AN AMERICAN OPINION OF THE OSITION OF NEW ZEALAND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 219, 15 September 1880, Page 4

AN AMERICAN OPINION OF THE OSITION OF NEW ZEALAND.

The' San Frnnmnob correspondent c the Otago Daily Times (who is an oh New Zealand journalist) writing to tha journal on the present position of thii colony, says he is satisfied' without book comprehensive scheaie of reform, oui credit will go up " higher than a kite ' during the next decade. . He adds :— "If your Government department! were run with the simplicity and effioienoy of American institutions, you would soon get over the pressure of your publio debt. The people here are brought face to face with their responsibilities. Their county system is well calculated to effect an economical adtpinietration, because it is based upon direct taxation nnd direct supervision ; bo also ie our State government. It depends exclusively upon direct taxation for its vitality. The United States Government collect and disburse all Federal taxes, which are indirect and in some respects oppressive ; nevertheless the people do not grumble, because we do not feel them. But if I understand your financial system, you have been loading up the country with debt, and Bharing your general revenue with local bodies. In short, you t&xed all classes to raise funds ia the expenditure of which neither the taxing power nor the taxpayers had a direct or controlling voice. This was a premium paid upon loose and extravagant manaeffiuoent by local bodies ; and as New Zeaiaod is a debtor and not a creditor country, of course when a disturbance in the money market abroad took place you at once felt (he pinch. Money became scarce nnd dear ; labor wm a drug ; reality fell so much in value tbfit general foreclosure was starved off ; immigration was discontinued ; popular discontent prevailed ; aud ihe Government ordered 'down brakes,' and brought up with * Civil Service reform.' Well and good. The programme is excellent, but I am testing it by actual experience here. Until you remodel your departments, and put them on a strictly business basis, you can do do good. In this great country, with ita vast end varied resourcep, many of the States have been forced into virtual repudiation, under the euphemism of * adjustment/ by reason of the reckless extravagance of the carpet-bag governments after the war. They may be censured, but it was unavoidable. Their recourse is direct taxation, and they cannot borrow indefinitely. Tha process of 'robbing Peter to pay Paul' is inapplicable here; and ns property can only bear a percentage of taxation short of absolute confiscation, it follows that the only thing to do is to make an arrangement with the public creditor. But you have further resources than direot taxation, and yonr recuperative powers are great, only they should not be overstrained. Now, a bint might be taken from what we have done in California. Here we have a State debt not exceeding, in round figures, £600,000. I write from memory. Our municipal abd county debts, nil told, do not reach £3,000,000, and these are in course of gradual liquidation. In ten years from now we shall have neiiher State nor county debt. But we made it part of the organic law, in the new Constitution that the Slate should never borrow ; and a municipal or local government is prohibited from borrowing for any purpose whatever unless the object be first submitted to the people at ' an election to be called for that purpose/

ET \ and not then unless two-thirds of the city or county cast their votes in favor thereof. Thus we have hedged ourf selves around against public borrowing, i every loan being a mortgage upon taxat ble realty. Would it not be wise if a you passed a law prohibiting local a bodies borrowing for say 25 years, or r until their present indebtedness were ' paid ? Subsidise no local bodies out of - general revenue ; re-organise your dei partments, and ' Civil Service Reform ' . would have a surplus sufficient to comi plete fall pressing public work, and pay interest on loan. Thero is no use in 5 exclaiming against « Greyism ' there, . any more than 'Kearneyism* here. It [ is only a Bymptom of the disease affect- . ing the body politic, end not the disease i i itself; and bb sure as fate, unless the ; patient be judiciously treated, that fever ia the blood known as Greyism at ihe . antipodep, will egain seizs upon the vitals of the State, and theu . Well, men can flit, but landed property ia not movable, and it ia worth only whafc it will fetch when sold. . . In this country no man is employed who can be done without ; all are workers. The under-secrotary and commissioner method of multiplying servico and retarding business is unknown. Wherefore the wheels of State run emoothly, despite the lapid and perpetual changes that ara going on. If your State machine were similarly • tested, its bearings would inevitably give way, and the whole wculd colhpse."