The Evening Star. TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 1871.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2531, 28 March 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star. TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 1871.

We are glad to see that our morning ( •contemporary is groping his way . towards something practical, and that a glimmering of what is good for the Province is beginning to dawn upon i him. Unfortunately, his beat efforts Are still characterised more by the *

spirit of mischief than of wisdom ; and in this respect they somewhat resemble the freaks of a schoolboy, who is just beginning to feel his strength, but has not learnt to use it for his own and others’ advantage. One of those freaks was exhibited on Thursday last, when our contemporary undertook to shew how savings might be effected in our Provincial expenditure. No doubt the intention was good, but it was, like many other good intentions, marred by the demon of mischief which led him to a set of cheeseparing recommendations, based upon a miscomprehension of the figures on which he founded Ins assumptions. Our contemporary s notion of saving apparently consists in making the Provincial Government Service a sort of pauper establishment, in which those who rule are to enjoy tho fatness of the land, while those who work are to be fed on the crumbs. He draws a comparison between what he terms the cost of government in Otago and Canterbury, with which he intends to astonish Ids readers. It appears in that favored Province everything is done on the cheap : Speaker’, Chairman of Committees, Clerk and Librarian, Messenger, are to be had for half laborers’ wages—and printing costs but £SO ! He, however, forgets to state the work required to be done in the two places, and therefore leads his readers to imagine that he is instituting a fair comparison between the two Provinces. The recommendations, in fact, savor strongly of that most extraordinary production, “ The Report “ of the Commissioners on Retrench- “ ment,” in which the really important officer, “ The Signal Master at the “ Port,” with Ids “ Time Ball,” are described as “ luxuries,” of which, in deference to the wishes of the mercantile community, they advocate their continuance. Onr contemporaiy seems to forget that tho work of the Provincial Council of Canterbury, through having no goldfields, is comparatively insignificant with that of Otago, and that while the officials he enumerates are there only very occasionally era ployed, those in Otago are so constantly employed at work that no time is left for them to devote to other pursuits. But unfortunately for the weight which our contemporary’s statistics might otherwise carry, his figures are incor-

recfc, tlirough his not knowing the difference between a sum appropriated and a sum actually expended. We will take one special instance. We arc told as something astonishing that., “during session our officials are kept “ so busy, that it costs £3OO to provide “ clerical attendants for the numerous “ Select Committees that are constantly “ sitting.” Were this true, from a thorough knowledge of what is necessary to be done in a Select Committee, we say a very .much larger sum .might. be very profitably expended, and a saving to the Province effected. A competent shorthand writer and assistant would enable the Committees to do their work more effectually, in far less i time, and thus tend to shorten the sessions very materially; so that although the expense of taking evidence might' be actually increased, the ultimate cost would be diminished. We have often ' had occasion to point out the incom-j pleteness of the evidence on which the reports of Committees are founded, and the superficial reasons that consequently guide them in their-conclusions. But in order to help our contemporary to a correct method of going about his work, we made some enquiries on the subject, and found that during the last two years the votes and expenditure were as follow :—ln 1860, for two sessions, the sum of £326 was voted, of which £76 5s was expended. In 1870, for two sessions, £350 was voted, and £126 5s expended. And it must be further remembered that this sum is not so much for clerical work, as that is mainly done by the permanent staff, but is chiefly expended on the expenses of witnesses. We are no advocates for too large ft staff, but we hold the conviction that nothing is gained, and much lost, by employing men who are not up in their work, and that those only can do it effectually who make it their occupation. For our own parts, we consider our contemporary begins at the wrong end. We, too, will endeavor to astonish him and our readers, by a comparison which will point to a far more effectual means of saving than depriving deserving men of their billets. No doubt many persons feci astonished at the anxiety evinced by some up-country people to obtain seats in the Provincial Council. Let them reflect ou the following figures, and they will see why Shepherds, and Browns, and Thomsons desire to air their eloquence in Dunedin. In the first place, all members living beyond two miles from the City are entitled to what is euphoniously called an “ Hono- “ rarium ” of one pound per day, work or play, during the session, ft is somewhat extraordinary that, with two exceptions, every member who claimed it found out lie lived more than two miles from the City. In addition to this, if a member lives beyond five miles from :

Dunedin, he is entitled to travelling ■ expenses at the rate of one shilling per mile once each way •, and as some live at great distances, as much as <£ls or j £2O have had to be paid in particular j instances. Now, according to the i statement published in the Gazette of 1869, the actual payments for these expenses reached £1902 7s, and in 1870 the trifling sum of £2555. These modest sums were divided amongst thirty members out of thirty-eight, for the members of the Executive and the Speaker are excluded, and two members did not receive a share ; so tlv.\t thirty members averaged £BS each for the year. Let us see how other Provinces “ remunerate " their members. We have not the Canterbury regulations before us, but believe there is some plan similar to that in Auckland, where an Act was passed in 1870, providing not for members’ honorarium, but a “ Members’ “ Remuneration Act.” They call tilings by their right names there. That Act provides to “ Members, resl- “ dent electors of the district for which “ they sit,” whose ordinary place of abode is twenty miles distant from the place where the session is held, a reasonable allowance for travelling expenses once each way ; and a sum of 15s for every day on which he shall attend the sitting of the Council, This does not include holidays, Saturdays nor Sundays, for he is not to be paid more than £3 in any one week, nor more than £3O in any one year. It is evident that, by somewhat similar regul itions, more might be saved annually, than all the “ penny-wise-and-pound-foolish ” propositions of the Retrenchment Commission, backed by our contemporary.