The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 1023. WOBBLINGS OF A WIZARD OF FINANCE

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 154, 17 March 1923, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 1023. WOBBLINGS OF A WIZARD OF FINANCE

A perusal of the detailed report of the wTopcTfor at Tauranga will be as ashes in the mouth of t helpful enlightenment on the pressing pro coun t ry Sir Joseph's in particular familiar with the finances of the country bin as a very wobbling and uncertain financial Wizard to-day. One “«„ds Si. Keying inability to «eog»»« tab nW. i.eonsistency and his careless disregard of consequences. While-in one breath he attacks tho Government for piling up e indebtedness of lb. country sin» the war, be .. suggests a huge borrowing scheme as a panacea Dominion is buffering from. Twenty-five millions are to be raised straightway for farmers, and an unstated a ° d PeTh“es of railway amount is to be borrowed to complete our unfinished lines of railway. Thoughtful people who are already deeply concerned over ho heavy annual interest and sinking fund charges piling up in connection Y with our public debt will realise the dangers involved in this policy of plunge. They will be still more concerned over the manner in which Sib Joseph Ward proposes to raise the money. He states that he would get the money in New Zealand by issuing 5 per cent, negotiable bonds, which would be sold to the public as the Governlb. possibilities ol which carry i. the direction of that Utopia which the advocates of paper money paint in such glowing periods, and which practical experience in UnR-ia Germany and elsewhere has demonstrated is a sure road to bXIaS eebkomte disaster. II 8>» Joss™ Wasp he could raise the many millions he requires by the issue of 5 per cent, negotiable bonds to the public of New Zealand ho is a. blind optimist. But even if ho could do so, it would divert essential capital from the ordinary channels of trade and industry, and in course of time flood the country with depreciated securities, which would react on the credit of the State. , ■ • i A-ain, Sir Joseph Ward assures the country that it is essential that taxation should be reduced, but in saying this he knows e is saying the popular thing. It is a sound policy too. But he proposes to reduce the taxation on big companies to 2s. 6d. in tho £l. What a splendid thing that would bo! Does any single person who has given tho matter any thought at all believe it is possible to.make> h great reduction, meaning the loss of millions of revenue, at the present time? How is the money to be raised to make up for tho loss of Mr. Massey hopes to bo able to reduce tho tax to ss. in tho £l, so Sir Joseph Ward must go one better, and claims that tho Ruction should be to 2s. 6d—and hang the consequences. Is Sir Joseph Ward to be taken seriously in the face of such proposals as these? He attacked tho Government on the ground that the taxation per head in New Zealand to-day is over £l9, the inference of course being that it would not be so heavy under his guidance Where he got his figures from we do not profess to know, but the latest figures relating to taxation are published in the official Year Book, and carry us up to March 31, 1922. They show th&t tho taxation per head then wa £l2 14s Bd. This is undeniably heavy, but unhappily for SIR Joseph Ward, he overlooks the fact that in the financial year in which he relinquished the office of Minister of Finance the ta xati°n pcr head was £l3 Ils. Id.—that is to say, appreciably higher with Sir Joseph Ward as Minister of Finance than it is to-day. In the matter of a State bank his policy appears to be that of Mr Facing-all-ways. “He had changed his views, he said at the outset. He no longer favoured going ahead with. his State bank scheme owing to the difficulties in the way He thought the Bank of New Zealand should be extended and take the place of a Sta e bank,” is an opinion he expressed later in the same speech. Imai y. “He believed in a State bank, but he thought it should come by the development of the Bank of New Zealand. What this all means we do not profess to know. M hat it se to suggest is that at Tauranga Sir. Joseph Ward did not regard his State bank scheme as a good card to play, but not liking to diop it altogether, he wobbled and rambled on vaguely about developing the Bank of New Zealand, and somehow making it something which the electors could construe into anything they pleased to suit their ° Wn T f h 6 nC pllin fact is that so far as finance is concerned Sir Joseph Ward’s speech was a great disappointment. The dominant note throughout was a desire to say what would be popular at the mome and not what would bo best for the country. Such things as economy and self-sacrifice and industry wore thrust aside in favour of borrowing and spending and concessions. Sir Joseph Ward has returned to politics little changed. He may Bweep the electors of Tauranga off their feet in the rush of the^ election with his glowing promises, but if so it will be only b e c au s o h s years of seclusion from politics have led them to ov o rl ° ok tho 8U abundance of such promises in his past campaigns and the disappointments which have followed.