NEW ZEALAND'S EXTREMITY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1215, 9 August 1884, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND'S EXTREMITY.

(Fedrral Australian, Jane 7.) It is curious to note the credulity of a people in .the hour of their extremity. • Forgetful altogether of the cause* of their i present distress, the New Zealanders, in i their anxiety to be relieved of the burdens | which are depressing commerce and .lestroying" confidence, reoeive to their ! bosomiy and listen' to the counsels of, the 1 very man whose reckless policy of former years'has now reaped for tlieuu such a bountiful harvest .of despair, distrust, y ■. division, and distress.. A finer opportunity for the trading politician could not present itself than the position that suffering New Zealand offers today. And Sir Jalius Vogel revisits the soenes of his former excesses and extravagances to find his bleeding country suffering * recovery from the profligate misrule ha so cunningly Revised. Torn in mind, distressed in f Spirit, and impoverished in pocket; pscillating dubiously between the drastic economy pursued by'the Atkinson Government, the i"definite and meaning lessj>olicy of tha Opposition, and the bursting-up policy and grim tyranny which lies hidden in the shadow of Sir George Grey, the unhappy New Zealanders are glad to clntch at any straw which shows a promise of a change. Hence New Zealand's extremity is Yogel's opportunity ; nor is he slow to improve it. . With the ocular cunning and the »lausibie tongue of the -** experienced and Jesigoing politician, Sir JuliusVogrl hastens to harrangue the constituents of the East Coast, and once more to show them how he can lift the colony out of "the depths of depression" into which certain divernments have erecipitated it. Mark"the adroit subtlety with which tliis experienced rhetorician makes hi'3 first bid for popularity *Bd sends his fir>fc missile whizzing into the enemy'e camp with unerring aim : " For obvious reason* I do not wish to refer toouticularGovernments and particular Ministries. ' When Marc Antony, wanted to rally the populace into a common band to avenge the foul assassination of Csps&r, he was far too keen to commence his oration by condemning the assassins, he eloquently burst forth into a negative attack : '' Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears : I come to bury C«sar ? not to praise him.". .' , , Sir Julius Vogel, with equal cunning though wiihjl.ass eloquence, asks, "But am I wrong in saying that one sterna to Tit

with the other who shall say the harshssi things and inspire the most dread in the minds of the holders of properly. It it the custom of the more expenencec politician at Home not to attack by direcl charges against the Minietry. He sendi his shots into the enemy's ranks with more deadly destrnotion when he assumes the attitude of thegracious Oppositionist, whc simply points out what might hare beet done, and what still can be accomplished. But we fear Sir Julius is wasting botl time and energy in penning platitudea and delivering orations avowing the disinterestedness with which he is ready tc Bervf the East Coast during hie " short visit." Too well is he known—rightly 01 wrongly—as a politician who scruples at nothing, who would sacrifice principle, person, or province if they stood in the way of his attaining his ends, and who has nothing on this earth to serve half so important as the interests of Juhui Vogel. It cannot be possible that, knowing this man as well as the colonisti of New Zealand do, they would be se weak and intemperate as to put him in power again. At this particular moment, too, such a step would be even more suicidal than at a period of -prosperity. Every thoughtful man who has given New Zealand's position any consideration knows that the present depression is eimplv the natural re-aclion cf previous extravagance. The only remedy which will restore, and which is gradually restoring, her former, robustness of commereial health,"* is a system of rigid economy. However distasteful such a policy may be, and however difficult it may be to support oneself against the etringeucy which such a policy imposes it is, nevertheless, the only remedy which will restore that repose and prosperity which New Zealand so sadly wants. A ■ation, like an individual, must live within its prescribed income. If it ■hould run into extravagances beyond its means, and borrow on its capital is order to do so, it is certain that increased debt will not restore it to its former condition of easy circumstances. And this is precisely New Zealand's condition at this moment. To put Sir Julius Vogel into power again would be to resurrect the eld policy of profligate expenditure, which has brought about the present painful but neceseary economy. This modern Bolingbroko has shown by his public career that expenditure never enteTs ieto his calculations of ways and means beyond the adroit scheming necei■ary toj obtain the voto which authorises it. And this man has the effrontery to offer himself as a steward of an oxhiustod exchequer. One citation from bis address will be sufficient to convince the most esptical that ho still clings ardently to his old principles. Immersed in debt, as is the colony of New Zealand, for money spent principally in extravagant public works, no tax could be more righteous than a property tax. Yet Sir Julius Vogel would abandon this impost as a tramp card in his policy, as follows.— ■«'l dislike the Property Tax. It " diminishes the value of proporty by far "more than the amount it returns. As "regards its influence o« peraonal pro- " peity, it is a tax on culture, on refine- " moot, on education, on the arts of pro- •' duction—on all in fact, having a tendency,, to improve the colony. As

