THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1064, 1 March 1911, Page 6

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY.

MR. JAMES ALLEN AT MILTON. : PERTINENT POINTS. SHARP FINANCIAL CRITICISM. QUESTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT ) (By Telczrapu-Prcs3 Association.) I Milton, February 2S. "At the Coronation Hall to-night Mr. Jas. Allen, M.P. (Bruce), addressed ;; meeting of his constituents. The Mayor (Air. Buthie) presided. -'Mr. Allen said he appeared before them somewhat earlier, in the year than usual, he desired to refer to'certain recent speeches before tlio Prime Minister left the Dominion. Dealing first wilh utterances by the Attorney-General, he said Uγ. Findlay's speeches wero marked by a want of generosity. Ho knew perfectly well that several of the measures he himself introduced into Parliament last year were not looked upon favourably either by some of his colleagues in the Cabinet or by a considerable number, of the members of l\is party. They were helped through the House by the aid of the. Opposition, and it would have been' generous of him to say so, because he knew it to bo true. Speaking- of the ■\Vard pamphlet. Mr. Allen .'aid it w:-.s not true that Mr. Massey or any, other member of the Opposition liail aiiythiiig •whatever to do with thV printing"or circulation of it, but Dr. Findlny would not ■own it openly. ■ In reference to the Ministry of the day he-said tlu>y had become indifferent to the.will of Parliament, and were constantly ignoring it. They had no.policy. They \vere seeking and grasping where they, could to get a hold of somebody . else's .policy, and . there was danger in this. There was danger; too, in' having a Ministry., who would run away, as this Ministry had, from its Land Bill, from the Knyvett case, from thn Auckland Government House, case, and from other cases. Increased Taxation.

With respect to-finance, about a week ago the Minister £or Finance at Ashburton informed the public that the increase in- the ; revenue for ton months of the financial year amounted to .£873,000. He had no reason to doubt tliat statement, indeed the increase was expected, and was foretold by members of tho Opposition before Parliament adjourned, and - there, would bo great disappointment if by the end 'of the year the total increase on -revenue did not reach £1,000,000. The increase was due partly to better times and .partly to increased taxation. . He wished to take exception to the Minister's statement at Ashburton that tho increase was not duo to increased taxation. Such a statement was not in accordance with the facts. The people surely could not have forgotten—whatever the Minister for ■ Finance illicit seek to lead them to believe—that on November 10, 1509, a special Customs tax of 1 per cent, was imposed, which was estimated to yield ..£50,000 per annum. Only a fewweeks of that tax came into the reverue of the first months of the year 190910. JJino months of this extra tax came into the first nine months of the year 1910-1), and he felt sure that, instead of'yielding an increased revenue por annum of the incrcaso would be nearer .£(0,000. Then the taxation, on the values has increased, the estimated amount being .£30,000 per annum, but little of that accrued in the first .nine mouths of 1909-10. Similarly the Death Duties Act v,-as read a third time on December 14, 1909. So, practically none of the increase, estimated at J!150,O00 ner annum accrued till the current flna'ncial year. So, too, with thu long-distance nassenner rales, yielding an estimated increpfc of -£100,000 ner annum. The tax on racing clubs, estimated to produce an increase of ,£38,000 per annum, was in the same position, little or.none of it came to account in tho first nine months of 190J-10. Lastly, tho J»,000 of annual increase from graduated income tax afforded an amusing comment, for the Minister for Finance had actually forgotten that ho had not passed th« registration in 1900-10 to impose that additional tax, and it was only when Mr. Herrios called his attention to the fact that ho set to work to rectify his blunder. From an examination of the nine months' account for this year, it would appear as if this additional tax had not been collected on December 31 last. Summed up, therefore, tho Minister for Finance had imuoscd J? MS.OOO ot additional annual taxation, but little of which came to credit in the first nine months of 1909-10, but a very largo proportion of which came to cred'it in 1910-11, and -largely accounted for tho increased revenue. Reference to tho ' financial statement of 1909-10 would show what fhe MISMO of additional taxation was to be utilised for. Briefly, .£150,000 per annum was to be used for interest and einking fund unon the , cost of the; Dreadnought, ,£30,000' for contribution to superannuation funds, and £150,000 for defence or-a'total of ,£330,000 of new. expenditure.' Ho believed it was safe: to say that the Minister for Finance, instead" of having to meet this oxmmditmo this year, had up to December":)!, had to nay less' than J.-50,000. It would bo seen then that with the additional taxation ?.wl the very small iiiciea.se in expenditure, the .Minister's finance should be in an extraordinarily strong position.

