LONDON FUNDS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23896, 25 August 1939, Page 6

LONDON FUNDS

EMBARRASSING POSITION GOVERNMENT’S POLICY CRITICISED UNAUTHORISED EXPENDITURE (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, Aug. 24. The present Government had so reversed the state of the London funds that its position was even more embarrassing than it claimed the position of the last Government was, said the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Adam Hamilton) when speaking on the Finance Bill in the House of Representatives to-day. Mr Hamilton also criticised the increasing use of unauthorised expenditure. “ It is said that the previous Government stored up London funds to the extent of about £40,000,000, instead of using them to help distress in New Zealand,” Mr Hamilton said. “ Those funds did not belong to the Government but to the exporters, or the banks who had paid out here to the exporters. Further, there was the thought that the exchange was artificially high with the possibility of an early drop. This Government —by its expansion of purchasing power in New Zealand—has so reversed the position as to create the present chaotic and even more embarrassing position. I am sure the Government now realises the value of having a substantial. amount of money available in London.” An Absurd Accusation The accusation that previous Governments had borrowed to balance their Budgets was absurd, Mr Hamilton added No Government could use loan capital for ordinary expenditure, as the Auditor-general would have tagged any balance sheet that did. It might as well be said that if a business man borrowed £IOOO to put up a building he had balanced his budget with borrowed money. Mr Hamilton criticised the increasing use by the Government of unauthorised expenditure and of loan money for the development of roads. Parliament, he said, appeared to be losing its control of expenditure. Increasing Expenditure After quoting from the report of the auditor-general. Mr Hamilton said that the total amount spent last year without the approval of Parliament was £2,727,000, Surplus credits-in-aid, which totalled £33,000 in 1934-35, rose last year to £1,602,572, an extraordinary and amazing increase.

“ Surely the time has come to put a stop to this,” Mr Hamilton said. “It aopears that the Government is making too free a use of unauthorised expenditure. The expenditure is being validated by this Bill, but it would be wise for the Government to go carefully.”