The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, MAY 31, 1878.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5359, 31 May 1878, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, MAY 31, 1878.

Thek,b is . nothing .new -uncjerthe sun. The old "stories of a far-off past' reproduce themselves in new and..queer shapes, in parody if not in reality ; and the heroic figures of serai-mythical times often appear before us, disguised in prosaic garb and grouping. : We have been favored of"late> by several travesties of this sort—failures it must be admitted—but still well-meant endeavors to amuse the public. , We have, hardly yet recovered from’ the attempt ’at;, ■■ a parody of the great Pennsylvanian epic —our Premier figuring as Penn, and the Waipa doing duty for the Delaware. It is but just to the chief actor to say that he profited by the precepts of Bottom in ,the rehearsal, and, taking his almanac, readily 1 It would be unreasonable always. l to expect' a iPrime Minister- to be figuring, in] bfpad; ; burlesque,' and ,it,is a-,!relief toj find that <: her Majesty's;-servants,” asi the players used to be. called, pan provide ' a clnange :| 'bf- cast.’■ /The 1 , - early colonial picture fades away, and a‘classical scene takes its place; with crafty design, is urging the Trojans>to. take the fatal horse within their walls, and Laocoofr, with outstretched arms, rushes down fropi the citadel to, implore the ip? , fatuated mob hot" to* rush J 6h "Weir fatej ' and. warns them to,fear the Greeks even , when they bring gifts; all this being done into official English,> apd by men inT f modern hats and trousers, tiie unities/ are not well preserved. The chief scene is in Christchurch, the audience—certain county- ‘and ' borough chairmen, councillors, . and others. Six on Balianob.has done’ his ;part ;'- l lie‘ his explained all' the* points 1 of the ’ Horse, and all its’beauties. i He-has shown the sad effect to result from the refusal to harbor the great gift. .Why should the counties anff borbuglis refuso a proposal Which" will '' leave " tlieir "subsidies untouched, and ‘’by ; which ' they will receive,,, one , pound from ,the Government for every pound , ..which they expend on charitable institutions 1 Only let them take charge pfithose,charitable institutions, and they will at once become a Palladium and a source of wealth. Already i some -of; the, citizens.' begin to waver : some would take possession, and some would not. - Suspicion of treachery alternates,with desire to seize the,,flattering gift, when down "rushes from the chair—not Lasooon, but . .a, , gentleman better known in New Zealand—Mr. Haw.;; with .sacerdotal gravity, he cries, “ Oh, vmluokly citizens ! how has “ such /madness" seized : you 1 Do you “ think any Grecian gifts are free from “deceit ? Is this your knowledge of ■ [the reporters appear not to have caught the " name,but it "was- not Ulysses.] ‘‘Either fresh-taxation'is enclosed and “concealed in this engine, or it is ' “ brought .against our ways and means, th deprive us" of bur siibsiclies/ cquo ne “credits Teucri.” So for only, as yet, “the action of the new travesty. The public does not know whether the horse will be taken in, ...or what fearful . doom may' overtake this profane’county chairman who the truthfulness of sir. Bees’ hero, t in sad and sober truth it is how-a-days io judge from their speech what the Government moan, or what they will perform; "But let us for a ; moment , look this, giftdiorse, in .the mouth.; If the Government propositi, as it is cdhtaiued ’iii thcir’bifioial circular from the Treasury, means what it appears to mean, and if it" be intended to Subsidise all contributions of local bodies for the support of charaliblo' institutions ‘independently altogether of those already provided by law, and if the local bodies are to be doubly subsidised in order to induce them to support their, .pvm poor and to maintain their own charities, and if the counties and, boroughs believe that the Government, will be able to, .maintain such a system, then we can scarcely understand why there should be any hesitation bn the part of those, eminently practical f bodies. But if all these good, things are certainlytofalltothelotof the local bodies, it may be asked why was not the Colonial Treasurer more explicit on this point when he addressed his constituents at Martbii T Ho did not disown, it is true, what he led the local bodies to understand when he" wrote to, them, as acting ,for fhe ; ColoniaU Secretary, on the subject of cliaritablo’ iiir, stitutions; butsome fuller explanation might have been expected from him to his ‘constituents, :..Iff is , a suspicious circiimstance that be seemed to steer'clear of financial considerations when touching on a subject,which is .eminently financial in its character. ‘ It is all Very well to ! say that charitable institutions will be best administered locally. There is little doubt: about; that,; the djftioulty is Wflnd. out where the money is to come from'to support Wetav/KWhOn .la.