THE BUDGET.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1229, 11 September 1911, Page 6

THE BUDGET.

WHAT MEMBERS THINK OF IT. BRIEF INTERVIEWS. ■"BAREFACED BID FOR VOTES." Most. members agree that tho Budget is meant to bo a vote-catching one, but many think tho attempt is too transparent, and that it has come too late. Besides more of the measures promised are only in tho air, .and cannot be given effect to this session. .Government members are reticent about the Financial Statement. Two of them who wero questioned on Saturday absolutely declined to say a word about it or even to express an anonymous opinion. Evidently they wero impressed with the fact that orio cannot bo too careful, an attitude of mind that throws a certain suggestive light oh the politics .of the moment. Mr. Lauronson, however, was quite prepared to say that ho thought tho Budget an excellent one. Mr. Massey, questioned on Saturday, summed up his opinion in two sentences. "The first part," he said, "consists of a rather lengthy apology for tho sins and shortcomings of the Government in past years. Tho second part is electioneering piiTO and simple, and tho most barefaced bid for votes ever put before tho counMr. C. A. C. Hardy (Opposition Whip) described tho Budget as "good electioneering stuff." "I think an ounce of practice is worth a ton of profession," ho added— ■"and this is profession." ' Mr. James Allen, when asked for his first impressions of tho Budget, said that tho first half was tho.Prime Minister's apology for his heavy borrowing, and the second half was a rather stupid electioneering appeal. He did not think the proposed State note issue would do tho banks much harm or the Government much good. The banks did not gain much by this branch of business, and tho Government would probably loso a little.

Members have not forgotten that • a' couple of years ago Mr. Hogg was thrown overboard for_ advocating a Stato note issue, and tie inclusion of this very policy in tho Budget is freely commented on.. One member said with a sarcastic smile, ."I think Mr. Hogg ought to be invitad to rejoin tho Ministry in order to' carry out his policy."

It is assumed that Mr. Fowlds knew tho contents of the Budget before he resigned, and somo membeTs regard it as so advanced that ho might well have been satisfied with it. Others point out that a 25 per cent, increase in the graduated tax on large estates to take effect three years hence is but a small and uncertain step towarJe siuglo tax, and that a Eoyal Commission on the-cost of living is not ot all tho same thing as those -substantial reductions of import duties on commodities which are understood to be a feature of tho "new'evangel."

PRESS OPINIONS.

LURES" AND "BAD FINANCE." WEAK SPOTS -IN ADMINISTRATION. (By Telegraph— Special Correspondent.) Auckland, Septembor !). Referring editorially to tho Budget the "Herald" this morning says: "Sir Joseph "Ward may spin words until tho morrow of election day in his desperate efforts to corcvinco us that wo aro practically un- "" taxed, and that our Stato services are models of economy and efficiency, but tho fact remains that over ten millions sterling havo to bo raised somehoiy of other from one million people, including men, women, and children. The greatest of our public services has been forced to earn a profit by tho overworking and underpaying of its employees,'.by the failuro . to provide the public with adequate facilities,, and by the raising of .rates.,,.: This being tho case with the railways, which everybody can. ,tee, what case with other Departments, "the?''administration of which, is. not so'. easily seen? It .is not needful to' delyo far into Sir Joseph Ward's, .electioneering -Budget manifesto to find the' weak ,spots in his Administration.; .Although over ,£9,31'0,000 have been'spent during 1910-11 in various , ways, we are told that "dearth of labour" has prevented the expenditure of the promised amount on that road-making which is absolutely essential to. the development of the country. With hundreds and even thousands of braway workers emigrating tho Government has not been able to obtain, labour for its promised roads! ' Yet Ministers become indignant when they aro urged to' adopt sucli a policy as will increase immigration, open the 'country, and keep our bono and sinew' ai ipme."

