TWO ACCOUNTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 26, 30 July 1941, Page 11

TWO ACCOUNTS

SYSTEM CRITICISED

CREATION OF SURPLUSES

Government members had congratulated the Minister of Finance on the series of surpluses that had been produced, said Mr. C. A. Wilkinson (Independent, Egmont), speaking in the Budget debate last night, but these surpluses were largely illusionary. He criticised the system of having more than one account.

"We have in this country two accounts, one the Revenue Account and the other the Public Works Account or borrowed money account, and in my opinion it is quite easy to create surpluses under, any ordinary conditions," he said. It seemed to him to be just a matter of how much should be charged to the borrowed money account if it was desired to produce a surplus. He understood that the salaries of the Public Works staff were paid out of borrowed money. In his opinion they should be paid out of the revenue account. If that course were followed, it would reduce the surplus. In Great Britain the whole of the country's transactions was contained in one account.

Mr. Wilkinson said he thought the Minister of Finance deserved the compliments he had received for the way the Budget had been set out.

TOO MUCH CIVIL EXPENDITURE. Mr. Wilkinson said that there was too much expenditure on items other than those connected with the war. He instanced public works: £20,000,000 was spent on that Department last year, and it was proposed to spend the same amount this year. "Cheers came from the Treasury Benches when the announcement was made in the Budget speech that £5,000,000 had been paid off New Zealand's debt in. England," he said. "At the same time we had borrowed five times as much in this country, but there were no cheers then." The money paid off was from the produce that had gone overseas. It was not produced on the 40 hours a week plan, but by the farmers working seven days a week under many hardships. He agreed that it was desirable that New Zealand should reduce its debt overseas as far as possible and hold, the debt internally.