TORY JUGGLERY

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8680, 13 March 1914, Page 6

TORY JUGGLERY

“THAT LEGACY BE TROUBLE”

AIR RUSSELL EXPLODES “RE FORAI” FALLACY.

Special to the “ Times.” CHRISTCHURCH, March 12. When seen by a representative of the “Lyttelton Times” -Mr 0. W. Russell referred to some of the criticism that had been directed against his Linwood speech. There was only one point, he thought, that needed any serious notice. That was the alleged legacy of financial trouble left by the Liberals to their successors, and that, but for its amazing audacity, was really as amusing as the rest. “I have read with interest,” he said, “the leading article of the ‘Otago Daily Times’ of Wednesday, which criticises my speech at Linwood, and which the ‘Lyttelton Times’ treats as a joke this morning. The Conservative party have lived on what they allege was a legacy of financial trouble bequeathed to them by their predecessors. In this they have rather cleverly conjured wicn the finances. 1 proved conclusively—and the facts being taken from the ‘New Zealand Gazette’ -are not, questioned by the Dunedin journal—that on June 30th, 1912, there was £2,433,000 in the public account and in the hands of public officers, after allowing £1,015,000 for redemption purposes, and that only £172.000 of the Myers loan was in the Public Works account. The answer of the ‘Otago Daily Times’ is that there were advances of £1,617,300 standing against this magnificent sum of £2,433,T00, aud it says this reduces the available balance to £815,700 only; It will be seen that the ‘Daily Times’ absolutely accepts my credit and places the advances against it, reducing the credit balance of £2,433,000 to £815,700. So far, so goad, for it puts my Dunedin friend in. the corner. WHAT THE POSITION WAS.

“Now for the facts. If the Dunedin editor will look at page 12 of the Budget” of 1913 ho will see Air Allen’s own statement of the position. It is as follows: —

“ (1) The Alackenzie Government’s loan of £4,600,000 was raised on June 7th, 1912. ‘•(2) that £2,785,600 of this loan was devoted to repayment of advances obtained in anticipation of the loan or in payment of maturing debentures. Thus those advances were paid out of loan, and were not, charged or chargeable against the credit of £2,433,000 in hand at June 30th.

“(3) That £283,500 was devoted to naval defence expenditure in London. “(4) That £1,431,000 was ‘available for expenditure in the Dominion.’ “These facts, .taken from Air Allen’s own Budget of 1913, are conclusive, and now let me, once for all and finally, knock on the head the MasseyAlien cock-and-bull story that the present Government inherited a legacy of financial difficulty by showing the true position as at June 30th, 1912, twelve days before they took office. It is as follows—

£ Cash in the public account 2,198,000 Advances in the hands of public officers 1,248,000 Balance of loan money rais-, ed on June 7th, 19121 . available for expend!-, ture in the Dominion 1,431,000 Total *£4,877,000 Less available- for redemptions 1,013,000 Total available on June 80th, 1912 £3,864,000

“This magnificent sum of £3,864,000 was available and provided for when the Massey Government took office, after paying for all advances raised by the Ward and Mackenzie Governments. I challenge contradiction. If, as the ‘Lyttelton Times’ amusingly suggests, the Dunedin editor 'has been prompted by tho Minister for Finance, I leave these gentlemen to explain as best they can wherein I am wrong. Truly, Mr Allen took up a fine inheritance, and his action in decrying his predecessors as having left him a legacy of financial difficulty is the meanest thing I have over seen in politics.”