Manamatu Herald. TUESDAY, NOV. 14, 1898. Hard a Starboard.

Manawatu Herald, 14 November 1893, Page 2

Manamatu Herald. TUESDAY, NOV. 14, 1898. Hard a Starboard.

That extremely 'fanny, if uot amusing paper, the New Zealand Times, published in its supplement of a few sheets from the Mail, a cartoon entitled " The Opposition predicts the capsize of the Government finance," on Saturday. The artist has sketched a cockle-shell of a boat tinder sail, broadside on to a rolling, sea, with what is intended as a portrait of Mr Ward, Colonial Treasurer, at the helm, and Messrs Rolleston, Mitchelson, and Richardson, all fortunately labelled, in a state of alarm in the centre of the boat. - We dornot suppose the proprietors ot *lhese newspapers, the editor, or the artist, imagined that^.they. w^re poking fun at their own party.but so they are. No landlubber would be steering his boat in such a fashion in such a sea as is represented, and it affords a happy illustration of the manner the finances of the Colony have been managed by the Liberal Party. Old salts know the danger of the depths of th? ocean and can easily appreciate the risks those ignorant of the profession lightly run, and so does this c.irtoon again represent the'trne state of the country. Three old and experienced politicians are shown as being alarmed at the steering of the young and inexperienced Ward, apd to a dispassionate onlooker they had good need to be. So it is in political Ufa. The Treasurer glibly tells his Party that the Government have never borrowed, but only •' utilised " ; but ifc stands to reason before anything can be utilised it must first be obtained. The Treasurer did not make this clear in his speech, but desired it to be understood that the spending of the Sinking Fund was more for utility tnan ornament. When the Colony has a man at the helm who can talk in this manner of the absorption of some £256,000, it is time the passengers began to.feel alarmed. The Managing Director of tha Times and Mail is, we believe, the Hon. Mr Reeves, Minister of Education. Being engaged in his election the management is left to take care of itself, as otherwise he would have seen the absurdity of the cartoon and even at- the risk of distressing his readers have ordered its omission. Mr Reeves cannot have the audacity to speak well of the Government finance, for he must be well aware that so far as it concerns his own department it is a most miserable failure The Wanganui Education Board has endeavoured from time to time to obtain a sufficient grant to enable it to erect school buildings so urgently needed in the newly settled districts; The Board has appealed to the department in vain, and it has at last beeri compelled'to publish its i impoverished' from*" very helplessness of being able to .do anything. The ' Board goes- -back | almost to the time that is covered by the administration ..of our finances by a Liberal Ministry.. It asserts that " under great pressure, to meet urgent works, the Board transferred from the General to the Building Account in 1890 and 1892 j95,600." and the whole sum was expended. They now required to meet urgent work £4896, and £4976 for less urgent works,. making a total., of £9872. The Government after very much correspondence granted a sum of £8226, which, after paying off liabilities of £2218 leaves a balance of £1007. but this again is reduced by £800 for buildings already promised. The Board therefore points out that

*~ r : f*'^: '■' -^~' : 'V. / . .■■'■- ~ •to liieefc a needed expenditure of £9,872^ they have '£2o7lll The Boardha3 sent out a "circular to all School Committees informing them them of the position, and stating " that unless money for building purposes is found by Government it ■wilt. be ■ impossible- fortlie-Braffift'ttr undertake new buildings or make grants for additions, ic'nceS; rtc , JHLI'L.!! 1 i?J?. uil , < !l Ilo_g1 lo_g. I'a.»t1 'a.»t for lOiM. is_ Teem vert-" .. -it is "very~evlde7i*"*tbatt.ho Colonuil .^Hensui;er .has not !t utilised; " \ mtf#i tqt\ ;the- Sinking Fund for aiding Education Boards, find therefore, it strengthens pur assertion 'that, the skipppi? at the helm has pnid littlo iittrntion to the chamotor of the son he sailed upon. Ft is a. monstrous injustice to the poorer settlers that such indifference should be shown to the claims of the Education Boards, as it is they who suffer the most serions loss and inconvenience_ by •' the non-erection of these- school. -Richer parents can afford to send their children to a distance, but the poor have to keep their children at home.. No wonder thoughtful men shudder, at the recklessness shown by ilie cj-ew of the ship of State.-

We are not upholding Education Boards, but so long as they are endu.ied. so .long must'" they be* kept supplied with money, and the' cry is not only from the Wanganui Board but from every Board in' the Colony, the Inspector-General jauntily intormod the Board's secretary " that the sum available for distribution is only about one-third of the requisitions made by the Boards." SPhe Government have no excuse, they knew before, their estimates were passed, that this money was wanted, but as the Boards,' and not themselves, would have the handling of it thy ignored the requisitions. In face of. this 'it would sound strange, had we not become better acquainted with the kind of men who profess to be Government candidates, that men should attempt to uphold the present Ministry, and. speak so inadvisedly in praise of their finance. The question must be a very simple one to determine as to whether . the Education Boards of the Colony are making just or unjust claims for building grants, and if unjust it should bo very easy for the Minister to show that they are so to the electors, and, if just, he most decidedly should have pressed their claims upon the attention of Parliament. Someone has more than blundered, and a great many poor settlers and tneir children will suffer owing to this blundering, and if a further cartoon is desired by the Times the next light bark drawn by the k pa,p.er'srarfc|sfr;mighfc- be shown loaded witjik swb^asJehgerS whose faces, if drawn correctly, would display greater contempt and terror of their captain than the three old politicians are delineated.