Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1874.] THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1895. FULL OF GLORY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5021, 9 May 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1874.] THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1895. FULL OF GLORY.

Tin: Ho.w J. G. Wakd wont Home on private business, but to this was tacked a Government mission of such a delicate character that it was necessary to observe the greatest secrecy. The original intention of our peripatetic Minister of Finance was to sweep tho board in live weeks, and return to the Colony in time for the opening of Parliament. He lias found it necessary to prolong his slay in England, and instead of live weeks be is to have something like nine weeks, for which the country must, of course, pay. What lias ken tho reason for tlic delay is not given, and wo are unable to say whether his private business forces him to remain in London longer than lie intended, or whether bis " delicate mission" has taken time to fructify, but whether it is one or tbo other the Colony foots tho bill. The Colonial Treasurer, however, is full of glory, for he has piloted the first 3 per cent, loan over floated by any of the colonies of the Australasian group, His glory, however, may be fitly compared to that of tho little girl who ivas positivo she was full of glory, bcoause " there was a sunbeam right on my "spoon, and I swallowed it with my " oatmeal." I

The London money market Ims been in a state of glut for months past, and investors have beon starving for tlio want of something in which to invest, and upon this condition of affairs the changes have been rung, and tho guileless gold'bags have been emptied freely to propagate a whole hptoh of wildcat schemes. This anxiety for investment, this desperate state of affairs hardly without a parallel, was the sunbeam on the spoon of the Colonial Treasurer, and he would have been a dunderhead had he failed to make tlio best use of it, Ho has swallowed the sunbeam with the porridge of his private business, and lio is " full pf glory." If his own personal affairs are not successful after all this gush and jubilation, jt will be his own fault. The Idea of floating a 3 per cent loan is

undoubtedly a good one, and nothing can detract from its merits, while its successful floatation is a point that must be gratifying to everyone. But the question is: Could not the issue of this million and a-half at the lowest rate of interest haye been left to the Agont-Genornl and the Loan Agents to manage Was the intervention of the Colonial' TreasI urer necessary ?

The condition of the market, and the growing confidence of investors in Colonial stocks, have been such that the loan would liavo gone off quite as well if the issue had been left to the Colony's agents; the assistance of Mr SVard was not necessary, His connection with the loan, however, serves to justify, in the eyes of his party, his presence in London, and the expenses involved thereby. His achievements are being well backed by the "bulls," who arc priming hiin with the rarest talcs about conversion, and in the hour of victory ho is prepared to swallow anything. The prospect of converting some of our old loans into 3 per cents., has sent up the pi ice to an altitude, which must give the "bulls" unalloyed pleasuro, Forr per cents have bounced np to 112j, a rise of 55s in about the same number of hours; and buyers evidently sec money in the conversion scheme. The ellectiveness of released sinking funds in manufactuiing Budget surpluses, gives an alluring brilliancy to conversion from the point of view of the Government, All the halo and glory won by the loan just lloaled will soon pass away, for it lias been obtained by means of fiction.