The Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 1886. OUR PARLIAMENT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1513, 1 June 1886, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 1886. OUR PARLIAMENT.

I'hb eccentric conduct of our representatives in Parliament last Friday is only explainable by the fact that on the previous night they bad been at the Governor’s ball. In this their excuse is found. The question they were discussing was the new Justices of the Peace Bill. This Bill propbsed to make Chairmen of Road Boards Justices of the Peace, nnd this met with some disapproval, The first to thund»r against it was the Hon. Member for Geraldine, who, according to report, said something very uncomplimentary to people living in the country with regard to their fitness for the Commission of the Peace. Whatever any other member might have said, Mr Rolleston had no necessity to speak slightingly of the people in his own district. All the Chairmen of Road Boards in the Geraldine district are Justices of the Peace already, and it is no compliment to these gentleman to say that they are undoubtedly fir for the position. What tempted Mr Rolleston to sneer at country people is beyond our ken ; certainly it was not the unfitness of the men in his own' district. Then Mr Fitzherbert said he knew a J.P. who could neither read nor wtite, and when asked to sign a document turned it upside down, and declined to do so. We take the liberty of doubling this. Next it was proposed (bat Chairmen of School Committees should be J.P.’?, and Mr Wakefield proposed that every elector in New Zealand be a J.P., and pledged bis word of honor that he was in earnest. Members of Education Boards, Chairmen of River Protection Boards, Chairman of Charitable Aid Boards, members of both Houses of Parliament, and members of almost every public institution in the colony were proposed, till at last Sir Gtorge Grey brought forward his raotit n of making Justices of the Peace elective. The elective principle was affirmed by a large majority, but what will be done when the House regains its equilibrium is doubtful. With regard to electing J.P.’s, we have hitherto been opposed to it. but on mature consideration wc think it would be the best system, At present J.P.’s are appointed on the recommendation of Members of Parliament, and these make the selection, not because of any fitness for the position, but because the man happens to possess local influence. It is not the best man gets appointed, but the man that gives the most help to the member to get elected. The appointment of J.P.’s is virtually in the hands of the Member for the district, and we think it woald be safer to let the people themselves elect them than Ut one man, who has many interests to aerve, do §o. On this ground we think the elective principle would be the best, and consequently we trust Sir George Grey will be able to carry bis motion. «. CHEAP MONEY. Thb Cheap Money Bill entrusted by Mr J. H. Newfyn to Mr Ivess for introduction into Parliament, has been crushed out of existence before it saw the light of day. A meeting of members favorably disposed towards it has been held in Wellington, and they unanimously resolved—“ That this meeting is of opinion that the object of the Land Association Bill, viz., the cheapening of money advanced on land, would be better achieved by the draft bill prepared by Mr Macandrew, which is at once of wider scope and much more simple in its details, and that the Colonial Land Association be strongly recommended to adopt (ho ; latter in preference to the bill forwarded to Mr Ivosa." When its own friends have condemned the measure we see no hope for it, and Mr Newlyn’s scheme may therefore be regarded as virtually shelved. As regards the bill submitted hy Mr Macandrew it has been condemned in unmeasured terms by Sir Julius Vogel in his Financial Statement. The bill submitted by Mr Macandrew is to the effect that any person or copartnershp owning land registered under the Land Transfer Act, shall, on application at the band Transfer office, be entitled by way of mortgage to an amount equal to half the Property Tax value of his land at 4£ per cent interest, no sum thus borrowed to exceed £2OOO. His land, then becomes the property of the Crown until the principal and interest are repaid. The interest must be paid half yearly, and te be one half year’s interest in arrear renders him liable to be sold out. The money advanced thus to the farmer shall consist of Government debentures of not less than £SO, and bearing interest at per oont, and on application to the Co'ouial Treasurer these shall be convertible into State notes of not less than £1 and not more than £5. These State notes shall >e a legal tender, and the holders of them shall be ent tied to reconvert them into interest, hearing debentures. Such is the measure Mr Macandrew proposes. If ws understand this tightly, the meaning of it is, that any one who desires to raise a mortgage on his land may apply to the fiovernment, and the Government shall give him debentures of the nominal value of £SO, the interest on which shall be at the rate of 4£ per cent. So far the modus operandi is simple enough, but what he can do with fhe debentures we fail to see. Persons in this colony will not lend money at 4& per cent—-that is out of the question—and to go Home to England with such securities is eqmlly useless, but if the Liter course were practicable the expense would be too great. He can only go back to the Government an<l convert the dobeulnres into legal tender notes, but for the life of us we cannot see why this should not have been the first step. Then supposing these legal lender State notes should be put in circulation, wtiat would be the result I Simply to bring paper money into disrepute Before Government notes can be put in circulation the power to issue paper money

must bo withdrawn from hanking institutions. If this were done banks would bo glad to got notes so as to save their gold, lut so long as they possess the power to issue their own notes, they would very soon bring discredit on any other kind of paper money brought into computitioo with their own. There i« no man who knows anything about currency but will at once admit that it is wrong to allow banks to issue paper money. It is indisputably the prerogative of the Grown to do so. Then why should this not bo taken advantage of, and the £1,000,000 note issue of this colony utilised in this cheap money scheme instead of the roundabout way of first issuing debentures, next converting them into State notes, and then reconverting them into debentures again. Sir Julius Vogel in his Financial Statement uses exactly the same argument as to the inefficiency of this proposal, which we have so often used. Our readers will remember that we have frequently shown that the mousy could not be raised at par, and that very probably a loan such as suggested would not realised more than between 90 and 95 per cent, that is, there wou'd be a dead loss of between £5 and £lO on every £l3O borrowed. Sir Julius Vogel says “to lend by giving to the borrower debentures which he would have to sell at a discount would mean to give him less money than (he loan proposes. Supposing they bore 4 per cent interest and were current for 15 years 1 am sure they would not realise £9O per £IOO, and if they bore 5 per cent interest they would not realise anything over £95 per £100.” The meaning of this is that for every £IOO one would borrow he would get only £9O or £95 and the balance would be for ever lost to him. Now this is exactly what we have frequently pointed out, and it is on this account that we have held that the only way in which anything can bo done In the way of assisting farmers is by establishing a National Bank. There is no half way course ; we must go the whole length or not at all. The matter is in the hands of the people themselves ; and if they do not take advantage of it, the day is not far distant when all the lands in this colony will be in the hands of the mortgagees, and the present owners hewers of wood and drawers of water for them.