THE NATIONAL DEBT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 45, Issue 13855, 11 June 1919, Page 5

THE NATIONAL DEBT.

INSTRUCTIVE REVIEW

Yesterday the Hon. A. M. Myers, Acting-Minister for Finance, made reference to the large addition to the national debt accrued during the war and to the corresponding increase in the .annual charges thereon. "Loans raised in Now Zealand since

August Ist, 1914,'' said Mr Myers, "amount to some ">.") million pounds; -whilst those raised in London during the same period aggregate 20 millions; thus making together an increase in the national debt during the Avar of some SI million pounds." The additional charge per annum by way of interest 4ind sinking fund on such increase in our indebtedness amounts approximately "to four million pounds. War loans raisedljtoring the war total some 00 million poMßl's .of which 43 millions were raised internally and 26 millions at Home. "The "total national debt. i* now, roughly, some £170 per head of our population. Taking very conservative t estimates, our national wealth amounts * to some £400 per head and national income to over £5;") per head; and with do posits in the banks of about £72 per liead of the population, there is no question as to our ability to meet our war obligations, if all classes of the community will unite in preserving stable ■economic conditions. As regards the savings of the people of this country, a comparison of returns published by tho various post office savings hniiks throughout the wo.-.d discloses the fact that New Zealand is an easy first^ in this respect, with total deposits of £30 per head of tho population in the Post Office Savings Bank alone, the corresponding figures for Australia and the United Kingdom being £23 4s and £"> 7s respectively. The deposits in all ■savings banks in this country have increased from V.* millions in 1014 to 33 millions in 191 S. It must be understood, of course, that the above figures areitfiven in round sums, for the convemPnce of comparisons. "Whilst ono is naturally opitmistic in regard to our future financially, having regard to the fact that we have one | of the most fertile countries and most F loyal, efficient and progressive peoples in the world, at the same time one. -would desire to stress the fact that it is-only by each individual taking' a personal interest in and responsibility for the solution of the great industrial problems confronting us, can we pay a worthy part in this great task. The industrial unrest prevalent everywhere at the present time is merely an outward sign of the great internal struggle for improvement and advancement that is taking place in every branch of society., Humankind is in a stag'- of transition, and it is the duty of every responsible human being to help forward the great forces that the war Las done so much to bring into visible evidence. To the extent to which we assist or retard that great movement -whose influence is felt to-day throughout the four quarters of the globe, shall •Wei determine our place as a nation and as a democracy in the future. One feels assured that the disturbed of affairs through which we arc passing isinot only an aftermath of the great t is a precursor of stabilised, enf ligntened, democratic policy on the part ■of the people of New Zealand, whose •energies will find their vent in progress and advancement, instead of in Bolshevism and disruption, with eventual -stoppage of production and loss of prestige and honour."