The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, JULY 10, 1888. RETRENCHMENT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1761, 10 July 1888, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, JULY 10, 1888. RETRENCHMENT.

Tiie "Skinflint , Committee, as theyare now called, are evidently not satisfied with the extent to whi<*h Sir Harry Atkinson has' carried retrenchment. They wish to carry it-a great deal further. ; Sir Harry boasts- of. having retrenched .to - the extent of £233,000, and r they, want, ,:hiin, to .cut down the rt expenses by another £IOO,OOO. Everyone must approve of economy, but it appears to us that the ''Skinflints" have gone mad on the subject. To make another reduction of £IOO,OOO, in addition to £233,000, appears scarcely possible, unless, indeed, that previous extravagance was something abominable Reductions would not have been possible unless there had been extravagance. Seductions have been made, therefore there must have been extravagance, and the question is, Who was responsible for it? Only the Continuous Ministry, certainly. With the exception of about 4-j years thej have held the reins of government from 1870 to the present time, and if there has been any bungling at all it has been of their making. Sir George Grey held power for nearly two years, but his hands were tied a'l the time. Sir Robert Stout was in office nearly three years, but the cry was " Keep the Ministry in.and their measures out." He did not increase expenditure, he reduced it, and he also reduced taxation on property. It; cannot fairly be said that the Liberal party has been the cause of the extravagance which has given such opportunities for retrenchment; nor can we admit that Sir Harry. Atkinson deserves any great credit for the reductions he has effected. The population has greatly increased during the last 18 years ; the demands on the energies of civil servants has increased proportionately, and -it looks absurd to talk of retrenchment when such is the case. The fact/that •retrenchment is' possible now, shows 'that the government of the colony has been carried on recklessly in the past. Sir Harry Atkinson has been the great financial light of the past, and cannot now claim credit for present economy without acknowledging responsibility for a large share of the disgrace attached to past extravagance. And now, what has all the retrenchment led us into ? Have we less taxes to -pay-? The Property Tax has been increased 816 tbs of a penny in the £, and the Customs duties from 5 to 50 percent. Had the Stout-Vogel proposals of 1885 been adopted all this would have been avoided, and'we should have been in a far better position now. The £550,000 which has since been added to our indebtedness by means of short-dated, debentures would never have been incurred, and our industries would have begun by this time to take ' a turn towards the prosperous point. But this was not done,- and the result is the present feat fully depressed condition of trade. Retrenchment was. not taken'in hand soon enough, and it is certainly disgraceful to past Governments that there has been so much room for it.