FINANCIAL POLICY.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2239, 11 July 1870, Page 2

FINANCIAL POLICY.

(From !hi'. Press.)

Wellington', July 8, 7.41 p m. In the early part of last evening, the House went iivo Committee for the di.-cussmn of the budget. Mr Vogel opened the debate, saying be would not reiterate Ills past starements, but endeavour to make clear decisions which it was desirable to arrive at in the present stat> of financial affairs. Having left the financial statement in a stormy condition the other evening, he hoped the rest of its passage would be a fair one. He would not omit all reference to the proceedings of the other evening, but ho did not desire to revive any angry' feelings. He asked the Honsc to consider his measures in a calm and temperate manner. H*> thought Mr Gillies and Mr Header Wood had come down the other evening with a foregone conclusion, and ho thought they should not have delivered such a hasty condemnation. He (Mr Vogel) now held no angry feelings on the subject, though lie was annoyed at the time. He thou proceeded to review the criticism which had been directed against himself and his financial proposals. He hoped and believed that many who had at first been inclined wholly to condemn the measures proposed by him would, on mature reflection, find some good in “ the huge plagiarism,” or the “unheard-of-novelties,” which he had laid before the House. Some of the charges made ag dost himself answered themselves. Ho was ready to receive the assistance of the Homo in fnaming the details of the measure, and as to the proposals for railways the schedule was open for discussion. It had been alleged that he had threatened that unit ss certain members supported the Government, the proposals for the Nelson railway would be knocked on the bead. He had not said this, and what ho said was in a place other than that House, but he had said that local schemes would not be recognised in preference to great and comprehensive schemes unless those local schemes formed part of the greater. He hoped that the consi leration of those measures would be divested of party feelings, and that in this last session of the present Parliament members would co-operate and combine in such a manner as almost to remove party landmarks, and that acrimony which had characterised past sessions. He sat clown amidst cheers.

Mr Richmond said he had, for the last nine or ten years, on every possible occasion, advocated the introduction of a largo colonial scheme of immigration and public works, and while hoping that the House was now willing to endorse such a scheme, he confessed himself greatly disappainted with the details of the Government proposals, which dazzled them with their magnitude and grandeur. The financial policy of the Government was a kind of gigantic Christmas tree, with a prize for everybody ; it was all prizes and no blanks, there being something for all parties. The Treasurer seemed to have forgotten his past feelings with regard to provincialism. Had he (Mrß.)not been disciplined by eleven years’ experience in this House, he would, as some members did, have felt inclined, after hearing the statement, to get up and condemn tbe scheme at once. But although on examination the statement contained much that was good, the first impression made was not a balance by which to judge of it, for many people would not care to look deeper. At present, the burden of this Colony was, in proportion to its population, double that of the Rational Debt of England. The 0 overnment scheme proposed to make it five times as much. That was a broad fact; but there was another fact, and that was that after the assurances given by the Commissioners in England to the bond holders, it would he an act of moral bankruptcy to endeavour to break faith, by contracting auother enormous loan. With regard to the railway scheme, Mr Richmond, while strongly in favor of cheap railways where needed, adduced a mass of figures showing, on the experience of t ictoria and other Colonies, that if the Government scheme was carried out, in ISSO, instead of the linos, as Mr Vogel anticipated, paying half a million above working expenses, the utmost that could be expected would be a deficiency of L 15,000 a year. Ho advocated single linos of railway along the present lines of road. With regard to immigration, he advocated a colonial scheme, one element of which should bo liberal land laws to induce emigrants when here to remain and settle down. As to defence, he was in favor of part of the cost being charged on the loan, although the Government had last year bitterly condemned sneb a policy. He thought an armed defence force would be necessary fop the next twenty years. Looking at the whole scheme, and remembering tho statement made by Mr Fox when he returned from England, to the effect that it would be a. good thing if the credit of the Colony was so utterly ruined that it would he impossible to borrow another sixpence, he feared tint Mr Fox had outwitted his simple, earnest colleague, the Treasurer ; and under the prot ncc of a plan for borrowing lamely, had really promulgated a plan which would effectually prevent their borrowing at all. He con sailed the Government to withdraw its proposals, and leave it to tho country to ileoi : e to what extent immigration and public works should be carried out.

Mr Roll eat on pressed the Government to say if there was any explanation possible of the decided assurance by tho Home Commissioners to the bond-holders, in order to induce them to consolidate their bonds, that the Colony was not going to borrow any more. If this pledge was broken, the credit of the Colony would be entirely g lie. Mr Vogel,* in reply, said he presumed the Commissioners had referred to the decided explanation of opinion last session against further borrowing, and that they had not intended to presume tp dictate the future actiou of the The present gchewe

Would not affect the home market for some time, or so as to prejudice those bondholders who had acted on the assurance of the Commissioners, who had themselves obtained a guarantee for a farther loan of a million for immigration and public works. Mr Travers said he felt bound to express his views soon, as, if they differed greatly from those of his constituents, he thought probably they might desire to have auother representative before the end of the present session. For himself, he did not intend to otler himself again to any constituency in the colony. He had long viewed the ancial position of the colony with alarm and distrust, for an examination of it showed conclusively that we are exceeding our resources and borrowing money to meet currency expenses. Within last year, L150,(J00 of treasury bills, nominally in anticipation of revenue, had been added to the permanent debt; but there was no more chance of their being paid four years hence than now. Besides, current expenses had swallowed up L 31,000 of released sinking fund. Immigration and public works were demanded by the general voice of the colony, and were the only mcaus by which prosperity could be restored. He would endorse the principle ■if the Government proposals to a certain xtent, although he could not support them in their present shape. He could not approve of the expenditure of the loan oeinf in any degree left to the provinces, but be would like to see it controlled by a Board similar in position and power to the Metropolitan Board of Works ; men of high standing, with salaries and powers which would make them independent of all influence and control. As to immigration, it would he an unmitigated waste of money to allow the provinces to carry it on, and have six or seven agencies at work, instead of having one colonial scheme, which would equally benefit all parts of the colony. Mr Travers then alluded to the miserable little dot of protection in the Government scheme, saying it was one of the most delusive and miserable snares ever devised, the effect of all protection being to make the rich richer, and the poor poorer, and he quoted numbers of instances in support of this view. Mr Travers concluded an excellent speech by a review of the history of British colonisation, and the obligation existing between the colonics and mother country. He strongly maintained the right of the colonies to impose differential duties as between them selves, and advocated their boldly passing an Act to admit Australian wines at a low duty instead of resorting to the miserable subterfuge of giving the importer a bonus. Ho sat down amidst loud cheering, after declaring that England had well done its duty to the colony, and never better than whoa she threw us on our own resources.

The debate was then adjourned, and the House soon afterwards rose.