“A £2000 LOG.”

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 2 November 1901, Page 2

“A £2OOO LOG.”

Two thousand pounds sterling of a gratuity to Lady M'Kenzie, our Parliamentary reporter declares, is proposed to be placed on the Supplementary Estimates. The proposal is so astounding; is such a bare-faced attempted robbery of the public purse, as to cause reasonable doubt as to the, truth of the report. It is always a', disagreeable task to oppose such votes when they become individualised: when we know the person who is to be benefited. The correct way of dealing with such a proposal is to divest it of its individuality, and make it of general application* Let the proposal in the shape of an Act be introduced, providing that upon the death of any Minister of the Crown no matter how long that minister may have been out of office—his widow shall be entitled to a payment from the State of £2000: and see what the country will say of it. And the verdict of the country in regard to its general application is the correct verdict when applied to individual cases. A general proposal would be scouted ; and, if so, a particular one must come under the same treatment. There are at times surrounding circumstances that evoke a warm charitable desire, and it may then be politic to satisfy that public desire. In the present case there are no such surroundings, no such general desire, and it will establish a precedent that is entirely foreign to true democrary. If a gratuity is given now, why was not the widow of the late Sir Harry Atkinson similarly dealt with ? In her case there were circumstances that are wanting in the present proposal. The late Sir John M'Kenzie was not even a Minister—nor had he really been one for a year before, and the proposal is therefore far fetched. Daring his term of office—like the rest of his colleagues—he drew a better salary than, according to current report, he or they had previously enjoyed ; that as a hard matter of fact their public offices were better paying than their previous avocations. They served the country certainly, but the country in return paid them well for that service. Report says that the lady for whom the gratuity is proposed is by no means badly provided for ; she has, moreover, sons and daughters well-to-do, if not wealthy. The proposal is unjustifiable, and entirely at variance with the trend of our legislation, and public sentiment.