DOMINION'S WAR DEBT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17595, 7 October 1920, Page 8

DOMINION'S WAR DEBT.

■' ''.- : v'.:ii-..--..;;v:.;1v>m.:.;».-s-.; ~-, '~:■;/,;.' .:.:,.v .•"\,v:v;GV->'--'".~'ft - ' .'REVIEW BY MR. MASSEV. ■:S :#4%: i(%J: _ v&o%o^kff^S^&Miiif^Mfii TOTAL\ SUE 01? £97,384,9Q(i - MEASURES FOE EXTINCTION-. Jt J ; UTILISATION OF SURPLUSES. ; [j»T TELEGEApa.—SPECUIi.-BBPOBXEB.]. WEJjLINGTON. Wcdneadsy. At. the conclusion of his speech on the Land and Income '-Tax' Amendment Bill list evening ! the> Prune Minister said he wished Ito let' the ; House know exactly where we stood in regard to increased debt 'on account of the war* : He would deal with 3 it more' fully when he moved the second reading of the Loan Bill, but he wished to, give some facts to the House now. : >* f .V ''■• : ■ v-'-- .;■;''.''•;"'*■■'-'.' '^; '-■ i?'s4"'; •n There was an impression l that we had never done anything 'toward 1 ! paying folc the war. At March 31 r last there were accumulated ordinary * surpluses totalling £17,538,976, v, made up" as follow :-r<2aßh in public account,. -£2,187j65(>;; imprest advances outstanding, £331,170 ; s "diecharged soldiers* settlement, £0,285,000 j invested in Imperial war stock and bonds and called on >■ when required for t discharged, soldiers' settlement, other V- securities," £IIIS,SiSQV total, At August 31 last a totoi of £11,760,250 had been invested in the discharged soldiers' , settlement account and ojher transfers and advances.:. He proposed under the Finance Act to-pro-vide' for >the cancellation of '?. discharged soldier settlement securities to .the - value of £12,500,000, j and so discharge that amount from the gross public debt. : He felt that he had better explain this and the necessity for nU< That very large sum of £12,500,000, instead of being regarded as an asset of the country, had to;be looked upon as a debt and he had to provide a sinking-fund for it. That was strictly in keemifg With':the system of accounts observed fox years past. ; :>;it was not right, and it was misleading, for«the amount was undoubtedly an asset, ahd the country, should not be -compelled to pay sinking fund on account" of it. -it would be a v«ry much larger .sum. before the end of the present financial year..' ■.;•'" ■', The;StoMas_ Fastis; , On August 31 last the Dominion's w« debt, including soldiers' settlement, amounted to £97,384,900. Of that amount wax purposes accounted ; for Discharged soldiers* settlementi advances to settlers, and the purchases of estate] accounted for £16,118,300.-> He would go into that point in mora detail when the second reading of the Loan Bill was being • moved. Then, against the gross- war debt, on August 3.1 last-there were sinking funds on account of war loans to th« amount of £1,603,000, and sinking fund on account of discharged soldiers' settle ment loans to the amount Of £16,130, making a total of £1,620,000. This deduction left the war,t.debfc*standing a< • '.-, %' ~ ' * SUtsmeou 9t Assets. N ::■■--- ' ■ vr 'vj T '-.:. ... A ' -.»•■' ■ _ Against this sum there were the following assets:—Repatriation advances outstanding, £948,404; ? cash, £279,162: discharged soldiers* advances, £8,930,035; advances outstanding, £4,460,000; investments, £4,172,000; making a total of £18,793,000. That was the amount th« Government had T standing today -at against, the .war debt." He-- hoped subsequently, to be abto to apply- the, balance! from the Consoliaated Pond to sue! purposes as would have the effect of reducing Joe war debt, provided thai no' unforeseen demands were made on the consolidated revenue and the expenditure was .kept within reasonable limits. He had "to state that there was no certainty about that, because demands were being made every day, which heiried to resist. It was. a ; most to keep expenditure down under present circums stances. • There were- local bodies in different parts of New-; Zealand that it was absolutely necessary for the. Government to help,,<Tbe Government had tc find-money for them, or else these locai bodies, although perfectly sound, would find themselves in very serious difficulties. He expected to be able to give the House details of these transactions a little later. A Matter of Book-keeping. Mr. Massey stated that he anticipated being able at the end of the present financial year to make up the amount of the accumulated funds to £20,000,000, i thus ensuring the application of surplus to war debt' extinction. When this had been done and the financial adjustments made i»ome reduction in taxation would be possible. He bad been required to use a part of the surplus of , the last financial year for purposes Where expenditure was unavoidable. He honed to be able to pay back to tife surplus from revenue during the present financial year the araounf that he had taken. When that had been done there would be in hand 1 at least £20,000,000, not borrowed money, but money collected by way of taxation, nearly all of it belonging to the accumulated : surpluses. That sum of £20.000.000, perhaps a little more, would stand as an asset against the war debt. It would be just as good as ii that amount of war debt had been paid off. The matter would become one oil ■ j book/keeping. The Government would 1 have the income from the accumulated funds, and would not require to pay sinking fund on the corresponding amount oi public debt as it had been doing up tc the present time. NEW ZEALAND CROSS. [BT TELEGJtAPfc'.— KFORTER.] WELLINGTON, Wednesday. The request made in} 'v' petition by William Lingard and four others, that tb< name of one roan should be removed frorr the list of holders of the New Zealand Cross, and the ffecoration recalled, waj reported on by the Defence Committee today. The recommendation was that ir view of the conflicting decisions arrived at by various committees inquiring intc the question, the Government should in stjtute a special inquiry by a Supreme Court judge or other competent tribunal to examine the whole of the documentary evidence and hear witnesses on both sides, PRINTING TRADE AWARD. [BY TELEGRAPH,-—SPECJAI. REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Wednesday. In the House to-day Mr. Howard (Christehurch South) asked why the issue 1 of the award in the printing' trade had been delayed. The award had been made on September 13, and Be had seen- it stated since that the master printers had decided not to comply with 'the award. Mr. Howard added that the increased rates in the award were retrospective tc May, in accordance with an agreement between the parties. * Sir William Hemes replied that the award contained something that the Labour Department considered to be ultra vires. The question had been referred to the law officers £f the Crown, who would say whether or not the Court had power to make the agreement an aw«gd.. He hoped the matter would be settled "within a day or two. He would be only too glad to issue the award. THE CIVIL LIST BILL. [BY TELEGRAPH. "SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Wednesday, Amendments in the Civil List Bill, which passed its third reading in the House yesterday, provide for the increase ; of the honoraria of the Chairman of Comj mittees of the House to £750, and the 1 Chairman of the Upper House to £500. The honorarium of the Minister representing the native race, who has also charge of the Cook and other Islands, has been increased to £1100. { -