THE Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 1874.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1600, 7 August 1874, Page 314

THE Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 1874.

Waste and extravagance in administration are charges which are frequently laid at the door of the present Government of this Colony, but of one of the most recent and glaring instances very little notice appears to have been taken by the press. The so-called “ Handbook ” of New Zealand—in reality a bulky volume of several hundred pages, is now being printed in London. It would hardly be credited, had the statement. not been made by the Premier himself, that the whole of this work, except the illustrations, had been already set up, corrected, and printed at the Government printing establishment, two or three copies worked off, and the type distributed ! Yet such was the case; and a more gross and shameful waste of public funds we do not remember ever meeting with. The reason assigned does not by any means justify, but rather aggravates the enormity of the transaction. It is that the copy supplied by those entrusted with the task of preparing the work was of such a kind that the book if printed from it in England, out of the reach of local supervision, would have been a mass of errors; and that it therefore became necessary to have the corrections of the press made before the copy left the Colony, and give the English workmen the advantage of working from “ reprint.” This implies what we can quite believe—that some of those to whom the responsible task of compilation was entrusted were thoroughly incompetent for the work. Of course, in literary services as well as in other departments, there arc considerations more pressing than mere efficiency which regulate the disposal ■of patrongo. Accepting Mr Vogel’s reason as. the true one, a much more effectual remedy suggests itself. A fair manuscript copy could have been made at a tithe the expense of printing the proof copies, and the cost might

justly have been charged to those whose slovenliness rendered such a copy necessary, and who were no doubt liberally paid for their work.

The promised return, showing the amounts paid to different parties on account of this work, will be interesting; but we apprehend that the more detailed return, moved for by Mr Wakefield, would have been still more suggestive. The information he sought was only such as the public were entitled to have, and we wonder that- the House should have negatived the motion, though we are not surprised at the strong opposition offered to it by the Government. The whole expensive undertaking looks exceedingly like a job—the chief benefit of which will accrue to fortunate recipients of Government favors.

The “ Handbook,” when published, must fail in the object for which it is intended. The class by whom chiefly it will be read have already every facility for ascertaining the state of things in this country. The style adopted by American colonizing agents is more effective by far. Short and telling tracts, handbills, and posters; advertisements and “paragraph advertisements” in papers like the Dispatch, z Lloyd’s Weekly, and others which appeal to the working classes, would bear a hundred times the frc.it of the “ Handbook,” at a fraction of the cost. Strange that Mr Vogel, connected as he has been for years with the press, should still be in ignorance of the first principles of the science of advertizing.

The subject leads naturally to another —the Government printing office. That establishment, if well conducted, would be the means of saving the Colony many hundreds of pounds annually, while giving to official publications that uniformity of style which it is desirable they should possess. The office was in every way equal to the task of producing the “ Handbook,” and why the work should have ever been sent to England we cannot imagine. For some months past it has been noticed that the Government organs have complained bitterly of the cost of this department; and speculation was excited as to what this could mean. At length a rumor gained currency that the whole plant was in process of valuation, for the purpose of being sold to the Now Zealand Times Company, of which Mr Vogel is a leading shareholder. With the plant, the bulk of the Government printing must have followed, as a matter of course. If such an intention was ever seriously entertained,' no attempt appears yet to have been made to carry it out. But wo notice that a large amount of type composed at the Government expense for Hansard (the financial statement in exteneo, including a good deal of tabular composition) appeared in a late issue of the “ Times.” We wonder if the Company paid any proportion of the cost of composition.

There is just enough of probability in the rumor to which we refer to give one an uneasy feeling on the subject. We hope it is not true. The matter, however, is one calling for inquiry. We think if such a contemplated arrangement became known in time to prevent its being carried out, a general protest would be raised against it. It would be a monstrous abuse that a department like this, which it has cost the Colony thousands of pounds to bring to perfection, should be allowed to pass into the hands of a private company.

There can be no doubt that, carefully wrapped up in Mr Vogel’s forest scheme, was the groat object he has twice sought ineffectually to obtain in an open manner —the reservation of tracts of provincial land for General Government purposes. The idea we do not think unreasonable. Merely local interests should always subserve to the general good of the Colony—but the object was scented by the Provincialists, who have opposed tbc measure tooth and nail. In his reply, Mr Vogel appears to have been under feelings of strong irritation, and his bitter remarks regarding the leading provincialists have naturally raised a strong opposition in the minds of their party. In his anger, Mr Vogel probably said more than he would have done in his calmer mood ; and his suggestion “ to sweep the North Island provinces away altogether,” has raised a provincial hornet's nest about his devoted head. His remarks were unwise; for, on the principle that discretion is the better part of valor, he will probably, as before, yield with the best grace he may to the all-powerful provincial party. The following is the telegraphic summary of the speech in question, as compiled by the Press Association “ The Premier, in reply, made a forcible speech in defence of the Bill, and he was particularly severe on Messrs Bunny and Fitzherbert, whose ways he characterized as dark as the tricks they followed were vain; Mr Fitzherbert being like that tree, the blue-gum, which would allow no ■ other shrub to live alongside it. The Premier said Mr Fitzherbert was the blue-gum of New Zealand. He pointed out that the Colony, during the last few years, had spent nearly 3| millions of Colonial money on the North Island, while the money raised by the provinces ot that Island only amounted to something less than half-a-million, The only

remedy was to sweep the North Island provinces away, altogether. The Premier agreed to take out the clauses in the B.ill regarding forest land, and insert one' inviting the provinces voluntarily to hand over to the Colony portions of lands for reserves.” The Bill was read a second time, and was ordered to be committed on Friday. From the ordeal of committee of the whole House, we imagine, it will emerge in a form very different from that assumed by it when it left the hands of the Premier.

