Under the heading unauthorised expenditure during the year 1877-78 we notice that there is set down for the running expenses of the s.s. Hinemoa£3l6-1. Thissumis,o£ course, iuaddition to the sum voted last year by the Government, and includes nothing more than the bare working expenses of the steamer. When the return asked for at the beginning of the session by Mr. Fitzroy is published, the public will have an opportunity of seeing how little ground there was tor supposing that a Government which constantly appealed to the people : could ever 'retain popularity except by adhering to the old policy of a laxge outlay of public money. The diminished immigration, the immense expenditure proposed on railways, and the ever-increasing public and departmental expenditure, all point to the fact a that popularity huntingGovernmont must follow the precedent of former days, and respond liberally to the old cry for panem et circenses. Nowadays this may bo translated into a lavish departmental expenditure, and an unlimited quantity of work supplied by the State to a very limited number of workmen, with the result of high wages and short hours of labor. In justification of what we have written above, we may point out a few instances sf the enormous increase in the expenditure of public money by the present Government, as shown in the Appropriation Act. In the public departments the vote for 1877 was £184,699 ; for 1378 it is set down as £199,073. Under the heading Law and Justice the expenditure last year was £139,700, this year it is set down at £141,100. Thero is a large increase in the expenditure on Postal and Telegraphic, but this will be generally approved of by the public. One of the largest aud most noteworthy additions to the expenditure is contaiued in the most objectionable vote of any, viz., the Miscellaneous, which has increased from £124,200 to £137,200. The public will be surprised to hear that the sum set apart to meet provincial liabilities has been largely increased, as tho amount set down in the Estimates was £223,000, but the appropriation as passed amounts to £237,000. This includes a balance of overdraft of the late Otago Provincial Government for £50,000, and for the redemption of Otago Dock bonds a sum of £23,000. Verily Mi - . Macandrew deserves the support of his constituents.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18781102.2.10
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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5492, 2 November 1878, Page 2
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385Untitled New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5492, 2 November 1878, Page 2
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