THE REAL PURPOSE-OF THE PUBLIC WORKS POLACY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3281, 12 August 1872, Page 3

THE REAL PURPOSE-OF THE PUBLIC WORKS POLACY.

Ito 'rnK.KDtror,. '~,,- ,^, : ., ..-a -a. Sm—The policy of, b'orro^lHg^^blic works has been alterjiately applaiHled4n(,lßenounced, !glorified iiix(l stigmatised. :_:J,t : tas been talked of, written p;, ;^nd-ventilatedm abno3t "every conceiy.ablo way,: ■: • .appears to: me that its opponents have generally failwl to penetrate its disgaiseoruietect the real object it was devised to accomplish.^ AVere the attention restricted to the'utWr--ances of lits advocates; or evcu-of its'opponents, one would be led »to ■ asaiune? that; the question of, public works, embraced the whole subject, and, tii.at thjere was jiever an intention of borrowing monoy for 'any other ■• purpose; and the question, thereforo, would' seem to narrow itself down to the cousidoraftion of whetherthe moneysso?to be expended could be laid out in soch:a;way,aß to-yit-ldja pecunuwy-return equal to.tliHapiount <if; its intereat. « And persons looking at■-. tljtumatUsFl from this single uoint-of ivicw, Arh^saw, br thought 1 they saw.'•'a^reasonable cljdftcfc ofi the projected-.works proving tumncitiliy rennirierativc, might naturally fe«lfiiv<snrably disposed' towards its ; ,a<l(>p,ti^n.>. ;jßnV~h.ow grtiat would be tlie mistake o(j judging the (luestion on the single issi;?;- hc'JK.'Ero»>,tho i-deception jittemptctl by those who represent !it as narrowed to such limits, I will briefly i endeavour to explain. • For years past, our ordinary expenditure has greatly exceeded our income, and of late the increase in the annual deficits has been Iso rapid that it now amounts to hundreds of

