The Daily News MONDAY, APRIL 18, 1932. THE NEED FOR ECONOMY.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 April 1932, Page 6

The Daily News MONDAY, APRIL 18, 1932. THE NEED FOR ECONOMY.

The debate in the House of Representatives last week on the second reading of the National Expendi-

ture Bill was certainly the most interesting of the present session. There was nothing new in the speeches made by members of the official Opposition, for they have not yet learned that to be effective an Opposition must do more than oppose, nor have they realised that the service which the country requires to-day is constructive effort. But if Labour’s contribution to the debate was not impressive, a considerable proportion of the members on the Government benches spoke with more than customary freedom and voiced interesting opinions on the very important proposals before them. It happened that there were pledged supporters of the Government who could not see their way to accept all the details of its economy programme, but these members did not merely criticise and promise opposition. Several of them made obviously genuine attempts to propound alternatives to those portions of the projected legislation

with which they disagree, and one or two of the suggestions offered are worthy of careful consideration. No doubt Cabinet will discuss them before the House meets again, and the committee stage of the Bill will afford further opportunities of investigating their possibilities. The Prime Minister and his colleagues have made it clear that they welcome helpful ideas from private members. The legislation submitted to the House represents the considered judgment of the Cabinet, but Ministers would be the first to admit that their work of preparation for the emergency session has had to be done at high pressure and that they lay no claim to infallibility. But while they are willing to listen to reason—they have not hesitated during the past few weeks to accept amendments to their proposals which were shown to be desirable—they are not to be' persuaded to forget their responsibilities nor to be stampeded into hasty action. This point was aptly illustrated in the House on Friday afternoon, when Mr. W. A. Veitch urged that the Government was placing too much importance upon the curtailment of expenditure and the balancing of the Budget. An ex-Minister and a loyaj. sup-

porter of the Coalition, Mr. Veitch is a member whose opinions are treated with respect. Mr. Forbes,

■however, with the steadfastness that is his most prominent characteristic, was not .to be swayed by his friend’s appeal. He envied, he said, the position of those who were able to discuss the Bill with freedom from responsibility, but he assured the House that unless the utmost economy and prudence were exercised the national finances might be strained beyond their power. The Prime Minister’s speech, couched in the simplest language, and therefore the more emphatic, was in keeping with his straightforward utterance in moving the second reading. The first duty of the Government, as he sees it, and as every honest citizen must know in his heart, is to arrange the finances so that the Dominion shall be able to meet its obligations. It is not a task to be performed carelessly; it demands the most careful planning on the part of those who have been entrusted with the responsibilities of government, and they need all the assistance they can obtain. That does not mean, of course, that they

should be exempt from criticism, but rather that criticism should aim to be helpful. It is perhaps a question whether in its conduct of the business of the emergency session the Government has done all it might have done to encourage its critics to come to its aid. The measure now before Parliament" deals with expenditure, and members have yet to learn the exact nature of the Government’s pro-

posals with regard to the revenue side of the national accounts. The indication recently given by the Minister of Finance of the general tenor of his revenue policy was not .sufficiently explicit to satisfy the desire of the rank and file for information on which to base their

consideration of questions relating to expenditure, and they would certainly be better prepared for

their duties this week if the Minister could outline the Finance Bill before the National Expenditure Bill is presented to the committee. Piecemeal methods are not the best, though they are not necessarily vicious. The announcement just made by the Minister of Education with regard to the Economy Commission’s proposals is a case

in point. The right thing would seem to be for the Government to state the whole of its policy with relation to education, but that would mean delay. There is, however, very keen public interest in this matter, so that the Minister is

amply justified in giving a progress report of such a nature as to allay certain anxiety. The public and Parliament do not expect Ministers to overcome all their difficulties .in a few weeks, or even months, but what they do ask is that the Government should take them into its confidence as soon as possible. In the case of policy already planned, as the Finance Bill must be, the sooner the public has information the better. Every thoughtful man realises that the need for economy is imperative and is willing to support those

whose unenviable task it is to carr/ out the necessary policy provided the responsible Ministers are frank in their distribution of information. ______