The Burdens of War.

Another problem which, if we are patri- page 16 otic, we must consider is the enormous burdens that have been laid upon us by the war. On the 31st March, 1917, the Public Debt of New Zealand, including the debt of the General Government and local bodies, had risen to about £150,000,000—was in fact. £150,236,239. No doubt we have large assets for much of that expenditure, but consider what such a debt means! it means over £6,000,000 a year in interest. How are we to meet the large amount of taxation that must be imposed upon the Dominion? Our debt next year will be increased by many more millions. How will we ever be able to meet the interest on this enormous debt, coupled with the many duties cast upon the Government—duties the expense of which can be paid for only by taxation—our public health, our education, our roads, our streets, etc.? There are only two ways in which we can get of grinding taxation and the lowering of the standards of life. First, we must be thrifty—the abolition of all wasteful expenditure on things that are not necessary—and, second, by greater efficiency in our industrial life. We must have greater production. Science must be applied to our main industries, to our pastoral industry, to our agricultural industry, and to various other industries that are now in their infancy—our manufactures, our fruit farms, etc. We need scientific education in order to make our people efficient producers. We have not yet half developed the resources of this country, and the only hope for us lies in greater thrift and greater efficiency. I have already spoken about the need of the abolition of slums, and steps are being taken to say that where they do not exist they shall not be created. That touches on a question that has been dealt with in a very able book called