A CRITIC ON THE POLICY OF THE PRESENT GOVENMENT.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1105, 24 July 1879, Page 3

A CRITIC ON THE POLICY OF THE PRESENT GOVENMENT.

Sir,— I think this is a time Avhen all thinking men may speak their minds on the policy of the country ,if policy you call it, but to my mind it is more like a man at sea on a raft drifting, drifting without Bails or oars. Finance is the first card to play, asking in a great hurry for authority for £5,000,000 to start Avith, and could that amount have been obtained no power of tho Opposition could have prevented the present Government from having tho spending of it. Tins would have given them sufficient credit to have bought tho whole country from the North Cape to Invercargil ; but it is remarkable that the very men to propose this present loan wero the men Avho most condemned a loan of the lato ministry of one million, and when they obtained tho vacant chair, obtained a loan of three Bullions, and

uoav again, in a mighty hurry, wish to obtain the spending of five million more. Auckland Members, pause and sco if you have obtained your fair share of the millions that are gone. If you have, where is it ? Avhere is your railway extension promised; plenty of sods have been turned, but I say where is the railAvay ? This brings mo to Public Works, where is this five millions to be expended ? Is Parliament to authorise another loan in tho dark Avithout a straitforward statement of Avhcrc it is to be spent. During last session a certain vote Avas placed on tho estimates, and paraded to the world tor tho Puuiu and Taranaki railway. Noav I whish to know were is that money gone to, for there certainly is no railway, and Avhat is more, a govornment sur-

veyor daro not place oven his big toe | across the river which forms the confiscated boundary at this end, and it is patent to all the Avorld, there is no railway at the Taranaki end. Noav, I Avish to ask those Auckland and Taranaki Members Avho think the Premier can do no. Avrong, if this money has been taken to finish railways in Otage, or is it a nice little nest egg, to be available at any moment, Avhen needed to go on Avith this Avork. Independent of the Taranaki-Puuiu Railway, is the raihvay as far as Ohaupo in such a state as to invite traffic ? Look at all the approaches, from end to end, and see if it Avould not bo for the advantage of the railway returns, and producers, if a few thousands were spent on the main feeders to the stations, instead of throwing the responsibility on the local bodies, after taking the railways in a bee line through the country. I Avould also ask those enthusiastic Auckland Members, Avhy they do not insist on the vigorous prosecution of the Th imes- Waikato Railway, from Hamilton, so as to give Auckland merchants a share of the Piako and Thames trade. Once let the Thames end pierce the delta, and Auckland merchants and Auckland city establish a rival to thoir own interests.

I would Avish to say a few words about the native policy of the Premier for he, and he only, established it, and no other, as to the result of it after all these years. I think the native Icing spoke the nat_A r e mind at Kopua, Avhen he said, " I say then it is not right that Grey should transact any business affecting this island. I cannot approve of Grey not in the least. I have no confidence, Avhatever, in any promises from Sir George Grey. I have no faith, Avhatever, in his assurances." This is what is said by the King, and what the natives say is, that he came to the meeting Avithout an invitation, and has a trespasser. What about the promises made at Hikurangi, a\_ucli he said he took kack ? Dpes the country .or parliament, or even his colleagues, knoAV Avhat these promises were ? Did the Governor's opening address mention anything about the promises made to Rewi? Does the parliament know, or does the GoA r ernor of the country knoAV? Ifc is time we all knew these matters. The transactions of the Goa 'eminent Avith the natiA _s should be as open as day, in black and Avhite, and no more secrecy or parables to be interpreted in the future, to cause confusion, and, in fact, bring - Waimate over again. No more underground railways or secrecy. This has been a personal policy, not a Government one, and Sir George Grey is the father of ifc, and it has grown up a prodigal. Their land policy should have a few words. I will quote a faA r ourite expression of the Premier's : " The people for the land, and the land for the people." Yes ! look at Waikato confiscated. Did the Prussians, Avhen im-ading France, .destroy the hives after taking the honey ? but this confisction was a pet scheme of Sir G. Grey. E\ _ry thing Avas sAvept aAvay in the maelstrom of confiscation, homesteads, nulls, cattle, land, life, eveiy thing. •When the Maori was held down by the grasp of the Imperial Army, Sir G. Grey' jumped on him. Is ifc to bo wondered at that Avhen Sir G. Grey cries out " great is my love for the Maoris," ho is ansAvered "Your words are liko oil, hut you bite like a dog." Again look at the Waikato, peopled by the Premier's people. Whero are they ? There is not five per cent of them left. Look at the cheap land and special settlement policy of this province ; in no one instance has it been a success : look at the late transactions Avith native lands by which the Government Avish. to buy from the natives at thoir oaa ti prico and sell it in the samo manner, shutting out competition and capital and iritatiusr the nativesby such unjust measures, andlet mc say the Premier's peoplo on their lands are of A'ery little use Avithout capital. Ifc simply throAVs the whole country under the control of the banks. The very thin»that should be avoided. As a comparison I Avould say, if the Waikato graziers could buy store cattle at their oavu prico, and sell beef in tho same manner, they Avould have plenty of money to pay their men servants and a Avhole army of parasitcal followers. From what I have read of tho various land Uavs nf this province, I must coucludo they are a failure, and the Premier is their father, and his ideas aro too old to ohango.

Smcority is also another question that should bo ventilated. It used to be a boast of the present Government, that they Avere a promising one. This may do very well for a time, but the people require something more than promises. They -vant some of them fulfilled, and I cannot help but think some promises, made to the Catholic body of electors, have not been earned out. I should like to knoAV lioav it was the Premier, by leaving the Assembly Chamber when the division came on, shirked giving his vote on the Curtis Education Bill? Tliis is one thing many people are curious about. To sum up, Avhilst tho Premier was starring it round the country, Macandrew and others had their nose to the grindstone, not making promises, but fulfilling them to the letter, as far as the South Avas concerned. It is quite evident " Old Mack" got on the sunny side of the Premier, whilst others shook a red blanket in front of him, as if he Avas one of McLean's prize bulls, until he roared and tossed up his horns, tore up the dirt with his feet, in fact, played old gooseberry with all who crossed him. ' c Old Mack '" rubbed his tail with a wisp of straAv, spoke gentle Gaelic Avoids 1 to sooth him, rubbed the Avisp along his back gently, gaA - a rub -or two about tho horns and eyes, down his face and noso, and, Avhen in a quiet ruminating mood, slipped a ring in his noso. That's it Mack! keep a taut line, rub his tail with a wisp of straw, but, if he wont go, screAV it. Auckland ! you are sold ; your idol has fallen. made, are broken. Public expenditure in the North, is promised in the future, but carried out in the South noAv. The Idol you set up for the natives to worship, has boon spat upon. He has brought contempt on tho namo of gentleman, by attending an assembly to whioh he Avas not invited. Such conduct might appear smart, but it has been condemned in no measured terms in every native kainga in the Island. Sir, Avill you oxouso the length of this letter. The importance of the matter must bo my excuse.— l am, &c. Critic Ohaupo, July 22nd, 1879.