THE COUNTRY'S FINANCE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 328, 15 October 1908, Page 6

THE COUNTRY'S FINANCE.

During the next few weeks the public will hear a great deal concerning the splendid results of the "Liberal" Government's administration. It is true that the general pleasantness of affairs is slightly marred by the depression in wool and a general check in the exports, but it is unpatriotic to refer to these things. It is necessary, however, to remind the public of some facts that our Ministerial friends may consider unworthy of inclusion in their tale of progress. Nowhere is the progress fostered by the Government so stable and decisive as in the public indebtedness of the country and the taxa-

tion of the people. Wool may , drop in price, there may be a falling off in exports, the birthrate may be shrinking, but the taxation per head and the public debt soar steadily upward. We have dealt before now with the steady growth of the burden of taxation during the past few years, but it is worth while placing the figures on record again in order that the public may properly appreciate the extent of tho "concessions" that the Prime Minister refers to so frequently and tho advantages" which ho and his predecessor have conferred on the country. The following table shows the amount of taxation per head during eight financial years:— Year. Amount. Per head. £ £ s. d. 1900 2,891,126 3 16 10 1901 3,042,890 3 19 6 1902 3,113,080 3 19 8 1903 3,277,964 4 1 8 1904 ... 3,649,601 ■ 4 8 4 . 1905 3,754,379 4 3 11 1906 '3,841,596 4 3 5 1907 4,264,555 4 9 10 Year by year, that is to say, the Government has wrung larger and larger sums from the general taxpayer without any compensating advantage, as we shall see, in the shape of.a diminution of the public debt or of the Prime Minister's anxiety to spend money. Despite the great increase of taxation in Australia/ under Federation, tho figure per head, according to a return issued by the Federal Statistician a few months ago, was £3 6s. 2d. It will be said, of coursc, that the increase in taxation is duo to the increase in imports per head. That is, of coursc, quite true, but if the "concessions" of the Government were real, and not illusory, there would be a dccreaso in the amount per head. If imports were increasing so fast, it was the business of the Government eithor to remit taxation or to devote the extra receipts to tho works for which it has been raising loans. Mit. Byron Brown lias been explaining at Otaki what the increase in taxation means. He showed that in three years tho Otaki electors had paid £10,000 in extra taxes. And in return the electorate received only £7000 in thß ahapo of votes on the Estimates.

Vast as has been tnc increase in the burden of taxation, there has been no checking of the Government's zeal for borrowing. In another column wo reprint from a Christchurch contemporary a telling indictment of the Government's methods of spending the enormous sums that it has borrowed. This wo may supplement by some figures that will indicate the manner in which the "self-reliant" policy of John Ballance has been carried'out: — Gross "Surplus." Public Debt. Incrcaso. Year. £ £ 1891. ... 143,965 35,832,350 16-1,-100 1892 ... 165,574 38,713,086 *117,282 1893 ... 283,779 39,257,840 544,772 1891 ... 290,238 39,826,415 568,575 1895 ... 180,024 40,386,964 560,549 1896 ... 215,559 43,050,780 2,663,816 1897 ... 351,286 44,366,618 1,315,838 1898 ... 421,144 44,963,424 596,806 1899 ... 495,861 46,935,006 1,974,082 1900 ... 605,351 47,874,452 936,446 1901 ... 427,213 49,591,245 1,716.793 1902 ... 270,488 52,966,447 3,375,202 1903 ... 303,905 55,899,019 2,932,572 1904 ... 345,835 57,522,215 1,623,196 1905 ... 761,036 59,912,000 2,389,785 1906 ... 788,795 62,191,404 2,279,040 1907 ... 717,825 64,179,040 1,988,000 1908 ... 767,849 66,453,897 2,274,857 With all these "surpluses" the public has received no real remissions of taxation. Of the borrowed millions, many have disappeared utterly from the face of the earth in repairing or replacing things that money was borrowed to construct. The interest on loans for the year 1907-8 amounted to £2,527,970, or £25,000 moro than the amount borrowed in that year. New Zealand has therefore reached the position that, when it raises a loan, the money virtually has to remain in London to pay only a portion of tho interest on the debt, the remainder of which has to be found by the taxpayer. As the Pkiiie Ministeh shows no inclination to adopt a policy of economy or to check his enthusiastic extravagance, tho situation is not likely to improve. This condition of things may not be pleasant for Ministers to face on the eve of the elections, but it is still more unpleasant for the taxpayers and the facts cannot be disputed. The country has done extremely well during the past fourteen years, but it would bo foolish to ignore the fact that the "boom" has been very largely assisted by the £25,000,000 borrowed during that time. Until recently, as we have shown, borrowing at the rate of £2,000,000 a year gave the_ public something extra to spend. Now it is not even sufficient to meet tho interest charges on the public debt. Yet the same heedless extravagance is persisted in; the permanent appropriations grow larger and larger; in tho ranks of Ministers and their following there is talk only of the rosy side of things, and those who show the position as it is are termed traitors, to their country.