FINANCIAL DEBATE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 12925, 2 August 1905, Page 2

FIN ANCI AL DEBATE.

LEADER OF OPPOSITION'S GBITI-; I cism. . ':.'

Per Press Association. ; Wellington, Aug. 2. The Financial debate was opened by Mr Massey. The Treasurer, he said, was 'apparently sxtffering from a guilty coiv science, as on several occasions he . apologised for the increase of the public debt. Whether it was interest earn- , ing or not the hard fact remained that the interest had to be sent oujt ; of the colony,. and he contended th/a£tj ■we were borrowing too much, and' that a great deal of the loan money. 'was unwisely expended.. The only poj- i icy in the Budget was a inillioii: loap but there were many acts which: permitted borrowing, and ihe predicted; that the increase in the debt, this yeaj»> 'would be as great as last year— -ov|r £2,000,000. It was, he contended, &\ jsoluteLy impossible^ for members i ioi understand the public works expend !-■ / ture. He proceeded to give instances; • in which votes r for the same work were contained under more than one class of the estimates. It was a singular fact that those instances occurred an regard to roads on the West Cqafet of the South Island. It was difficult to discover these "matters when the es-v timatcs were brought ; down at the; 1 end of the session, and he would , believe that the Prejnier was sincere Jti his desire to do away with the present system of public wwrks yofesj when he brought down a Local Government Bil| to that effect. ; v . Mr Seiriklbn: You -won't have veyy^ long to wait then, . ; | Mr Massey went on to point out that' last year Parliament voted £369,000for roads and bridges in the country-; districts, and ; yet only £ 139,612 wjaS spent/ The same thing occurred jinregard to the" vote for school buiXdj ings, although; all the Education Boards were calling out for more; funds. The audit system had been Isd obscured that the public did not un-i •derstarid it. -The Public Revenues I&ct served to override the Auditor-Cfeneral and to allow the Goverameiiit to transfer votes from one class to another, and he hoped tbat a proper audit would be insisted on in the nearfutr lire. As to the last loan he was certain that it would not work out *at more than £97 per £100. Our extravagance in borrowing was responsible for the depreciation of our credit* In every department . expenditure \vas charged- to capital account instead of to revenue, as it should be. The surplus was largely due to the expenditure of loa* money^ If the surplus really existed the natural inference was that taxation was 'too high, and ; if the surplus was real the Treasurer j should take off £300,000 or £400,000. The Hon. J. McGowan contended thas there -had been no real, criticism of the Budget. The best time to borrow money; he urged, was when our credit was good. -As to the duplication of votes referred .to by Mr Massey, he pointed out that the district i referred to was a mining district, and ' votes for mining had to be devoted to it as well as vptes for roads and bridges. The argument about charging to capital instead of revenue was B the same old story, and he contended - that very much of the amount' now " charged to capital ought not to be * charged to revenue. This argument applied- to the railways ; otherwise the cha-rges jfior foutifler 1 , jnefet, and so on twould have to be increased. There were only two alternatives — either to charge the expenditure to loan or to increase the freight! charges. Further, the Consolidated Fund ' had paid very large sums into the Public Works Fund, so that the works done i were properly charged to capital account, and were> really done cut of revenue. The Minister proceeded to attack Mr Massey on his freehold proclivities and his desiro to get the unearned increment for nothing. Instead of this cry for the freehold "they should look at the question from the point of view of the increase in the value of land which has taken place since the tenants l first acquired possession. Mr Herries twitted the Premier with having- required a dozen years to realise that the Mines Department was being administered in a parsimonious manner, and contrasted the present administration in this respect unfavourably with the administration of the late " Sir A. J. Cadman. There should, he contended, be no surplus in the Pu.bjic ( ( Works Fund ; the money ■ ought to be spent. " , Mr Eeid congratulated the Government upon its surplus, but he confesl sed'he could not understand how the J sul^iifcHJiai rv&y<s *fc- *fc faCC of tWk .factfat&at? ge'tfeHk^ado '& the ' ' crflorry* di^inr* '>'4,hcs^a^Hwel-Jro months 'h^^W^cWr^^bT'&M time i The debftt&'^r^ip^WH^.^ ll thG motion of Mr Fl»tman,-and the House rose at 12.55 a.m.

i Good Birong carpet slippers for men,, i women and children, aIJ al.ls per 1 pair— Ward, Cash Draper.— Advt. For Bill-heads, Programmes, and tjp-to-daie Jobbing work call at Herald Office. i