplo of how not to do it. By introducing moro careful and business-like methods wo anticipate tho Government will be ahle to reduce its borrowing without reducing tho effective provision for the requirements of the country. By means of local government reform it should be possible to remove tho roads and bridges votes from Parliament, thus leading to further economy. In tho same way, we expect that by a careful handling of tho current expendituro better results will bo attained ■with greater economy. As to the naturo of tho humanitarian legislation, it is early yet to speak, but, judging by what we know of tho Ministry, wo believe that they will endeavour to get at the cause of social evils, instead of endeavouring, to cover them up with faddist nostrums, or to attempt the hopeless task of stopping the mouths of sufferers with doles. Labour unrest will be dealt with by improving tho means of settling disputes and ondeav- ,- ouring to remove all legitimate causes of grievance. Unemployment will largely disappear with tho extension of settlement and the restoration of confidence. Already in Wellington it is a matter of general comment in business circles that the prospect of a sound and settled Government has had a reassuring effect on investors, and money is more readily obtainable for industrial enterprise. Tho great mistake of tho Continuous Ministry was that it became imbued with the fatal notion that there could bo no progress without wasto and extravagance, and that humanitarianism and faddism were synonymous terms. Tho Reform Government, we bcliovo, will give us progress and social amelioration on broader, truer lines.