THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1893. PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2560, 26 September 1893, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1893. PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

The Public Works Statement, which was published last week, has no particular interest for people in this part of the colony. We have no unfinished railways, no roads, no bridges, no public works to construct, and therefore it does not interest us except in so far as it interests the colony as a whole. In that respect it appears to us that it must be regarded as extremely satisfactory. In the Financial Statement which the late Sir Harry Atkinson delivered in Parliament on the 25th of June, 1890, that is, over three years ago, at page 12 he said : “ I want the Committee to clearly understand that it will be impossible after this year to continue to find money out of loan in aid of settlementand, again, he says: “ The loan balance which is yet available will be completely exhausted by the end of this year,”—that is, three years ago. In order to provide funds for opening up the country, Sir Harry Atkinson propounded a scheme to the effect that money should be borrowed locally, and the interest paid by a rate levied on the land thus opened up for settlement. Anticipating objections to the scheme, he says : “ Honorable members will say that this is only borrowing in another form, and that is true,” and he goes on to show the advantages of it. Here we have in Sir Harry Atkinson’s own words the statement that the loan money available would be exhausted by the end of 1890, and that borrowing would be absolutely necessary after that date. Three years have passed over our heads, and we have not raised a loan since, and now our Minister of Public Works tells us that he has three-quarters of a million of money available for expenditure during the present year. There is no use in trying to get over this fact; it is hopeless for the Tories to talk about borrowing on the sly, or attempt to explain it away, The fact remains that the money is there, thatno loan has been raised, that taxation haifbeeu reduced instead of being increased, and that the colony is progressing more rapidly and in a more substantial way than during the wild period of extravagance. Let the Conservatives explain it as they will, the great central fact remains that three years ago Sir Harry Atkinson said it was “ impossible to get on without borrowing longer than the end of March, 1890,” and yet the present Government have done without it ever since. This is the first Government that has held office in. New Zealand for three years without raising a loan, and if they had done nothing but this it ought to entitle them to the confidence of the people. The financial results produced proves the utter unreliability of the cries which in the beginning were raised against them. They were galloping to a deficit; they were going in for extravagant expenditure of borrowed money; they were going to ruin the colony and create financial chaos; but what are the facts? Simply that their most determined opponents are struck speechless by the financial results produced by their policy, and have consequently ceased to indulge in the wild shrieks of a year ago. It is true the Tories continue to find fault, but the issues raised by them arp paltry and small. The fact is, the financial administration of the present Government has been raised above their heads ; it has been put beyond their grasp ; they have no one on their side who can discuss the J'lbjpct. Sir John Hall is the only mayi on the side of the House who possesseVsufficlT fc capacity to debate the subject, anu wad f h a terrible blunder in the discussion on ...

financial statement. The result was that all the budding Tory Treasurers in embryo re-echoed Sir Johu Hall's blunder, and when Vlr Ward replied and showed the utter fallacy of their statements they felt very small. We have to congratulate the Government on the result of their policy of solf-reliauce; , they have proved themselves careful and economical administrators, and it will be> \a bad day for New Zealand if they are not' reinstated in power.

THE ELECTORS. We have already yjrned the poorer classes that unless their wives and daughters register at once the next election will be altogether a very onesided one. Wo have it on good authority that of the 82 ladies who had registered in Timaru last Friday nearly every one oi them belonged to the wealthy classes. In the same way in Temuka yesterday morniugalargenumberof ladies had registered, ana the great majority of them were the wives and daughters of wealthy men. We have not the slightest objection to this, aud we only refer to it to direct attention to the absolute necessity of the poorer classes registering also, so as to give the Liberal party an equal chunce of success in the coming election. We believe that wealthy women will be far more kind, more considerate, and more sympathetic with the poor than wealthy men ; we believe that in the long run they will vote for improving the condition of the poor, and will insist that there shall not be a mother in the land whose children will cry for bread, when there is no bread to give them. Of that we feel curtain, for women are more humane and betternatured than men, and will eventually vote for improving the social condition of the people; but they have not yet commenced to study politics, and in the next election they will be completely under the tutelage aud dominion of their male relations. That means doubling the voting power of wealth, if the poorer classes of women neglect their duties, with the result that the present Governmeut will be defeated at the next election. Now this is not riyht, and the woman who neglects to register and vote, does a groat wrong not only to herself and her family, but perhaps to her . children's children. A part of the programme of the Conservatives is to give two votes to the rich, and only one vote to the poor. If they succeeded in passing that idea into law a Liberal will jioyor a.<>ain be elected to Parliameat, and the poor will be reduced to the miserable condition in which they are to be found iu the Old country. The issues |at stake, therefore, iu the coming election are of the greatest importance, and Liberals should strain every nerve to secure a majority. We warn them again that they must not delay. Parliament may be prorogued any day, and write issued, for the. »ew eiegtiQU..

When the writs arg issued it will then be too late to register, for no names can then be put on the roll. In order to give facilities to people to register we publish in another column the form of a claim for enrolment. Cut this form out of the paper, fill it in as directed, put it in an envelope addressed to the Registrar of Electors, Pareora, Timaru, or Kangitata, Ashburton, as the case may be, drop it in the Post Office and it will be all right.' There is no necessity to stamp the envelope, it goes free by post. In filling in the form it is necessary to be careful, lest it might prove informal. So to make the matter plain we hereby give a filled in form :

To the Registrar of the Electoral District of Pareora. 1 hereby claim to have my name inserted on the Electoral Roll of Pareora. 1 do hereby declare as follows :

My name, place of abode, and occupation or addition are correctly stated at the foot hereof, and the signature there appearing is my own proper signature. My age is not under twenty-one years. I am a British subject by birth or by virtue of naturalisation in Neio Zealand; (or if a Maori or half-cast) I am a Maori or half-caste aboriginal native of New Zealand.

I claim in respect of residence, as I have resided within the Colony of New Zealand for tivelve months, and within the said district for three months immediately preceding the date liereof* I am not, within my knowledge, registered in respect of any qualification for any other district in the colony, nor for the district for which I now claim to be registered. Mary Smith (Name in full.) Temuka Address.) Married Woman, Household Duties (Occupation.) Signed and declared by the Claimant this twenty-sixth day September, in the year 1893, before me, John Jones.

Registrar or Deputy Registrar, or Justice of the Peace, or Postmaster, or an Elector of the District.

Strike out all the italic words after " British subject by birth" relating to Maoris down to New Zealand.

If the woman desiring to be registered is single, let her insert spinster, domestic duties, or whatever her occupation is. If living in the Rangitata district the word Rangitata should appear wherever “ Pareora ” appears in the above. The paper must be witnessed by a Registrar, an Elector, a Postmaster, or a Justice of the Peace, but care must be taken that if an elector witness it his name is already on the roll. The boundary line of Pareora and Rangitata are as follows :—Starts at the Sea Reserve 5893, being in the Pareora District, and follows the course of the Ohapi Creek to Barker’s Road along that road to the railway line, then along the railway line down towards Winchester to the corner of section 5961, then across the boundary road to the Geraldine Main Road above Mr Deßenzie’s, then along the Main Road down to Deßenzie’s corner, then along the boundary road to the Hae-hae-te-mona river, and along that river to Campbell’s Road, along that road through Woodbury to the Waihi river, then up the mountains to the very apex of Mount Cook. On the other side the boundary of the Pareora and Timaru districts is the Opihi river from the sea to near Pleasant Point, then across the country to Claremont, then down Gosling’s Road te Saltwater Creek, and down by that creek to the sea.