FINANCIAL DEBATE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19718, 18 August 1927, Page 11

FINANCIAL DEBATE.

GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE LOAN TO WIRELESS COMPANY. LESS BORROWING ADVOCATED. [BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, Wednesday. The debate on the Financial Statement was continued in the House (o-day. Mr. F. N. Bartram (Grey Lynn) criticised the action of the Government in granting a loan to the Broadcasting Company. The Government let £15,000 at 8 per cent, on security which was tantamount to a second mortgage. Ho said the decision of the Government to squander £1,000,000 on warlike preparations at Singapore was unwise. The Government did not show any indication of economising on war-like expenditure; no matter what else suffered money must be wasted on defence matters which did not defend. According to the Budget of 1925 out of every £IOO New Zealand spent £33 16s on war costs, £22 on other debts, £ls 2s on education, £5 12s on health, £5 8s on pensions, £3 16s on miscellaneous expenditure and £ls 6s on departmental expenditure. The expenditure due to war purposes was twice as large as the expenditure on education, six times as great as the amount paid for old age pensions, six times as large as the amount appropriated for the Health Department, and, added to the interest of other debts, it exceeded the expenditure in all other directions. Troubles of Producers. Mr. C. E. Macmillan (Tauranga) devoted a considerable portion of his speech to - the troubles of the primary producers and strongly advocated the retention of the compulsory clauses in the Dairy Produco Control Act. He wanted cheaper fertilisers for farmers. He declared bush-sick land could be cured if the question was dealt with systematically. He urged that the Scientific Research Board should be asked to investigate this problem. Mr, J. McCombs (Lyttelton) said the present Government had come into power on the cry of no borrowing and to put a stop to borrowing, yet in the last two years it had borrowed the huge sum of £22,000,000. The Government had last year brought down legislation to control local body borrowing, but what was needed was a loan board to control Government borrowing and expenditure. The Prime Minister had condemned local bodies for building roads which would last 10 years, but which would not be paid -for under 36£ years, yet the Government was building wooden schools and furnishing them out of 60-year loans. What sort of assets would these schools and their furniture be at the termination of the loans ? Value ol the Navy. Discussing the repayment of the war debt, Mr. McCombs said only a portion of that debt was funded; the bulk of it was being carried as„dead-weight by the taxpayers. The Government's claim for clever finance was unfounded, because in connection with the floating of the last loan on the London market they lost £30,000 by selling £IOO bonds at £99 10s. On a previous loan £90,000 was lost because of faulty methods and faulty information. Mr. V. H. Potter (Roskill) defended the grant toward the Singapore base on the ground that New Zealand's surest defence was the British Navy, and the opinions of experts on this subject must be respected. He had no faith in the Geneva or other peace conferences: the only safe thing to do wtis to be prepared for war. One gun was more effective in action than thousands of tongues. He defended the Government's action in pur chasing land for returned soldiers. The nublic would never have supported confiscation in this connection and the soldiers did not ask for it. ' Mr. D. S. Reid (Waikato) advocated a tvre tax on motors, as the users of roads were not now paying a fair share to maintain roads. He'defended the Government against the charges of neglect of returned soldiers. No soldiers in the world had been better treated, and Mr. Reid said he would willingly support another £1.000,000 being devoted to the settlement of ex-soldiers. The discussion was continued until the House rose.