Mataura Ensign GORE, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1884. THE DELAYED STATEMENT.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 401, 17 October 1884, Page 2

Mataura Ensign GORE, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1884. THE DELAYED STATEMENT.

TfiK delay of the Public Works Statement^ certainly unexampled. It was .promised to follow close upon the h^ete of the Financial Statement, " ten days " being mentioned as the probable inter? al. That period has now ©lapsed tnree or four times orer, and now the Government have selected four or five great measures to be passed preparatory to| the Statement, which mea>uim^halLoccupy the Upper Chamber while the long promised Statement is before the representatives! All this vie we^. from a party standpoint look like a 'clever arid bold device to post, ppne a.final test of strength with the Opposition until the House has got uked to its new masters. There was a sort of understanding that the Government should be permitted to lay its policy before the, country. Indeed, politicians who hope tor a long career aye bound to be chivalrous to opponents lest they also should one day require .consideration. It may seem to some •t jiafc the delay of the Public Works Statement is merely taking a mean advantage of the generosity of high 4inded.adversaries.: $his, however, is aj narrow and unjust view. In the first ; glace the Qoyernment are anxious' tf let; the "Upper House have an opportunity of doing something for its money. The ÜBual custom is to let that august bpdy play with its ; thumbs until the last week or two of the session, and then to 1 (turn -it into- a mere mill for grinding Bills through The unfortunjate Lords' have about as much chance of displaying intelligence at the | printing press has that rolls off- the copies oj£ Bills. Like the,:, press they are "jjfed, and if they stop to ruminate they "will"' choke and be howled at by tpe Lower House for delaying business. Now, however, the - much aibused Chamber are to have a reasonable chance of serving the country. It is to be fed judiciously and slowly, and the Lower House is not to stand, like boys at a show.- watching the lion's feed and criticising every motion 61 their jaws, but is able to be profitably employed on the Works State- | ijient. But there is another and more potent reason for delaying the Statement until the measures in question have passed the House of [Representatives. The Government intend that their Statement snail be more than a mere report of the miles of railway opened and in process of construction. They intend that the Statement of 1884* shall be remembered side by side with that of 1870. They intend that it shall cover proposals for the expenditure—directly or indirectly— of six or seven millions, and for the construction of four or five hundred miles «f coatly railway. For this reason it is necessary that the consent of the House should be obtained to several proposals of which the State ment will be made up. The chief of these proposals is the East and West Coast and Nelson Bailway Bill. We have already expressed our opinion of this undertaking, and we may take another opportunity of criticising the concessions proposed to be made to the contracting company. The next measure is the West Coast Harbors Bill, empowering the borrowing of L 600,000 to improve Westport harbor, and of L 250,000 to improve Grey mouth harbor. These works may very suitably be considered in connection with the railway judfc named, as they in our opinion render the railway, if possible, more unnecessary than it was before. Next comes the District llailways Leasing and Purchasing Biil, which ia to authorise tbe borrowing of LGOO.OOO for the purchase of luiss constructed under the unfortunate i District Railways Construction Aci. These lines will be bought and the companies compensated for loss of rates that they might have levied. However, we submit to the penalty arising from an unjust perversion of the Act, and are glad it is no worse. When we remember that the Otago Central and the North Island Trunk are also to be pushed on, and when it is borne in mind that one of the principles laid down in the Governor's Speech was that works once undertaken should be pushed on at; once, so that the expenditure might become reproductive as soon as possible, it will be seen that Sir Julius really intends to make things lively— for a while, at least. Now, it is obvious that these schemes | are all necessary par.ts of the Public Works Statement, and that the Government is bound to pass them through the Lower House before making that Statement. Had the Opposition frightened the Ministry into bringing down the Statement before iit was ready, the measures in question jwould have been as gooa as burked ; jfor the, end of the session would have been hurried on and the innocents would have been slaughtered. We are pleased, by the way, to observe that the Government does not think .that the chief object of Parliament is Jthe prorogatiun. Of sornn sessions it jtnay be said that nothing in their life became them like the quitting; of it, ;but Sir Julius cannot afford to /have it said that drawing the jhononi'ium was the chief ekn

in his first session. Hence h« goes on his way,, serenely unconscious that members had reckoned on being home before now. This is what we like to. >cc. The 3ST.S.W. Parliament has been in session for more than a whole year. Why, then, should the representatives of the people of New Zealand complaic of three months as a long session?