The Ashburton Guardian. Manga Est Veritas et Prevalebit FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 1884. An Original Scheme.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1291, 27 June 1884, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Manga Est Veritas et Prevalebit FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 1884. An Original Scheme.

To judge from the enormous number, of hitherto unknown men whose names appear as candidates whenever a general election comes round in New Zealand, it would seem to be the common idea in the colony that the politician’s, like the critic’s (if Lord Byron is to be accepted as an authority) trade requires no apprenticeship of any kind. It is; at these times that we are able to discern to some extent to what depth human folly will descend, so long as there is enough self-conceit and ambition to back it up. We shall no doubt be afforded plenty of instances of this fact when the coming election campaign commences in earnest, but we question, very much if a more sublime example will be forthcoming than the one we are about to call the attention of our readers to. Among the new aspirants for political fame is one Mr J. M. Twomey, who has offered himself as a candidate for the constituency of Gladstone, and his address to the electors occupies a column in the Temuka Leader, a journal of which the imprint tells us he is the proprietor. „ A more wonderful production than this same address has probably never seen the light of day, and it would be a thousand pities if his unique views of finance, which he evidently regards as his strong point, were not given the widest possible publicity. Mr Twomey has seemingly been thinking deeply over the present depression, and as a result he has come to the conclusion that its cause is the exorbitant rate of interest that is being paid for borrowed money in the colony. Accordingly he has evolved from his inner conscious* ness a scheme so stupendous as tp fairly take one’s breath away. Let him enunciate his ideas in his own words, “By the Charters of the Banks (he says) they are allowed to issue three pounds in paper to every pound in coin they possess; that is, three-fourths of their money may be paper and the other one-fourth current coin. If it is considered safe to allow Banks to do this, no man can maintain that it would be unsafe for the Government to do,it, and I therefore propose that the Government shall establish a Bank of its own ; borrow one-fourth of the sum necessary to take over the mortgages on land, issue paper money for the other three-fourths, and lend the money to the farmers at 5 per cent. The security of the existing Banks, is the limited liability of their shareholders ; the security of the Government Bank would be the lands Of the colony. As I ask for the latter only the powers given to the former, my proposal must be reasonable and safe.” The author of this extraordinary address then proceeds to descant upon the benefits which would accrue tp the colony were his views .carried into effect, and we fancy that few people will gainsay that a tremendous revolution would take place if Mr Twomey came into power. This financial genius does not, however, stop here, but he goes on to say how he would deal with the existing banking institutions. It is a charming characteristic of these amateur politicians, that the difficulties that seem insuperable to older and more experienced men in no wise trouble them. Mr Twomey deals with the Gordian Knot in the easiest possible style. AH the Government have to do is to buy out the Bank of New Zealand, and restrict the operations of the National institution to dealing with the accounts of farmers, local bodies, etc., and let the other banks support the merchants and traders. “If these Banks attempt to bring discredit upon . the paper money, refuse to renew their charters or cancel them altogether. That would make very agreeable neighbors of them.” Surely a more 'colossal ignorance of the first principles which,govern the circulation of money was never, before exhibited than in this project. The paper money which he would make legal tenderthroughoutthecolony would, of course, not be worth the material it was printed on, if the Bank that issued , it had not coin to meet it when presented. It need scarcely be said that to anybody possessing a grain of knowledge the whole idea is absolute nonsense. Mr Twomey (ells the electors that he has “ some other schemes in : matured yet, for the want of information which he hopes to get soon,” but we think he will do well to forsake the field of politics and take to some occupation in which he is more likely to shine, until he manages to obtain further information on the one subject he talks so glibly about.

But if Mr Twomey’s remarks on political questions are not very instructive, when he becomes his own critic he may fairly lay claim to being amusing. In yesterday’s Temuka Leadet there is an article dealing with the address, in which, with a modesty that rather astonishes us in so young a politician, all that is claimed for the address is that it is original, an assertion that no one will feel disposed to quarrel with. The writer does not even pretend that the scheme advocated is workable, but is perfectly satisfied with declaring it “ vast.” For our part we wish we could believe in its practicability, especially as we are told that by following Mr XwoMfiV’s advice “ the

Government could borrow and convert it into 8,000,000. Fancy,” the article exclaims ecstatically, “ a flood of £8,000,000 of money let loose upon us ! If that did not render times more prosperous and lower the rate of interest nothing would.” We thought that Mr Jolly with his National Bank scheme had sounded the depths of absurdity, but the Ashburton candidate is quite outdone tty his Temuka pupil. We have not drawn attention to this extraordinary effusion for the purpose of criticising it—this would he a quite superfluous task—but in order to show the sort of man who “ comes uppermost whenever the nation boils,” as it does at the time .of a general election. Unfortunately Mr Twomey is only a type of a class that is but too common in the colony, and his address will only differ in degree from many utterances that we may expect to hear during the next few weeks. A little knowledge may be a dangerous thing, but absolute ignorance, coupled with self-conceit, is infinitely worse, and it is a pity that energies which, turned in another direction, might do some good should be expended in formulating political theories of not the slightest value to anyone. '