Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1874. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 358, 23 May 1874, Page 2

Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1874. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

The reasons which led to tho disruption of the -late Government have now been placed before the public, and after all 'they really amount to this, that Mr. Turnbull neglected hia duty, left the onus of the Executive business to his Honor and Mr. Bastings, and then grumbled at what had been done by them. As regards the charge made against Mr. Bastings with regard to the diversion of a vote from one road to another, nothing could be of a more flimsy character. To say that Mr. Bastings' personal interest in the imvtter in any way influenced -'him is to state what is obviously at variance with .fact, for it is well known that if Mr. "Bastings hag any such interest, it would .influence him in having the vote expended as originally intended, seeing that for the purposes of his private business he uses the Teviot road much more than the road from Tokomairifo to Lawrence. It- must not be supposed that what Mr. Bastings is accused of doing is' in any way unusual or improper. A reference to the balance sheet for years past will show that the transfer of votes has been a common practice, and in , fact , is and always has been sanctioned by the Appropriation Ordinance. It often occurs that the amount voted for a particular work 1 proves, upon investigation by the Engineers' Department, altogether inadequate for the intended purpose. It also happens not 'infrequently that snch a work has been (commenced -and partly completed before it is discovered that the vote will .be insufficient. The proper course in such case, when the law' permits, is to make a transfer of a vote which would otherwise lapse, owing to ifcs insufficiency, to another similar purpose, so that one work may at all events be proceeded with. Having done this, which is not only lawful but proper, ia all that Mr. Bastings is accused bf. There can be little doubt his colleague would not have pursued such a course' in the case of votes for roads in the interior. He would have allowed both votes to lapse, and made, no attempt to do either of the works. Ib is true that every effort ' should be made to expend the revenue in accordance with the wishes of the Council ; but] if vofes are pissed, as they often are, without sufficient previous information aa to the' oofet or the intended work, cases such as those above referred will very frequently occ>tr. The Provincial Government has drifted into a most vicious system of allowing private members of _the,Coxmcil to load' the Estimates with. the course' pursued in every well governed country, of ascertaining through skilled officers the requirements of the country, and from the information thus obtained deducing and following a Consistent policy. A great amouiit of revenue has been already squandered in, works which; while gratifying to private members, are really useless 1 as regards the general public, • The gigantic piece of waste and corruption',. that has been going on for years in subsidising Road Boards is a part of the same vicious systtem. No Governmenb'woiild' now stand a day that proposed; to abolish it,-forche immediate result of „an attempt to do so would be the loss of. tpe support of ali.tlie "old identity Councillors. Biit to return to Mr. Bastings and MrrTurnbull, it is somewhat singular that, wlrle, the latter sK'ould have felt it such, a grievous wrong ,in Mr. Basting to : effect the completion fof. a ,mpst necessary -work — a work in fact of suqh an urgent character that itis r iio t thing shoft of a disgrace to the Provincial Government that it was! not completed, seven or/ eight year.a ago-TrliQ does ..not, appear to have been at all squeamish about handing' 1 over, at the. suggestion of DrY Webster, to the Corporation of Oamaru a "sum considerably larger than necessary for tW^ompsfcion of a road there. ' T-he Treasurer's mind is evidently of a kind • which " compounds for sins. he is inclined to by damming those hs has no mind to." TJpon what other principle can he explain his iassent to giving,- in the- face of his own officer's report, several hundreds more for a work than it could possibly cost? It would' 3>e -interesting. to know what was done, with the surplus of this vote by the body who expended it. One hope itself 'from' the views expressed' by Mr. Turnbull — may it be realized ! 'He evidently takea an interest in the Lawrence and Teviot road ; it is the arterial- : highway to the interior; it' was .last winter in au all but impassible state ; life has, been sacrificed through the ' dangerous steepness of its gradients. Will he place on the estimates such a sum as will complete it right throughCrbmwellj and make it safely passable at all times 'of the year ? Thanks to Mr. Bastings, a little has beeu done to improve it during the past summer. If MrBastings did wrona; in doing so little, will Mr. Turnbull and Mr. Reid do more? We call upon the up-country members to put them to the test. And will they do the like witli regard to that important and almost equally dangerous ' road from Waihemo to Naseby ? It is to" such works as thesQ that the resources of the Province; should- be devoted, instead of-, being dissipated in making every cockatoo a road to his own cow-house. In continuing our maiti trunk roads, and bridging our dangerous rivers, there is plenty of work for good administrators ; and if Messrs. Reid and Turnmill really desire to gain the confidence of the country and make amends for their neglect of its true interests heretofore, let them devote themselves to the task with some-

thing like ihe-.same energy that Mr. Bastings hat done during his term^of office. Six kours a-week will not suffice for an efficient performance of the, duties^ • of Provincial Secretary and Treasurer of Otago 1 -; and,' if Mr. Turnbull exhibits no greater devotion to the public service for the future than has been for the past, there can belittle doubt that a majority of Beven at present possessed by his Government will, before the lapse of another year, bo reduced to a minority of seven.; It is well that the public show know how 4 their monej is spent ; and it is well worth bearing in raind that a public servant who receives £55j) a-year for work to which he only devotes bix hourß a-week, is about the best" paid, individual in the' Colony. Tt will be well. r therefore, to see and enquire whethter the work done is really worth the money ; or whether equal efficiency cannot be secured at a smaller cost. According to Mr. Turnbull's own admission, he has done very little beyond drawing his salary and grumbling at his more energetic colleague ; and yet it is well-known that no one is more ready to attribute mercenary and „ unworthy motives to ojjfeers than himself, of which hia disgraceful but futile attempt to damage Mr. Bastings is a recent instance. We would conclude ,by asking Mr. Turnbull why he draws £550 a-year from the Treasury for. doing next to nothing ?