The Dominion. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1911. PUBLIC EXPENDITURE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1244, 28 September 1911, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1911. PUBLIC EXPENDITURE.

6 A cable message which we publish this morning is of particular significance to the people of New Zealand at the present juncture. It tells us that The first action of the Borden Government will bo a thorough investigation in connection with the Government spending Departments. It has already been made perfectly clear that one of the outstanding reasons for the downfall of the Laurier Government was the growing feeling throughout Canada that the Liberal party had outlived its period of usefulness. It had undoubtedly in its day done good service, but during recent times it had been guilty of many doubtful transactions, and charges of graft and political corruption, the inevitable accompaniments to an unduly long tenure of office, had grown increasingly common. The announcement now that the first stop of the new Government will be to make a thorough investigation in connection with the spending Departments of the State is no doubt in conformance with the campaign pledges of the Conservative party. No one, we think, who knows anything of political affairs can fail to recognise that a long continuance in office of the one party and the one set of persons, necessarily leads to slackness in administration and abuse of the power of patronage held by Ministers, Temporary expedients grow into established rules, and loose habits develop into practices. In Canada more detailed information respecting public expenditure is supplied to Parliament than is the case in New Zealand, and yet, after fifteen years of Liberal rule under one of the ablest statesmen the country has produced, the significant fact is recorded that the first action of the new Government is an investigation of the affairs of the spending Departments of the State. The expenditure there, as already recorded, has increased enormously and the necessity for a thorough investigation is rio doubt one of the reasons which actuated electors in voting for a change of Government. In New Zealand to-day almost identically the same position exists. Under 20 years of "Liberalism" the cost of government and the public expenditure generally have increased enormously and the demand for investigation grows in volume. During tlie last year of office of Mr. Seddox, tinder whose regime there had been a heavy ineroaeo in the expenditure: from the Consolidated Fund, the total of per-

mancnt and annual appropriations amounted to nearly six and thrccquartor millions. The figures for the year ended March 111 last have grown to the enormous sum of over nine and a quarter millions. The exact amounts are as follow:

Last year of Scddon Ministry T '305) .-I 6,635,902 Last year of AVard Ministry (1911) v > 9,3.13,105 This shows an increase during the six years of nearly two and threequarter millions which the public have to pay in one way or another. Wc do not wish to suggest that all of this increase could have been avoided. It could not. The cost of railways and certain other Departments was bound to go up, but the total increase in the cost of government is entirely disproportionate to the increase i * population. Then there are the State lending Departments. A little time ago there was an unpleasant exposure in connection with one of these Departments —an exposure which was only secured through the courage and high sense of duty of a public official backed up by vigorous agitation through the press and in Parliament. We are confident that the public would be glad to sec a thorough investigation held in connection with the State lending Departments. And there is the public works expenditure which is quite distinct from the Consolidated Fund expenditure. There are contracts under that head which well deserve scrutiny. But probably even worse disclosures would be raado as the result of a thorough investigation of the methods practised under the co-operative works system. This system has been productive of the most shameless waste of public money. It has not really been beneficial to the men employed on the works and it has cost the country tens of thousands of pounds which have been absolutely thrown away owing to the absurdly primitive methods adopted to spin out the work. No class of expenditure indulged in by the Laurier Government calls more loudly for investigation than the expenditure of the money of the people of New Zealand under the co-operative works system by the "Ward Administration. Lila the people of Canada the people of New Zealand realise that it is desirable that a new set of people with nothing to lose by a full disclosure of the position should be given an opportunity to get behind the scenes and investigate what has been goinc on. For twenty years the "Liberal" party has done almost as it pleaded with the administration of the country's affairs—it has disclosed just so much as it was compelled to regarding its financial transactions—and thinking people amongst all classes must recognise that the time is ripe for that change, which, however brief, will ensure that investigation in favour of which Canada has after fifteen years so wisely decided.