THE LAST RESORT.

Colonist, Volume LV, Issue 13738, 2 June 1913, Page 8

THE LAST RESORT.

The caso for tho Government's finance is not really so bad that our Reform friends need fall back upon the last resort of" the cheap advocate. (says the "Lyttelton Times"). Abuse is not, as they have often boon reminded, argument, and it is not, as they would say themselves "cricket." The other day quoting tho figures supplied by the Press Association from the "Gazette"! we pointed out that whilo tho public expenditure increased during tho financial year ended on March 31st last by £741,609, compared with the figures for tho preceding year, the public revenue increased by only £476,912. Tho receipts, of course, were quite beyond the control of the Government, with the possfblo exception of the" returns from the working railways and the Post and Telegraph Departments, and wo attached no great importance to them in our comparison, but our friends' local organ has fallen upon us with a column of abuse for what it calls our "perversion of the real figuros" on this side of the account. Tho "real figuros" as they were given in tho Wellington "Dominion" and in the other journals that had access to tho "Gazette" on the day of publication showed the rovonue in 1911-12 to have been £11,843,844, and in 1912-13 £12,541,546. From these figuros we deducted, as wo oxplamod, the balancos brought forward from tho preceding years, tho amount in 1911-12 being £586,483, and in 1912----13 £807,27.3, and found the increase in tho not.receipts in the latter year to bo, as wo stated, £476,912. Anyone sufficiently interested in the matter may make the calculation for himself from the data we have supplied.

As an instance of its own disingonuousnoss in making comparisons we may mention that tho "Dominion" publishes a table showing that tho expenditure during Sir Joseph Ward's last year of office increased by some £250,000 more than it did during Mr. Massey's first year of office, without saying a word about tho fact that Sir Joseph Ward's year had to boar an increase of some £200,000 in the expenditure of the Defence Department and tho whole of tho cost of tho census and tho general election, some £100,000. Compared with this surely any injustice wo may have dono Mr Massey inadvertently sinks into insignificance.