An Analysis, One was able to make an analysis of the position for nino months of th'o year, as the details had been published. Ho proposed to make such an analysis in order that tha position might bo made clear, anil not exaggerated in the silly way in winch, it appeared to him, the' Minister lor Aimmce had placed the finance beiorothe country. Jlo'would take firs'- tli»~ Cons.-ohdi.ted Fund for '.ho nine months ended December 31, 1!)1D. The ordinary revenue showed an iunrcasa . of lor the tame period (he • torritoripl revenuo showed an iiicrcass of .c'lS.-Hifi," cr a total increase ot M'J\,W7 for i.Tn n !m e " ,01lths ' °"' M '•December 31,. JJIO. Iho expenditure .owing■ •to-pernrin-ent appropriations 'increased by .C'tiS B:ii -lid the animal appropriations by J209,y<a, or a tohl increase of, J'47813 - ' lcnvTfV,'™- 8 ' I '!', tn , tll(! Coiisjliilatdi Fund <>t X 21.1203. It a had not included in the .-■xpend.ture J;233,00u transferred to the lublic Works I'Ui.d, and it should, bo !.,-'!, hat of , tho t «"-''-«""l increase over ■i.\»,m was troni increases iii cash land tales, which m his opinion never oiHit to .bo considered as Consolidated Fuii-l revenue it seemed pretty plain, therelore, that tiie increased taxation more than accounted ior the gain („ the Consolidated Fund-indeed, the increase in the stamps revenue of «£'JOi),S2l, which was no doubt mostly due to the • 'fresh taxation, very nearly accounted for tho Bam to the Consolidated Fund. The only other appreciable increases in revenue were due to Customs and railways, and in both thc.-c Departments thereWis in trensed taxation, deferring to the increased expenditure on account of nerrnanent appropriations lie called attention.to the increase ior interest and sinkuiff fund of £M.r,OG2. This was an iv.itablp result of the very laree biirrnw'ng, which was tho main plank in the Government's policy.

"Ministerial Humbug," The expenditure out of Hie Public Works Fund showed for the nine months a decrease of i! 151,240, and just to give-one'instance of Ministerial hum-' miR ho would'ask r where the increases'in public works expenditure occurred. His audience would recollect the fair promises made to help the hard-worked settler, especially the promise in the, Financial Statement of VMS on the eve of the "eneral election that .£230,000 per nnniim°for a period of four years would be specially devoted to roads in the back-blocks. Witii this in their minds ; he had to tell them that Parliament appropriated for expenditure on roads and bridges for the current year the sum of and that the Government for nine months of the year had expended- £1 18,038, or a decrease of .ei-l-MSS. as compared with a similar neriod last year. Similarly there was a decreased expenditure on the development of goldfields of .£10,257, and on tcloKraph extension of ,£23,92-1, • whereas for public buildings tho apnronrintion was .Sm.WO, and the expenditure"JSll,2lß, or an increaso of .£1(1,503. This was another ■nstaiico of the Government jjolic.v. iirstlj.

in ignoring the will of Parliament as expressed in tlio appropriations, and H'Condly in concentrating; the public works expenditure en expensive buiulinxs, rather than on necessary roads ami bridges' to open .up.the country. Ho said "im ex-, pensive buildings" because there was extreme difficulty in' getting the appropriations expended for small country post cilices which were urgently needed.

Cost' of Raising Loans. He desired to say a word or two respseting the cost of raising our loan.*, a matter on which members of Parliament got little or no information. They u.-.ed to get returns of flip cost, but for the last four years or «o they had heen persistently refuse-.!. He was, therefore, unable to state what, was going on with regard to the. cost of raisin"' loans except so far as he could gather from the published accounts, lie would give one instance of the. cost so far 'as ho could pat her it, and that was of the Aid lo Public AVorks Lonn. 1909, for one million 'Apparently , that loan had cost us .£34,011. or close on 3 per cent. As no particulars were given of the cost he made the statement thus baldly, and it was the fault of the Minister for Finance himself if he, had a satisfactory explanation of this cost that he had not giyen it before in the returns that had b'eeu asked for. It seemed a very heavy cluir.se, and he left it to the people to judge. Thn secrecy being observ.\l was i 1 dV coiisistciit with Parliamentary government, or with ihe rule of tha people. He also wished U> say a few words with regard jo the floating of the huge loan of five millions. The history of the legislation'which led to ths I\>fr Zealand State;'. Guaranteed Advances Bill going through Parliament had not yet been written, and it was proInbly only known to the Prime Minister. "When thn Prime Minister was at the Defence' Conference, in London what took place bet'woen him and the British financiers. luy, If r. Al!oiv,»?did nofc-know. but th6jPi)iine Minkter.'fiYme back to Parlia-. me'ht'and told'the- House when'he was dealing with thn Bill (hat "ho was warranted in saying, that the money we require when this Bill is passed can be got at a rate- of interest not exceeding 31 per cent." - " ; Questions that Ought to be Answered.

