The New Zealand Times. FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1914. RIGHT ABOUT FACE!

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8733, 15 May 1914, Page 4

The New Zealand Times. FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1914. RIGHT ABOUT FACE!

In the course of his speech at Gisborne last Wednesday evening the Prim© Minister made just tire sort of announcement that might have been expected from the leader of the eel f-stylc-d “Reformers.” The announcement stamps *-lj 0 Tories once again as being tho most inconsistent set of politicians ever seen in New Zealand, It once more stultifies all their copious outpourings when in Opposition, and discloses tho party as one of political bankruptcy as well as of .political hypocrisy. It shows that all their pious warnings about the growth of the public debt which were used for studied effect in tho last election campaign were grossly insincere. It proves that tho promise of “tapering-off” in borrowing was merely one of tho many promises which the Masseyites intended solely for the purposes of votecatching, and never had any idea of carrying into effect. At election time Mr Massey ;md all tho other Tories pointed with simulated alarm and in. dtgnation to tho manner in which the national indebtedness had grown, during the liberal regime. Mr Ballanco was quoted with the most cordial approval as having advocated a self-re-liant policy, while Mr Soddon and Sir Joseph Ward, Sir Joseph especially, wore held np to public derision aa financiers of reckless incompetence, a« profligates driving the country to insolvency. No account was taken of tho changed circumstances. No mention was made of all tho great enterprises which had been brought to ■fruition, requiring the financial hacking of the State, and in turn yielding profits far in excess of interest obligations involved. No word was spoken i of tho facte, quite wall known to the itraducers of Liberalism, that in, the twenty-one years that the Tories were kept out of office (and thereby to h great extent out of mischief) tho real burden of public indebtedness hod been substantially reduced, the aver,oge rate of interest brought, down considerably, tho interest charge per head jet population appreciably lessened, the percentage of revenue taken to pay ;'ta.nding charges much diminished, and that part of the debt that provides its own interest and a 'margin over made to swell year after year until the financial position of New Zealand was regarded by qualified .judges both in the Dominion and outside as impregnable. None of these things found oven a passing reference in the fulminations of the “Reformers” in 1911, and all the orators of that party who waged war against the borrowing policy of the Liberals religiously closed their eyes and lips to the circumstance ■that they had not only supported every loan, but had on every occasion asked for expenditure far in excess of iwhat was proposed. They all forgot to say, while they accused Sir Joseph Ward of borrowing extravagantly, that it ho Liberal leader would’ and could never agree to loans of sufficient volume to meet their own exorbitant and preposterous demands. They were satisfied to charge the then Government with reckless plunging and frenzied finance, to invite the public to contemplate the' national debt with fear and trembling, and to declare that borrowing must most certainly he reduced—that wo must “get back to sanity,” that there must be a “tapering off” in order to avoid financial disaster. We submit that this is a correct and perfectly fair presentation of the “arguments” of tho Tories at election time. We say, and can prove with quotations sufficiently numerous to fill columns of this newspaper, that tho ■public of New Zealand were distinctly given to understand when the ‘ Reformers” were asking for support that one of the early and certain results if they reached the Treasury . benches would bo an appreciable reduction in borrowing. It is not necessary to go into elaborate details in making this assertion, hecaifsc everybody knows that what we are saying is in strict accordance with fact. But what has hap u pened? Loan-raising has been one of tho staple industries of tho “Reform” Government.. Borrowing has gone cn at an accelerated instead of a slackened pace. In 1911 Mr Massey declared that tho public debt ought not to lx, increased in a greater ratio than the growth of population—in other words, that a per capita increase in indebtedness was wrong, unsafe, and ui warrantable. In that year tho gross debt was £BO 7s lid per head of population ; in 1913 it was £B4 16s sd. Ml Massey said in July, 1911, in the Wei liugton Town Hall, that the ptWic debt was as high then, in proportion to population, as it ought to bo. It is now £4 8s 6d higher. What has become of tho “tapering off” policy that was promised and declared to be imperative? It has not materialised. Moreover, there is no sign of it; there is no indication that it has any longer a place in the stock-in-trade of “Reform.” Tho very opposite is the case—and that brings us to Mr Massey’s utterance at Gisborne. This is what was said last Monday night by tho politician who had condemned the rate of borrowing as excessive when it was

lower than at present, who had solemnly undertaken to slacken the pace (we quote from the Press Association report):—• Mr Massey said Cabinet had decided that the time was ripe for a strong forward move, so far as the development of the country was concerned. The people needed bridges, roads, and railways, if the producers of the country were to make the most of theii opportunities and the opportunities must be improved for tho people of the country as a whole. “I am going to a«k Parliament this year,” he added, “for a larger sum than for many years back for the carrying on of public works.”

This is a very definite statement. The Prime Minister will find some difficulty in escaping, if ho should 'make the attempt, from the plain meaning of his declaration. Instead of tho “tapering off policy” which the people were told was absolutely necessary, there is to be “a strong forward move.” Instead of the reduction in borrowing which Mr Massey presumably secured votes by promising, Parliament is to be asked to vote this year—election year 1 —a larger sum of money (that is, loan money) for public works than has been voted “for many years back.” "What lias become now of the impudent charges against the Liberals ot e.ccessive borrowing? And what of tbo pre-election pledges of tho Tories to “taper off” ?