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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5407, 26 July 1878, Page 2

From the tone of all the voices that arc heralding the session, it is to be feared that the majority of the members of the Assembly coming up to support the Government are flushed with the hope of plunder as well as" with the triumph of party victory. Promises have been made and suggestions of good things held out by Ministers and their confidential friends ; and tlie cry throughout the recess has been the pernicious war-cry of Americanp dities, Vaiviclis. At the very time that Mr. Hayes, the new President of the American Republic, is endeavoring to remedy the most crying evil of American public life, and to govern for the country and not for party, wo have a Premier in New Zealand endeavoring to introduce the abuses that have prevailed in the Great Republic, and bidding for the office of elected President. We have' already had a foretaste of what might be expected from a Government constituted on his: model, and a large section of the community evidently believes that patronage : and public expenditure will be entirely regulated by the party prepossessions of different parts of the country. Members have been professedly elected to be “ companions ” for Sir George Grey, on the ground that as he now has the,power so also he has the will : to reward his friends and punish his enemies by a partial distribution of the 'public funds. The newspapers , in .which Ministers are pecuniarily interested, or by which they are politically supported, are shamelessly subsidised out of the public revenues. Officials have been made to understand that if not politically subservient others will be found to take their places, and worst of all, the ■electoral roll, in one district at any rate, has been stuffed to secure the return of one of the Grey “companions.” We published on Saturday articles from twd of our subsidised contemporaries, the “New Zealander” and the “ Otago Daily Times," glorying in the strength of the Government, disparaging their predecessors, who carried through the most radical reforms in the Constitution of the colony in the face of the most bitter and unscrupulous opposition. The Government or»an asserts that “there is now in office a “ strong united Government, bound toil getherby well understood principles, and “ witlx a definite aim and object before it.” Recent events give a very ludicrous fidlor to this assertion; although in one sense the Executive is for the moment strong, exactly xvhere previous administrations in New Zealand have been weak. Hitherto, whatever their sins of .omission or commission may have been, no Government has avowedly determined to use tlioir position -for the benefit of their friends and supporters. The late Ministry were often 1 taunted with not having done enough for their friends. In that they always endeavored to administer their offices without regard to party interests they were, in the eyes of the present holders of office very weak. The time will come when the vigor the Government boast of xvill fade away like the. fictitious exhilaration that- fellows’ the toper’s morning dram,’ and when the public will be “weak” enough to insist on evenhanded dealing, and an administration unbiassed by party favoritism. For a time the public taste has boon debauched, and the Government are “strung " andjubilant.- ■- . 0.,To the stabilily and success of our political institutions the present -temper of many of the Government supporters is a serious danger. It- was in a.great jnoa-

sure owing to the impossibility of securing a sound financial system that the country demanded the abolition of the provinces. Local demands for public works, to be determined on in the House of Representatives according to the influence of provincial authorities, made all good government impossible. But it public works are to be distributed as party favors, we shall fall into a condition far worse than that in which we were originally. It was the fashion last year among those - who were, discontented at the success of the abolition policy to sneer at the County system which has been established, and to talk of the Counties Act as a failure. In truth, it has been a remarkable success. As the system gradually developes itself, all local works will be undertaken and conducted by local authorities, whoso duty it will be to find the money necessary. Whatever moneys may be available out of the general revenue, while there is still a Land Fund, for tlip ■ development of local works, should be placed at the disposal of the County Councils according to a proportion determined by law. It is necessary to repeat constantly that this is the only way in which moneys can be safely voted by the General Assembly for local works. For we hear on all sides of meetings and deputations to urge upon the Government the patronage of this and that local enterprise, and local politicians are not wanting who boast of their influence with individual Ministers, or of the guerdon due to them for their humble worship of Sir George Grey. Encouragement has no doubt been given to such expectations, and it will require ‘considerable moral courage on the part of Government to disappoint them now. Repentance is better than a persistence in evil, and we shall be I‘ejoioed it we are able honestly to support the Government in resisting their supporters, and turning a deaf ear to the clamor of angry expectants. It ;is true there are promises which may bo quoted against them. But were there not promises to the Assembly of economy ip. Ministerial travelling expenses, of vigorous impartiality in the distribution of public expenditure, of strict noninterference with elections? And have they not all been broken ! Do wo not already hoar of a crop of the Premier’s promises thrown overboard ? Did ho not promise manhood suffrage, a free breakfast table, the “bursting up of big properties,” the rejection of honors conferred by a “foreign” Queen, .and the rejection of the authority of her “minions,” the Secretaries of State ? All these promises are, we now learn, to bo thrown overboard, and the New Zealand serf is to be left in the cruel and heart-rending bondage to which he is notoriously subject. Why should not a Ministry that boasts of its strength err on the side of virtue for a change ? Why should not all the promised local 'jobs be sacrificed to a sound finance and honest statesmanship ! If immoral promises and compacts are set on one side, even at the last hour, much will be forgotten and forgiven. There is a clear straightforward path before the Government, if they are determined to' follow it. The main trunk lines of railways must be completed before any other expenditure on public works can be undertaken by the State. The District Railways Act, with some amendments, will provide means for any local and district lines that will pay for construction. And let there be no juggling as to the meaning of the expression, main trunk lines. The general direction of those lines has been laid down long ago, and there is no room for any question about them, except as to the exact route some of them are to take. Let the Assembly once begin to consider all the railway schemes that were suggested towards the close of last session, and we may give up all hopes of honest government or sound finance.