THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1151, 6 April 1872, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1872.

The Colonial Ministry, according to the various views held by the newspaper Press, are at present placed upon the horns of a dilemma — a not uncommon predicament for Ministries, it is true, but the familiar phrase is particularly applicable to the situation at the present time. On the one hand there are grumblings made that public works are not being pushed on as actively and universally as people who are not averse to a good deal of Government expenditure at any time would like to see. On the West Coast Gold Fields the grumbling cannot be said to be great, the disposition being rather to recognise the Government as, at least, prompt in their action in the matter of road construction both to the north and south of the Grey, though unfortunately not particularly in or near the district ; but, even with the good things we have got, and the good disposition we should like to cultivate under the circumstances, we are not quite so good as not to want still a little more— we want a railway, and wonder when, if ever, the want will be supplied. Even from distant Southland the cry comes " Where is Mr Brogden V and, as our readers are already aware, there has gone forth, in connection with that name, the rumor that his contracts are a myth — "the baseless fabric of a vision," &o. These complaints constitute the one horn" : of this one dilemma on which the Government are at present placed. The other is the complaint that the Government have already been so reckless and extravagant in the expenditure of the money obtained by loan that their means is already, aye months ago, exhausted. The origin of this complaint is chiefly traceable to a statement made by the Hon. Mr Sewell towards the end of last session, when that more ancient than amiable gentleman ceased to be a Minister by no exercise of his own free will, and who, as soon as he ceased to wear the "robes of office," became officious in robbing his recent colleagues of their good name, while in no way enrich - ing himself, by making unfavorable allusions to their management of the public purse. Based upon this statement, Mr Arthur Collins made another more recently to his bucolic constituents at Collingwood, whom he endeavored to convince that the first instalment of the loan raised by the Colonial Treasurer had long ago been spent, . or that much more had been spent than ever had been raised. •: Naturally, if the latter complaint is well-founded, that horn of the dilemma would be the deepest and sharpest in its puncture, because there would be implied the existence of a state of things in the past which would justify little confidence being placed m the Ministry for the future ; but it would at the same time; diminish the dimensions of the second horn, for if Government have not the means, we cannot have our roads and railways, though the most Brobdignagian of Brogdens were willing and waiting to make them. No Jack Homer can -eat his pudding, and yet have it to eat. Recently some returns have been made, among public papers printed, which

go to relieve the Government somewhat from the severity of the puncture of both the said horns of the said d'lenmia. At least, so it is asserted by such of the socalle 1 Government organs as have made the return in question a subject of study —prominently, the Indepenient, of Wellington, and the Colonist of Nelson. They consider, with regard to the past, that " a more complete and triumphant vindication of the successful working of the Public Works poli6y under the present administration than this return affords it would be hard to imagine." And the moral which may be fairly drawn from this one deduction is that, having found that policy carried out in ihe past successfully and without extravagance, we should have some faith as to the future — we should not be too ready to believe random statements that the Government's performances are exhausted, by reason of ihe exhaustion oi their me&tts, or ihat their promises are nothing more than so much highly-tempting, but ill-flavored fragile pie-crust. We must confess, as we have on a recent occasion said, that if there is to be delay and dilly-dallying in the undertaking of public works in the different part 3of the country — if there is to be perpetual postponement of contracts of which much was expected, but nothing has yet come — the Ministry will not retain that large amount of faith as to their ability and enterprise which has been exercised towards them, however much or little it may have been deserved. But it must also be confessed that, so far as the facts are represented by this return, they are not unfavorable to the Government by showing extreme extravagance, or by the absence of anything done for the money spent. The return to which we have referred is a return called for by the Hon. Mr Sewell, and ordered by the Legislative Council, setting forth the expenditure and liabilities incurred on the Public Works and Immigration Fund account, from the time of its commencement to 31st December last, and the amount contingently available out of the moneys already raised by loan, for the various services charged against the fund. It was, as already explained, a return asked for by Mr Sewell after going into opposition, and in consequence of a rumor to which the ex-Minister of Justice gave currency, that far more money had been spent than the amount actually received for the debentures sold. It was published in a recent Gazette, and ■from it we make the subjoined compilations, with some comments of the Nelson Colonist, to show more completely the different services : — Gross amount of debentures sold £750,000 . Deduct disct. and charges on sale of debentures ... £36,671 Deduct interest and Sinking Fund to 31st December ... 22,500 -■ 59,270 £690,729 Add credits, moiety of stamp duties, &c, appropriated to this Fund ... 20,492 Nett Funds available ... £71 1 , 221 The nett expenditure and HabiUties on Public Works and Immigration account np to 31st December, paid and payable out of the above available sum of £711,221, ilnVfuna for this year still available of ,£140,690. Let us see how this money has been expended ; and a tabular statement compiled from the return will probably be most readily understood : — Public Woi'ks — Roads in North Island .. £105,952 Railways, including Westland roads 286,349 Water-races .. 2,137 Lands purchased in North Island 42,676 Telgraph extension ... ... 43,680 Total for General Public Works. £480,794 Grant to; Road Boards ... 50, 000 Tobal Public Woi-ks expenditure £530, 794 Immigration— Sum expended 28,743 Departmental Expenses— 10,994 £570,531 Now let us endeavor to ascertain what the country has received for this outlay. First of all, nearly half a million of acres of good land have been secured from the natives by peaceable purchase ; a hundred and live thousand pounds worth of roads has been made in the North Island ; nearly one hundred and twenty thousand pounds worth of railway plant and rolling Btock has been purchased and paid for ; 770 miles of Parliamentary railway survey (a necessary work before a railway can be made), and 190 miles of working surveys; also, 50 miles of railway under construction in Canterbury and Otago, and 30 miles uf good roads now being made in Westland. Besides these items, there is a sum of £50,000 voted for Road Boards, and expended under local management in the extension of public works, which, if properly carried out, cannot fail to improve the interior of the country. The absolute amount expended directly by the General Government in connection witli immigration up to 31st December, is £7743, as the £28,763 entered on the table is subject to a deduction of £21,000, refunded to the Provinces of Hawke's Bay, Canterbury, and Otago under the Amendment Act of last year. Still, that refund represents public immigration, work previously performed by the Provinces, for which it was agreed that the Colony at large should make some allowance. There are those who will, no doubt, read those figures differently from the manner in which they are here represented, but, so far as the information goes, and reading it only with the object of discovering whether the insinuations of Mr Sewell and the broad statement of Mr Collins had any support in facts, we cannot refuse to coincide with contemporaries that the figures give the lie pretty fully to the accusations which have been made.