THE GOVERNMENT POLICY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 44, 25 November 1871, Page 2

THE GOVERNMENT POLICY.

[lndependent.] Having in our last article disposed, to some extent, of the political position in the House, and endeavored to show the reasons to which, in our opinion, may be referred the complete defeat of the Opposition and the concentration of the Ministerial party, we will now proceed to refer to the actual work of the session, by no means trifling or unimportant, notwithstanding the repeated assertions to this effect by a hostile section of the press. It is very easy to pick out two or three measures —important, no doubt, in themselves —and upon the withdrawal of these ground a general charge of wasted opportunities and barrenness of result. “ Ministers kept their seats, hut carried no measures.” may answer its purpose as a political cry, and may sooth the eais of the disappointed adherents of- Mr Stafford; but upon this occasion it lacks the ring of truth, and is not consonant with reason or with fact. We are justified, indeed, in the assertion that such measures as the Education Bil', the Licensing Bill, and others of great social importance, should not, under any circumstances, have besn passed through in the same session in which they were introduced, and we think it is greatly, to the public good that their consideration has been postponed for another year, so that time is afforded thoroughly to master the principles involved, to work out the details, and allow freedom of expression to the opinion of the people. The policy of the Government, which was before Parliament and received its sanction, may be divided arbitrarily, lor convenience of analysis, into two parts, of necessity intimately blended together, viz., “ Finance” and “ Public Works and Immigration.” f Many bills, some of a very intricate character, were required to give the policy effect, and even after the principles were assented to laborious duties fell upon the House. We will take the two parts separately, and endeavor to place clearly before our readers what has been done, and. how far Ministers have been successful incanying their proposals. The financial statement,as is well understood, is not merely a statement of account; the balance sheet would for that purpose suffice, but in it the Treasurer delivers the mind of the Cabinet with regard to future revenue and expenditure, and sketches out the measures proposed for the colonisation and settlement of the country. Let us see what Mr Yogel says upon these matters, and how happy he has been in witnessing life and form given to his ideas. The falling off of. the revenue derived from indirect taxation, owing to causes easily to be understood, and not by any means reflecting upon the prosperity of the colony, justified the Treasurer in the assumption that it was not only necessary to reduce the current expenditure but to extend the operation of the Stamp Act, and levy new duties under the tariff. The first he proposed to carry out by an entire alteration in the method of dealing with the provinces, and applying the pruning hook to “ the moneys put apart for provincial purposes and for provincial services ’ He asserted the right of the colony, on behalf of the colonists, to scrutinise provincial expenditure, and would make it a necessity that such expenditure should in future be closely watched. The Payment to Provinces Act, passed in the face of great opposition, has completely, in conjunction with tho estimates, given effect to this vital question of tho Ministerial policy. The General Government has now the charge financially, as well as officially, of all colonial services with the exception of inland postage, the transference of which is deferred for a year. The provinces, receiving special allowances to meet cngagements, are to receive 15s per cent of population for their own local and special purposes. They will now exactly comprehend their position, and will no longer be able, to plead complicated accounts with the Colonial Treasury as an excuse for chronic impec-uniosity. The absolute saving in expenditure is considerable, even if we could ignore the importance of an end having been put to so vicious a system as tlie borrowing of money by the colony for the disposal by Provincial Governments to be frittered away at the discretion of their Councils. We do not at all desire to blink the question that it was the desire of Ministers to go still further in the

direction of economy of provincial administration, and it was very ably pointed out by Mr Yogel how much could be done in this way without materially interfering with the constitution. The bill brought down to effect this wholesome reform, was, as is well known, abandoned for the time, principally owing to the press of business, and the probability, almost amounting to a certainty, that the Opposition would swallow their avowed centralist principles, and make this a battle ground ; secure of tliesupportof the tough old provincialists upon the Government side of the House. It would have been amusing to see Mr Stafford heading a resuscitated provincial party, but we think ministers acted judiciously in yielding to the solicitations of their friends and withdrawing measures which in no way formed part of their policy ; but the discussion and division of opinion upon which would have very seriously hazarded its fruition. In accordance with the propositions of the Treasurer the provinces are relieved from the management and cost of immigration ; this is another move in the right direction. The cost will fall where it ought to fall,upon the community. The immigrants will be located not arbitrarily as heretofore, but where they may at the time of arrival be specially required, or may themselves find suitable openings for settlement, the charge of immigration by the colony not being confined to assisted passages or otherwise; but to the seeing to their well being after arrival. The second material point of the financial policy was, as we have stated, the extension of the operation of the Stamp Act and the levying new duties under the tariff. However necessary and well advised they may be, proposals in the direction of fresh taxation are always, and we may say deservedly, unpopular. The Legislature however, by overwhelming majorities, affirmed the necessity for the action taken by Ministers. Cereal duties to a trifling extent have been imposed. Imported timber has now to contribute to the revenue, whilst the mercantile community have to bear their share of the burthen in the development of the penny stamp upon cheques and receipts into a twopenny, and the moderate rate upon 'Joint Stock Companies. It must be borne in mind that these additions, if we may call them so, to taxation have been proposed and assented to purely for revenue purposes, and that they have been rendered necessary entirely by the falling off upon other items indirectly taxed, many of which, and some of the most important fiscally, are now manufactured in the colony, and consequently the taxpayer, enjoying the advantage of the cheaper production of certain staple articles is no loser by the slight apparent increase in the general burthens. We may further upon this subject congratulate the country upon any alteration, however comparatively insignifieantj which lends in the direction of placing taxation upon its only lair basis —property and income. Having to some extent shown the importance of the measures, purely financial, which have been carried into effect during the late session, we shall, in our next, endeavor to review the action taken by Parliament upon matters political and social, ol the very gravest interest to our fellow colonists, especially with regard to Public Works and Immigration, and we think we shall not altogether fail in making out a satisfactory case as against the unreasoning cry of a “ barren session.”