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South Canterbury Times, Issue 2521, 20 April 1881, Page 2

A xelegraw from Wellington says : —“ It is understood Government intend “ to summarily dismiss Whitelaw, the “ superintendent of the Wellington “ Asylum, in consequence of the Com- “ missiouers’ report. The Government “ have further decided the Asylum “ shall be placed under the manage- “ ment of a duly qualified medical “ practitioner. With respect to In- “ spector Dr Skac, no final decision has “ been arrived at, but he is called upon “to make an official reply to the “ charges contained in the Royal “ Commissioners’ report.” This is highly refreshing. It is comforting to think that the Government have at length made up their minds to get rid of Whitelaw. Ho was an ornament to the service,but his zeal was misdirected. In another capacity than that of Superintendent of an Asylum he would have been invaluable. In the Nelson gaol, for instance, he could have supervised the “skewering and gagging ” with credit to all concerned. Even now, a suitable place should be found for him in the public service. His temperament shew that he is admirably fitted for a Sergeant-at Arms, usher of the black rod, or curator of ..intestate iu At his talents ran to waste ; in the central, lunatic establishment where the irrepressible political jackdaws are about to assemble, he will just be in his element. In placing the lesser asylum under a duly qualified medical practioner, the Government have adopted our suggestion. We submitted that had Whitelaw been a medical man he might have varied his experiments by the practice of vivi-section. Unless a medical superintendent makes use of his opportunities in the cause of science, he must be a square peg in a round hole at the head of such an establishment. For it happens, unfortunatchq that the treatment of insanity has very little in common with medical jurisprudence. As for Dr Skae, he will probably consult his dignity by falling back upon his practice. Beyond roaming over the land, preparing one or two elaborate reports, and putting the colony to an enormous expense by tumbling asylums about, he has done little or nothing for his money. Yet he has hcen more sinned against than sinning. His services were never required. When he came to New Zealand he found the field already occupied. Ho stands in the same position as Captain Hume, Inspector of Prisons. The authors of all this blundering are those pitiful experimentalists who five years ago tore the constitution in tatters.

Speaking o£ land reform, we believe it will come in due time, by a natural process, but there is something else that must precede it. The reform that is imperatively required in this colony is taxation reform. Reform the present system of taxation, and land reform will follow. The eyes have been picked out of the country, the very best land in this island is held in large blocks in the hands of speculating companies, and settlement is handicapped. Many of our settlers are simply beasts of burden for absentee landlords who have no interest whatever in the colony beyond the revenue they drain from its inhabitants. Before the country can become fairly prosperous, the curse of absenteeism and unimproved estates must be checkmated. This cannot be accomplished by violent agitation. The cure for our land ailments lies with the Colonial Treasurer. Lot the present grinding, oppressive, vicious system be changed, and industries now stunted in their growth will begin to flourish. The only key that will ever unlock the lands in Now Zealand in common with every other part of the world where laud monopolies exist, is a substantial land tax. Than a land tax nothing can be more equitable. It is merely an equivalent for the use of the soil. The City of Glasgow Bank trustees and other foreign investors will plead that they have paid for it. No doubt they have, but have they paid for the in tollectual stock that have been sent in immigrant ships to improve it ? Have they paid for the railways, roads, and bridges that have given it an artificial value ? What is the position of these absentee proprietors ? They have speculated largely in the lands of the colony, and by investing in securities they have contributed to the loans raised, and thereby improved the value of their first investments. At the present moment they

are receiving a handsome sum from their land, besides draining the treasury dry for their interest, and the colonists are paying the piper. Why then should not the incidence of taxation be changed ? Why not make an endeavor to place a fair share of the burden of the loans raised for public works on the shoulders of those who have benefitted and are benefitting ? It may be urged that a land tax is a class tax. Wo deny it. Even if farmers with moderate areas are exempted, the tax will still ho fair and equitable. Companies that have bought land at 20s to 40s per acre, and without any exertions of their own, but through the improvements carried out by the State, have had its value increased to £lO and £ls per acre, can well afford to pay a substantial land tax. A land tax is not a class tax; but a tax on property being a tax on enterprise is a class tax. A tax on nails and on galvanised iron is a fax on the building trade. A tax on fencing wire and posts is a tax on farmers. A tax on proprietary medicines is a tax on the indigent sick. A tax on beer and tobacco is a tax on the poor man’s luxuries. A tax on gold is a tax on mining ; why not a taxon wool? The mass of the people are the victims of class taxes of the worst description, while a few favored speculators and monopolists are exempted. The only apology for these taxes is that they are needed for revenue purposes. A lair, equitable, but also substantial land tax, would enable the Government to dispense with inflictions that are destroying enterprise and driving the bone and sinew out of the colony.lt would render the lockingup of land for speculative purposes too expensive a game to be freely indulged in. We believe in settlement on a prosperous basis, we also believe that there are thousands of acres hold mostly by absentees that should be thrown open, but we contend that the only key that will unlock the lands that the Crown has already surrendered is a substantial land tax. When we speak of a substantial land tax wo don’t speak of a sham and a mockery, but a tax that will enable the Government to reverse the Customs’ screw press just as far back as they brought it forward in November, 1879, which will reduce the cost of living in the colony make low wages acceptable and profitable and enlarge the area of employment, and which, while imposing no hardship on the bona fide settler and cultivator, will stop the flow of wealth that is now being drained from the colony.

Eaui, Beaconsfield has departed for u the bourne fro/n wlience no traveller returns.” A clever actor has bowed his exit and in accordance with the theory of the evolutionist Mr Gladstone remains, The rays of a brilliant orb, have paled and fled before the dawn of a brighter era. The historian of the future will point to the deceased Earl as a great although unscrupulous statesman. Possessing a brilliant imagination, he proved himself an eminent writer of Action, but his career as a statesman has been more conspicious than successful. It cost Great Britain thousands of her best lives and millions of money. Lord Beaconsfield, in this respect, has been the very beau ideal of a conservative. The blood and gold of the nation he shed with prodigal profusion yet died with a whole skin and intensely wealthy, after driving a hard bargain with his last publisher. The collapse of the Boer war, the withdrawal of the with momentous issues, the rising flames of Communism in Germany and Russia, and last of all the somewhat sudden demise of the leader of the Tory party in England, all tend to indicate that the curtain of time is falling on a dark drama, and that a brighter and better future is dawning on the world.