Evening Post. FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1929. A MODEST PROGRAMME

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 149, 28 June 1929, Page 8

Evening Post. FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1929. A MODEST PROGRAMME

It has been the custom in recent years' to make no great policy display in the Governor-General's Speech, and the Speech delivered yesterday did not depart from this practice. It was a plain and straightforward statement of the work awaiting Parliament's attention, with no rhetorical flourishes and no surprises. In its main lines it could have been (as indeed it was) anticipated by intelligent students of Government policy and Ministerial statements. We have no fault to find on that score. There is nothing to be gained by surprise disclosures of legislative measures. On the contrary, it is wholly in the interests of sound legislation and administration that the Government plans should be announced well in advance, and discussed by the people most concerned. When this is no* done there is delays possibly post ponement of the legislation, and often the measures must be amended to correct' faults which could have been avoided had there been more leisured consideration. Whatever else maybe said in criticism of the Speech, it cannot be deemed a "surprise packet." The chief proposals it outlined have been the subject of frequent Ministerial reference. This applies more particularly to the land settlement proposals, transport and railway construction, and education. At first sight the programme does not seem ambitious, but it is sufficiently so for the circumstances. A Government without a sure majority of its own is well advised to work on modest lines. Radical departures from former policies are not desirablewwhetn t the greatest need of the country is stable government and progress with caution. The programme outlined will meet the most pressing needs of the Dominion, and it will also provide a platform on which all three parties may stand and work for the common good. If it is not ambitious, neither is it provocative. It is gratifying that this provocative element has been so carefully excluded, for the work proposed, if it is to be well done, must be carried out by generous party cp-op-eration. Modest as the programme appears, it will entail much hard work and serious thought. This will be more clearly seen when the details are made known. For example, the Speech contained only a brief reference to the financial position and taxation adjustments. Yet this subject, when it is examined at greater length (as it will'be in the Budget), will prqve to be one hedged around with difficulties. The Dominion's credit is sound, the trade position is good (though the balance in our favour may be less,this year). How far can the Government count upon these factors to restore a balance of State revenue and expenditure, and how far is it advisable to go in collecting additional revenue by imposing new. taxation charges? Again, in view of this position, and of the weight of interest charges in the State expenditure, what is the prudent means to be sought in borrowing? , What works are so urgently necessary arid prospectively profitable that they can be put in hand when each new loan means a big addition to the annual interest bill? 1 Land settlement also is a subject which may prove more difficult when it is more closely, examined. The Government's proposals are under three headings: Financial provision for roading and preparation of Crown lands, and assisting settlers in the development period; amendment of the compulsory purchase clauses of the Land for Settlement Act; and development and settlement of pumice areas. The Crown lands settlement scheme has already been outlined in general terms, but without specifying the areas or qualities of land available. We may assume, however, that there are difficulties of access (hence the special provision for roading), and that the quality is not such as to attract men with capital, and therefore a special inducement in the form of financial assistance must be offered. If these assumptions are correct, the Government will require to walk warily lest its roading and financial assistance lead to; a repetition of those settlement problems which made the last Reform Minister of Lands a confirmed pessimist. The United Minister is a cheerful optimist, though he has learnt of some difficulties unsuspected before; but he can retain his optimism only if he profits by the experiences of his predecessors, and does not insist upon making the mistakes himself. The compulsory purchase clauses have been on the Statute Book many years, so many years that they seem to have been forgotten. Mr. Forbes has dug them out, and considers the procedure can be simplified. But simplicity of procedure is not everything. The machinery of compul-1 sory purchase cannot be used with j any degree of freedom unless it is so designed as to guard against the

fixing of purchase prices at a figure which will saddle the incoming settlers with an excessive burden of rent or interest. The pumice development plans we can judge only when some details are disclosed. There are other proposals in the programme which will demand equally careful attention. Unemployment relief measures, we assume, will not be wholly financial, as legislation is mentioned. A Special Committee has been appointed to make recommendations, and Parliament will be guided in the main by the report of this committee; but the Government, having the responsibility for finance, ' will not be a bi e to transfer th at responsibility to any outside committee, however competent. The same \ principle applies to education re- : form. Various educational organisa- '■ tions have expressed their views, and ! the appointment of a Select Committee will afford opportunities for further^ discussion, but it will be surprising if this procedure leads to harmonising all opinions. In the end, the Minister and Parliament' will have to judge what is best for the Domin- , ion as a whole. Taken as a whole, j the work planned for the session is i not more than should be accom- j plished without undue strain or the ] use of the spur of long sittings. But ] there is sufficient to be done to make I waste of time at the beginning most i inadvisable. " <