An additional post-office in this province is gazetted—Kakaramea. Mr John Gibson is the Postmaster.

Mails close for Wellington, Southern Provinces, and Australian .Colonics, per s.s. Rangatira, this day, Friday, at 9 a.m.

A Provincial Government Gazette, bearing date Tuesday last, contains the accounts of the receipts and disbursements of the Rcdclyffe and Puketapu Road Boards, for the year ending the 30th June, 1873 ; also a return of land sales for the month of June, which realized the sum of £2732 12s 2d.

The Prospectus of the Hawke’s Bay Permanent Land, Building, and Investment Society appears this morning in our advertising columns. No better time than the present could have been selected for the establishment of such a society, and we hope the meeting called for to-morrow evening will be well attended, and the efforts of the promoters rewarded with success. The newly elected officers of the Tavistock Lodge, No. 66, 1.0.G.T., Waipukurau, were installed on Monday evening last, by Bro. R. M'Knight, D.R.W.G.T. The following arc the names of the officers :—P.W.C.T., Bro. Levy ; W.C.T., Sister Levy ; W.V.T.. Bro. W. Bradford: W.C., Bro. J. Poole ; W.M., Bro. A. Jones; W.1.G., Bro. W. Poole; W.0.G., Bro. G. Larmor; W.R.H.S., Bro. D. Hannan; W.L.H.S., Bro. W. Goodall. We are glad to hear that Mr GAshley, who was so brutally assaulted by three men in Mil ton-road, is doing well, though still confined to his bed. We have heard of another person being similarly attacked by three men in Car-lylc-strcct at night. Being a strong man, he offered a successful resistance, and left b.is mark upon two of his assailants. We hope the cowardly gang may soon be captured, and treated to a lengthened course of what they doubtless dislike—hard labor.

We have to acknowledge the receipt from the publisher, Henare Tomoana, of No. 1 of. “Te Wananga,” a small printed sheet in the native language. During a late visit to Auckland Henare became the purchaser of a press and types, and brought down with him a native printer. “Te Wananga” was issued on Wednesday,, the sth inst. ; it is well printed, on a sheet letter-paper size, occupying three pages : and contains a long and somewhat florid leading article, and a number of news items—the latter being extracted from our own Maori column. The object of “Te Wananga” is set forth in the introductory article. It will agitate for reform in the laws affecting natives, additional native representation, &c. » Writing on the subject of the comet, a correspondent in the country says : “ I saw it on Friday evening for about an hour, in the west-south-west; it set at about 7 o’clock. We all saw it on Sunday evening—its appearance was that of a large star, but very dim; its tail pointing to the south-east, It was remarkable that the tail gave a kind of intermittent light—sometimes bright, sometimes very dull, so as hardly to be distinguished, then bright again. Ido not know whether this effect was caused by the vapory state of the atmosphere or not. We could not see the comet on Saturday or Monday night, on account of the cloudy weather. I have seen a report about a second comet, but have not seen it yet, though I have looked for it. What weather we have had ! Is it the two comets ? ”

In the Resident Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday one man charged with drunkenness was dismissed; another, who admitted the offence, was fined ss. Close v. Mettam—Claim of £B, value of certain arms and accoutrements, the property of the Government. —Judgment by default for amount claimed, or return of the articles, with Ids costs. Philip Murtagh, charged with stealing a quantity of hay, valued at 2s, from the stables of the Crown Hotel, Eastern Spit, was brought up on remand. The evidence against him was very complete, one witness testifying to having seen him coming out of the stable yard with the hay and carrying it away, and another having followed the traces of the hay along the route he had taken. Prisoner denied the offence, and called evidence to show that he had taken the hay from Mr Richardson’s stable, having obtained authority to do so. The Magistrate considered the case fully established, and sentenced the prisoner to two weeks’ hard labor.—Mr Lascelles, who appeared for the defence, said in all his experience he had never met with so clear a case of innocence; and proceeded to make certain disparaging remarks as to the way in which the Inspector of Police had got up the case.—The Court called Mr' Lascelles to order, and defended Mr Scully; stating that every allowance had been made the prisoner, whose application for adjournment had been granted, and who had been convicted on the clearest evidence, after a long and patient investigation. Bell v. Turner.—Claim of £6 los for goods sold and delivered. A re-hearing. The former judgment, for the defendant, was confirmed, with costs £3 15s. On Wednesday there were no cases. Yesterday two drunkards were fined 5s each.