ECONOMY CAMPAIGN.

Thames Star, Volume LVII, Issue 14741, 22 August 1921, Page 5

ECONOMY CAMPAIGN.

AN INTERESTING DISCUSSION. (Special Correspondent.) . Wellington; August 19. Speaking at a meetirfg of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce last week,* Mr. J. T. Martin, by way of emphasising the need for an economy eompaign, stated that if the Government instructed a board of management, as he proposed, to reduce departmental expenditure by 20 per cent., it would mean-on the expenditure of last year a saving of three and one-fifth millions sterling. The huge figures took some time to sink into the public mind, which is very receptive nor very retentive in such matters,, but on-Wednesday evening a correspondent of the Post Jook up the cudgels on behalf of the existing order and protested that no considerable reductions in expenditure could be made without seriously impairing the service, lessening the revenue and breeding widespread discontent. He recognised . the need for economy, but urged caution and moderation in approaching the subject. It was the poor old war that iwas. responsible for the -high rate of taxation and a few thousand pounds of unnecessary expenditure here and there could make no. material difference.. Such was the sum of his. argument. THE ECONOMIST'S RETORT.

Mr. Martin lost no time in producing his retort. After pointing out a trifling error of a million in his critic's figures,' he proceeded to show the enormous increase in departmental expenditure in recent years., Te Education Department which cost £1,111,099 in 1912 and £1,413,397 in 1917, now cost £2,557,827. Mr. Mar-' tin does not want to impair the efficiency of this department, or if any other department, but he wants •to be quite sure the country is re.eeiv-, ing full value for its money. He analyses the working of the Post and Telegraph Department in a different'way: During the-first three months of 1920 the ordinary ,and' urgent telegrams handled by .jthe de-» partment numbered 2,181,007.. Dur-. ing the corresponding months of-1921 the number, with higher charges, de.-j/ clined to 1,595,974, a drop of 585,033, but the payments extracted from the public increased by £8,755. Bureau communications during the same period declined by 118,910, but again the payments increased by £9,381. Apparently the same staffs have been* retained at largely increased pay to do substantially less work. Finally Mr. Martin reiterates that the annual appropriations have increased from £ll,-005,654 in 1912-13 to £28,953,388 'in 1920-21, and still wants to know the reason "why.