' CHKISTCHUKCH "PRESS." •; "The Statement delivered by Sir Joseph Ward last night is a conspicuous cxamplo of its class. Tho peoplo aro again to bo bribed with their own money, whilo even less attention than usual-is paid to tho question as to how long the country will bo able to stand tho drain which theso various schemes involve, or what will boccmo of tho schemes themselves as soon as a trado depression necessitates tho drawing-iu. ot expenditure. In these circumstances ono can very well understand why so large a portion of the preliminary , part of tho Statement was devoted to an attempt to make light of tho ever-growing pressure of debt and taxation on the Dominion. It is small comfort to tho struggling householder in New Zealand to be informed that a servant girl in Saxony is far more heavily taxed than he is, in proportion to their rcspcctiv» incomes. 'The wearer of the shoe knows where it pinches. . . . But most of the schemes on which Sir Joseph Ward relies to bamboozle tho electors necessitate a permanent and ever-growing charge on the revenues of the Dominion, and any prudent man can seo at a glanco that promises aro mado in a reckless fashion to buy for the Government, rooted so long to the Treasury benches, another threo years/of power, without any adequate forethought as to where tho money is to como from. Should a period of financial ■ stress, a little more prolonged than that which gave a fright even to Sir Joseph Ward only two or three yeaTs ago come, as come' it must in the ordinary course of trade. cycles, most of these fine schemes would fall to pieces, arid the country Would soon send to tho rignt-about the •Sovernmcnt which had so deluded the people. ■ To their successors would .fall the odious and difficult task of. readjusting the finances on a sound and prudent basis.. To sum up, the Budget is eminently on election Budget, constructed by a political. Autolycns who is a past master in tho art of spreading gaudy wares in. the sun in tho hopo of entrappingtho unwary purchaser. It may bo that somo of the, projects will not materialise, and are not in tedded to materialise. The visions will servo their purpose until after tho election, and will then gradually be allowed to fade awny and become forgotten. In other words, the bad finance of the Budget may bo lessened by the substitution of bad faith. It remains to be seen whether the people of New Zealand will allow themselves to bo caught with finch transparent lures, or whether they will take a firm stand and declare that the time has come when we must return to the canons of sound and prudent finance."

"LITTELTON TIMES." Tho most interesting part of the Statement to tho general public is that outlining the Government's proposals for the future. These, may fairly bo taken as tie basis of tho platform on which the Liberal party will contest tho elections. The needs of every class of tho community have been remembered, but thoso of the producers and of tho workers, if we may employ these terms iu their move restricted sense, are'given special prominence. There is no announcement'of any very revolutionary policy'and no promise, iha't can bo fairly construed into a bribo to this section of tho electors or to-that, but thero is abundant evidence that tho Onvernment has not lost its constructiveability, and that it is still prepared to' march forward along safe and practicable lines with tho progressive thought of tho people.

"OTAGO DAILY TIMES." Mr. Millar, occupying at tho time tho position of • Acting-Minister for_ Finance, was so much impressed with this favourable condition of affairs when he delivered

his financial address in the Garrison Hall three months ago, that ho hazarded the expression of the belief that, in view of the assistance the Consolidated Fund might ho able to alEortl the Public Works Fund, there would bo no need this session for tho' Government to ask for a loan for public works. Alas for any such belief, tho Minister for Finance intimated in tho Budget that Parliament will be asked'to authorise a loan of .£1,500,000. In addition to this, tho Government will seek authority to borrow another quarter of a million annually for tho purnoso of advancing to workers. Moreover, it possesses authority under various enactments to borrow over -four millions a year for different purposes without going through tho formality o,f passing Loan Bills. _ if theso nro extensivo powers with which tho Government is .vested, the public may at any rato bo comforted by (Sir Joseph Ward's assurance that every million which tho country borrows increases its wealth by ten million*! Clerly, a- borrowing policy should bo encouraged byall possible means, and Mr. Ballance must have been strangely blind when he preached and introduced his self-reliant policy Wo must congratulate Sir Joseph Ward on tho excellent electioneering character of tho new proposals contained in the Budget. Ho seems to have brought back with him a purse of Fortunatus filled with an inexhaustible supply of mysteries suited to the diverso tastes of the community.

"WAIRAIUPA DAILY TIMES." Tho 1910-11 Financial Statement of tho Dominion Government comes with a triumphant flourish. Never was such prosperity! Never in the history of New £ealand wero such surpluses recorded 1 When was there ever issued such a budget of progrcssivo legislation! Whoever saw critics so utterly confounded as the critics of the Now Zealand Government! Wcro tho good people of New Zealand not, by now, thoroughly well educated in tho methods of tho Ward Administration, they might imagino that they wero really living in God's Own Country, ruled by a Heaven-inspired Government. As it is they may easily recognise in tho Financial Statement • tho hand of rf man who is- at onco a financial wizard, a clever statesman, a reckless experimentalist and a desperate party leader. Even the unbounded optimism of Sir Joseph Ward cannot blind him to tho fact that the popularity his party has so long enjoyed is steadily on the wane, and; that, before long, it must bo relegated to the darkness that lies beyond the Treasury benches. Sir Joseph knows it is useless to attempt lo win tho confidence .of commercial and. professional "men: and his Budget is therefore a direct appeal to tho working men, tho recognised Labour party. But tho Labour party knows Sir Joseph, and knows something of legislation; and. is not likely to be. deceived by this whirl of figures and promises,

