THE COUNTRY'S FINANCES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 497, 3 May 1909, Page 6

THE COUNTRY'S FINANCES.

'■ Wb must compliment the Prime Minis-, tee on his effort to presenf the .financial position of tho country-in as pleasing a ■ light', as possible. His .speech .at Invercargill on Saturday evoning so far as it related to financial matters was arranged to the. best advantage possible, and : the commonts with, which he introduced his carefully-selected figures to his audience ignored the depressing influence of cold and unpleasant facts, and dwelt fondly and glowingly - on any featuro which .might: appear 'to give the. slightest cause for satisfaction. The figures even ■ divested of Sir Joseph-Ward's commentaries are not without their pleasant; side. We certainly have a surplus, which is some roaaon for congratulation. The Government certainly has economised strenuously in the last quarter of tho financial ■year, which is both satisfactory and novel. But beyond these, two'features'thoro is little occasion 'for '.satisfaction in the financial position revealed by the Prime Minister. : We do not /propose to comment at any longth on the figures, which ■our readers will find published in full in our news columns. It is rather our purpose tb supply the information which the Prime Minister has failed to lay .before the country, and which is necessary to an intelligent understanding of cue drift of the-financial position of the country undor the Ward Government, and which justifies completely our frequent criticism of Ministerial .waste, and; extravagance.. First of all lot us take the' surplus, which, as before remarked,- is"a satisfactory, feature. It is satisfactory only in the sense that a surplus is a much more desirable financial'achievement than a deficit. . Compared with the surpluses of recent years it is far from satisfactory. Here is,,a list..-, of. the ; credit balances shown since the year 1900: — Seddon Government. 1 — "Year. Surplus. 1 ■ & 1000 . ... ... 605,352 V ! ' 1901 -...- '...532,564 1902 ... ' ... . ... 270,489 • ... 1003 ... ... 303,000 .1904 .... ... ...,.649,741 . : 1905 .... ... ... 761,030 1200 ...; : ... . ... 788,794 .'•■ . ' Ward Government. 1907 ... ; 717,825 V... ,1903. . ..V ... ■ ... . 767,849 1909 ... .... ... 184,321 ,Tho drop in the amount of the surplus is a rcinarkablo and is a matter of e—ijxta la its boaring on public works,

