ANOTHER SURPLUS.

Southland Times, Issue 19540, 2 May 1925, Page 6

ANOTHER SURPLUS.

Details of the receipts and expenditure are not yet available, but the statement covering the public finances during the year ended March 31, reveals a surplus of £1,235,000, which is rather more than Mr Massey expected when he presented his Budget last year. The revenue was greater than in any year since 1921, when the unexpected rush of imports so increased the return from the Customs Department that the Government’s total receipts were £34,260,961. In 1922 the revenue fell to £28,127,009, and it fell slightly in 1923 and 1924, but last year there was another rise, the total being £28,630,000, an increase of £670,000 over the corresponding figures for 1924. Remissions in taxation were responsible for a reduction of £870,000 in the return from Income and Land Taxes, but the Post and Telegraph Department’s accounts show an increase of £106,000, while the Railway Department, for eleven months, does not disclose any appreciable movement, which means that the principal increase in the year has come as a result of augmented importations. The fact that New Zealand is buying more extensively is a sign of confidence, although it is desirable that the country should be on its guard lest the sorry experience of 1922 is repeated in circumstances less helpful than those which Mr Massey’s foresight provided. When we turn tp the expenditure we find a increase of £1,250,000, which is a disquieting fact, in view of the fact that increase in the revenue was only’ £670,000. There is a surplus of £1,235,000, but the jump in the expenditure should make the Government cautious when it is considering the possibility of making further reductions in taxation. Details of the expenditure are not yet available, and so it is impossible to say how this bound on the expenditure side of the ledger has been caused, but at this stage economy is as necessary as it was in 1923 and 1924, when the country was fighting its way out of the period of depression. The prospects for the coming year are bright, but the new financial policy of the Old Country may lead to price movements of grave importance to the Dominion, which is dependent on primary products for its prosperity. The appearance of another surplus will be welcomed, but that credit balance must not blind us to the fact that the expenditure is £1.250,000 higher than it was in 1923-1924, and even higher than it was in 1922-1923.