The Temuka Leaker TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 1891. RETRENCHMENT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2177, 17 March 1891, Page 2

The Temuka Leaker TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 1891. RETRENCHMENT.

Moee retrenchment? We thought we had heard the end of it; we thought that all the possible lopping off, ia the police force at any rate, had already been effected. It does not appear to us that the present retrenchment is wise. It looks to us too much like yielding to public clamor. The Public Works Department has certainly less to do now than formerly, and consequently there is nothing extraordinary in reducing its staff of officers, but no such reasons affect the police. Their work is the same, and it must increase as the population becomes larger, yet this appears to be the favorite department with Ministers to indulge their retrenching proclivities on. This department was attacked some nine or ten years ago, when large numbers of inspectors were retrenched. Again two or three years ago the pruning knife was applied afresh, and another batch of officers got rid of. Now again we find the present Ministry following m the beaten track of former retrenches with a fidelity that robs their conduct of all claims to originality. We are not at all satisfied that the attack on the police department is at all prudent. We may be told that if we want economy we must be prepared to surrender many of the conveniences we enjoy. No doubt we must, but we do not think the police should be cut down till their efficiency There is no branch ef the public service which we could less afford to do without, yet none has been so severely retrenched. If life and property are not properly protected the country will not be fit to live in, and|we cannot see how they can be if retrenchment is run riot to madness like this, How can one man superintend and direct all the police in Canterbury. He cannot do it, his work must be inefficiently done, and weakened police protection must be the -result. Mr Pender is the best police officer in New Zealand, but he will not be able to attend to all the duties imposed upon him. The result will be that in a few years the places of the men who retire now on their superannuation allowance must be filled. We shall pay the officers who retire now about two years salary, and before the end of the two years other officers will have to take their places, We are surprised at the present Government surrendering in such a weakkneed sickly way to a mere clamor, but above all we are surprised that they have not displayed some little bit of originality in their proceedings. There was no room for retrenchment in the police department; as shown by Captain Eussell no people pay less for police protection than we do, but we do think that there is room in many of the other departments, The amalgamation of offices has been talked of for years, why is it not done P Let that be done, let red-tapeism be greatly diminished and the circnmlocntion office abolished, and if these aradafrii tended to retrenchment can be effectewj

Let political jobbery and patronage be crushed under foot, let us have a pure, honest, independent administration that will tell vote-sellers to take them to some other market, let us have true economy without inefficiency, and the country will be satisfied- Who are clamoring for retrenchment ? The political enemies of the Government, who are making a cry of it just to suit their own purposes. Their mouthpiece told us not long ago that further retrenchment was not possible, which shows quite plainly that there is no sincerity in their scream. The Government have yielded to this empty cry of their enemies quite regardless of the good opinion of their friends, and they will yet find that this is au unwise course. At any rate if we must give up luxuries let us be deprived of them, but let us have at any cost efficiency in our police force, and that we cannot have if men are called upon to do more than they possibly can,

COMMERCIAL PROSPECTS,

It is very frequently the case that when wool is dear wheat is cheap, and vice versa. It is so at the present time, wheat is going up and wool is coming down, but why ic should be so is what we cannot understand. We can understand why wool is coming down, we also can understand why wheat has an upward tendency at the present time, but why it should prove a general rule that dear wool should mean cheap wheat is beyond our comprehension. Wool is coming down in price now because a season of depression in the woollen industry is setting in, owing to overproduction. For several years wool has sold at a good price because the factories were very active, and consequently consuming large quantities of it. They are now overstocked, and consequently

must slacken off until they can dispose of the goods they have in hand. The other day a cablegram informed us that a large woollen manufacturer had failed, and that a great many others were shakey. This, we believe, is the beginning of the depression which periodically visits that indstry, but it appears to us that it has come round this time sooner than usual. No doubt the great disturbance in financial matters is the cause of it. Owing to the recent panic in the money market, over-stocked manufacturers eannot easily obtain advances on their goods, and are obliged to contract their operations until they have disposed of their surplus stocks. This w® think is the cause of the fall in wool, and the immediate cause in the rise in the price of wheat is the faet that the crops in Europe have been very much damaged by frosts. All this we can satisfactorily explain, but what puzzles us is, that as a general rule wheat gets dear when wool gets cheap. One would think that greater activity in wool, would as a natural consequence improve the demand for wheat. When wool is dear the factories are employing more hands and consequently the consumption of wheat ought to be greater. Still the fact remains that wheat and wool very seldom sell at good prices in the same year. Probably the explanation is, that when farmers find wool bringing a good price they lessen their production of wheat and increase their production of wool. That, we suppose, is the cause of it. The derangement of the money market and the severe winter have contributed to bringing about the altered conditions of affairs this year, but it is an ill wind that blows no body good. Our farmers never wanted good prices better than this year. They have had .an indifferent harvest, and they want something to help them along. We feel certain they will get good prices for wheat this year, and as for barley, there is none of it to be got. We are told that brewers are already buying up wheat for the purpose of malting it. Oats too, will be scarce, although there is a great supply of it in Southland. Sheep are selling well, and on the whole we hope that the farmers will fare better than they expected.