THE LATE FLOWER SHOW. THE POLICY OF BORROWING.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2456, 26 January 1893, Page 3

THE LATE FLOWER SHOW.

THE POLICY OF BORROWING.

TO THE EDITOR. g IR) —In answer to Cosmopolitan 1 can state for a fact, and I can prove it should your correspondent wish it, that the painting for which Miss Parkerson received the prize was her own design, and I think it is very vulgar of him and shows a great want of taste in bringing this young lady’s name before the public unless he could substantiate his statements. —I am, etc., Disinterested.

TO THE EDITOR. Sill, I quite agree with your correspondent Cosmopolitan that it would be better if some people remained dumb, especially in his own case. Had he followed that golden rule he would not have exposed his own or his friend’s ignarance. I am sorry for his friend’s thirty years reputation, but I know for a fact that the painting mentioned by him as being “ c.wn design ” was not so, but painted from nature, which is more creditable to the artiste Bye-the-bye what a queer stick this authority must be—a professor of fancy work and painting, is he kept in Winchester ! It is strange this wonder has not been heard of before. The criticism of your correspondent would have come better if he had understood what he was writing about, without having to call in other help. Cosmopolitan evidently does not }uiow the meaning of the word “ indiscriminately.” I cannot give him the information re fancy cushions, etc., as that work was judged by connoisseurs in that particular brand). Your correspondent exposes his ignorance of managefpetit wllPii he expects the judges 'to arrange the exhibitions, and I would ask him where he expects to get an expert for each subject in a small place like Temuka. No doubt the management would be glad of a few hints, but they would be more glad of a little help, especially from your 'correspondent, whv } ; evidently, knows iVerythiiig. ‘ Now 'Cosmopolitan oorao i'U'tiig nibjt’ time and give the committee the benefit of your superior knowledge flUd experience; also bring the one who lias heCU connected for oyer thirty years with the fancy work and painting. You arc the sort of man that is wanted to w,n the show. Don!t stay at \yiuchqstcr hobbiqg"behind the 'fences'throwing stones at ||j. —I am, etc., " ' ' ons of the Judges. ['This correspondence 111 list how close, -Ed.]

Australia is beginning to realise the truth of the old proverb that he who goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing. This feeling (says the Leader), did not arise while our credit remained unimpeachable and when British investors poured out their money without even the pressure of an invitation. But now an entire change has come over the spirit of this dream. There is a disposition to proceed from the extreme of confidence to the extreme of distrust, and any intimation of a projected loan is received with an outburst of protestation and disgust. A more practical expression of the difference is evidenced in the higher price which the colonies are now called upon to pay. Money, like other commodities, is likely to be influenced by market fluctuations, and in national as well as in private undertakings the necessities of the borrower furnish the opportunity of the lender. In the determination to continue the policy of the past the colonies have been blind to the consideration of the price which they are called upon to pay. Figures recently published prove that despite all warnings borrowing has continued in one form or another almost without a check. The average amount of loans obtained in immediately preceding years has been £9,500,000, and in 1892, notwithstanding the reiterated failures on the London market, nearly £8,000,000 was secured. When stock could not be floated funds were raised by Treasury bills, but in one way or the other the total of indebtedness was increased to the amount stated. New South Wales was even more active than Victoria on these methods of borrowing, although at the present moment, in expectation of a new loan, Victorian stock has been driven down to a lower level. If our difficulties ceased with securing the money, we might congratulate ourselves on the success obtained in overcoming the unwillingness of investors to lend, but we have to boar in mind that every new loan entails additional responsibilities on the people, and that every increase of interest comes out of the pockets of the public. The debt charges are being abnormally swollen by the extra inducements wo are now forced to offer. In 1889 Australasia borrowed over £11,000,000 at a cost not very largely in excess of the amount we have now to pay on £8,000,000. It must not be forgotten that the more we pay for the money the less liklihood is there of remunerative returns from its expenditure on public works. As the Sydney Morning Herald points out “ If all, or nearly all, the newer railways constructed with money borrowed at about at about 3| per cent, leave a considerable loss, some of them not paying their working expenses, it may well be asked what chance is there of others, constructediu still more sparsely peopled country, giving a profitable return on capital borrowed at 4 to 4} per cent ?” This is a consideration which should give pause even to the most reckless of railway “ log-rollers.”