•'regards its effect on real estate, it ii ." open to the vital objection that is not " expended in the neighborhood of where "it is railed ; revenue raised by direct " taxation of real property should be spent "by local boards for local purposes. I see "no reason to doubt that the Property "Tax, aa for as it is needed, can be replaced by less objectional taxation." A property tnx is certainly «ot a desirable tax from a politic FO' nt °' rloyr when s> celony's «xp»nditura can be mat by taxing consumable commodities in a manner sot too burdensome to the people. But what' shall be said of a coloDy that has amassed a debt of £31,816,000, with a population of 560,000 people, and principally for an extravagant scheme of public works I As we'understand our responsibility for loans r our estates, both public and private (our public estates avowedly, and our private estates morally) are pledged to the British investor in our bonds, as security for his money. Is it net righteous and just, then, that the elass of assets which profit most by large •xpenditure of money on public works—which are clearly the estates of our propertied classes —should contribute spe- | cifically for the protection received, ( whether they be in city, suburb, or interior! The question will not bear a second thought, and Sir Julius Vogel's impotent objection that such money " is not expended in the neighborhood of where it is raised," is as illogical in argument as its intention as a "sop"to tho , propertied class is clear. It is pretty certain that the propertied classes who pay income tax understand it as an insurance fund towards the maintenance of law and order and security for the protection of their rights as property-holders. But if, on the other hand, they find.the property tax intolerable, surely they will not think more tolerable the man through whose reckless exploits its incidence became a paramount necessity. With their former folly so" vividly before them, we refuse to believe that the New Zealanders will again trust themselves to the machinations of SirJuliuß

Vogel. Coming, then, to the next candidate for leadership in the order of strength — certainly not of merit—we have to deal with Sir George Grey. Sir George Grey is well known in New Zealand, and we should think that his Cromwellian tendencies—the least desirable qualities of this famous chief are what he reproduces should be sufficient to reduce his chances to a minimum. Burke has told us that " all Government is founded on compromise and barter." But with Sir George Grey there is no such thing as compromise or barter. He is nothing if " not iron-willed, tyrannical and despotic. fls may pose before the hoipolloi as their ehosen apostle and as an advocate for the " barsting-up" of large estates. Equally may he indulge in eloquent parables on Grecian land issues; but we scarcely think that Sir George Grey's remedies, heroic as they are, will reassure the impoverished taxpayers, or give employmenl to the unemployed. The principles whicl he enunciated at phristchurch may fal with a certain charm while the words ar< ringing in the ears of a section of l>ii jradience; bijt they will certainly no cpmmend themselves to moderate men This is the style of harrangue the honor •Vie gentleman indulged in:—

« The poor man had worked and made » the railroads and got nothing more than "theright to pay a certain sum annually. " Why did they make the increased value "of property, which was enhanced by !" those works, a present to the rich "owners, while they themselves remained j "poor 1 If the people asserted their "rights they would soon become land- " owners themselves ; but if > they " would remain poor all their lives. It is scarcely fitting that L the knight of " Kawau," himself a large landed proprietor, should enunciate such agrarian principles as these. Not .only, thu, but he continues as follows : -" It was said, "why not burst tip l*»'g° estates and "nationalise them; but would the people, "in addition to the unearned increment, "agree to give the landowners a large "sum for their land, and thereby add "still further to their own burdens? " Why was a nation to consent to pay a " little more for holding their lane than " they should do merely because they had "bsen wronged in the first -s. t: ance ? '•Let them put on a lain! ux first. (Cheera). . The idea of talking about "bursting up the large estates " and dividing the «« unearned increment" in the same breath is paradoxical in the extreme. We should like to aek tin's apostle of confiscation if he has ever reflected upon the fact that "unearned increment" is the "syllogism" in the sum of general prosperity* of which "large estates" are the major premises, and "capital and confidence the minor premises. He could no divorce one from the other and have the same result, than he could poultice the humps off a camel's back with bread and water. Seriously, we refuse to believe for a moment that Sir George Grey is earnest in his advice to the working men of Christchurch. Nevertheless his extraordinary counsels show what "clap-trap and " anarchical tinkering " public men, who from their social position should be immeasurably above such truckling, will resort to when they are desirous to be transferred from the cold shade of Opposition to the Government bsnehes. Respecting the Atkinson Government, we have only this to say. They succeeded to power at a most critical epoch in the colony's life. They have had Herculean difficulties bequeathed to them by former Governments, and have upon the whole fulfilled their difficult task . satisfactorily. Clamorous politicians may promise better times, but it is impossible for them to provide them. What New Zealand requires is rest and time to recuperate. Wary and active politicians can no more restore to its old vigor the prssent feeble circulation of blood in'the commercial arteries by political tinkering, thßn a repression of the legislative fever burning with such heroic ardour in the breasts of that knightly duumvirate, George Grey and Julius Vogel, can chill it below its present weak palsation. Our duty has eeen to give advice, and this we have endeavored to do, at once fearlessly and audibly. We do not know eithor of the gentlemen referred to, except by their " works," as recorded in the Statute Book The net result of these has been to produce unparalleled distress on a younj though highly productive country on the one hand, and a lasting monument of incapacity or culpability on the other.