PUBLIC DEBT.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16961, 9 October 1920, Page 8

PUBLIC DEBT.

VERY SUBSTANTIAL ASSETS,

STATEMENT BY PRIME MINISTER

(S?ECI\I. TO "TUE TRESS.")

WELLINGTON, October | A statement of the national assess ■ and liabilities was placed before tie J Houso bv the Prime- Minister, in - j ing tho second rending of the So. icr j Settlement Loan Bill to-day. The gro>s public debt of tho Dominion on March ::l =t last, stated Mr Massey, was £291,170.75-5. The amount of the debt at the end of the 1914-15 financial y<-ar| had been £9?.5i2.510, and the increase j sinco that date had been £101,333.2 loAll of this increase, except about £12.000,030, had been due to the war. j The assets that could fairly be placc j against the gross public debt wero jerv substantial indeed. A total of £51,1 0. i 791 was made up of sucli items as. j Sinking funds ... ••• 7,337,00°: Investments of cash Ivilan res of nublic accounts 20,-W>.IK)U , Bank of .Now Zealand shares M-o UW ; Reserve fund securities ... "i Stato advances ... ••• «,4«B,mH). Cash in the public account 0--10.WH' Cash in tho hands of officers 1,000,000 The Bank of New Zealand shares were , quoted at what tho Stato had paid tor them. They proboMy weiv> worth | £2.000,000 in tlie open market ln<? expenditure of the _ Government upo railways, public buildings, te.egraphs, Native* land settlement, harbours, lighthouse?, -elecfrical installations, up to March 31st. 1920, had amounted to £72,317,643. These items, said -Air Slassey, wero nearly all lnterest-earn-inn-, and they certainly were worth today much more than they nad cost. The railways, for example, wero worth a Treat- deal more than they had cost Ito "build. The same might be said confidently of tho telegraphs and tho JNativo and settlement lands. The estimated raluo of the Crown land remainin"' in the hands of tho Government was £°5 000.000. This was a tangible asset. The items ho had quoted placed a "-a i nst the gross public debt leit an excess of liabilities over assets ot. 1-13 321. Tliis sum included money that had been spent on roads, > immigration, Stato coal mines, drainage of land, ai'i other indirectly profitable scrvicos. • • The private wealth of the Dominion added Mr Messe.v, was estimated by the Treasury at £500,C00.000, and this item could lie "placed against tfhe ■excels ot public debt over tho assets ho had already quoted. _ , He thought that the financial position of the" Dominion was very strong indeed; no country could possibly bo sounder. Ho did not know of any other country that was as well . ott financially .as New Zealand. He might mention that 'he had not abandoned hope of getting some money from Germany as New Zealand's 6hare of tho indemnity. Ho was not sanguino enough to believe that the "Dominion would get very much from this source, but he knew thee would be somctnmg coming. New Zealand would not get from Germany: the payment probnblv would take the form of long-term debentures, paving interest. He hart told the financial experts at the Peaco Conference that Now Zealand would be prepared to abandon all other claims if it was paid the amount of its war'pensions. The pensions, at £2.000,C00 a year, represented a capital sum ,of about £25,000,000, and he did not expect to cot that much. Personally,' he did not believe tlho Dominion could expect more than four millions. The actual amount,, would be "known within a couple of years. The outlook for New Zealand was good, said the Prime Minister in conclusion. There was a general expectation of a period of depression, and ho was bound to sav that he saw si ens of depression in other countries. If tho purchasing power of oversea countries declined. New Zealand would suffer, but 'he did not believe that at the worst the depression would last long, and) . the people cf New Zealand were in a strong position. They had to fare tho fn.-ib that wool was going to be much, cheaper this season than it had been during the war. He (had reliable information that within the last few weeks the value of mutton ha<T do-lined. Tho demand for lamb was being maintained. The future really depended upon the people themselves. If they worked together, produced more, increased tlho area of productive land, and encouraged tlie secondary industries, all would be well.