The Southland Times. FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 1872.

Southland Times, Issue 1588, 7 June 1872, Page 2

The Southland Times. FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 1872.

The electors of Invercargill must have experienced something like a feeKngof relief after the delivery-of-Mr Caldeb's speech on -Monday evening. "When pur worthy representative some time ago de-, clined to meet' his constituents, on the; ground-that their-interests ; might suffer -if, he did' so, we ventured to "say that for /Our qwnjpart we were willing to run_ thg^ risk. It will, be gratifying alike to, l&r Caedee and : to tKose whom" he represents, to find, now that the— thunderbolt has fallen, that no great, harm has been done"; It was feared that the Ministry iniglit avengd' themselves on the constituency for the outspoken criticisms' of its representative. Stung to the quipk by the scathing exposure of their financial recklessness and political corruption, tbe mis-, guided men might have determined ion, adding another to the long catalogue of their sins, by excluding .Invercargill from the charmed circlet of " the golden chain." ; But now thai; we have heard what Mr Caldee had to say, we do not think it. at all likely that. they will. .Had the electdrs' present on Monday evening entertained any serious , fears of a catastrophe so-dire, there is little doubt they would have taken prompt measures to avert it, by immolating Mr" Ca^dee on the' altar of his .patriotism,.; and refusing-, the vote of confidence which was-.quietly and unanimously passed.- they did nothing of the sort. On the contrary, tbe serene demeanor- of~ the. meetingseemed to justify., Mr Peatt's hope, that the elaborate financial statement they had heard " would afford food for reflection." The truth is, that every one recognises ithe service rendered, to the community by an intelligent and active parliamentary Opposition in criticising and modifying the measures of the Government. With this idea, the meeting listened patiently to Mr CAiiPEE'a long', array of vague, charges against t the- Administration ; andas he professed- himself .a -warm supporter of .the., Public ' "Works and Immigration 1 policy iri ttie^stract, those who believe in .that poiicy o Md 'nothing to say. r But criticism_such as j^Jndulged in, to be of any value, -s.houlcj< possess one grand requisite.^ It L jshoW" VJ ''accurate." L The charges' Jmadef should V? definite,* anchtKoy should Test on "a Basis of ', incontrovertible fact.. J_udged by this standafd,V what are we to make of Mr Caldee,'s statement that "at the end of last year the whole -of the loan. which had been negotiated last year had ' either been expended or liabilities had been incurred oh its account. Without -being far wrong, he might state that -the best part of two millions had thus either disappeared or been engaged for, and what had they got to show for that amount ? Had they twelve miles. of railway in operation, l or morei than two thousand immigrants ? _ Tlf- .the balance of the loan waß to be characterised by the same result, he need not predict the position they would occupy v when the whole had' been expended." He need not indeed. Any one can see that at the same" rate four millions would pr6duce twenty-four miles of railway, and fourthousand immigrants,' and so oh in proportion. But is this fair criticism ? Without cavilling at the expression, Bpraewhat vague for an elaborate financial statement, "the. best part of two Vnaillions," the idea intended to be conveyed was that that sum, in round numbers, had been spent in making twelve miles of railway and importing two thousand immigrants. Now what are .the facts;? The loan raised by Mr Yogel in London was £1,200,000, not £2,000,000. - Statements have been freely circulated by the Opposition newspapers' that this ainount 7 had been expended, on 3ist December last. But Mr T. B. GliiiLiESj a prominent opponent' of the' recentlypointed out in a letter if t6' :; th i e Aiibkland Herald, that these statements- J 'wer6 founded on. a misapprehension of the published- accounts, ■ involving— anr^^er*; estimate of thoj expenditure, ,of ; no less £384,000. ' Mr. Gillies says that lie; felt constrained to make this explana-? jion in the interests of truth, and from! no desire to shield the government. What then becomes of " the best part of |iwo millions ?'" The statement, we fear," was " very far wrong." But it may be said that twelve miles of • railway and two thousand immigrants are

a very poor return for the expenditure even of the smaller sum. ISow we would like to know, if Mr Caltoeb really wishes us to believe that we have jnad nothing more for all this money? •His remarks were certainly; intended to that impression. What about the defence expenditure, and the "other 'purposes," chiefly old claims on provincial- accounts, for which the Defence and Other Purposes N 'i&oan Act was jsaiietio^.d^by^the^^asejftW^^ are all included in the money said to harve ■ been expended ? •" Why had Mr Caxder "not' £~ word"to'*""e"ay "about" them? And will any one be cajoleS into supposing that the few miles of railway now in operation, or the number of immigrants which may have been sent out, are a fair ■"and reasonable criterion of the preliminary expenditure required by a scheme of such magnitude as that on i which the Government are engaged, and on which they have as yet barely had time to enter. There is an old proverb that work half done should not be shown to fools or children ; but we do not think Mr Caldee would like'to take advantage of it. He ought to know that the cause of economy and prudence will not be served by crude assertions of this sort. The disappearance of " the best part of two millions" may serve" Tery well, as a rhetorical flourish, to round a period, but the Ministry, we imagine, are hardly iikely to be unseated, by such phrases. They must have learned, by this time, to regard with considerable equanimity the '. shouts of exultation with which their opponents are in the habit of celebrating every new discovery of a mare's nest of, unusual dimensions. { The proposed Board of Works Mr Caideb stigmatised as "a plain and unblushing attempt on the part of the Government to purchase, wholesale, the members 'of the Legislature." Well, if it were, it was an attempt that did not -succeed. But why did not Mr Caldes say the same thing in his speech on the .subject in the Assembly ? And why did he not inform, tip meeting th'at^ the idea, of this very Board of Works was originated the previous "session by the members^ofj'the<-(9pposition,-as-^-a~check-ron 1 the; Gfovernmenf ? ' WouTd w it^not have" "been fair to 1 .have mentioned: :;that the Ministry, in bringing down this proposal, were simply embodying "a" resolution •passed by. the Assembly^ the, year before., in deference to ijhe-wishes'fof their avowed ? "Yet 'such wa% the "fact, c as 5 .anyone may see who will be at the trouble to lodk up the debates on the subject. 1 Criticism like this, on the part of Opposition members, can only serve to strengthen /the hands of the Ministry, It is no part of our business, nor have we any inclination, to defend Mr Vogel'b Government from the legitimate consequences of their misdeeds, or of their failures, when such can be proved against them. v We, in- common /with all who desire the" welfare of tile country, apart from the success of this or that clique of politicians, would hail with pleasure the formation Tof a .vigilant,; intelligent, and powerful' Opposition. But Mr' Calber's querulous exhibition, on Monday night has; convinced us, that however we may respect;: his? good., [intentions, no ;very: effective contribution to sudh a result is to be expected .from the. . member for Invercargill.