thousands.. The causes of this stato'V*fthijags ] are bo apparent that 1 need hardly "jp£f- ■ tieularise thera? ■ ' With"'; a' small popu- j lation, not exceedine that of some of." the principal towns of England/ we have been cursed witli the most costly and complicated system orreries of Govertitnents in the whole world. To gain a slight idea of the extravagance we have been supporting, let any unprejudiced man step into that pestilent talking-shop called,- the Provincial Council. Let him run over in his mind the list of salaries which.that,inßtitution implies, 'with its .Snperintendent, .Executive, Speaker, UlerkH, Messengers, Sergeatit-at-Arms, and the whole paraphernalia. Ixjfc hira re/tact that the snme deplorable exhibition of imbecility, and the same outrageous waste, goes |on hi half.-a;(kt2£iji piinUatrtalking-nliops. Let , him pass in J renew £he limitless series of job? tint have been here. Let him then cast ht3 eye to the South and observe 1 a railway constructed at accost, of £400,000, | for the ordinary requirements of whose traffic literally a few donkey. earbJ-'Wonld Hiifljce. Let him go and sec the jetty, costing £40,000, at which the only ship that has ever discharged was the ship that conveyed ■ the timber tor construct a roadway to it. ■ When he has thua striven to realise in some fuiut degreo> : thts .reckless folly tlbjilayed by our own Provincial Governments, let hiux , imagine the same sort of tiling going on to a greater or less extent in tho other Provincial j Councils; whilst over nil there has been a General Governmentoutstripping every one of its subordinate gover'nmenta with a dignified magnitude of extravagance. Let him do I'tbia, and it will no longer be a., matter.p( ; 'surprise that the last penny should have been wrung from the taxpayer, that our aciumu- | latcd interest t& only staved i off by further .-ujditinna to the debt, and that the salaries of ouV overgi-ov/n army M officials( can only be paid by theproceeds of5/rtih loans.;. -\ ;•' Here, then,-is the - predicament' in whichwe are. placed., A-costly-and corrupt Bystenr of; government. A djsbtjwhich, in proportion to our population,' exceeds that of any nation on earth (not cyen excepting France, after' payings thY German .indemnities). Af people oppressed with those very taxes, to escape which in old countries is one of the chief iKc^ativcajtojemignitiott-C. Aiid finally,: .i jnrariTroTlinneceE3ary.o|BcJal3 whose bread depends upon the con#mi'nnee:of this rotten system, and upon the concealment from the people of our real-position. ; ' "■' Of two thing* we may be absolutely certain. First, that die people will endure no more taxes for the sake of maintaining unnecessary servant*.-;. Whenever it corned" to, a question whether taxes arc to be piled upVpr' .officials ent down, fie answer ihuust be; emw phatid'aud iinmiatakeable. And we m.iy be equally certain that the European capitalist, when mnde aware of tlie true state"of'things, will no more lend.money for--such a purpose, or for the purpose of delaying the day of our collapse; than we tolerate the, idea.rof •increased taxation.' ' ' -, , • .Under these ..circumstances,and looking at the class from which too frequently orir-pub-lie men are drawn, can it be a matter of surpri.se that our Parliament should have welcomed with transports of delight a scheme which could be palmed oil"on the public as one for the construction of advantageous works, but which, by giviug a plausible pretext for borrowing, would eu.ablethem to defray the "annual deficits out of borrowed capital, and so postpone for awhile,the day of. reckoning, ! arid so enable them to stick fora year or two | longer to the places they have appropriated. j : It sometimes happens that a fragment of | the truth unconsciously pops out, as happened j two years ago, when. Mr^Vogel.made use of these words in his .Financial .Statement:— .. "Yon wilbnofrbesurpriscd, after what T have already stated upon the subject of Defence expenditure, to hear that 'the Government consider that the Colony..is not jiißtir fied, even if it were able to do so, in regarding the item of Defence expenditure as one to be defrayed out of ,tho ordinary revenue/; • Adding further on—■ '•We therefore propose to do-that' which we believe a large section, of,the-public *P9i* of tlie Go lon y: regret whs hot done four years ago—we intend to ask for a, Permanent Appropriation for Defence Pur-poses of £ISO,OOO for the first year, £H>0,000: for'the second year, and £150,000 for the three,succeeding' years ; themoney to be, borrowed from time to time, if required, and as required.";.,'-. After an avowal like tins,;:w.Lo ':*ss. ; ;bo, 1 able to Bay_thatJUiel,CoJ^ti:ncUoii-of pubHcworks was -trie exclusive, .or v ,GV«n^tlie,-f principal, object of tbe^timncraf gbhdme ?'" Who will have'the, effrontery,to assert thai; it,-was; ever intended to devoteinpre than a part of the borrowed money to reproductive.enterprises? . . ,':;:," -''■'.';','■,■', 'J:--,.,i : i-,;.. .No ; the cloven foot /hew: shows itself too nnmistakeably. 'Public works ; jnay be the ; pretext-^yiftjli{yic<is^tli6.-pla»wible--apeciotis" excuse for persuadings-oar^^c^jjlcT'fcpxaotifo- ; rise loauß, and the" European capitalist to adIvaace'them. ■.. But .tlie real object; of^the^ I majority of tliose' who.,;have >-supported^ this policy by their voices and.their votc^in ;tl\e; Assembly" ias been to prov^d'e,?v : rontf;,witti winch: to stftve' fjff our' e\'U^day~a, fnndwhich;{perverted fiom its original intention) might be applied !rlto":dcfray our' excessive .current expenditure—to supply ourahiiually increasing deficits—and k» give a renewed lease of existence.to. oar ; swarm of needless officials, and of power to thoae -who shame- - fully abuse it.—lam, &c, ' ' ' '. ;. < \ ■ MASTKUHVMPtfTtEV. I