THE GLOBE. SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 1881. A WORTHY ALLY.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2204, 19 March 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 1881. A WORTHY ALLY.

Sib George Grey might be congratulated by some on possessing such a prop in his old ago as tho Christchurch “ Star.” Others, on the contrary, may fancy that the cause of tho Knight of Kawau is not forwarded by tho pleadings of our evening contemporary. Each of those classes will view with different eyes the very funny effusion which appeared in last night’s edition of the “Star.” The public have become accustomed to derive considerable amusement from the theories spun out by our friend in Gloucester street; but never, perhaps, have they been more justified in wondering and laughing at the quaint fancies developed by this thorough-going supporter of the ex-Premier. Taken shortly, the idea propounded is that the enquiries being held at present into several public institutions over the colony are in consequence of the scheme of retrenchment enforced by Government, who should consequently be held responsible for what is occurring. But further than this does the.“ Star ” venture. It proceeds as follows :—“ Another thing which must have struck the observant reader of New Zealand newspapers is the large increase in the number of cases of embezzlement which now take place in our community. This, in a very large measure, is directly traceable to the policy of the Government.” It is difficult to follow how this latter assertion is worked out, because in reality there is no sequence whatever in the arguments used, but from the faint glimmerings of reasoning that appear at intervals through *tho article we take it that the writer has some such notion as this hazily stirring in his inner consciousness. The Government have in their policy of retrenchment cut down the salaries of Civil servants to such an extent that persons are reduced to taking positions of trust with totally inadequate moans to keep np the social position which is expected of them. Hence the balance required is made up by embezzlement, and our judges and magistrates have their hands full. Employers generally have followed in the wake of Government and employees generally in the wake of these supposed civil servant delinquents. This is tho very utmost that can be made of a charge that might well have been penned by a literary inmate of Sunnyside Asylum. In the first place, the writer does not attempt to prove that the extra number of cases of embezzlement which have of late appeared have anything to do with the Civil Service, In point of fact, the lower ranks of that service are peculiarly free from the description of gentlemen that have graced our Police Courts on such charges. So far then the Government has nothing to do with the matter. But has the example of tho Government in tho way of retrenchment anything to do with the affair ? Has not this peculiar writer placed the cart before the horse ? The Government has retrenched because the times are bad—the times are not bad because the Government has drawn in its horns. Tho same reason which has induced Mr. Hall and his colleagues to cut down salaries right and left, with the express sanction and by the order of Parliament, has made private firms do the like. These latter are no more likely to regulate their expenses on the model of Government solely than they are to regulate them in accordance with the economy of the Zulu kingdom. Hard times havo hit the Government and private persona equally, and it is absurd to saddle the former with the present rate of wages or salaries. The lavish expenditure of the Grey Government, by increasing the public debt without increasing the public wealth in proportion, should be made responsible, if anything is, for the present depression, but those who seo this clearly, not wishing to be taken for idiots, havo naturally refrained from charging Sir George Grey with being responsible for the numerous cases of embezzlement that have of late cropped up. Besides, it is not even proved that the present rate of salaries is directly responsible for the cases alluded to. The carelessness of employers, and the general laxity in the way in which retail trade is carried on here, are among the causes which have been freely adverted to by judges and others who are best competent to pass an opinion in the matter.

As to the other charge that the number of " cases of mismanagement and horrible depravity in hospitals, lunatic asylums, gaols, benevolent institutions, and schools ” prove that there is something radically wrong in the way these institutions generally are conducted, wo should very much like to know where are Boards of Inquiry which the “Star” insinuates are all over the country. There is certainly tho inquiry respecting the Wellington Asylum; there was tho inquiry into the Benevolent Institution in Dunedin, which was proved to have been called for perfectly groundless reasons, and there is the Auckland Grammar School inquiry, a purely local affair. But Low about (ho sweeping assertion brought by our contemporary that the institutions of the country at large are in a thoroughly rotten state ? Wo distinctly state that aothing has been proved to show that

(.hoy nro unsound. Isolated cases will at all times occur in the oldest commumtiofl, and much more .so in countries■ where many employees havo at first to be taken on trust. But tho bulk of our institutions aro worked in a manner highly creditable to all concerned, and if a journal fancies that it can make a little cheap political capital by making startling assertions without a shadow of foundation on which to rest its charges, it will find itself very much mistaken. There is a certain leaven of fools who will swallow the bait, but sensible men will only wonder that a so-called respectable journal can be silly enough to stultify itself in such an egregious fashion.