It is to be hoped that the very large sum
thus provided will not be wasted, but will be spent on objects of a really useful character, for of one thing we are absolutely sure,—wasted work never will and never can help unemployment. Though loth to prophesy evil or to seem unduly pessimistic, we feel bound to point out that all the money expended has got to come from somewhere, and that this somewhere must ulti- mately be the pockets of the ratepayers and the taxpayers. But we must never forget the very real danger of high taxation and high rates driving men who are just now on the right side of the division between employment and unemploy- ment over the precipice. Again, we must not forget that the period when loan money is being raised and spent, but before the interest and repayment apportionments have become due, is always a honeymoon—or, as a facetious printer lately expressed it, a " honeymoney "—period. Next, we must not forget to look forward to the time when the works are finished and the men are being paid off. The dismissal of some two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand men who have been engaged on public works of various kinds will be by no means an easy or pleasant task. When the Socialists and Labour people ask us (as they certainly will, since they glory in State employment, and regard it, not as a necessary evil, but as a positive good): "Do you really mean to turn these unfortunate men on to the streets to starve ?" shall we be prepared with an answer ?
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