The Fielding Star. SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1893. Ministerial Salaries

Feilding Star, Volume XIV, Issue 91, 21 January 1893, Page 2

The Fielding Star. SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1893. Ministerial Salaries

r The proposal which it is now well i known will be made next session to t increase the allowances allotted to the Ministers of the Crown, is oue which we are inclined to support. If tho colony can afford to pay the increased * honoraria to members it cau also [ afford to bring back the payments to [ Ministers to, at least, the sainu standard they reached before the late Sir , Hakuy Atkinson cut them down. - Some of our contemporaries have contended that Sir Hauuy Atkinson made i a mistake when he did this ; that he 8 did it on principle ; or that he did it 1 to prepare a bed of thorns for those h« 1 had every roasou to believe would fill bis place on his retirement or defeat. With these opinions we have nothing f to do. What is to be considered now is whether members of the Ministry should be paid the full value of their services. By making the standard of , emolument high, without exceeding tho limits of reason or the capacity of tho people to pay, we bolievo the very best men would be tempted to enter tho aroua of politics, aud, on the other hand, the people would very probably exercise a wiser discretion iv choosiug representatives, who, in the turmoil of party politics, would certainly have placed within their reach prizes of substantial monetary value, apart from the honor and glory. By allowing Ministers enough to live upoD, comfortably, they would not be put to the straits some of the members of the . present Cabinet have had to contend with, to overcome which they were forced to forego residence iv rhe Ministerial dweJlinghouses, aud instead to eke out an existence in choap hotels or boardiughouses, on the rental allowance of £200 a yoar. This is undignified, to say the least of it, and unworthy of a self-governiug colony so wealthy and bo prosperous as this. Of course if the Ministry succeed in raising their own salaries — wo crave pardon for using the term, but it illustrates our meaning better — ' those of the members of tho Civil ' Service will have to bo enhaucod in I proportion, or at least brought up to tho standard which formerly obtained, j It would bo disgraceful if Ministers j left men, who now tremble under | their dominance, but who aro equally : servautd of tho . s tato, without pro- j [ tectiog their interests as well as their I own.