The Daily Telegraph. THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1884.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3970, 10 April 1884, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1884.

Major Atkinson's speech at Hawera was .simply a clever speech on the part of a wily politician. The Ministry has no intention of being snulfed out by tho present Opposition, or by the men who are looked to by tho country to form a capable Administration. If they dio they will die " game," and it will not bo for the want of wordiness in their speech. We know the Major too well to suppose that for one moment he would hesitate as to the course lie should pursue ; he can talk longer and better on a giypn topic than any man in tho present ppbsition, even if the country and the facts were against hiiii, and that is precisely what ho did on Monday evening. We have the same abuse of tho Opposition which ho gave in his pre-sessional speech of last year; wo havo tho same statement made that the real man in the Opposition who is looked up to at the present moment — wo had nearly written crisis—is Sir George Grey. No man insido or outside of tho, House knows better than tho present

Premier that Sir George Grey is not tlw man who is looked upon by the country as likely to afford it relief from its present burdens and troubles, or to rid it of an Administration which on all hands and sides, } by even its stauncheat friends hitherto in the Press, is now described as incapable. The Premier knows that Sir George Grey is not at present popular with the bulk of the electors, and to put him forward is only erecting a dummy which would bo at once knocked down. The country would just as soon prefer to keep the present Administration in power as to bring back Sir Goorsre Grey as the leader of a Government. What the country needs, and what the country demands, is an Administration that is capable of dealing with our finances on a broader footing than the plan which ias been in vogue for the last ten years of making ends meet by increased borrowing of money to be used for political purposes. The country is sick of borrowing money, and paying interest on unremunerativo works. "NY hat it wants is rest from borrowing, and the carrying out of only such works as will at once recoup the interest on the expenditure. On many points, we aro told, the Ministry has not made up its mind. Well, we want a Ministry in power that is not fishing for a programme ; wo want a Ministry in office that on those very particular points has a mind of its own, and has a will to cany those reforms out. The policy of first squaring this member and then squaring that member is played out. Wo want to mako cuds meet, and to make ends meet without borrowing the needful to do so. We are persuaded that there is maladministration in many departments, that they are not economically worked, and that if political power and political influence were reduced, that those departments could be carried out at less cost and with greater benefit to the community than is at present the case. Wβ have no wish to see the Civil Service held in a state of thraldom or reduced, wo want the service to bo put on a secure footing and maintained in such, despite of political influence, but we want that service to be efficient, and to bo efficient it must not t>e controlled t>y political ncade, who may or may not be efficient. Wo want to sec the best men in that service that tho country can procure ; we want to see those men well paid, and if those men receive ' their just dues—measured out to them according to their ability and efficiency— where is tho need for pensions, which the Premier asserts arc essential? There is discontent with the "fads" of the present Administration, but the speech is not even discreetly silent on that point. The "fads" of Mr Rollcston are to be pursued further to see if a "title could not be found which would give more goiieral satisfaction than freehold," and sentiment, we are told, has much to do with the matter. Sentiment lias nothing to do with the matter at all; it is simply a matter of pounds, shillings, and pence, and sentiment has no part in tho calculation. Men can raise money on a freehold title at lower rates than on any other y security, hence they demand freehold. Is there a commercial man in the country unaware of tho fact that loans on leasehold cost on c per cent more at least th an on freehold, and is it to bo supposed that they will quietly acquiesce in a proposal which would seek for ever to abrogate trochoids in favor of leaseholds. As for tho Customs returns, wo have never for a moment hesitated to say that the Treasurer made a great mistake in his estimates last year. He carefully prefaced his remarks an that occasion by saying that the country had over-imported to the extent of one million pounds, and then ho concluded by estimating that his receipts for the year, which expired the other day, would show an incrcaso of £25,000. If ho would not heed the criticisms of those opposed to him, given in a friendly spirit, that his estimates would never bo realised, the warnings of his friends were equally ex« plicit. But then it is not given to every one to be a capable financier, and as the Major by some means or other has acquired that rejratation it was not for him to listen to advice. On the contrary, lie now makes light of the situation, or pretends to, which is not exactly the same thing. In one breath he tells us there is no depression, and in another lie says there is commercial depression. Is our Premier not indulging in a mild form of juggling in supplying such contradictions. If he entertains a doubt as to commercial depression lot him r spend a week in Christchurch or Dunedin, or let him seek tho advico of somo bank manager in thoso centres, and ho will soon hear enough to convince even himself of the seriousness of the situation. He says ho should not take moro from tho people than was absolutely necessary in one year, and no one has ever disputed si l oh a truism, but what tho Press has quarrelled with the Premier on is, the incidence of taxation is not fairly apportioned. Tho bulk of the population is net in a position to bear increased burdens, but what is wanted instead is economical management, and to secure that, united action is necessary, unremunerative works (such as a huge Custom House for Wellington, and a Taranaki railway) should bo at once stopped, and political expenditure in particular districts to secure support should bo at once abolished. What is wanted is the pruning knife, and the pruning knifo to be used freely. Our taxation and our debt per head of population are without parallel, our trade is not being developed as it might be, and to decrease the former and increase tho latter are the two things necessary. Our trade is the smallest in these colonies, so that in developing such there is a wide field for a statesman will do away with useless hindrances to that development, and who will seek tho good of New Zealand as a whole, and make no endeavors to giva particular districts advantages which they have no right to enjoy. The Treasurer of the colony may make light of the present deficiency, but depend upon that is not the view taken by the bulk of the electors. Now Zoaland, in its climate and soil, has immense advantages over the othor colonies, and it will never do for her to drag along in tho rear. The expenditure on education may be excessive, but there is no remedy for that expenditure in the matter of raising the school age from live to seven years. Nor will tho colony believe that a return to denominationalism is at all likely. If savings aro to be made in tho educational estimates they must come from tho higher class schools, by making those who wish for such pay for them, and by causing the revenues from reserves for educational purposes to be colonial and not lecal. Interference with tho presant system of education will not bo tolerated in the direction the Premier would have us go. As usual the Premier ends up with a homily, which is not bad in its way, but which is nauseous from over repetition, "If they only determined to live within their means, and to be really economical, then they would have in tho near future as great prosperity as ever they had enjoyed—much sounder prosperity, perhaps—and be near realising that which the- best were ever looking for with eager hearts—the condition of a happy, contented, and prosperous people." l If instead of the precept tho country had got the practice they would have relished the former all the more. If the Government of the colony had Bet the people at large an example in the matter of economy it would have been ever 'so muclt wiser and better. But when instead of that we see Govornmen t departments administered in an extravagant manner, is it to b» wondered at that wo practice tho same vices personally. Major Atkinson preaches much better _ than ho practices, and therein lies his intercut weakness as at statesman and political teacher, "guided philosopher, and friend.