THE OPPOSITION “LEADER.”

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume III, Issue 251, 29 June 1881, Page 3

THE OPPOSITION “LEADER.”

“People’e Government’s are very expensive articles. They had one in New Zealand. Sir George Grey was at the head of it. He is a sort of educ ted Berry, and lis great ambition is to b - -oi cjthe first elective Gove.-ior of that colo iy. When lie got into office he seemed to consider that the revenue of the country was a fund specially provided for professional politicians to trade upon,' and that to expend it with a liberal hand upon public works in districts where it would procure popular support was the first duty of a “patriotic” Minister. And Sir George Grey was intcnsly patriotic; his patriotism being summed up in the well-known formula of Lord Lytton—“The greatest happiness of the greatest number, the greatest number being number one. ” Sir George Grey never wavered in his allegiance to this principle. He was a “Liberal ” of the first water, and so liberal of the public money that when he went out of office the expenditure had increr cdto £IIO,OOO per w k, and a deficiency had accumulated amounting to a millio l sterling. Fortunately for the colony, he was succeeded by an honest and capable administrate", and the work of retrenchment was vigorously commenced, Ministers reducing their own salaries by way of setting a good example of economy and self-denial. They have succeeded in diminishing the public expenditure to £60,000 or £70,000 a week, and retrenchments have been effected to the extent of £252,000. In fact, as we learn from recent papers, there is every reason to hope that Major Atkinson, the Treasurer, has at length succeeded in establishing an equilibrium between the revenue and the outlay. We congratulate the Government and people of New Zealand upon this satisfactory state of things; for if the reckless extravagance of the Grey Administration had continued unchecked, that colony, with its heavy debt, could scarcely have escaped drifting into insolvency. As it is, however, it has vindicated its integrity, and proved to its European creditors its upright determination to meet all its engagements and to live within its income ; and all the other Australasian colonies, whose securities would havejbeen affected if there had been any default on the part of New Zealand, must experience a feeling of relief that any risk of this kind had been averted, and that our countrymen in the islands are resolved ’ to preserve their honor untarnished at all hazards.— Melbourne Teleyraph.