PUBLIC FINANCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18763, 17 January 1923, Page 4

PUBLIC FINANCE.

The hope which the Prime Minister has expressed, that it may be possible next session to offer further relief to taxpayers, is one that will be cordially reechoed throughout the community. Apparently, Mr Massey makes the prospect of a reduction in taxation contingent upon a continued improvement in the result of the operation of the railways. That there has been a marked improve-

mat mere nas oeen a inarscu improvement of lato in the returns from the railway system is shown by the fact that the revenue for the December quarter left, as Mr Massey claims, a balance of £IOO,OOO after the payment of interest on the capital cost; and the reduction in the price of coal as compared with that of the largo supplies which the action of the coal-miners forced the Government to import should be appreciably reflected hereafter in the figures of the railway expenditure. The general revenue returns, moreover, arc encouraging. The receipts for nine months of the financial year exceeded

those for the corresponding period of last year by £084,340, ancf the expenditure was less by £2,545,930. Consequently, a net improvement to the extent of £3,530,270 was effected during those nine mouths. It is true that the expenditure for the term exceeded the revenue by £1,899,591. But the heaviest payments for the year in j-e----speet of interest have now' been made, and the last quarter of the year is invariably one in which revenue to a large amount is collected. It is recognised that this year the income tax payment 0 will fall seriously below the amount which they yielded last year—Mr Massey estimated some time ago that there would be a drop of two millions in the receipts from this source of revenue alone—hut as the revenue in the March quarter of last year exceeded the ordinary expenditure by ever five millions it will he seen that the Prime Minister is justified in declaring that “we have reached a stage wdien we may consider

the position very satisfactory.” The prices which the staple products of the country are now realising justify the belief that the finance of the dominion will bo much more buoyant in the ensuing financial year than it has been for the past two years. It is to he hoped, however, that the promise of more, favourable times will not cause the Government to relax its efforts in the direction of reducing expenditure which is unnecessary and therefore wasteful. There is still room for a considerable curtailment of departmental expenditure for which the country does not receive adequate value.