"FRENZIED FINANCE."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18354, 21 March 1923, Page 10

" FRENZIED FINANCE."

SIR JOSEPH IN DEFENCE.

ffHE BONDS SCHEME AGAIN.

TAXATION AND BORROWING.

[BY telegraph.— correspondent.] MOREINSVILLE. Tuesday. The Empire Hall was. crowded to the doors this evening when Sir Joseph Ward addressed an audience of 700 people, which constituted' a record" for Morrinsville. Many people had to stand. The candidate was given an ovation as he entered the hall. The Mayor, Mr. F. J. Marshall, presided. Sir Joseph -Ward said the Prime Minister had the advantage of following in his wake and speaking after him. Mr. Massey should bo brave and bold enough to come along first. He described as absurd the suggestion that an arrangement had been made regarding the election and that he was just tramping around the electorate. He declared that he was fighting the election " tooth and nail." The country, he believed, did not want a dissolution. . Members of Parliament did not want it. He did not think a dissolution would do the country any good. What was the good of the Prime Minister holding out threats. It was quite clear to him that, when Parliament reassembled, and if it was found that the Government had not a sufficient majority to carry on, the membora should bring about a system of co-operation by all sections of the House, at any rate until the country had got over some of its \ great difficulties. He considered the Prime Minister's idea of consulting the Governor-General wa*' unconstitutional. The Governor-General was required to exhaust all possibilities before the constitutional course could be resorted to. It would be wrong for the Government to press for a dissolution except in a constitutional way. One Period and Another. Alluding to Mr. Massey's criticism of his statement regarding taxation, Sir Joseph Ward said that the figures he had given at Tauranga were correct. He was dealing with on? ..period and the New Zealand Herald and the Prime Minister in their criticism were referring to another period, the statistics for which were available to no one but his critics. The figures he had quoted were the latest available to him, those of the period up to the end of 1922. Sir Joseph Ward again quoted the figures he had given at Tanranga, and reiterated that, except for the United Kingdom, New Zealand was the higheat-taxed country in the British Empire. He had quoted the taxes for the Australian States, and had quoted them in comparison .with the taxes for New Zealand. He had placed one State against one Dominion. Even with the Commonwealth tax added, the taxation in none of the Australian States was equal to that ef this country, although Queensland's taxes were not far short of ours. Sir Joseph Ward quoted from the Herald's report of Mr. Massey's Katikati and Tauranga speeches, and went on to deal with the allegations of "frenzied finance." The statement he had made that the national debt had been increased by £68,000,000 since March 31, 1918, was supported by the Budget. This was unanswerable. Responsible men at the head of great co-operative concerns in New Zealand, many of whom were opposed to him in politics, had issued a pamphlet stating that the present system of finance in New Zealand was ruinous as far as trading companies were concerned. He <-Was the only man who had had the courage to suggest a way out of the difficulties, and when he did this he was assailed with cries of," frenzied finance." The National Debt. It was undeniable that the public debt stood at £219,000,000, or £175 19s per &r? 1L h L. ls was an enormous debt. Whether he was elected for Tauranga or not, he would go through New Zealand and tell the people of the condition of the country's finance. The moratorium affected everyone, and should be lifted to promote competition vm. mone y market and prosperity. When he instituted tho advances to settlers, he met with great opposition, and the scheme's failure was predicted. He raised a loan at 3 per cent., and lent it to the settlers. Since then the department had advanced £30,000,000 to settlers, workers, and local bodies, none of whom were paying more than 5 per cent. Was that "frenzied finance" ? Sir Joseph Ward answered tho cries of his critics by referring to the surplus of £17,000,000 which he left when he resigned from the Ministry of Finance, and to the £29,000,000 of war debt that he had repaid to Britain when he went out of office. The New Zealand Government did not owe Great Britain a penny. He left the Government in tho strongest position of any Government in the British Empire. The speaker continued that good prices for primary produce did not benefit the finances of the country. The money did not go into the Treasury. It was used by the men who received it in paying back interest and taxes, and in improving their holdings and buying stock. Whether prices were good or bad, the land tax was the same, although the income tax varied. Financing Railway Works, Tho candidate defended his stand in favour of the issue of Government stock for the financing of railroads, so that they could be completed within five years.Tho scheme would not cost the taxpayers more than 1 per cent. The bonds would bo issued at 5 per cent., and the railways should be able to pay 4 per cent. on the capital expended. The indirectbenefit of railway facilities was surely worth 1 per cent. Sir Joseph Ward strongly advocated the reduction of the income tax. It was the highest in the whole world, and was retarding prosperity. Businesses were being bled to death under the Government's system of taxation.

The Minister in charge of the Post and Telegraph Department had pointed with pride to a surplus of £760,000. It was wrong to use the Post Office as a taxing machine, declared the speaker. If the Government had a strong financial policy, if New Zealand were going to be developed, it was of no uso tinkering with the finance. Cheapen the price of money, reduce taxation, introduce penny postage, and business would improve and the population would be increased. Sir Joseph Ward was loudly applauded whon he resumed his seat. He answered a numbor of questions, and was given ft vote of thanks and confidence, which was carried with enthusiastic acclamation.