LABOUR FINANCE

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 130, 26 February 1937, Page 12

LABOUR FINANCE

Accountant’s Opinion

CONFIDENCE LIMITED "The first Labour budget differed very little from pre-Labour budgets, although further exploration of the field of taxation has been made to provide additional revenue,” said Mr. C. 11. Wynyard, in his presidential address to the annual meeting of the New Zealand Society of Accountants last night. "The figures for nine months of the financial year show that the Government had not been over-optimistic when fixing its budget figures. Internally then, it may be said that the Government policy is justifying itself, but there is a feeling of nervousness in the business community which mitigates against that return of whole-hearted confidence. It is generally felt that the large sums being expended by the Government will put a strain on our financial resources, and should our British market break, one wonders to what extent will the Governmental control of credit be used to keep up the high standard of living in an already over-taxed community. "The New Zealand experiment of solving a country’s difficulties by shortening hours of work and distributing higher wages is being closely watched by outsiders, and, in particular, by our best customer, Great Britain. In an article headed ‘New Zealand’s Socialist Experiment,’ appearing in the December ‘Fortnightly,’ the writer concludes with the following paragraph: ‘New Zealand’s Labour Government is going to have a difficult time, and so is New Zealand. Since, however, the Dominion's future is not hers alone, it is imperative that Great Britain should be cognisant of the facts.’ ’

“New Zealand at present is and will be for many years almost entirely dependent on the British market. We are not an economic entity and must give some consideration to the views of our largest customer. Whatever might be said about creating and manufacturing credit, the cold fact remains that the willingness to purchase and the price paid for our products by the British public are the standards upon which the credit of this country must eventually be based. Bearing this in mind, it is of the utmost importance that our leaders should visit Great Britain from time to time, and ascertain the views of our customer. Our continued prosperity will depend on maintaining our goodwill with the United Kingdom and thus insuring our national income, but, bearing in mind the already heavy commitments of the Government and the almost, certain request from Britain for a further contribution to the cost of protecting Empire trade routes, the time has arrived when the pilots of the State should pause to examine the fuel supply. A forced landing is not without attendant. dangers.” > Mr. Wynyard remarked that to the credit of the Government it must be said, whether one agreed with their proposals or no, that it had got things done and had speeded up the Parliamentary machine. With such a rush of legislation the public had been left wondering what it all meant. Only when the proposals were put into effect would the general body of the public understand the . sweeping changes emanating from last session’s legislation.