The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1886. TO POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2230, 26 February 1886, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1886. TO POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

| The autumn haa ; boon opened: by. a . speech from. Sir. Julij's.Vojjel. Other Ministers.have preceded lytp-on the platform, but:their utterances have; Attracted but little attention. People have: waited till the star aotor of the troupe appeared on the sceno, His appearance, and:;his alone; is. the^ :for.;Bii''Georgo Groy and. Mujor Atkin-: son to emerge from the comparative obscurity in- which they have of Jute reposwlj and soon now the country will; : be.in the thioej pi' ut political turmoil. Our'"pirate king.'' §ir Julius, has nailed his flag to the must; it Js £ now loan flag, a brand new loan J -one ti)«t that will be known to history as the "ear-uiarked loan,". It is, of course, unnecessary .to have an " S " brand into f the bargain foi the : new loan, though ' such a mark would no doubt fairly distinguish it from ita predecessors. Wt shall not at,all surprised to find this new loiui uca'pt.ej I;}'tlis country and the House,, because it .wilJ probably be big woiigli to ear-mark a majority of the members: who will constitute the next Parliament, " Borrowing ' for unproductive purposes has been excessive in the:; past," said Sir Julius at Auckland, and so he proposes to give us ut little more of it in the future, Every disinterested person knows that the Treasurer's pet scheme," the East and West Coast railway," will be terribly unreprodnctive, but thisruinous speculation is the price we will have to '.pay if we retain the services:of Sir Julius, The amount of new loan is not as yet revealed, but we are informed, •that it. is to be spent at the rate of a 1 million and a half per annum.. With this, au(l the assistance'of extra customs duties, and «lo,ther turn of the screw with the Property Ta,x ; Sir Julius hopes to make both ends meet, Our eontemporary the Post declares this ney po'icy to be a prudent one, and the Colonial Treasurer must be in the Seventh Heaven to find that at last aomeoaa has been found to credit him with,- prudftßce. We. are, however, more disposed to sympathise with the Evening Press, which declare the new policy to bo a shameful one, tn Sir Julius on this occasion seems to hepe dropped the mask. He cares not for protection, .be : s indifferent to free trade, ; he dots .nob intend to bother: himself with puttjng/' tycal Self Government" ,o|i .a, .letter (footing,; slhe wants is a bigjoap t\nd j ear-marking it. We are nqt opposed; to a mode'rato loan /or roally reproduc. 1 live works, but we pray that the colony may bfl delivered from Sir Julius Voxel's "ear-marking." The Colonial Treasurer added one or two email bills for popular support in his

recent speech, bids which n)i»l]Milso be intended to please his latibudiiiarian colleagues. He was favorable to the Government lending money to farmers, and as a project of this kind is the first practical Btep towards "landnationalization," it will delight Mr Stout. The other proposal to purchase big estates and cut them up will work in the same direction, and will probably be accepted as a measure of relief by some friends of the Ministry who are anxious to sell out. On the whole we are disposed to admire the bold programme whwli Sir Julius offers to the country, That it is one that will plunge New Zealand in fresh difficulties we do not doubt, but that will not he material to the author of the policy. Beforo the evil day conies he will probably have retired again to London. That an evil day will follow fresh borrowing for uureproductive works is 18 certain as the panic which prostrated the Colony seven years ago.