,:..Ho.w came,.,..he..'to -, boiso.u.warranted? What arrangements did ho make with the London financiers? He had never told the ITousa what they wore. Did ho pled"'himself to put the whole of the loniis in oho liiinn sum on tho.market? Did lie pledge himself'to the underwriters? Had the underwriters got us in their crip? These were all questions that ought to l>o answered, and would have to be 'answered yet. AVith respect to tho loaii itr.elf, the Prime Minister sesined to bo satisfied, lie "seemed" to be. but lit- ,was not in reality. He knew it ivas not a success. The underwriters were loaded with almost tho whole of it, and the Dominion had to pay them 1 ner cent., for takin-* this burden., In addition to that, those who took, up the loan took .61 lOs. p-r cent, from us. In addition to that, if they liked to convert into inscribed stock at 102 thoy sot andthor 2 per .font, from jis, and if they made payment in full by November 28, 1910, they »ot approximately another. 13s. per cent, from us. S<< that, as far as ho could judge, assuming these conditions to be complied with, we got about £Si 17s. for every t £loo ;vc had -to pay back. Further, we paid to those who converted before December 1. 1910, into invested stocks five months' interest in which was not earned, being about another 30s. per cent. It was a costly loan. "Tho Government was ■disappointed that the public applications did not fully cover this loan" ihis remark was made by Sir J. G. Ward, Acting-Colonial Treasurer, in the linancial Statement of 1902. It was made 'with respect to a million and a half Aid to Public Works loan, being 3 pi-r cent, inscribed stock, issued a! '91, and underwritten at 1 p?r cent. The Prime Minister might make just tho same remark about the public applications for the' fivo million loan, which nowhere nearly covered tho loan.

Imperial Conference. Touching on tho Imnorial /Conference he _seeond notice of by Sir Joseph Ward was with respect to Imperial representation of Oversea Dominions, with' o. view to ftirtherir-n-Imperial sentiment, solidarity, and interest. It was purposed to "do this Insetting up an Imperial Council of State with representation from all the constituent parts of the Empire, which in theory and fact would, be advisory to the Imperial Government on all (/nestions j affecting tho interests of His Majesty's Dominions oversea. He (Air Allen) would have keen . glad if these resolutions had been more definite. With the setting tip of a council, or secretariat, which would be advisory, ho wis entirely in accord. Tho resolution at present had gone no further than- to •ijlloW them safely to have anything more tlmn an advisory body whatever might come , hereafter; but it was not clear from the resolution how tuc Prune Minister meant this advisory body to bo constituted. If ho intended, to have a representative or more than one from each Dominion, apart.from the High Commissioner',' then at this Stage he was proposing an unnecessary body. What seemed to lie immcdiptely possible whs that the High Commissioners of all tho Dominions should bow'inn-'tlio s"-mll!>d secretariat, to s-it together from time to time after tho Imperial Conii-rencss had broken up, with some British Mini.-.ter to-be the advisory body... Not.-any of the British authorities, but -representatives 01 , cnteh.':Separ.it'e Doiviiuibn,-.- UKlta the Indy to see that the resolutions of-the conference were submitted to each Dominion, considered by each Domiiiio?., and decided upon.by each Dominion; io be the body throngh whom inquiries from one Dominion about another might easily take place; and to bo the body to .collect statistics for the usa of the Empire;'-to' gather together.tile subjects that required discussing at the Imperial Conferences, and to relegate them to !he conferences. He saw no reason why this secretariat should not sit from time lo time with, representatives of tho Imperial general sfnif to deal with subjects on which the advice of ■ tho general .staff would lie valuable. Indeed. he..,d(.d.,upj: |ee;.,,wiiy..,tj|.is. i b,q.dy,,inight not bo.consulted by the Imperial Government on almost.every diplomatic question. Certainly o;i ([Ufftions of diplomacy which were of deep interest to the Dominions concerned. Take, for instance, (lie question of the New Hebrides, which was a vital oi]o. (o, Australia.,,lt to him the Frimo ■Minister might have in liis miiui, h6f "'<>¥ "the , 'High Commissioners for this purpose, but that he might intend to estnbli.-li a new body altogether, but such a , step would'simply bo duplicating the work, and would be' degrading io the High ('nmmis'ioiicr's office.'and ho agreed witlr General Botjin that.the High Commissioners-could do the work.if they were properly selected. Hd could not that night, on account of the lack of time, go further with this question, but he hoped.before.long to be able to speak somewhere to his constituents in Bruci! in more detail upon this subject, and upon the riuc.-ition of Imperial unity itself. He was there the other evening- to; hear, Mi\ Malcolm speak on Imperial federation. It was by no means an easy subject to deal with,'and we take care_ that tho budding national life of countries like Canndn, Australia, ami Xov.-.Zealjnd wn> not dsMnngrd or di.-conr-nifpd by any attempts to sink their individualily. Tu conclusion, Mr. Allen, speaking from' a non-party point of view, hoped .the Prime Minister would realise he , was ro'iit Home fully nWrediiod by everyone of them. They raised no narty, nnd .no parly question, when the Prime Minister went to represent them in to great n iiolheriiisf as »n Imperial Conference. "1 hope hn will come buck lo us full nf health and strength, having learned all that is rn b,. lp-, n .»d frn.n the <ri-"nt (lohatß. that will toke place there, and T hope ho will he able to give to his people the benefit nf Hip discussions tint. ta!s» place, in order that we may educate ourselves to a better understanding of this great question."

Mr. Allan resumed his seat amid very lionrty applause.

On the Tvotinn ef Mr. W. Tavlor seconded by Mr. T. .Tolm-.t-.oi!, a unanimous vote of thanks and eonfidenee was accorded him.