Morris Cargill

WELL, AS we all know, the Govern-ment rolled back the gasolene tax, but not by 50 per cent as was first claimed but by about 45 per cent. Still, that seems to have been good enough to prevent the country from being burned down. The Prime Minster in his speech in the House announcing this, was as smooth as silk as usual. His speeches usually are and they leave most people with the impression that he means what he says.

For example, he was exquisitely polite to Peter Moses and his committee and, for good measure, he was equally polite to Douglas Orane and his crew. You might, however, have noticed that apart from rolling back part of the gasolene tax, he was very careful not to commit himself to any of the recommendations made in either report. These recommendations were all to be "carefully studied and noted" but one got the impression that if they were ever followed that would be sometime well into the next century.

Debt handling

I found it very strange that Peter Moses did not deal with the country's debts which are, of course, the main cause of all our troubles. I do not know whether the name Moses means that he is Jewish or not, but surely, no good Jew or no good anybody else could fail to point out that if we called in the I.M.F. and converted the interest on our debts from its present level to something between 3 and 5 per cent we would save something in the region of about $20 billion which would make it unnecessary to impose any of the extra taxes which have recently been inflicted upon us.

I know, of course, that we could not overnight convert our present debts into debts to the I.M.F. but it could be done within a reasonable time and would lift an enormous burden on the budget. It seems so obvious that I find it incomprehensible that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance persist in a pig-headed stubbornness set fair to ruin the country.

The only person in the House that mentioned this matter of our debts was Audley Shaw of the Opposition who made by far the best speech of the day. Among other things, he brought up what he called the "banquet of benefits" enjoyed by the boffins of the N.I.B.J. and, he could have added, similar banquets enjoyed by other statutory bodies. The truth is that there are as many parasites upon our body politic as there are fleas upon my poodle Peanuts. But while a charming young lady comes in every two weeks and removes them, nobody sprays the fleas feeding upon the taxpayers.

As Audley Shaw said in his speech, the country was "sinking into the valley of the shadow of debts" and pointed out once again how the government sought to use expensive local funds when cheaper money was available elsewhere.

As I have written before, there is some indication that our foreign debts might be forgiven in part or in whole. I note that many writers are writing at great length on the reasons why our foreign debts should be forgiven. The only valid reason, however, is a simple one. Our debts are now unpayable and if not forgiven will have, eventually, to be repudiated. Alas, we cannot repudiate internal debts which is why I regard it almost as a criminal act for our government to have borrowed so indiscriminately and so extensively from our own people.

If our government had any sense at all, which I sometimes doubt, it would seek to convert our local indebtedness into far cheaper foreign loans. At the risk of being repetitive, I must write once again that the extent of our indebtedness is at the root of all our troubles. Just to service our internal debts alone is costing anything up to $15 billion a year.

My readers will also notice that the Prime Minister and others in his government have been having much to say about improving the image of the P.N.P. and strengthening the party's relations with the people. One would have thought that the real effort that was needed was to improve the welfare of the country rather than the welfare of the P.N.P. But there you have it. The chief concern of politicians is their own welfare rather than the welfare of the people who so foolishly elected them.