OPPOSITION MISREPRESENTATION.

Colonist, Volume LIV, Issue 13277, 30 November 1911, Page 2

OPPOSITION MISREPRESENTATION.

In replying to a question at Wakefield on Tuesday evening, Mr Bishop, an Opposition candidate for the Nelson seat, is reported to have inform-ed' his audience that the public debt of Now Zealand was nearly £80 per hoad of the population at four per cent, and that it was quite true wo were tho heaviest taxed people of all the British colonies. Mr Bishop did not tell the electors that £36,605,364 of tho total debt of £81,078,182 is directly interest bearing, and is not costing tho general taxpayer one penny piece in interest.; in fact, much of the money is actually profit earning. Nor did Mr Bishop tell the elec-

tors that of the non-interest bearing portion of the debt £1,765,251 has been.borrowed for expenditure on roads and bridges for opening up the country to enable the settlor to get on the land, which the candidate himself is in favotir of. In. 1891, when the Liberal Party Went into office, the Interest charge per head on the total debt was £2 15s 3Jd per head, while at the present time it is £2 10s sid per head, a decrease of 8s per head, or 8 per cent. On the non-interest bearing portion of the debt tho interest charge per head has been reduced from £1 8s in 1891 to 18s 7*d in 1911 or a reduction of 9s 4}d, or 19.4 por cent. This is in striking contrast to the statement reported to have been made by Mr Bishop that the debt was costing the people £3 4s per ce-nt per head. Further, the LibercS Party since it came into power 20 yeara ago has made remissions in Customs duties totalling £5,022,048, and concessions on postage, parcels poet, telegrams, cables, money orders and postal note commissions, etc., amounting to £378,745 have also been given. Since 1895, when the Government took over control of the railways from the Commissioners, reductions and concessions, and. benefits to employees totalling £3,270,000 have been given.