“LET US HAVE TIME.”

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 88, 9 December 1912, Page 4

“LET US HAVE TIME.”

Regarding the finances of the Dominion, the Hon. James Allen spoke as follows at the banquet tendered to him at Kaitangata on Thursday night. Of the 21 nr 22 years of training that he had gone through, perhaps the times most indelibly impressed upon his memory were those in the a cars 1887-90, when Sir Harry Atkinson had so severely retrenched that he veij nearly brought his own party to ruin. He himself was now undergoing aj somewhat similar experience, but he hoped to be able to avoid the mistakes which Sir Harry had made. They would have seen the revenue returns for the past eight months, and it would not be necessary for him to iepeat them, but he would remind his hearers that there had been an increased expenditure during the past eight months as compared with the corresponding period of last year. There had, however, been a large increase in the revenue, and he was in the happy position of being able to go to England and tell them that that was so. Ho would also have to tell them that New Zealand was determined to live within its means. He might have to say to them (continues the report in the ‘Otago Daily Times ) that they had built political railways in the past but would never build an other—(applause)—also that they wen determined to develop the counti y, and if the financiers would not lend them money to do it they would havt to do it out of their own resources in the best way that they could. He did not believe in extravagant borrowing but he was certain that we could not cut off the sources of supply of borrowed money without either imposing so heavy a taxation on the peoph that it would stop the development ol our large industries or else the cut ting down to a large extent of the public works expenditure. Ho be lioved there had been extravagance ii public works, but the present Gov eminent had come into office to sto[ this extravagance. They could not di it in a moment. Let them have time and if they failed in their duty tin people would mark that failure in i decisive manner.