VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1933, Page 7

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

VIEWS ON CURRENT TOPICS KEEPING GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS IS DOUBLE ENTRY SYSTEM USED? (To the Editor.) ! Sir,—lt may interest some people to know: on wnat system, the Government financial accounts are kept, and the writer will take it as a favour if someone Will explain. He would like, to know whether they are,- or could be, kept on the double entry system in the same way a. the accounts of a business are kept. As some of • your readers may ■ not understand, this, system, and systems vary, it would be interesting to know if there is a separate debit ahd credit account kept for each department. Is there a journal of transactions- with the debit and . credit to be indexed as entered-in both ledgers? Is there a profit, and ; loss account, taking in all departments? As there must be a debit, in some departments, on. balancing up, do the profits of some departments go into a'general fund from which the losses of others are made up, or is money granted for one purpose transferred to another?—l am, etc., HAZY. New Plymouth December 17. [Some departmental accounts, including the Post Office and the Railways, have been commercialised. Others are still maintained on a "cash” basis. That is to say Parliament votes a certain sum of money to be applied for certain purposes within a financial year. A record of receipts and expenditure is kept and it is the duty of the audit office to see that expenditure does not exceed the money voted and that it is made for the purposes indicated by Parliament. Under special legislation certain transfers of funds are permitted under Ministerial sanction, but these must be in adco'rdance with the law or they will be "held up by the audit officials. ' Argument is proceeding at the present time between the Auditor-General and the Treasury as to the most satisfactory method of keeping the public accounts.—Ed.] BEAUTIFUL NEW PLYMOUTH? (To the Editor.) Sir,—ln view of the vigorous endeavours being made by many organisations and' individuals to beautify New Plymouth -by tree-planting, shrub and flower-planting, rockeries and general tidying up, it is more than disappointing to see. the neglect of the environment of some of our public buildings. . A case in point is the ground surrounding -the courthouse, which is a disgrace to the town. Certainly the building itself is no credit to either the town or the Justice ’ Department, but until enough money can be found to erect a new building there is surely no reason why arrangements cannot be made to keep the surroundings tidy. Instead of the lawns and flower beds that should be there (for example take notice of- the Deeds Office opposite) the place is a wilderness of rank grass, weeds and rubbish. It is high time the authorities took notice of this eyesore and made arrangements for something setter. —I am, etc., • DISGUSTED.' New Plymouth, December 17. " ! LACK OF CURRENCY. (To the Editor.) Sir,— Commenting on the amount of "hot air” which is exhausted in abusing those in a position to grant credit (especially the banks) we recently pointed out that the failure of credit to expand was not due to any lack of funds available for lending, but to the scarcity of unencumbered security suitable for bank or other investment. Exception was taken to this opinion by those whose slogan is "blame the banks,” and the accusation that the banks were curtailing credit unreasonably is repeated, in spite of the fact that they are responsible for only one-third of the credits granted in ■New Zealand. ! The same accusations were freely made in America. Therefore a credit committee was set up in September under Mr. Roosevelt’s N.R.A. organisation to invite and examine applications for credit and to arrange that’all deserving cases received attention. The first report indicated that the committee had examined 170 applications and that of 137 cases closely scrutinised only four were found eligible fof bank credits and ten cases referred back for . further investigation. Mr. Grover A. Whalen, chairman of the New York N.R.A., stated that the above statement was issued so "that any erroneous impressions created in the past may be corrected as to the services the banks are rendering the public.!’ Those who blame the banks and other lending organisations overlook the fact that idle money is as much disliked by them as are slow moving stocks on a tradesman’s shelves. Lack of credit? worthy applicants is the cause of the difficulty here in the same Way as has been proved by careful investigation- in U.S.A. The banks may be open to a good deal of criticism, but it will not help reform to misrepresent the true facts in order to make a case against them.—We are, etc., N.Z. WELFARE LEAGUE. Wellington, December 17.