' "MANAWATU STANDARD." Of course the .star turn ' on the programme is our old 'friend the surplus, a guaranteed applause-producer, at least from tho gallery. Sir Joseph has an undying faith in the popularily of that ethereal, and illusive piece of political sleight-of-hand and trots it out with quite pathetic regularity. The wonder is that the Premier has not discovered by this timo what a screaming farce it is to be producing huge surpluses and nt tho same time to be engaged .in a desperate game of hide-and-seek with dearfood objectors clamouring for a reduction in taxation on tho necessaries of life and indignant farmers crying for a little relief from the unrelenting «iueering process. If this surplus is a real and substantial thing, and not composed of such stuff as dreams are made o'f, there would ho no hesitation on the part of tho Government in bringing down taxation instead of being always on the alert to increase it. It is contended in this connection that the increase in revenue resulting in the surplus is mainly the. result of the prosperity of the Dominion, but the Premier seems to havo forgotten tftat while ho is making eulozistie references to the buoyant state of New Zealand's trade his statisticians aro' issuing facts and figures which prove.- that the volume of trade last year foil very considerably berlow that of the previous year. The remainder of the Budget is devoted to a series of Tote-catching devices.

"WAIRARAPA AGE." What strikes one as the outstanding feature of tho document, which has evidently been prepared with a view to influencing the elections, is the astounding optimism of the Minister for Finance at a oeriod when the whole of the paraphernalia of Government is in the melt-ing-pot, when the gaunt spectre of. tho unemployed difficulty is looming over tho horizon, and when tho financial institutions of the Dominion are issuing warnings against tho extravaganco which is being practised in public and pnynto life.' It is difficult to dotermino whether the prodigality of the financial manoeuvring, or the abjectness of the appeal to the credulity of the people is the more aniazin" in this tremendous political effort. ]n" the avalancho of figures which have been crammed into the Statement, one can seo tho master hand of the financial wizard. All through the Budget there is an air of injured innocence and self-satis-faction which would be amusing were it not 60 transparently aiEectcu.

CHEISTCHURCH "EVENING NEWS.'" The Budget delivered by the Prime Minister last night was an electioneerin" Budget in tho worst and widest sense of the term. "Thcro is something tor everybody at the public expense and that, of course, is tho beginning and end oi Sir Joseph Ward's conception 01 statesmanship. Seeing that about half the financial year has already gone, there is not a great deal of timo to set all tneso wonderful schemes going before another year is entered upon, but that is a raero detail. It is not. what will actually bo done within tho next six months, but what tho Government proposes to do, in view' of the November elections. 'Jo give effect to the various glittering votecatching devices Sir Joseph Ward has outlined, tho million surplus, and all balances of unexpended loans will require to be supplemented by a Public Works loan of ,£1,500,000. The price of the peoplo's votes in November may, tliereforo, bo set down at several millions altogether. It is a desperate bid for a continuance of office. ' It resembles a gambler's last throw. If he wins then he can carry on a littlo longer; if he loses,' ho makes an ignominious exit and subsists ,for a whilo oh a diet of husks. . . . A. great portion of the Budget speech is taken up with the defenco of tho public debt and tho rate of taxation. Liko most of Sir Joseph Ward's statements on matters, of finance, thero is a great deal in his Budget speech which will not bear analysis in detail, and when liis figures aro not absolutely incorrect, they are as misleading as the expert juggler in public finance can make them.

OTHER PAPERS. "Eeilding Star":—Wo look in vain for somo striking new line of policy sufficiently startling to have driven Single-taxer Fow'lds out of the Cabinet. One of the most interesting, new things proposed is an' allowance in tho nature of a pension for widows.and'indigent families. That is a very humane proposal, which might very well bo extended by Premier and Parliament to thoso. women who aro worse than widows—deserted wives. We know of somo very hard cases, even in the I'eilding district; and there aro others to whom financial relief would be a very godsend. Ashburton "Guardian":—lt is full of interesting and valuable matter which redeems it from any suspicion of tcdionsness. Tho Colonial Treasurer and • the public are alike to be congratulated upon the pleasing conditions of. affairs which the Statement discloses, which, after all, is the best testimony to the sound methods of tho Government and the most eloquent proof of the present Administration's fitness to receive •a. renewal of popular confidence. Timaru "Herald":—lt -will bo remembered that Mr. Millar, when he quoted at Dunedin tho immense sum of closo on U million pounds available this year for public works expenditure, expressed tho hope that it might be unnecessary this year, if tho revenue was well maintained, to borrow any money at all for public works purposes. The revenue has been well maintained, but every penny of the enormous sum piled up is needed in election year for sweetening electorates, and the Prime Minister expresses his intention to ask the House for another loan this session of H million more pounds for public works. And this despite the legislation passed quite recently which gives the Government power to borrowup to a considerable amount without consulting Parliament.