The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1885. THE CORRUPTING INFLUENCE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1400, 10 September 1885, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1885. THE CORRUPTING INFLUENCE.

In our last issue we stated that the West Coa6t Railway would have to be made whether we liked it of not, but we did not think our prophetic words would be verified so soon. Since then the proceedings in Parliament hare proved that we gauged the situation pretty correctly. We stater) that corruption would run riot, that Governments would be made and unmade, that parties would be disorganised and Government rendered impossible until the clique thit clamor for this disgraceful job are satisfied. The motion brought forward by Captain Russell, and the discussion thereon, shows this to bo true. His motion was : " That in the opinion of this House it is desirable that the pubHc works expenditure be reduced by a sura of not less than £500,000." In itself this motion would appear to have very little effect od the subject to which we refer, but, after reading it, together with subsequent utterances, no other conclusion can b j arrived at but that the West Coast Railway is at the bottom of it, Mr Holmes, of Christchurch—the most violent, irrational and blind follower of the Government and supporter of the West Coast Railway—said he would vote for this motion. It amounts to a " no-confidence " motion ; it comes from one of the leaders of the Opposition. Why, then, should Mr Holmes vote for it ? He explained it himself, he said the West Coast Railway should be made side by side with the Otago Central and the North Island Trunk Lines. The whole thing is therefore explained. The Government have refused to make the West Coast Railway a Ministerial question, and consequently the railway clique are conspiring to throw them out of office, The clique have kept the Government in power so far, because they wanted to make tools of them to attain their own ends ; now they find them no longer of use they are determined to kick the ladder from under them. For this purpose they havp entered into a league with the ultra-economic party, and the object in view is to stop the Otago Central and the North Island Tiunk lines, unless the West Coast Railway be agreed to. The LytteiUn Times of yesterday admits this. It SBys in effect that Canterbury cares very little for the Government—it only cares for the railway—and that if Canterbury members turn out the Government so as to get the railway they need not be afraid of meeting with the disapproval of their constituents. The whole thing is therefore plain. The railway clique have entered into an alliance with those who desire to practise economy, so as to stop all works if their own cannot go on. This is as we predicted. We have no sympathy with the Government. They have allowed themselves to become the tools of unscrupulous cliques, but the cliques are principally of their own making, and consequently they have forfeited all claims to sympathy. The Government have now only one way out of the difficulty. The railway clique have treated them badly and shabbily, and the best thing they can do now is to throw them overboard. When the Government brought down their Financial proposals in the beginning of the session the railway clique, with a few exceptions, opposed them with a cold-blooded doggedness that made opposition amount to insult. They even refused to discuss the subjects submitted to them ; they threw back their proposals in their teeth ; they made mincemeat of evervthiug the Government brought forward. The Government, therefore, owe no debt of gratitude to this clique, and if tbey con circumvent the machination set on foot to oust them from office we shall be glad of it. However, it appears to us that this is difficult, if not impossible. lhe alliance formed bet ween those who desire to practice

economy and the railway clique most be powerful, and will in all probability be too numerous for the Government. What, then, are they to do? If the motion is carried, all railway work will be stopped at once, and thousands of men will be thrown out of employment. The unemployed cry will be louder than every it was before; there will be poverty and destitution all over the colony. Thnse are things that a Government cannot look forward to with any degree of comfort; all the blame of course will be thrown on the shoulders of the Ministers, and will prove disastrous to them at the next general elections. If they treat the matter as b "no-confidence" motion and resign lhey will throw the Government of the country into the hands of a number of cliques, who cannot agree amongst themselves on anything. The position of the Government appears to us a very difficult one, <ind the outlook for the colony is unpleasant. The corrupting influence is the East and West Coast Uailway ; it is the pivot upon which all chicanery and intrigue turns, and it is it which is demoralising politics, It would, we begin to believe, pay the colony better to agree to it—great a job as it is—than let things go on as they are,

There is one thing in this affair worthy of notice. When Major Atkinson was in power most strenuous efforts were put forward to compel him to agree to a reduction in the Estimates, but he always refused to do it. Now, that he is in Opposition, he is eternally preaching economy. The colony has not gained by the change of Ministry : in fact, it has lost, If we were to make another change now we would not gain anything by it, for no Ministry can in the present state of parties do any good. If Sir Julius Vogel were out of the present team, bad as they are, we belieye they are as good as any we could get, and consequently we shall bo sorry if they are ousted from office. Our chief reason for this is that if the Opposition were called upou to form an Administration now, parties would drift into a state of chaos once more, and things would go from bad to worse.