UNDER TWO MILLIONS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 107, 7 May 1924, Page 11

UNDER TWO MILLIONS

AMOUNT OF THE SURPLUS

MR. MASSEY REPLIES

TO LABOUR CRITICS.

The Minister of Finance (the Right Hon. W. F. Massey) last night made tho following reply to the Christchurch Labour members of Parliament, wb^se letter to Mr.-Massey urging that a.statement' should at once be made public showing the state of the Dominion's finances, was published in yesterday's, " Post ":—

" The telegram from the Christchurch Labour members of Parliament, which was in print before a copy reached me, compares the date upon which the information with regard to me public accounts is supplied in, New Zealand with the date upon which similar information is supplied in England, but the two cases are not parallel, because in Great Britain cash i& received and issued out -of the Kxchequer to the various departments. On 31st March a 'balance is struck ; between receipts and issues, and this vis regarded as the surplus or' deficiency, as the case may be. In New Zealand all the expenditure is made through the Treasury, and to account properly for this expenditure it is necessary to clear all imprest vouchers received up to 31st March before the separate votes can be charged. In addition, all tie revenue received into the public account at the bank at Wellington liiust be correctly credited as the -'arious cash accounts are obtained from receivers throughout the Dominion. Consequently it is a matter of several weeks ' before tho Treasury can t>wtke a balauce. The cash in the bank at the end of March affords no criterion" of the state of the revenue account as tho balance of the public account is made up of public works moneys and other loan funds besides . revenue. In the United Kingdom the departments are allowed from/ten to twelve nmuis to complete their accounts, have Item audited and presented to Parliament. In New Zealand, on the other hand, the abstracts of receipts and expenditure for the year must be audited by 14th May, and then gazetted. This, together with ' the appropriation account, must .be presented to Parliament, if then sitting, or if not sitting, then within ten days of' the next ensuing session. The details of revenue and' expenditure are . audited and presented to Parliamnt 'as soon as practicable. " The Public Revenue Act says 'The Treasury, shall within fourteen days after ths end of each financial quarter, except the last, and within thirty days after the end of the last financial quarter, prepare'and send to the audit office ai? abstract of the revenue and expenditure of the public account as provided by this Act during -such quarter, and shall also within thirty 'days after the end of each finaneijl year send to the audit office a similar abstract of the revenue and expenditure- of the public account during that year.' The law' in this respect has been strictly complied with, and there has been no suppression. The usual course, is .being.followed. /

" ABSOLUTELY WRONG."

... "So far as information with regard to the financial position is concerned, I have,already published the figures of im: ports, and exports for ' the last ■ financial. year, whilst the facts with-regard to the revenue and expenditure, of the larger Departments have also been , published.' 1 presume^ in every newspaper .'in.. New. Zealand. 1 have also indicated that the surplus would be satisfactory and substantial. As the members who signed* the_ telegram are absolutely- wrong in,their premises, so they are very iar from' correct in their deductions, for which,!, am afraid they will not apologise' or withdraw. „;. ■ ;...-•:■■ ..-•-■■.':. ° ;.' '.■'/■

<-As for the suggested surplus of 'well over three millions,!.using the words ol the telegram, 1 am sorry that such is. not the case, but it is a surplus which will satisfy' the public, as it will be found to be the result of the industry of tho people and strict economy on the part of the Treasury and financial Departments, and the balance carried forward from 31st March is now being used, and is essential for covering that period when the expenditure is in excess of the receipts, which is the case at "the bo jjinning of each financial year. "To satisfy my friends and enow them that it is not well to jump at conclusions, 1 may saj that the surplus will be well under two millions. Only yesterday in dictating an article which is intended to be made public in a. journal well known to certain sections of New Zealandcrs, J intimated that within a few days I would be able to "ive tho exact amount of the snrphs and other particulars in connection with the Public Accounts and if my friends will read tho .Public Revenue Act, from which 1 have already quoted, they will find that 1 have still eight days to go

"AGAIN INTO SERIOUS ERROR."

"In their statement that without increasing taxation a single penny piece the Government could meet the demands of the Public servants, Messrs. M'Uombs and Company have again ; fallen into jenoua error. To meet the demands that have been made by the different IJepartrnents (and it goes without savin" that an increase to one Department means an increase to all the others) it would have been necessary not only' to retrain from - reducing taxation during the coming session but also to increase it by a considerable amount, and havm<>alter a long struggle got the finances ol the Dominion back- to a' satisfactory position, 1 am not inclined to take any "sks. I know exactly what a suggestion such as has been made to me would mean if given effect to-r-another depression, and very serious unemployment all over the country, because money that under ordinary circumstances is spent in employing labour would have to be handed over to the collector of revenue 1 wish I could make the labour members for Christchurch understand that all taxation is a levy upon industry,- and atlecte the wage-earners more seriously than any other section of the community. "It is scarcely necessary for me to ■quote figures with regard to the wages Paul to the raihvaymen. I should like to see every other worker in New Zealand paid as well as they are, but unfortunately it U not possible to do it There was a table published in' a Christchurch papfir on the 23rd ultimo, which must have been a revelation to anyone who chose to read it, and which has' caused somewhat serious dissatisfaction among the workers employed in other industries, especially in the country districts. WHAT GENUINE WORKERS H WE ADMITTED. "It is absolute nonsense to say that this Government has thrown the workers back to the position they' occupied over 30 years ago. Genuine workers have admitted to me repeatedly that they were never «o well off as iince the present Government came into office. Salaries were increased to tho employees of tho State in tho first year after our taking . office, and during the war period bon-

uses were several times arranged for until the, war came to airend, when it was calculated, that average wages had risen in the' combined-New Zealand services froni £162.04 per cent, per annum in 1913 to £246: in .1923; and this includes juniors' and female employees—but excludes message boys. . - ■'.•-.■.■ "L hope my friends will;.be satisfied with the information which I have supplied. ,If not, Parliament will soon meet, and they can get all they want." .■'-,.■