The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1880.

Temuka Leader, Issue 263, 27 May 1880, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1880.

When we gave Our opinion of the Pre'miers speech at Leeston, it was after reading a report of tin- speech published by the Timaru Herald. Knowmg that that journal is a servile follower of tlie Hall GoVermu m, an'd ‘that its editor is an abj ct supporter of the Premier, we thought that the editor in question would not have issued a spurious report of-, the Premier’s address. Having read a full and true report issued by the Lyttelton Times, which (although an Opposition journal) can be trusted, we are pleased to find that Mr Hali dhl condescend to give a little information regarding the intentions of the Ministry. The Premier promises that the Education Grants will not be withdrawn ; we rely more upon Mr Rolleston than Mr Hall for this being proved a fact. The Premier also says he will retrench ; it is only a promise. Beyond this, all is dark. The almost universal condemn ttion of the Property Tax led us to to hope that it would be abandoned, but Mr Hall stil' seems to clasp it to bis bosom, and by it we fear he will sink. The main features in the Premier’s speech are the recriminatins and retorts, which shows that his mind is as dwarfed ns is his body. A person who could go into ecstacies over a saving of a few thousand pounds, and avoid the fact that the Property Tax would fall short of about £150,000 of the sum expected,in the flippant way Mr Hall did, is not reassuring We would not be surprised if the Ministry abandoned their intention of collecting this tax, for the rea_ son that it would all be eaten up by the expense of collection Mr Hall says the present depression will soon pass away We had hoped so, too, but on reviewing the subject we are compelled to come to the conclusion that this is not likely to lie the case in the Middle Island There will not be, for many years, the same abundance of money that there was during the Public Works period No more millions dare be borrowed to spend on public works Our Land Fund can never return; and agriculturists may never again enjoy the prosperity and high prices that ruled for several years A gain, strangers, will not now come here and give Ll 5 to L2O an acre for land The way that the Lincolnshire delegates gave us the cut direct is proof of our assertion Some people say that it is only a depression that periodically visits every community We thought that once, but it is not so 2s ew Z aland is placed at a disadvantage by being so far.from the centres of population, and (unless by free immigration) the inhabitants will not largely increase There is no alternative but retrenchment, so the Civil Service ranks must be reduced ; not, however, by dismissing a few badly-paid servants, but by beginning with thost rcceiv ing high salaries, and reducing them, and by turning off those not needed Our Land Boards, Home Agency, Surrey, and Police Departments might do away with some of their over-paid commissioner ß flew Zealand has been running too fast The Premier’s antecedents forbids us to believe what he says, and a spirit of revenge evinced by him compels us to distrust him In speaking of the Middle Island as likely to suffer most, we are not rec kon, ing without our host. The compact which Mr Hall made with the Auckland members, and the way he and Mr. Rolleston tried to curry favor with the North Island electors all along and the power of that subtle member of the Government, Mr; Whittaker, over the weaker menibers, shows us that we ate in danger. For the last few years the North Island has b • n living on the Middle Island. H' r lands have been nearly all sold, and tl e mone} 7 transferred to Wellington to be expended in the North Island Not a word of complaint by the Premier against the extravagant waste of money in making such railway lines as the Masterton line. Not a word of the heavy expenditure of public money in an obscure place like Taranaki. Not a word about the expensive Governor’s House, or Ministerial residences, nor of reducing the salaries of Ministers. When we see Mr. Hall begin at the top of the tree to curtail expenses, instead of the cheese-paring policy of dismissing a lot of working men. then will we believe he is sincere in his desire to see New Zealand prosper. Logrolling is Mr Hall’s watchword, and no sacrifice of a renewal of his term of office. The coming session will likely disclose to us a new series of plots to thwart the object of true Liberals to bring about a dissolution, to give the electors a chance of sending men of their own choice to Parliament, and every artifice wi.l be resorted to to stave off such a consummation. Just now taxation is the only remedy a Hall Government can devise for relieving the colony of the present distress. Taxation and stoppage of pub ic woiks at a time when trade of every sort is almost at a standstill is almost an act of cruelty. The thousands that are now out of employment will be augmented every week for the next few months. Wives and families will be kept in a state of semi starvation, similar to that in which the country was during Mr Rol eston s rcigu as Superintendent of Canterbury. Yet the Minister for Lands tightens ihe pnr-e-sU’ings, and says let them starve. Mr Hall makes a great

flourish of trumpets about what a firm lot of prime land the Government will be abl j to offer on deferred payments Mr Rolleston boasted that lands in Canterbury would be open -oft the system of deferred payments years ago. So (here was, but such land ! It. will won be remembered the lots offer'd at temuka at the late and sales— shingle banks and old rivv beds. It was nothing less than an insult to working men ro ti" 7 to induce them to promise to pay a long pri e and bind themselves to reside on such rubbish. This is like all Mr Rollestons’s sclmim s. He cannot afford to be generous in pub’ c matters ; it is not his nature to be so. It is a sad state of matters to have m r n at the head of affairs at such a trying tirm as the present. It is to be hoped a change for the better will soon come about.