The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 13, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1859, 13 September 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 13, 1906.

If all policy measures of the present Administration were as useful and as sound in principle as the Government Advances to Settlers Bill introduced into the House of Representatives by inr J G. Ward, vve are inclined to think that we would have to rank ourselves as whole-souled supporters of the Government, and bear the indelible brand of the party upon our

back without a blush. Though the Bill is decidedly a good one in principle, it is not without minor defects in its details \ but these will perhaps be rectified in committee ol the whole

I House before the Bill reaches the I Statute Book, and if that is done with i the concurrence of the Minister we shall be among the first to give him a ; metaphorical pat on the back when if becomes law in its improved shape. The Bill as it now stands provides for the establishment of an Advances to Settlers Office, the routine business oi which is to be controlled by a “ Superintendent," and for the setting up of a " Board ” consisting of four ex-officio ! members and one other to be appointed by the Governor-in-Council. The four members are to be the Minister who holds the portfolio of the office for the time being, the Buperin~ tendunt, the Public Trustee, and either the Valuer-. General, the Secretary to the Treasury, or the Under-Sccre'ary for Crown Lands, while the fifth member is to be someone who is not a member of the Civil Service and “who shall hold office for two years subject

to tho right of tho Govornov-in-Council ” (that is tho Goranwont) [ “to remove him at any time.” But ' he “ may bo re-appointcd.” Now this clause supplies tho first woaknoss I noticoablo in tho Bill, for it will he seon that while tho Minister and tho throo Civil Servants who form fourfifths of tho Board’s membership aro I ox-officio mombers, and therefore practically permanent, tho fifth remaining member, who is ostensibly appointed to roprosont ultra Government interests, has an exceedingly temporary and insecure position. Why that distinction should have been made it is not easy to conjecture ; but it plainly indicates tho opinion of the framer of the Bill that no man can ho found outside tho Civil Service who could bo trusted to fill the position even for two years without boing placed under the lash of tho Govornmont and subjoct to dismissal at a, moment’s notice. Tho

position is to bo a paid one, and if the holder of it is not an oxtremely independent man ho will not risk tho loss of bis salary in crossing swords with the Minister should the occasion arise, bocause tho Minister is to be Chairman of tho Board and can move tho Government to removo him from office at once. In such circumstances wo see no use for a fifth member at all, and his salary to be voted for him by Parliament might just as well be allowed to remain in tho public chest or granted to some struggling settler by way of loan. The Bill also gives the Minister too much sway in other respects, and as Ministers are nowadays strong party politicians who openly avow their right to serve their friends first in the matter of public favors it logically follows that politics will exercise a strong influence through this now creation—the Advances to Settlers Board ; nor will that influence bo in any appreciable sense minimised by the presence on the Board of three Ministerial understrappers. Thus there are the very strongest reasons for contending that the constitution of the Board should not be as it is proposed in the Bill. Clause 19 is another item that requires some attention, for it empowers the Colonial Treasurer to borrow at the rate of one and a-half millions per annum to a total extent of five millions without further authority of Parliament and only with the leave of the Governor in-Council (himself, practically). The only restrictive condition is that the interest Bhall not exceed 4.V per cent, That clause by itself is innocent enough ; but clause 25 opens the door to the Treasurer to do some wizard-like performances in finance if he feels so inclined. This latter clause provides that “ Any of “the moneys in the Advances to “ Settlers Account may, until required “ for the purposes of this Act, be “ temporarily invested from time to “ time, as the Colonial Treasurer “ directs, in any Government securities “or in any securities wherein for the “time being any balances in the “ Public Account may be lawfully “ invested.” See how convenient this may be to an indigent Treasurer, for it will be noticed that the Board need not be consulted as to the raising of loans which it is easier to raise than oats or potatoes in adverse weather very often, and all that he has to do is to raise his million or two under the authority of this Act, when it passes, and then re-invest the whole or part in “ Government securities.” This he could do without consulting anyone save that semi-hypothetical and always pliable gentleman “ the Gover-nor-in- Council,” who is always governed by the phrase “as the Colonial Treasurer directs ” so conveniently inserted in this Bill. With these weaknesses removed, the Bill is a really good one which we hope to see embalmed in the form of statute law. Part 11. of the Bill is excellently devised, and provides the machinery for lending the money to settlers on certain classified securities in sums of from £25 to £3OOO to any one borrower, and the term of the loans is to be thirty-six and a half years, repayable with interest in seventy-three halfyearly instalments calculated on a five per cent basis. In order to encourage prompt payment of instalments a rebate of ten per cent of interest is allowed if payments are made within fourteen days of the due date, thus reducing the rate of interest payable ;o four and a half per cent. Not the east interesting provision in the Bill s the recognition of the principle that valuers should not be interested mrties, and are subject to a penalty if not less than £SO if it is shown that hey have an interest in the transaction to which their valuation refers. Having espoused that principle in this Bill, the Government might now extend it to the Valuation Department itself, and if they do that some further gratitude is in store for them.