The Waikato Times. SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 750, 7 April 1877, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 1877.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political

# # # # # Here shall the PresT the People's righ maintain, Unawecl by influence and nnbribed by gain.

A paper on the " Recent Economic Progress of New Zealand" has been made by a Mr. Hamilton, at a meeting of the Statistical Society of London, held on the th 29 January last. We reprint from the ' Herald ' some of the more interesting portions of the paper in question, which deal clearly and concisely with the material position of the Colony. Mr. Hamilton explains, with figures and by comparative tables, what we in New Zealand every day see practically demonstrated, namely, that while the colonists have undertaken vast liabilities which entail a large amount of taxation upon them, the latter sits lightly upon their young andlusty shoulders. There is no doubt about this. The iucidence of taxation may in some cases be illarranged—we believe it is—but the colonists stand easily under the burden.

Mr. Hamilton hits the nail on the right head when be lays whatever of failure has resulted in the carrying out of the Public Works policy to the charge of Provincialism, and says that the original intention was not adhered to, " chiefly if not altogether on account of the pressure of the Provincial Governments." Herein lay the great mistake which, as a statesman, has been made by Sir Julius Vogel. The abolition of the provinces should have preceded, not followed, the inauguration of the Public Works policy and the great loans. Then the original scheme could have been carried out, without having to be sacrificed piece by piece to the hungry clamour of the several Provinces. When once the loans were authorised, the Government found themselves like a party of travellers in a sledge pursued over a wilderness of snow by a pack of howling wolves. To secure their own Safety they were obliged to throw over a sop here and a tit bit there till the whole stock of provisions was nearly exhausted. This it is which has made the success of the scheme less than it might have been, and has shorn it of much of its fair proportions.

Mr. Hamilton is reported to have said that the effect of this has been to commit the Colony " to an amount of railway expenditure at once which it would have been more judicious to spread over a period twice as long ; that instead of a number of lines under construction at the same time, according to the

demands of the various provinces, they might have been finished successively, and each as oompleted have yielded a return." If Mr. Hamilton, instead of being a London merchant were a New Zealand colonist, he could not better have summarised the consequences of the pressure of Provincialism upon the great scheme than he has done in the above sentence. The House of Rrepresentatives, in ths matter of appropriation for Public Works, instead of being guided by the Government, fairly took the bit between its teeth and held a reckless and independent course. Then ensued a scramble for the money. Each Province brought pressure on the Government and the House to obtain the largest amo unfc of expenditure possible within it, irrespective almost altogether of what the money was expended on so long as itwas spent. To have got public works money for his district was the criterion of a Member having performed his duty to his constituents, and his claim for future electoral favours. No wonder that the loans were speedily exhausted, and that immigration had to be carried on upon a scale that threatened, when the money was done, to leave the Colony with a large number of hands for which profitable employment could not be found. That this has not turned out so is due to the elasticity in its resources, the recuperative powers of a young and fertile Colony producing the staples —gold, wool and grain—.for which the world at large finds a ready market. Colonisation generally, the reclamation of the land and its consequent production, the development of our minerals, and the growth of manu-

factures have received an impetus that has carried us over the pinch which reckless legislation, in respect to the expenditure of the loans, had threatened us with ; and, though for two or three years, perhaps, the borrowing tendencies of the Colony will have to be kept within much narrower limits than heretofore, we have this satisfaction, now that Provincialism is dead, that the money will be expended less for the purpose of party support than in reproductive works.

As will be seen by a Grahamstown telegram, the County Council of the Thames is most anxious to have a passable road made between the head of the Thames navigation and the Waikato river, and has entered into communication with the Waitoa Highway Board in reference to the matter. Unfortunately the Piako Council refused to work the Counties Act, and it is more than probable that the Waitoa Board, even if it could possibly raise the funds to join in so advantageous an undertaking, would hesitate to do so unassisted by the other portions of the County. The position affords a notable example of the inconvenience arising from a Council's refusing to adopt the Act, as efficient co-operation in cai'rying out important works by neighboring Counties is thus rendered impossible. Here is ( a most important work, which would benefit the Thames, •Piako," Waikato, and Waipa Counties, and which fairly should be entered upon by all four, in certain proportions of cost. But none would benefit more than Piako. We would fain see Piako show i :self equal to the occasion and rescind the resolution which rendered it a County merely in name; and not, which must otherwise be the case, leave to the single road board of Waitoa to arrange with the Waikato County to raise funds specially to defray the cost of completing the Waitoa and Waikato portion of the proposed direct road communicacation with the Thames market. That the Waikato Council will act with spirit in the matter we feel certain, but it is somewhat hard, that, like Issachar, from the lack of public spirit in the county on either side of ib, it should become an ass between two burdens.