The Press Thursday, May 11, 1922. The Public Accounts;

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17451, 11 May 1922, Page 6

The Press Thursday, May 11, 1922. The Public Accounts;

Somo of Mr Massey's predecessors used freely their Icnack of making their statements concerning the public aocounte almost unintelligible, less, we suspect, because there was anything which might not be plainly stated than because they wished the publio to think that public finance was a mystery which common folk could not be allowed' to understand. Wo recall this fact because it is long since the people were presented with so clear a statement as that given out by the Prime Minister at Feilding last night. The revenue for the year was £28,127,007 and the expenditure £28,466,838 — the excess of expenditure being £339,831. But, the Prime Minister points out, the unprecedented volume of imports during the year 1920-21 really amounted to two years' imports, and a great part of the entirely abnormal customs revenue for was really an anticipation of customs revenue for 1921-22. It' went to make an abnormally large surplus (£6,132,232) for the year 1921-22. That large surplus would have been less large if a due proportion of the customs revenue had, through the postponement of part of the heavy importations, come, into the year 1921-22. Mr Massey considers that of the £8,409,251 received in 1521-22 from Customs duties, £2,409,251 (the amount by which the 'actual receipts exceeded the estimate •of £6,000,000, regarded as a high estimate), really belong to the year 192122. If this is allowed we get the following result:— " £ I - Revenue ... ... 28,127,007 Customs duties carried ■ forward ... .... 2,409,251 • Total ... ... 30,536,158. Expenditure. ... 28,46.6,838 Surplus £2~068,420 Lest it be imagined—and no doubt some people may try to suggest—that this is making a surplus by making a deficit for 1920-21, we give the result, for 1920-21, where £2,409,251 of. the revenue is held- over for accountin 1921-22: £ Revenue - in' 1921-22 (deduction beingmade) 31,851,711 Expenditure ... 28,128,730 . ' Surplus, ' ... £3^722^1 Although Mr Massey emphasises this point, as we think it was rifdit to do, he take's care to "say that normally the Budget should be made to balance each year. What the public will therefore -wisli to know is, wjiat is the prospect for'the current financial year? We shall not receiye the. complete Estimates until the Budget comes down •next session, but in the meantime there is some encouragement in a section of the figures quoted by the Prime Minister. The total expenditure for the year 1921-22 was £23, w-,853, which is slightly more than the expenditure in 1920-21, but very much less than at one time it seemed likely to be. That it does so substantially fall short of what people feared—or hoped, if they were opponents of the Government—is due to the fact that the expenditure in the final quarter (the quarter ending March 31st last) was nearly a million sterling less than, the expenditure in the March quarter of 1921-22. This is the best fact in the Prime Minister's statement. It means that the measures of retrenchment adopted by the Government are already beginning to have a large effect. A million a, quarter (and with zen may be made to average better than that) will mean a saving of four millions a year. Such a movement, if we assume (as wo may) that revenue will improve as a | result of the country's recovery, should make the Treasury position perfectly stable. But the country needs relief from the burden of taxation, and the Prime Minister indicates that he will not be content with the savings already effected. There must be further reductions in expenditure if there is to be any chance of relief to the taxpayer. There is distinct ground, in the figures we havs mentioned, for the hope that in the coming session this relief can be granted witfiout prejudice to the Prime Minister's prospect of making ends meet.