-. Minister was urging on local bodies their duties, it was reasonable to expect that he would allude to the. financial advantages already held out r tb thenflby the Government."-' ’ ’■ J - The fact is, pvpljably, that the Government made tlieir financial proposal to counties and boroughs without, consideration, or knowledge of the liabilities which it involved. They;, were so-anxious to getrid of the care of the charitable institutions, that they were ready to promise a good deal, and they desired farther, perhaps, to show how easily they could dispose of a question * which ' had - been a trouble to- their predecessors. But the late Government did not try to get rid of their responsibilities' under false pretences. , They, .too, . wore anxious to induce local bodies • to take charge of the charitable institutions but no hope was Held' out~to“thein that they .would be doubly subsidised for so doing. That We local bodies must take charge of their own poor and. destitute, there can 'be no doubt. Everywhere else in the world such charges are local. But.it is recognised in England-now,; as well as" elsewhere;: that some help must bo given in this .work to the local bodies,' so as tb « enable them to raise the necessary funds. However the money is to be paid', it is Wo people who have' to find what is required for public purposes ; but We General Government,,can help by lenfling its machinery for raising part of Wo necessary funds by indirect taxation. This is what subsidies to local bodies really moan. Charitable institutions whioh must bo ’supported locally would be too burdensome ' it they wore at once cast upon We 'local, ratesit is better that Wo contribution given by the General Government should be proportionate to the amount of rate leviedtlianboinproportion to population, or bo distributed, haphazard, without any proportion at all. By 'giving We-monoy over to Wo local -bodies for expenditure,in.this way, Parliament insures a careful calculation of ways and means as jvplUrajjf ;wants, and .the people ■ are encouraged to rate themselves to meet, the ..requirementsinf-their districts.' We sue no reason for sweeping away subsidies

if boroughs an&SaJinftties the work of clinntabl6-'aid-'“wlthiu thoir boundaries, but we’ttjuuk tliatnihose sub‘/sidiesfshould take 'the,form of grants proportionate to tlio’-aimmiit-ritised by hunt ratesj .and not gof -.payments made, empirically, upon a calculation of tho ■possible necessities of the a several dis- ■ tricts. ; , , 4lt appears to vis,that, there, are questions still to bo considered before a new scheme can be submitted to Parliament and the country. It must be determined in the 1 first '-place ' what institutions are to be' in-, eluded under the head of “charitable.” It : .will be found that many different ideas upon this subject have prevailed .in . different; partsof the country, and to this we shall have occasions to refer. The Conference of boroughs and comities at Christchurch expressed aii opinion as to the distribution of 1 the ‘ ! ohiirges with which wo incline to agree.. it will,. we think bo found, that, a union or amalgamation of certain counties and . boroughs for the purpose of. administering charitable aid will be necessary in order to,isecure the equitable and - efficient: collection and expenditure of funds.: What •; we desire to put clearly before the : public is; that whatever they may -have. been; led to expect,' -there can be no reasonable hope that a system of double, subsidies„ will be maintained, and that' it is,,for the* local bodies to ascertain the.cost of charitable institutions sufficient for the .needs of two or more counties or boroughs which would naturally work together, and, instead of striving for what is impossible, to eudea'vor to secure, from the consolidated fund ,a permahent ; f payment proportioned to and in support of special local 1 rates.