The Hawera Star. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1928. THOSE SEVENTY MILLIONS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 1 November 1928, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1928. THOSE SEVENTY MILLIONS.

Delivered every evening uy 5 o’olook lo Hawera. Manair.. Normatby, Okaiawa, Gltbam, Mangatoki. Kaponga, Alton, TTurleyville Patea. Waverlev. Mo_oia. Whakamara. Ohangai, Meremere. Prase* Bn ail. and Ararata.

The reception which hais been, given Sir | ; Joseph Ward ’s seventy millions borrow-1 j ing proposals provides fresh evidence that the veteran Liberal leader knows r his public —though the proportion of the mass of the electors which, comes within . that category is not large. Neve.rthc.-| ; less, Sir Joseph Ward has succeeded in I ' creating in some minds the impression i he sought. This is 'reflected by the statements of those who. are saying, “This seventy millions idea seems pretty good. Ought to be a good thing —plenty of money flying about —might i out ia bit of it myself. ’ ’ Much as those who take their politics seriously may ( deplore the looseness of the words used and the absence of real thought behind them, such statements are actually being uttered daily and those who think of their country in terms other than , those of personal gain will do no good to themselves or their cause by closing their oars to them. We do not for one moment imagine that the country is to swept by that “great wave of Liberalism” about which we hoard so much last election and which failed so ’miserably to materialise; oven- the most ardent Uniteds- apparently do not anticipate any great, landslide in that diree- j lion, for there .has* been a noticeable, ansencc of any reference to “waves” by itheir 'candidates in the present campaign. But we do believe that it behoves the thinking elector to take cognisance of tlfb appeal made to the imaginations of the impressionable by t'hc'i a-'ry talk which is being indulged in by those who speak in. terms of millions 1 with *such abandon. A little thought will reveal the impracticability—in- ’ deed, the folly—of the United borrowing policy. Many of those who applaud * | the borrowing proposal blindly ate evidently under the impression that, seventy millions would be dumped' into the country in a lump and that they might -benefit in the general orgy of spending which would result. That, notion is entirely fallacious, for -Sir ■ Joseph Ward himself has gone, to corn-] skier able pains l to make it clear that the amount would be borrowed over a ' period of eight to ton years. Wo will not for the moment question again the , inconsistency of those who, on the one hand criticise the Government’s inability to reduce taxation, and its “ex- : trayagamt”. borrowing and spending, - arid in-the next breath propose to borrow and spend even'more, but we would like to ask what the* United Party pro- ■ poses to. do about the country’s com- ’ mitments other than land, housing, and railways. It is distinctly laid down in the policy that sixty millions is to be devoted to assisting the man on the land with his> farming and the worker in the city in. respect of housing though there is no general housing shortage in -NTe w Zealand. Where, then, is to be found the money to carry on the other activities of the 1 State ? What about education, and hydro-electricity, to mention only two of them? Are these charges to be met ■ out of revenue*, and, if iso, how is it /going to ibc.done without increasing tho Customs, income and other taxes? Or will 'the United Patty allow our education system to stand whore it is and ; leave the uncompleted hydro-electricity . works to become moss-covered? So far as we know, no United candidate in • New Zealand has attempted to explain . away these very reasonable questions. Perhaps Mr Hiislop, the United candidate for Patea, will undertake to do so ' to-night at his Hawera meeting.