THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, JULY 6, 1880.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3596, 6 July 1880, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, JULY 6, 1880.

It has been an universal subject of consideration of new arrivals that whenever a local body cannot make both ends meet, it flies to the Government for aid. Indeed, it appears that the local bodies consider that the Government are bound to help them, and imagine they have a claim on the Government. Boroughs, Counties and other institutions when in monetary difficulty always lay their whines at the feet of Government, and if not accommodated with a cool thousand or so consider themselves grossly illused. The Government to a great extent have been the means of encouraging this begging system, and hare beea to blame in many instances in granting sums of money to local bodies. So long as a local body can obtain assistance from the Colonial exchequer so long will they not be independent. At home local bodies such as Highway Boards, Burial Boards, Corporations and others are left by the Imperial Government to sink or swim as they think best. If they can manage to k«ep their finances out of difficulty all well and good, but if not they must cease being individual bodies and merge into the corporate estate of the nearest large town. As an example the town of Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham has an amount of £33,000 to its credit, arid the Corporation having been unable to keep their expenditure within bounds, hare been compelled to merge into the County of Warwick. No appeals for help were made to the Government. On the contrary, the County, seeing that the Sutton Corporation could not keep their roads and highways in proper repair, and receiving petitions from the inhabitants on the subject, gave notice that the Sutton estate would become part of the County funds. The Corporation, as a matter of course, made a great to do over the matter, and requested a Royal Commission, but to their dismay that august Commission was not appointed, and a note was received from the Homo Secretary—rery curt and to the point, saying, " That the Corporation, not being capable of managing their own affairs, must dissolve, and allow a more competent body to deal with their business transactions." This is but one instance of the numerous cases of the kind which have taken place. In the same way working men arriving in * the colony and not finding work petition the Government to give them employment. After asking Government to bring them to New Zealand at the expense of the New Zealand taxpayer they want him to contribute a further sum -towards his main-

tenance. Here again the action of the Government is to be condemned, as if men cannot (or will not, which is often the case) obtain work themselves they should be made to suffer for their culpable carelessness. We noticed a letter in a Home paper from a New Zealand emigrant stating that " there was a depression in all class of trade in the colony, but that that made no difference, as the Government found plenty of work for them to do." This was some time ago when the first lot of emigrants were in receipt of Government pay. If the Government pursue this style of policy, inaugurated by Sir Julius Vogel, Heaven only knows what we shall come to. At the present time, when business is so bad, it is folly of Government to employ emigrants, in many cases totally unfitted for the woik allotted to them, and pay them out of the revenue. The action is much the same as if the Government said, " Colonists of New Zealand, you will not employ these men yourselves. We will, and make you pay for their keep all the same." This method of bringing out emigrants at a cost of something like £15 a head, and taxing the colonists to to support them, is only another illustration of burning the candle at both ends. If this state of things goes on, Christchurch will not be the only city with a public soup kitchen, and we may expect to see those undesirable domiciles so lamentably frequent in England—the workhouses—in our midst.