years past a largo part of the surplus has been transferred to the Public Works Fund, and has been used for'public works purposes. Last yoar £800,000 was so transferred; in 1907, in 1900, £600,000; in 1905, £600,000. With a surplus of only £184,000, the Government will have comparatively little to ' transfer, which means either, a curtailment of public works or increased borrowing. Neither of these is a pleasant alternative just now. Turning to the revenue for the past yoar, Sir Joseph excelled himself in the cheerful fashion in which he broke- the news to the country that there ,was a falling off in receipts for the twelve months totalling the sum of £54,000. "It would doubtless afford immense pleasure, and, indeed, to many surprise,", said the Prime Minister, "to find that there was only a decrease of £54,761" on total receipts." Since Sin Joseph can derive pleasure from a falling^revenue, he might have added to the cheerfulness of the occasion by quoting the following , table showing the full significance of the drop in revenue Seddon' Government. ... - > DeRovenue. Increase, crease. £ £ ' £ 1900 ' ... 5,380,386 — 1901 ...' 6,852,706 1 — 1902 ... 6,053,070 200,364 — ,1903 ... 6,386,610 , 333,540 — 1904 7,021,386 .634,776 — 1905 ".... 7,282,870 : 261,484 — 1906- ..: 7,594,339 301,489 —. Ward Government. " ■ • X9o7_- ... ■ 8,399,075 . 814,716 — 1908 ... 9,055,946 . 656,871 — 1909 ... " 9,001,185' - 1 54,761 For a. great many years past the revenue' has gone on increasing; in 1908 the increase totalled £656,871. This year there is a falling off of' £54,761,' not a large amount,-- but a very significant fact.. The Government is not to blame for this decrease unless it is to be~ blamed for taking off the duty on sugar, which has been of no benefit to the general public. Where Sir Joseph Ward is really at fault is in Elurring over the position instead of taking the public into his • confidence; If he has any real desire to economise in the administration of the affairs of the country, he will be in '•»' much stronger position to carry out-the required economies' if he lets the public see the absolute necessity for them, than if he attempts to obscure, the position by a pretenco of joy at a shrinking revenuo. The most striking and the most disquieting feature of the financial position, however, is the staggering growth of the country's expenditure. 1 This is not expenditure on public works, but expenditure out of the Consolidated Fund: the annual and permanent : appropriations. Thoso who trouble to read the yery long speech of the . Prime Minister will note that there is very little.to.be found in it relating to expenditure. Sin Joseph Ward has confined himself mainly to expressions of opinion of a general kind, avoiding details'. Such reference as he' does make is to be commended, because it promises curtailment of ! ; waste and extra vagancel It is well, however, that the country should'know what has led up to a situation which compels [even,'our, optimistic. Prime Minister .to. feel "the grave responsibility" upon his shoulders of making a reduction in the annual expenditure. The table given below speaks for it-selfv. .'■ ■ Seddon Government. ■ ■■': -: • Expenditure. ' Increase. -' 'S " £ : ' £ '1900. , ... ... . 5,140,128 I - — ' WOl ' ••• ... 5,479,703 . 339,575 1902 v.... ... 6,895,915 • 416,212. 1903 ..... . ... 6,214,019 ; 318,104 1904, ... ... 6,434,281 220,262 1905 .... ... 6,635,902 201,621 1906 ... ... 7,122,340 486,438 Ward Government. 1907 ... ... 7,734,975 , 612,635 ' 1908 ... ... 8,213,965 ' 478,990 : 1909 . ... ... 8,785,513 ' 571,5-18 No more damning indictment of wasteful oxtravagance than is . disclosed ' by the above set of figures taken from the public records could be conceived. Let our readers analyse this table for, themselves. Each year's'increase shown above means an increase in the annual and per-, manent burdens placed ' on their shoulders. • The scandalous heaping up of : the cost : of- government ot this small country must make outsiders stare and wonder. . The figures bear no relation to.public works carried out during the years'mentioned. They represent -.the amount we pay annually in interest charges, endowments old-age pensions, and. the cost of maintaining the different of State. . The annual ap'-: propriations for ihese last-named Departments . Which have been so scandalously: misused by. the Government for political party purposes increased from £4,736,805 in 1907 to £5,085,343 in 1903, an addition; to the annual burden o ; f the. people in one year of £348,538; and now a' year later the Prime Minister comes down with a great show 'of virtue and preaches economy, and retrenchment. It is time. In the. three years of its existence the Ward Government has added the enormous sum of £1,663,173 to the annual burden of the tax-ridden people of this country. The Seddon Government might almost be said'to have practised economy compared with this wild plunging into extravagance.. Let our readers study the figures given above if they have any doubt on the point. There, is 'only one other'feature of the extravagance of the Government to which we would direct attention at the moment. It will be seen that despite tho shrinking revenue the Government . increased the expenditure out of Consolidated Fund during the . year by £571,548. The following table will. show how this expenditure wasspread over the year:—.. Incroaso. Decrease. . :£ Juno quarter ... ... >' 22,821 _ . September quarter ... :445,448'' — December" quarter 97,054 March quarter ... —3,775 No doubt our readers will remember that the September quarter .was the quarter immediately'preceding' the general election. It is significant that the expenditure : for that : quarter should show enormous increase .disclosed above, and that the December quarter, which also included a portion of the period when tho Government was wooing the electors, should also show a marked increase. It is perhaps equally significant that with the .elections over, and the Government 1 safe for another three years, there should be' a" decrease.'in the total expenditure compared with that of-the corresponding quarter ( of the previous year. Sir Joseph Ward has bitterly resented our criticism and condemnation of his Avildly extravajunt methods! our justiJkafclua uAiily

proved by , the position into which the finances of the country havo drifted and by the Prime Minister's own tardy admission of the grave need for a change.