The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1908. WHY NOT A CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT?

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2300, 19 September 1908, Page 2

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1908. WHY NOT A CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT?

It is good for any country to have a change of Government occasionally, and it would bo a particularly sound move for the people of this Dominion to institute an old-fashioned “spring cleaning” in regard to our legislative affairs. The late Air. Seddon accomplished fine work during the earlier years of his political supremacy, hut lengthy continuance of power intoxicated tho once sturdy democrat until lie became completely demoralised by his own political strength. This fact made his pre-eminence a positive menace to the country in his later years, and it was fortunate for the reputation of a really remarkable man that his political history was so abruptly ami dramatically climaxed on that fateful day when lie breathed his laston the Oswestry Grange. His successor has not held supreme office for a long period, lint Sir Joseph Ward, for the last 15 years, occupied so prominent a place in the Ministry that he may be said to stand for the -present system—in other words, for tliings-as-they-are with all their merits and demerits. To deny that good work has been done by the Continuous-Min-istry would be to display the intolerance of miserably petty partisanship, but it would be just as futile to deny that, side by side with much that is meritorious in the way of legislation, there has grown up a system of recklessness in financial matters, carelessness in administration and of party patronage in the expenditure of public funds that becomes an increasing danger to the country every ‘year that it is allowed to continue. We may disagree with much of the legislation proposer! by Sir Joseph Ward, but that is far from being the chief reason for advocating a chang' of Government. After all, legislation. represents, with greater or less accuracy, the desires of the majority of the people and cannot be permanently determined by any Governmenc or -any Parliament. For one session or possibly for mere, a Parliament might succeed in placing legislation upon tho Statute Book -in defiance of the wish of the people, but the task would bo a difficult one and amendments would soon have to bo made in the undosirable legislation. With administration, however, the position is entirely different. Here the people are largely at the mercy of the Government of the day who are necessarily armed with great powers in the expenditure of public moneys and in the making of appointments to the public service. It is from the point of view of its administration, therefore, that a Government should he mainly judged, and -it- is from this standpoint that the Ward Government stands condemned -utterly. Taking -up the system inherited from the Seddon regime, the present Ministry plays the party game of politics for all it is worth and a. good deal more. Roughily speaking, £8,000,000 is spent annually. Some of -it—notably the two million pounds sent to England to pay interest on borrowed money—is definitely ear-marked, but wherever possible the Government, while not using the public funds illegally, carefully calculates the effect of the expenditure upon the votes at election time. We have not reached tho stage attained by some of our American friends who succeed in “boodling” away large sums’of money but there are, nevertheless, hundreds of thousands of pounds spent annually on public works over which our representatives ,in Parliament have no effective control. This money is spent, not Illegally, but where it is expected: to do most good for the party in power. The Civil Service is simply reeking with the baleful -results of political favoritism. Theoretically, we have an excellent competitive system; in .actual fact we know very well that appointments and promotions are governed .all the time by political considerations. When a partont wants a position for his soil in the Civil Service does he urge him to use all endeavors to become thoroughly qualified for the position desired? No, he hunts up the member for the district and if by good fortune that member is on good terms with the Minister of the Department concerned or, still more fortunately, with the Premier, his lad gets tho billet. These things are not easy t 0 prove, for Departmental regulations -preserve an impenetrable blank against all investigations, but the results are known to all. This is what the Americans call the “pull” system, and it is the gravest feature of our political life to-day. We can, with reasonably good luck, survive hastily-conceived legislation until such time -as the people insist upon its amendment, but once let a system of corruption gain a firm hold in the administration of our public affairs and posterity will pay dearly for our shameful neglect of duty. There are at the present time many persons employed -in the Civi) Service who are simply doing nominal work to fill in time whilst they draw good wages from the public chest. There -are others receiving big salaries for positions they are by no means qualified to fill, and in all these cases the public purse is being used to reward political favorites. It does not follow that if another Ministry were put into power we should immediately get an absolutely clean administration, but it is certain that any of the proteges of the present Government who could not justify their appointments would have to go, and we could, at any rate, make a fresh start. If the Massey party were in power and tried

tho old han’ky-panky tricks, the Wardites in Opposition, who had themselves been on the inside so long, would prove most searching critics, and the chances are that we should come a long way nearer deconi Government than wo ate at tho present time. Tho Wcddon-Ward Continuous Ministry hn-s holdl office for upwards of 15 years, and for 18 months bol'oro that Mr. John Bullanco was in power. During all those years neither the Opposition nor the gonoral public liavo been .aMowed to got a peep in at tho Treasury books to -find out the tilings that many peoplo min Led to know when the famous voucher ease was on. If there has boon any shady work dono, it has been covered up and only liow anil again‘does some particularly keen-seen ted Oppositionist get wind of something requiring investigation. If ho makes a noise tho Government holding tho keys of tho safe and all tho account books is nblo to bafflo tho -inquisitive one, and make him look cheap. Wo make no special allegations against the Ward Ministry in this connection but wo say that the system is a faulty one, that a- streak of corruption has been running through tho administration for the hist 15 years, .anil it is quite time wo had the entire reorganisation which can only he brought about by a change of Government.