A DILEMMA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1665, 17 September 1887, Page 1 (Supplement)

A DILEMMA.

Ministers aro going about tha country making long speeches to prove that our only hope of salvation lies m our graiping and holding fast to the gospel of Proteotion ; and unless we pay the £186,000 of increased Customs duties demanded of us, all will be lost. On the other hand they (or rather some of them, for to do him justice, tbe Colonial Treasurer does not pretend to believe m retrenchment) declare that they are perfectly willing to retrench the public expenditure, and Sir Bobert Stout and Mr Tole, between them (they don't agree m their proposals, of course, the present Ministers never do) admit that reductions oan be made to the extent of £140,000 a year. The Ministerial candidates, who m their places m the House last session, voted against retrenchment, obediently echo the sentiments of their chiefs and feel quite hurt if anybody suggests that we ought rather to look at their actions m Parliament than at their election promises. But if we are to retrench and thereby save the proposed increased Customs duties, how is the colony to prosper, seeing that its prosperity depends, according to the Ministerialists, upon its embracing a Protectionist polioy ? Tho two things don't gee at all.