Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. FRIDAY, MAY 9, 1884. A PLEASING CONTRAST.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 137, 9 May 1884, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. FRIDAY, MAY 9, 1884. A PLEASING CONTRAST.

The Premier m his speech at Wellington, contrasted the commercial aspect of affairs m 1870 with that m 1884, and it must be admitted that with all the outcry about hard times, the comparison was a favourable one as regards the present time Major Atkinson said: — Let them glance at our present position as compared with that of 1870. There seemed to be an impression abroad, owing to the very serious depression now felt m the South, that our affairs were desperate, that we^were suffering terrible taxation, our public works had not succeeded as they should have done, and so forth. He disagreed with all those propositions. True, we were suffering depression, but we were not nearly so depressed as Canada had been or the United States during the past twelve months. Our taxation was even less per head than m 1870. Then it was £3 4s 6d per head ; now it was £3 Is Sd, deducting education, which was formerly paid by a separate vote, and which was about 1 1 s6d per head. Wages were more than before the public works scheme began. Then the surplus per head was £2 ; deducting the cost of our railways, the surplus this year was £3 per head. It was gratifying, moreover, to find that the revenue from the duty on spirits, &c, was decreasing. He also wished to say a few words with regard to the Government. There had, it was true, been several changes m the Premiership since 1879, but it had been one \ Government since then. When they took office m 1879, they had to face an enormous deficit, and the Bank of England refused to advance further on any consideration whatever. Our credit at the present time stood as well as almost any

colony m existence. (Cheers.) Our 4 per cents, m 1879 were sold for 80; we had just now effected a loan at above pur of 4 per cent. The statements that public expenditure had been wasteful and extravagant were untrue, and had not been proved m a single instance. He had gone carefully into the question of political railways and possible waste, and after making every allowance it did not amount to more than 4 per cent, on the total amount spent, and no company ever laid out its money with greater advantage than the Government had done as a whole. Those who differed should prove the contrary. That was what the Government had done for New Zealand, and no other Government had had a greater task imposed upon it. It was for the electors at the coming elections to judge how the Government had fulfilled the task.