The Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 566, 6 January 1876, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

Equnl and cxnct jmtico to fill men, Of whatever state ol persuasion, ruligioun or political ***** Jlerr (.lull the I'rcM the Phovi.R's right maintain, TJn-twttl l>y influence and uuliriljcrt l>y gain,

THURSDAY, JANUARYS, 187 G.

Wk wero glad to find the other day Mr Cox, when addressing the Ohaupo electors, declaring tbat reduction in expenditure was a measure not unneeded in the administration of affairs in New Zealand, and that ho was willing to commence reduction at that point, which reformers usually leave to tho last, andwhich most aflectcd himself — payment of expenses to members. And truly the last proposal which is to be brought forward next session, to fix the payment by Act at £3<X) per annum, is HuflicJpJit to break the patience, if not tho hack of that enduring camel, the New Zealand taxpayer. Year after year this payment lo members has been steadily growing, till, wo belicvo, tho very magnitude) of the evil will at last cure itself. At first the payment was fixed at a pound n, day during tho session ; then, if we recollect rightly, it was fixed at £100 for tho sesbion. and then proposed to be raised to £160 for the session, whether it lasted one month or three. But members snid " make it guineas" and their importunity was rewarded with un additional £12 10s and the bargain was clenched, and guineas it was. The last demand is for £300 a year, and wbati* worse, as Mr Cox said, to fix the amount by act. Now, if we turn to the two last scHNions, we shall find that this payment to racmben is, even as n question of expenditure, a far more serious matter than many suppose, and especially in a country where the n«ry necessaries of life are taxed to the utmost, aud further taxation is generally admitted as inevitable. The expenditure on

the Legislative depai Linen Is thia ye-ir 11 \ £2U,220 2s as against £30,058 2 in the previous year, and of this sum, £1(5,500 is paid to members of both Houses, in Vhe shape of a money payment or honorarium. And this, bo it understood, is not all that the member of oilhor House receives In addition to tlio 1 150 guineas now paid him in hard cash — proposed to be raised to £300 — his passage to and from his place of residence to Welling ton is paid for him, and I hero aro other means placed within his read), to which we shall preiont'y allude, by which ho is enabled at the public expense to live more cheaply in Wellington, in the samo •-tyle, than any ono not a member of Assembly could do. How this would bo a ■omevrh&fc paradoxical proceeding on the part of iho new Assembly, this avowed intention as a first step towards lightening the burdens and amending the incidence of taxation to double the amount of honorarium paid to themselvc3. Nay they would more than double it, for the number of members was increased last session ; so that instead of the payments to members forming an item ot £ 10,500, as now, under the head of Legislative Departments, it would next year amount to somo £40,000 independently of costs of passages which last year was £1,050 in addition to the fice passages given in the Luna. Lust session was a long one as wo all know. It met on the 20th July and closed on the 21st October — just thirteen weeks, yet this gavo the members nearly £13 each per weelf to keep them clear of the Believing Officer while in Wellington, and Iho Wcllm^ton men drew Iho honorarium, too, without the least bit of pride, quite friendly and agrccablo, showing how unanimous both sides of tlio House con be when it is for the geDeral good — of themselves. Now who supposes that it need cost members twelve or thirteen poundi per week to live on the fnt of Iho land even in Wellington P Who but members can see the necessity, as they now propose, of doubling that amount P In round numbers tho £.]S,(XX) or £10,000 they modestly ask for, represents the interest and sinking fund on a borrowed million. There are members, we admit, to whom t'lo honurnriura oven then would not rocoup the cost of their hviug in Wellington during the session, but these are just the men who sboul I last of all ask tho country to bo at the cost of providing them with purple and fiuo linen Tho intention of giving the honorarium at nil is to enable a man of small means to defrny the actual cost of his expenses, and no man should nsk or accept more. Nay wo are inclined to go a step further and say thai ho lias uo right to accept oven 'hi* from the public purse. Tho Colony is lot so young but thai we aro able to pick our representatives from iho moneyed m independent class who necessarily in a greater degree possess iho leisure nud intelligence requisite Tor the jiosivioii — and if n c.ui->lilurncy dcsiroi 10 avail itself of tho services of a. poor man in vrhom it sees or fancies it see-< any special qunlilication, by all means let that man's expenses bo paid, but by tho constituency which sends him to the House, nut by the Colony al large. Public opinion, however, scarcely, wo aro aware, goes this length. Tho tax-payer docs not grudge actual payment of expenses, but public opinion goes with Mr Cox when ho says that (ho honorarium should rather be reduced to £100 for tho session than bo raised, as proposad, to £300. Hut if these arguments apply t<> members of the Lower House what shall bo RHid of the greed and mtanne^s of the Legislative Couru ils whose mombers rejoiro in tho brummagem title of " honorable," ape the airs and privileges of "peers," and yet quietly consent to accept largosseat the hands wf the p'Ople. What a burlesque on the grand old hereditary nobles of hngland ! What a commentary on the meannesses of the htil*» great of her Colonial pos•ossions! Hut, as wo have said, tho honorarium paid to each lord and commoner, and tho free passage to and fro given to him do not represent all that he receives There is attached to both Houses of Parliament, and confined exclusively to their use and that of a few high officials specially named, an establishment called Bellamy's, a sort of hotel or club. Early last faession, amongst othor Parliamentary papers— alas, we cannot now lay our hands on it- was pubhsbe 1 a tariff of the prices to which tho keeper of Bellamy's was to bo restricted — so much for dinner, tea, and breakfast — so much for any one or any two sueii meals, so much for tea or ■cofFcc with cold meat, or the samo with bread and butter only, so much for wines, spirits, and beer— indeed there was nothing omitted, and, what was marvelous lo the uninitiated, tho prices were, fixed nt a lower rate than any Auckland koto) of any pretcntioi whatever, would have supplied 'hem at. Poor LcgislativeCouncillorsand Honorahlogentlemen of tho House of Representatives, it wds a kindly consielcration that enabled you so cleverly to eke out tho miserable pittanoe furnished you in the honorarium. It was a wise and thoughtful provision of ministers which placed on the estimates undor the head of '* Legislative," tho sum of £500 as a bonus for Bellamy's "on account of the establishment." The country paid the £300, and " Bellamy's" was enabled to servo you at lower prices than you could have obtained tho samo mealt at nn hotel or boarding house. Talk of tho working of the disqualification Act, indeed, why thero wasn't a member of either Houso last Session, but every meal he ate in Bellamy's, placed himBelf, morally, if not legally, undor its operations.