The Oamaru Mail. THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 8 July 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1880.

The debate which took place in the House of Representatives on Tuesday night upon the proposed reductions in the Estimates was instructive. It showed how inadequate were the reductions proposed to be made by the Ministry, and clearly displayed the fact that while they claimed credit for desiring to effect economy, tliey were vcty chary in giving their airy professions the form of solid substance. They said in the Financial Statement, " We will reduce to the extent of L 50,000 f the House, on the motion of Mr. Saunders, declared that it was not content with this small reduction, and insisted upon a saving amounting to between Ijlßo,ooo and L' 200,000. The position occupied by the M wis try was, to say the least of it, singular, seein" that only a few weeks since they declared that it would be impossible to go further than they proposed, and that on Tuesday night they actually accepted and supported a motion practically taking the administration of the finances out of their hands. But singular as was the position occupied by the Ministry, it was even more humiliating. The motion was nothing short of an expression of no-confidence in the Ministry, at anyrate so fax* as their financial policy was concerned, and yet Messrs. Hall and Co, bowed down meekly before the House, ancl swallowed the unpleasant leek, even though unaccompanied by a grain of salt. They supported a motion which would, by a more independent set of men, have been accepted as a declaration of their incapacity. Any other set of men would have viewed the carrying of a motion of the lpnd as practically sounding their death-knell, and would have resigned, leaving to others the work of carrying out • a financial reform that they admitted their inability to perform. Not so, however, with Mr. Hall and his comrades. They shirked the task of reducing in a tangible manner the post of governing the Colony; but when ptUer and bolder men took the matter in" hand the Ministry cried aloud, " the very thing we desire/' and sought to obtain the honor and glory attached to the reformation of an expensive civil service. Could anything be more humiliating than this"? Mr. Hall claims to be "captain of the ship of state, and his colleagues the pi'incipal officers, but they all fail to prove that they hold certificates g£ competency, and leave the navigation of the storin.tossed vessel to the ordinary seamen. How thankful the public, as passengers, must be that the sailors know more of navigation than the officers — that Jack, in this instance, is a better man than his master. The position taken up by the Ministry, though singulai - , is not surprising. They have throughout their short but inglorious career shown a readiness to drop any policy of their own and adopt the policy of others that has already obtained for them the soubriquet of the do-any thing-but-know-little Ministry. Not a single thing haye they originated save the property tax, and even that they would, or we are greatly mistaken, cast on one side w.ere it possible to do so with the slightest show of decency. Already they have expressed their willingness to amend the Act in certain directions, and were one of their supporters—Mr. Saunders oi' lyli't Ormond, for instamce, both of whom detest the tax—to propose the substitution of some other form of taxation, the Government would readily acquiesce, if assured by means of a caucus that the new tax would obtain the support of a majority. Majorities are, we may safely say, with thppa the only matter for consideration. " Hang a policy," say Ministers, "what will the majority support-]'' Surely there never existed before such a Ministry. "With the majority of men who aspire to the honor of being considered statesmen, matters of public policy are first considerations but in the case of Messrs. Hall, Atkinson, and Co., public policy is of no moment; it is only like a suit of clothes to be put on or taken off at will. It is well, therefore, that there are men in the Parliament of the country possessed of clearly defined opinions upon public questions. We hail with some satisfaction the passing of Mr. Saunders' motion, for it gives an assurance that economy of government will take place. But we should have preferred seeing the series of resolutions promised to be moved by Mr. Reader Wood adopted, because by these reductions were to bp jnade on a sliding scale, salaries under LI 80 and "wages were not to be touched, and the yagiieness of Mr. Saunders' motion upon economy in other directions was avoided. There were one or two items in Mr. Wood's programme that we certainly did not approve of, but, taken as a whole, they were fairer than those of Mr. Saunders, while they possessed the additional merit of being clear in form and definite in purpose. The Government, however, thought Mr. Saunders' proposal least objectionable to themselves and their friends, and as the resolution of the member for Cheviot was the outcome of the deliberations of the Ministerial caucuses held on Saturday and Monday, it was adopted by the sheep-like followers of the Ministry, who jump as their followers jump. We . should most decidedly have preferred seeing reductions made pro rata, and the smaller salaries and wages left untouched, but the House has, at the solicitation of the

Government, said otherwise, and we can now only console ourselve? fwitli thte, knowledge that the difficulty hasb'eetr fairly faced, and some relief obtained for the tax-payers.