MR. LOWE ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC WORKS BY GOVERNMENTS.

Evening Star, Issue 3080, 2 January 1873, Page 3

MR. LOWE ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC WORKS BY GOVERNMENTS.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Right Hon. Robert Lowe, lately spoke at Glasgow, and in the course of bis remarks he said: — “No change has been greater since I can remember political life than that which has occurred in regard to the proper functions of Government. Those of us who remember the Crimean war, remember well that people were so disgusted with the mismanagement of that expedition that the favorite cry on all sides was, that these tilings should be taken out of the hands of Government and managed by gontractwithpriva e parties who really would bring a proper amount of intelligence and knowledge of business to bear upon it. Mow that feeling has so entirely died away that there is a feeling abroad on the contrary, that everything, almost, ought to be placed in the hands of Government—that that which is left in the hands of private enterprise should be diminished as much as possible, and that everything which can be should be made into a Government department, and bo administered by a Government official. Now, gentlemen, that is a very large question, into which I don’t purpose to enter ; but I would just point out this to you, that, in proportion as you increase the functions of Government you increase its responsibility, make it more unstable, and therefore more vulnerable. You also increase its power, and p'aee in its hands numerous means of corruption, and besides that there is a practical difficulty, whenever you trust Government with technical duties, as to the persons to whom you will entrust them. If you take a person like myself, an average member of Parliament, who knows nothing of the technical details of the matter, he may be nominally responsible, but he will really be in the hands of his subordinates, who do understand the matter that he does not understand. If, on the otlu r hand, you place it iu the hands of the subordinates, they will be responsible to nobody and will do exactly as they like. And, unless I hoy arc very mu hj superior to the average rim of human creatures, they will go into all sorts of jobberies. But xvhat I want to point out to you is the particular form which this new creed about Government has taken. Before Ido that, however, let me say that it is exceedingly flattering to me as a member of the political party which has now held office with very short intervals for many years, that this unbounded confidence in the Government has grown up, because it shows at any rate that we have not been much worse than our neighbors. Ido not pretend to decide which side is right, I, knowing Government pretty well, have the most profound distrust of Government, and yon and D e rest of the community knowing mercantile and manuturing concerns much better than I do, soem to have an equally profound distrust of them. What is right 1 cannot say, hut I confess my leaning is strongly in favor of confining Government within that which its name indicates is its duty—the duty of governing.”