WELLINGTON NOTES.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 269, 2 April 1898, Page 4

WELLINGTON NOTES.

[n;ou our own corri>i'ONdentl. Wklungton, March '2l. THE LOBD UP MISRULE, lx would be impossible for the most biassed supporter of the Seddon Government to pick out any department in which jobbery, corruption or maladministration i 3 not manifest. The difficulty would be in selecting the worst. That much belauded branch of state known as the Labour Itepartment was described by Mr O. Samuel, the well-known New Plymouth solicitor, as "a perfect cuise to all who have to do with employing or with the getting of employment." This is strong lauguagc to use in a court, but those who have had to suffer the indignities which the ofrio : a!s ot the department habitually put upon those who are courageous enough to invest their capital in any going concern involving the employment of men, women or children*, will entirely coincide with Mr Samuel's strictures. And if the heavy hand of the factory inspector warrants such criticism in New Plymouth, is it any wonder that the employers in the larger towns arc bitterly exasperated with the continual mischievous intcrfeiencc with their workshops. Allied with the=e inspectors are the wasteful experiments of the Levin and Momohaki State Farms, the former of which produces annually the most curious efforts in the shape of balance-sheets that ever mortal man compiled. The only crop worth mentioning as revenue producing is the native timber. Having played its patt in providing a home for a few dozen of the wastrels of soc : ety, the department has purchased from them the miserable huts built by these state farmers at ten times their value, and another experimental estate has been started near Marton. Apparently the net outcome of the business is that the colony loses £2 per acre annually by the experiments, if this is intended as a beacon for settlers to st°er tiieir course by they will be a long time in reaching the haven of prosperity. The Conciliation Board is another offshoot of the Labour Bureau, and the co-operative system is muted and nourished by it. Taken altogether it coulel hardly be otherwise when the qualifications of either the Ministerial or the departmental heads are considered Of the first the Right Hod. Dr. Seddon we know enough to be aware that he views the labour party as a vote hunter and nothing else. That feature of his character has recently been so prominent that no one denies his supremacy as a canvasser among the lowest classes. The departmental head, Mr E. Tregear, is so childlike and bland, and naturally so full of the milk of human kindness, that it is hardly possible to conceive that he is the editor of the labour journal which month by month hcwls forth bloodcurdling suggestions of how to destroy capii talists and set up State Socialism in their stead. He spends most of his time in studying Polynesian languages, and has recently been away tor some months on a Royil Commission on kauri ' gum diggers. When the colony comes to its Eeiises this will he one of the first of the Liberal menageries that will be exterminated.

THE VALUATION DEPARTMENT. The new department of valuation will probably prove the most costly to the colouy, for it is a double-barrelled sort of weapon. In the first place, Premier Seddon has for years past madeidle boasta of the .'increase in our national wealth under his progressive rule. He usually sets it down at 11J millions sterling, but he never condescended to explain where he got his figures from. The value of Crown lands and native lands, which were never valued, but merely guessed at have, by some Liberal system, increased in value by some millions to justify his boast. But under the new department it would seem from the universal disapproval of the colouy that the valuers have made property-holders a great deal richer than they imagined by a mere stroke of the pen. Wellington properties appear to have £onc up from 20 to 30 per cent, and in the country districts, land, which the owners considered worth from los to 203 per acre, judged by its stock tarrying capacity, is now worth 40s to 455. This generosity on the pait of the Government valuers is not appreciated by the settlers who have so tuddenly doubled their wealth. They look at it" from the taxpayers' point of view and complain, and in many instances will appeal. .But those who want to sell have now a rare opportunity and, if of the right colour, a certain purchaser who will ask no ejuestions in the State itself. The Act provides that the valuation shall not only be the basis for taxing, but also for lending by all Government departments having money to lend, and we may confidently look forward in a few years to the million and a half of the Advances to Settlers Loan being represented by foreclosed mortgages of undesirable farms, which have had loans advanced on high Government, valuations and which the lucky owners have abandoned. Several instances of excessive valuations came to light even before the new department was set up, but now that such proceedings are glorified by the Government we may look for a rapid absorption cf all available funds in the coffers of the lending elepartments of State. The latest eye-opener comes from Wanganui, where a successful operator leccntly riled his schedule, owing £1903 to the Advances to Settlers ollice, and stating the value of the security at £ 13.10. In extenuation, the department says that a local valuer valued the property at £3130, and this was revised by another. Admitting this to be true, it only emplasises what has f o often been proved—that Government can ncvir carry on any business as well as private individuals. The worst feature of the whole business is that this depart nnut can and has been used as a means of rewarding political adherents. Theie aie vvell authenticated instances to prove this, and just as the Public Works Estimates are the bribery and corruption fund with which to debanch electorates,, so is the Advances to Settlers office made the mei'iia of rewarding or corrupting in dividuals. THE MINES DEPARTMENT. The Mines Department is perhaps the most mysterious bag of tricks of all, because eve y tiling is done by Order-in-Cuunci!, and although Mr (.'adman is the uominal head, Mr Seddrn issues his mandates and they arc obeyed. There is a very queer, not to Kay suspicious bit of business in hand in Westland just now. In the early days of the coast, the deep shingle deposits at Eoss were worked to great advantage. Tht y were woiked considerably below the" level of the sra and powerful pumping machinery was used to keep the water down. As the workings extended the pumps had to be increased until a shaft 12ft by 12ft was rilled with the pipes. At last the water was victorious, and although it is nearly 20 years since the workings were flooded, nothing has since been done except to endeavour to obtain foreign capital. The Government spent £20,000 in the pattial construction of the Mikonui watff race to provide motive power, but it would require another £25,000 to complete it. Ecccutly cue of the shareholders went to England and arranged for eapital on condition that the Government would assist with £IO,OOO, which had been voted ly Parliament to assist deep workings in the South Island. Application was made for this and plans, etc., furnished,' and these were duly pigeonholed by the Mines Department, and nine months afterwards a reply was sent to the company that as it had rot shown it bad the mor.ey the Government could not entertain the proposal. It wa3 nothing to the purpose that the company urged that the finding ot the money depended solely on the Government approval. Then the Government took up an attitude of direct hostility and tucd for arrears of rent, £250, and Mr Scddou ordered one of the Inspectors

to "jump" the ground upon which tho main shaft and machinery were erected. The grounds tor cancellation were that no work had been dene for six months. The company held three bases, and as the Government jumped the one, which was the key to the others, they gave up the others. It was shown by the company that they had expended 1.0 less than £109,000 on their works and they were now deprived of their property by the State, and it is a very peeubar thinu that the Government solicitor, Mr Murdoch, stated that he was acting on " A telegram received from the Right Hon Mr'Seddon instructing him to nice cancellation proceeding again.it the company." Why was he not instructed by Mr Oadman is suspicious oil the more so that the Right Hon. gentleman is on the board of a German coif oral ion doiny business in the colony. If the tenure of mining leases upon which large capital has been expended is to be so insecure that a curt telegram from the Premier can destroy tho title, then confiscation of any man's property, mining or o'htrvvbe, is possible, especially it he happen?, like the Chairman of the Ross Company, Mr Grimmond, to be a political opponent.