The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, MAY 27, 1911.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14453, 27 May 1911, Page 4

The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, MAY 27, 1911.

"FBEXZIED FINANCE." Not the least interesting point of the address given by Mr Massey at Waimate on Thursday night was that wliieh dealt with the borrowing and taxation of (lie Government. The public debt, he pointed out, has been increased by about 19 million pounds .lining the five years of the "Ward Administration, a record oeing achieved last year, when ih'e amount borrowed was £"o,soo,(Hid. Fnder the Jiallance Govermn -nt (1891-0-T), whose traditions ihe present Government professes in be following, the total debt was increased by only £800,702, and the liability per head was actually!

i'P(hif!c(l. 'Under the Seddon t/overnnient, which lusted thirteen years, the debt was increased by per heud of £9 12s Id. Sir Joseph Wind, who talks about a " tapering- oft' " policy, has increased the debt in five years by 19 millions, ; almost as larrre an increase as his predecessor, Mr Seddou, took thirteen yews to effect. Hut the growth of the public debt would not be so nluriiiing if only the population and industries of New were growing in anything like proportion. Mr Massey showed that they are not, and the comparison, so far as population is concerned, is put very plainly by the "New Zealand Herald.'' which has been studying the figures of the census. Mr Millar stated in his Dunedin speech that the public debt is now over 81 jjiillion pounds. The "II era Id " takes the gross public debt for the last three census years, nnd compares it with the population as follows:

Debt. Population. Per liond. lflOl £49,501,000 772,700 £O4 .'ls 7d 1908, £62,101,000 889,900 £O9 17s 7d 1911 £81,078,000 1,005,000 £BO Is fld The net indebtedness issomowluit less than this, but the relative increase'is much the same. Tbo figures are an eloquent testimony way in which the national indebtedness has been increased in recent years. A large proportion of the money borrowed is, no doubt, reproductive, but as a great amount 'of it is raised on short-dated debentures', which may have to be renewed at the worst time, and as the national expenditure has/also been increasing by leaps and bounds, and additional taxation i is being contuiiialjy imposed to keep up with this expenditure, the gravity of the general position cannot reasonably be disputed. While the country's debt is piling up, and is now higher by £l4 8s per head than the- average debt per head in 'Australia, its population is almost standing still and industries are not increasing. "The advance in population of 117,000 shown by the census of five years ago was admittedly unsatisfactory, and the increase shown by the latest census is slightly smaller for the same period. " The situation," as the "Herald" states, "is self-evident. If we constantly increase the cost of administration, constantly borrow. . and . steadily, expend these borrowings, wo must pay in some way or another, and if we fail to increase our population as fust as ■we increase difbt and charges, the burden of taxation must grow constantly heavier- Every industrious man who has drifted away to Australia has left his share of our public debt for others to pay, and his contribution to public revenue, whether by taxation or by payment for State services, for others to make good. And every acre which might be productive, but which lies locked uu and idle, increases the burden upon every producing acre." Mr Massey showed how the Government could improve the finanpi.il aspect of its land policy so as to save half a million of borrowing every year. At present it settles land on the lease in perpetuity system, and then goes upon the money market to borrow more money for land settlement. If the lease in perpetuity settlers were given the option of purchasing their freeholds, the money which would be forthcoming for this purpose could be used to buy more land, and there would be no need to borrow with that object. The present system Mr Massey well described as " parting with the; freehold of their lands to the money-lender in England." Danger of aggregation, under a freehold policy, would easily be presented by the limitation of areas, and the land would be more eagerly' sought for and worked to more advantage. Mr Massey 'touched another important point in saying that two million poun.ls per annum are spent in public works, and " Parliament as a whole had no control whatever over the expenditure of this money—no more control than so I many individuals outside Parliament." That is actually true ' under the present system, though ■ it sounds incredible. But tlic ' I whole financial policy of the Go- j vernnient is so dangerous and i"l- j founded that' we cannot believe! the electors of New Zealand will allow it to he continued till tii.T ', lime when, if it is not checked, j it must bring about its own in- | ovitable retribution. |