The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. THURSDAY, JULY 25, 1907. THE BUDGET DEBATE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLI, Issue 174, 25 July 1907, Page 4

The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. THURSDAY, JULY 25, 1907. THE BUDGET DEBATE.

' Though the termination of the financial debate last night was unexpected, it cannot be claimed that there were good grounds for its extension. Rarely .has there been a Budget at once so full and comprehensive and so generally acceptable. Finance has always been the strong point of the .present Premier,, since the day when first he entered the Ballance Cabinet, • and he has sustained his early reputation in a hundred directions outside the: limits of tha Treasury. After due allowance has been made for the one or two cogent objections lodged against the Treasurer's Statement, it has to be admitted that the present position of the Colony's finances has been made clear to the ordinary intelligence, and demonstrated to be perfectly satisfactory to intelligences of the highest order. We can sympathise with Mr Fraser's objection to the sinking fund, upon the ground he takes up, but the principle involved is not a vital one. Sir Joseph Ward must recognise, as Sir Julius Vogel recognised, that there is not much wisdom in paying off money with one hand and borrowing with the other; but the reinstitution of the sinking fund means neither loss nor gain, and it is extremely comforting to the consciences of many Members.

Sir Joseph Ward made an effective answer to those who, while talking through Hansard to their constituents about the evils of the borrowing policy, are the most persistent in.asking for public expenditure in their districts. He also put the subject of motor car exemption in an entirely new light. His argument, briefly; is that we should offer every inducement to bnng motors' into the country, because, of all vehicles that ever were invented, they provide the: richest harvest to the repairing shops, and therefore support local industry. The truth of this statement will come home with irresistible force to every man who owns an automobile. The Premier gives some interesting information relating to the graduated land tax. Our Special Correspondent hints at the probability of the limit being lowered to £20,000, but we are inclined to think that the objects of the Government will be attained without going so far as that would imply. The Bill to be introduced contains carefully constructed provisions for defeating the schemes to which recourse has been had heretofore with a view to'escaping the tax. There are to be no more bogus sub-divisions of property/and it is expected that every owner liable will be made to toe the mark. If the increase in the tax will result in even a moderate sub-divis-ion of freeholds on a bona fide settlement basis, the country will be satisfied. No good is to be gained by creating a panic by forcing estates on the market in globo.