WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1835. COLONIAL LOANS AND PUB. LIC WORKS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 5, 3 June 1885, Page 2

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1835. COLONIAL LOANS AND PUB. LIC WORKS.

On Saturday evening last Captain Kusski-l addressed a well-at-"' tended meeting of h!s constituents at Hastings. He gave his audience i some sensible advice as to the ex- | isting commercial depression. After referring to the popular theory that Sir Tin. i us Vogkl was able to conjure away distress and restore prosperity, he. applied the world-Vide truism that there is no way of get;tirig out difficulty except by putting our own shoulders to the wheel. He pointed out that what they must depend upon was themselves and themselves only. It was no use to ool< to a financier who would make to and two add up five. If they imagined that any juggling financier could make things better by saying he could do so, they were trusting to a rotten rood, and a rotten reed they were trusting to at the present moment when trusting to Sir Julius Vooki,. ; lie admitted fully that the colony! did not hold that view. The great bulk of the colony still believed that by borrowing and borrowing they could make themselves better off than they were at the present time. If thev applied that to their personal affairs, what would they find ? The man who recklessly borrowed came to grief, but a .man who for legitimate benefits to his property borrowed did good, but the moment he went m for fancy schemes he found himself m the hands of moneylenders and bad to do what he was told. All the money that' was borrowed now, and he would allude more to the borrowing that was ; about to take place, was for fancy and not necessary expenditure, and inevitably heavy taxation must follow, and though there might be fictions prosperity for a short time, the : country must suffer eventually. The country had gone through a debauch. The country was like a man suffering from ddlrium tre/nen^ he had been on the burst, he -had been drunk for a very long time. Under the careful administration of Major Atkinson they were beginning to recover, they had got rid of the horrors, and they were beginping to feel wretched ; that was how the colony was feeling, and instead of having the pluck to say they would have no more, they went and had a little-drop. They were recovering so long as they were being handled by the Atkinson administration, and he had said he would support any man who would go m for retrenchment m the colony. Those men were ecoro.mical, and they were passing out of the blues i and getting to their normal state of things, but now inevitably they were going m for another debauch,., and they would have another "recovery by and by, and they would, feel very wretched before they got" to a solid basis., They were goingjn"; for extravagant borrowing, and so clever and so bold was Sir Julius Yogel, for* really, he was the .present Government, so clever were they-that, their borrowing-schemes were so wrapt up, that they did not perceive the. large amount they are going to borrow. Probably his hearers would be astonished to learn it was seven millions ; he had heard it put into larger sums, and it could be reckoned more by taking the sinking fund into account.. . The absolute, sums which they could ■'..••borrow under the Acts passed last session, under 1 the Public Works Act, he had not. got, the figures accurately by him, were seven millions. They decided first of all they would goon with the North Island Trunk railway, which, would cost a million of money. They decided that there should be a railway from Canterbury to the West Coast, which would cost £\ ,500,000. They decided that the Otago Central railway should be made, which was another million. They decided that the district railways should be: purchased, and the district rai'U ways represen ted i? 700,000. to £ 1,000,000. They decided that vacious things should.be cavried'on, such as the connection of HawkeY Bay with Wellington, the Westport and Greymouth harbor schemes, which meant another million, and. they would find if they totalled those sums up, they came to ; seven millions of money to be forthwith expended. That the public works should be carried out night and day, were the words used m the Financial Statement; that that amount should be expended as fast as possible m the construction of public work, and with one or two exceptions those works would not be remunerative to the colony, but a serious emharassment would come on them when they had to pay the interest of that money- \\ hile agreeing with much that j Captain Russkll said m reference to the ultimate results of reckless borrowing, we cannot endorse his wholesale condemnation of all the public works to which he alluded.. We believe and are convinced that the North Island Trunk Railway will prove a reproductive mrderta.kfor the Colony, and will opeiv up a vast area of good country; The proposed railway from Canterbury.' t(> the West Coast has nothtrtg;'t'o' recommend it that we are aware of, and has again and again been de nou need as a political railway, the only benefit to accrue from it being { the local expenditure m its con- f struction. So far as we haye learnt

it will open up no country, and when completed nred expect no traffic. Its construction will also be exceedingly difficult and costly. The Otago Central Railway might be placed under a similar category. ' The purchase of the district Hailways will probably lead to good results m many cases, especially if some "much-needed reforms are effected m the existing system of rail, way management. The connection of iJawke's Bay with Wellington by railway is probably one of the most important -and ' necessary undertakings m the CoJony, and it will be a grand day for New Zealand when that very "desirable consummation is attained. The Westport and Grey;mouth harbor schemes will undo .btedly involve a great waste of public money for which the colonists .wilt have to! pay the piper. We fear all expenditure on open roadsteads .m New Zealand has been of that experimental character that entails heavy outlay without any corresponding practical benefit. There is much m Captain Kusskll\s remarj;s. that is. worthy of thoughtful consideration. Be evidently has the 'courage of his convictions, arid is not afraid to express views m con--demniation of that very popular theme the indiscriminate and reckless expenditure of borrowed money. We commend his honesty of purpose* political independence and straightforward outspokenness, even though believing that some public worlis which he condemns will prove to : be attended with great present andfuture advantage to the Colony at large.