CORRESPONDENCE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2663, 2 August 1887, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

WHO IS TflE TRUE DEMOCRAT? (To the Editor,) Sir.—The present juncture makes the above question a pertinent one. Mr Hawkins has declared himself to bo a 'Democrat; Mr Hogg, by implication, is one also; and 1 supposo that if Mr Boetham was asked, ho ton-would say—"l am of, and for the people." Tho people of New Zealand are now face-to face with tho hot that the income of the Colony will not meet tho current expenditure ; or, in other words, tho country is going to tho bad at the rate of about' £20,000 per month. Tho borrowing policy, or as it has rightly been called, the gambling policy, lias born legitimate fruit. Jiecldess expenditure of the borrowed millions! The totally ignoring of the only safe principle on which borrmved money can bo spent, viz., ondirectly reproductive works, tho .throwing over by our Legislation of every, 'safe guard, and the t onsequent introduction of log-rolling has turned the Home of Representatives into a larire gambling establishment, and now the reckoning day has come! It is not reckless borrowing, but reckless spending that has produced the evil.' The true demooral, therefore, is he who will revert to the only safe course, that is, to spend borrowed money only upon such works as can be made to pay interest and sink ing fund on tho cost of construction Tho Colony is now suffering from a lack of the circulating rnedium,conse(juently inducing general and widc-sproaci depresuon, The principal causes to which the lack of money can ba traced, are to tho facts that our imports greatly 5 exceeds our exports, and also'to tho interest paid on public and private indeblnessbeinglargelydrawn out of the Colony, Those two factors are't!ui principle cause of the constant, drain of capital from our shores, Now, Sir, it i 6 not always tvuo that a country tniportim? more than it exports and paying away large sums of money for interest on capital invested in property is necessarily getting poorer, but if may indicate that such a country is.rich and can afford it, In lh\s Zealand we have a large accumulation of capital, and the. only'fund therefore upon which wo can draw is that furnished by tho unearned increment on our lauded estates, population settled upon, and labour and capital applied to the soil are the necessary factors in the production of unearned increment. The true Democrat, therefore, is he who will, by wise legislation, foster the introduction of population fund tho profitable application of labor and capital in our midst, and thus setting the unearned increment to work again. The Colony is' Buffering from the fact that our 'staple products chiefly consist of grain, wool, minerals and meat, The national wealth is always enhanced by the fact that a lanjo variety of articles aro produced, and that, all classes of tho community are profitably employed. The true Democvat therefore is lie, who will, by all legitimate means fostor local or native industries. The Colony is suffering because much of our landed estate, consisting of native, and private lands is not profitably cultivated, The true Democrat, therefore, is he who will, as speedily.as possible, so deal with these lands that a thriving rural population will be settled upon them. The Colony Is suffering because in carrying on business the credit system largoly predominates; necessitating large capital in carrying on .retail.businesses, and.in many injurious ways, affecting all classes of the community. A wage-earning population, engaged ui manufacturing industries, quickly calculating their earnings amongst trados-

nieii also snpnlying a home market for '.all the products from. the soil, would quickly ameliorate and'soon effectually banish the credit system. The true Democrat therefore is ho who will especially fosterthu introduction of manufacturing industries. The colony is suffering because extravagant expenditure lias grown up as a necessary concomitant, of tho .borrowing system. The' true Democrat therefore is he who will insist 1 on all due economy in the' payment of.' the Civil Service consistent with efficiency. The Colony is suffering because; taxation is so heavy that in somp-pases it his more than reached its profitable 'limits'.that is, when life people sre; taxed' in'one direction, through poverty they are obliged to economise in another, and so no increase of revenue is obtained: .The true Democrat therefore is he who will so adjust the' incidence .of taxation that all classes of the community will conhibuto to the revenue- in direct proportion to . their mema. Finally, the colony is suffering because more than two millions of pounds sterling is annually spent on strong drink I will not now and hers go into the economies of tho drink question, suffice'it to say that retrenchment vigorous and drastic is absolutely "demanded by the exigencies' of the situation ; drink, as the potent factor in filling our jails, lunatic asyluma, bankruptcy courts, poor houses, and hospitalu. It also tnkes many persons from fields of labor, which would enable ■them to add to the general wealth.of tho ■ State, and so in several ways, the drink traffic is a tax on the whole community. The, true Democrat, therefore is ho who will use his personal influence and vote always in t.lio"'direclioii of totally abolishing the drink traffic. lam, etc., CIIAS. HOLI)AWAY.