The Southern Cross PUBLISHED WEEKLY. Invercargill, Saturday, June 2. TO BORROW OR ROT TO BORROW.

Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 9, 2 June 1894, Page 8

The Southern Cross PUBLISHED WEEKLY. Invercargill, Saturday, June 2. TO BORROW OR ROT TO BORROW.

The announcement that Parliament is to meet for the dispatch of business on the 21st inst. has started certain journals in the game of political kiteflying. Alleged sly borrowing on the part of the pi’esent Government forms the basis of their operations. Assuming that the charge is proved, they artfully proceed to advise that a public loan of several millions should be raised in order that ceitain necessary and important public works may be carried out, and they proceed to lug in the Premier, and make the astounding assertion that he, with the view of avoiding grave financial troubles, would gladly fall in with these proposals. All this is bad enough, but with the view of attracting the masses and getting sujjport for their proposals, they proceed to work the philanthi’opic dodge, suggesting that inasmuch as at the present time there are a great number of deserving people out of work, the proposed loan would afford means of giving them employment, and so on. The plain meaning of all this is that a barefaced attempt is being made to gull the public into sanctioning’ a loan to complete those two great jobs the Otago Central and the North Island Main Trunk Railways. Dunedin, for some time past, has been going down the hill commercially, and as drowning men clutch at a straw, so the Dunedin people are holding on like grim death to the Otago Central. The country has been flooded with statements that this line would open up for settlement many million acres of cultivable land. Now that the truth has come out they are railing at the Minister of Lands for telling it. But the Minister is entitled to the thanks of the publicfor having the courage to tell the truth—which is that this line, being made at such an enormous cost, will not open up more than fifty thousand acres of cultivable land, suitable of course for fruit-growing ; and the colonists are to be called upon to spend another

half-million of money in order thaft the people of Dunedin may at. railway to bring down a few grapes - peaches, and plums. The North Island Main Trunk line is another gross job, urged on by land jobbers, by wdiom an incessant agita-. tion for its construction has been kept” up. Hitherto it has hung fire to some 1 extent because the jobbers have beem falling out about the route, but now some sort of an agreement has beem come to they are ready for pillageA pleasant profpect, truly ! Thequestion for the people of New Zealand to consider is a very grave one —are they prepared to go back to the* old days of extravagance, with the certainty of another period of depression and disaster, followed by increased taxation P Surely we cam live on the fruits of our industry. IS; we cannot, there must be something: seriously wrong. Tor some years pash New Zealand has been held up as a shining example of self-reliance, and' consequently the national credit stands at the highest point. Are weto abandon this position, and throw away all the advantages that haveaccrued from it in order that works of an extravagant nature, which atthe present time are wholly unnecessary, may be proceeded with P That there are certain works of an exceptional character, the completion o£ which is extremely desirable from a revenue point of view, or for otherweighty and sufficient reasons, cannot be denied, but these can, it has been proved, be provided for oujt of ordinary revenue. Nothing but a large increase of population would justify th©' people of this colony in increasing: their liabilities. As regards the charge of sly borrowing made against the present Government, the evidence adduced by their opponents certainly points in that direction, and it is also’, true that the Government have taken power toissue Treasury Bills to an amount not possessed by the Executive at any previous time. Any money received under the various conversion schemes . has simply gone to inflate the revenue and make us appear better off thaia we are. If borrowing is looming in the distance it is time the people of the colony were brought face to face with the question. We take it that at present they are not in favour of borrowing, but seeing the matter has cropped up, we trust the Colonial Treasurer will take an early opportunity of speaking out and letting thepublic know what are the intentions of the Government in this respect.