THE PRINCE'S PARSIMONY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 14, Issue 697, 5 July 1869, Page 4

THE PRINCE'S PARSIMONY.

(Melbourne Age.) If there was no public object to be attained by the cruise of the Galatea, there might have been a private one. Here we are on firmer ground for conjecture. It is no libel to say that the Prince is at once fond of pleasure and fond of money —two things not usually compatible. Like John Gilpin, Even -when on pleasure bent, He had a frugal mind. If the object of the voyage was to enable the Prince to combine pleasure with parsimony, then never were means better devised for the accom* plishment of a purpose. Even a princely fortune has limits on shore, and a yacht is an expensive thing when commissioned by its owner; but to be pai4 for making a yachting voyage, and to be relieved from all expenses ii every port touched at, alteralter the case entirely. After a few years of such voyaging the Prince can hardly fail to become a millionaire. His munificent allowance accumulates, his pay accumulates, and his presents accumulate. There is nothing morally wrong —on the contrary, there is something which has almost the ap pearance of virtue in the management of the Prince ; but when the Government of England is asked to apply the public property and the public purse to such an object its attainment cannot be looked upon as anything else than |ft job. We would not be justified perhaps, in inquiring so curiously into a question which does not concern us, or in prying into the private concerns of the Prince, were it not that he himself has invited criticism. He sends in his bills to be paid by the colonial as well as the Imperial Government, and invites an audit of them. The peculi arity cf the case is that the Prince keeps his accounts by a new system of double entry. Presents made by him are charged to the English Government. Presents made to him are charged" to the Colonial Governments, This may sound like an incongruity, but it is capable of explanation. Presents received by him were of two classes—rthose which were free gifts from his admirers, and those which were levied in the style of the royal which the Petition of Rights protested against. If our thrifty young Prince took a fancy to anything unusually nice, he forthwith made himself a present of it. Another source of revenue was opened up by the dispensation of "appointments." There are two ideas prevalent about these—one being that as a rule they Jiave been purchased in one way or another; the other, that they are the reward of merit. In how many cases the latter is correct we do not know. ]Jp( n the principle of aping the fashions f f gtjperiors, the officers of the Qalatea

lately made themselves the present of half the amount due to their washerwoman. So at least says a libellous print in New Zealand. Perhaps the disclosures which have been made respecting the Galatea and her financial peculiarities will lead our own Mr Fellows to furnish some information respecting the funds for the erection of schools which were .provided by the admirers of the histrionic powers'of the hon. Eliot Yorke. Lord Newry, and Lieut. Fitzgeorge. Were the schools erected on board the Galatea ? If so, Mr Fellows need have no hesitation in saying so. None of those concerned in the matter will be the least ashamed of it. The pro ceeding would be looked upon as a highly proper one. Mr Eliot Yorke may even now be improving himself in the pronunciation of the English language at the expense of the savages of Prahran. If it be not so, Mr Fellows will, perhaps, be so good as to put an end to til erroneous surmises. by telling us what he did with the money. The discussion on Mr Long more's motion for the appointment of a committee to inquire into the Prince's presents account will afford him a good • pportunity of making a clean breast of it.