SPEED IN ECONOMY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20970, 5 September 1931, Page 10

SPEED IN ECONOMY.

The Cabinet of the new British Ministry is reported to have its proposals for submission to Parliament next week practically complete. The necessary measures are in the hands of the draftsmen. By Monday the Cabinet w'ill be clear and able to finalise its plans for facing the House of Commons. As the National Ministry was formed on August 25 it has thus accomplished its task in almost exactly ten days. It can be granted that Mr. Mac Donald and those of his colleagues who remained from the former Ministry must have had fairly definite ideas about an economy policy. The leaders of the other parties had been apprised of what was afoot, and their views had been heard. Even with this preliminary advantage, the new. Cabinet has been remarkably expeditious. There has been no need in Britain to hold prolonged meetings, to hear evidence concerning the facts of the industrial and financial situation facts which should be very well known to public men of experience—or otherwise spin out the process of approaching practical action. Various factons have doubtless helped to accelerate the pace of preparation. One which can be suggested with confidence is that the Cabinet has had the advantage of assistance from permanent officials who obviously realised that real retrenchment must be achieved before it could be claimed that the Budget was truly balanced. The extent to which officials of the Treasury appreciated the facts and risks of financial drift were revealed months ago when they gave evidence before the Royal Commission on Unemployment. The views they expressed about the state of the national finances, and especially the effect on them of the drain the relief system entailed, comprised the most significant evidence the commission heard. 1 Whether it be the result of the comptroller system the Treasury maintains to watch the demands of the supply services, or whether it can be attributed to an older tradition and an enhanced sense of responsibility, British permanent officials show a helpfulness when economy is needed which is obviously not duplicated in this country. If it were, there would not be the same need for committees, commissions and inquiries which spell delay in economy when speed is needed.