The Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY,) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1885. OUR INDEBTEDNESS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 36, 10 July 1885, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY,) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1885. OUR INDEBTEDNESS.

iNreferriug to the opportuneness of Sir- GrKbitttE GuteVs no-confi-dence motion and the policy of his bringing it forward on his own sole responsibility, the N. Z. liar aid re-, marks. that it has hacl at least the effect of having clrawn the attention of the House to the state of pur fi- ■ nanee§. All the members who have spoken have almost, without exception, touched on this subject as demanding, the most serious attention. And m so doing they have been acting under the impulse communicated to them by the agitated state of the ; pqblic mind.. The. startling character of the tariff proposals have had the effect of attracting the thoughts of men all over the . colony to the fact that the extent of our indebtedness necessitates an increase of taxation m some form; and the ■accompanying proposals fen* further enormous borio.wing for the purposes of public works and the subsidising of • IKeal bodies, have excited m thehi^feeling of alarm. Tiie apprehehsion has seized on them that if we go on ■much Jonger at vthe present rate of, -expending foreign capital, the couh-* try must stagger under, the t burden imposed onit^ and have its progress arrested for many year*? to qpme,; Theyhave been thus led to reflect that, for every pillion Jborrowed, fifty thousand pounds additional of interest has to be paid each year out of the revenue. They can see from statements made by the Minister of Public Works that the works on which the borrowed money \i expended are m many instances unproductive, and that thererenue derived from, those of them, such as the railways, which do yield, a^return,. is insufficient to meet even, half the interest on the outlay. Furthermore, they have become painfully aware' that owing to the parajysis that has fallen u pbn t)ie farming^ and other industries, the;' prospect of ah increased income from the railways is . very remote^ and that, as the Custoipsi revenue I is not likely to be much enlarged fyorh the influx of population, increased taxation wilt nave to be resoried to m order to coyer the defect on the annual "charges. These are the things which have been occupying the people's minds since the Treasurer submitted his Budget, and the conclusion whichin all parts of the country, ; they have come to is, that to continue m these circumstances a reckless system of borrowing, as is proposed, is a policy^ that ought no longer to be tolerated.*