The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2022, 23 June 1885, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Equal rfnd exact justice- to .ill men, Ot whatiocver state or persuasion, religious or political. Here shall the Press the Heoplc-'s right maintain, Una wed by influence and unbnbed by £*\n

TUESDAY, JUNE 2.',, 18So.

Nearly everybody looked for something strikingly original in the shape of a Budget from Sir Julius Vogel, and ho has not disappointed us. The Statement, as such, is a masterpiece and surpasses anything of the kind that lias seen the light for many years. Jn manner it is e.xcellent. The quality of its matter will he variously estimated. Fvw will deny that its tone is hold and straightforward, or th.it it gives a concise; and sufficiently clear idea of the Ministerial policy. When the details of that policy are placed hofore the country we shall he the better enabled to estimate it, at its proper value, but as far as' it is possible to do so in so limited a space, the general intent of the measure to be introduced by the (Jovernmerie is disclosed in the Treasurer's Budget. That Sir Julius' hand has evidently not lost its cunning is evident from the lucid style which he retains in dealing with the financial results of the year just gone by. So far everything is satisfactory. We have come out with a surplus, the funds at the disjios.il of the Public Works Depaitment are ample, and the credit of the colony in the Ijondon Exchange is better than owr it avhs. Contrary to i \j»< » tations i.iised up in some (|iiaiteis, the Treasurer exhibited no desire to take advantage of tin- good humour of the Knglish capitalist. On the principle that that which we do not want ii dear at any price, Sir Julius counsels moderation. We ought not, he says ; in effect, to boi tow money because it is cheap ; \\e ought to bonow money when ■we Want it, no matter whether it be cheap at that particular time or not. Tin's is something more than logic, it is the utterance of a shrewd, cautious statesmen — not the observation of a political gambler,

whoseonly wish is to keep Ins party at in power the sacrifice of somebody else's money. The Government's borrowing proposals are the very embodiment of modesty. It is intended to ask for authority to l)oi iow a million only for INSG-7, and of that amount a considerable pioportion is to pay for necessary defence works I >ut an^thinic coming from Vogel, and professing to I tear the character of moderation, is tnvanablv looked on with suspi< ion b\ ceit.nn of his critics. The\ are alwa\s metaphorically winking their eye, and putting their tongue in their cheek, as who should say, "we know you old fellow ; you cant euchre us." However modest the uaiinont which Sir Julius Vogel's tinancial proposals wear, these amiable critic can always, so they say, detect the purple and fine linen underneath. Even now there is a growing murmer against further borrowing. Nothing will save the colony from extinction but the immediate shutting down of the sluice gates leading from the Foreign Money Market. This is absurdly puerile, but as it is anti-Vogel also, it is greedily swallowed. With the local Government proposals it will perhaps be better to deal when the measure embodying them has been brought down. The Government seems to have approached the subject in the right spirit, and no matter how the proposals may lie received in detail, the guiding principle is one that should command the hearty appioval of country residents, and indeed of all whose views have not been narrowed by g.uing for too long a period up and clown the mam thoioughfares of our grp.it tow us. The portion of the Budget which is certain to attract the greatest amount of notice is that which deals with the Customs tariff. We can hardly believe that .Su Julius has much real sympathy with Protection, and indeed he is careful to tell us that he is not a Protectionist in the sense which the term would convey in older countries—neither, with the same qualification, i-> he a Kree Trader. " The Customs revenue " (he sa\s), " le(juires to be revised because of the satisfactory facts that it has become afl'ected by the diminished consumption of spirits and by the increased local production of dutiable articles It should be adjusted on the principle that whilst the primary object is to serve fiscal purposes, and whilst we by no means commit ourselves to State protection, we should not be unmindful of the services the tuifT may render to local production." Just so. But nevertheless it opens up the question of Free Trade w»w Protection, and the fight will be upon that question. The increased duty on imports not produced, and not likely to be produced in the country, will not fall heavily upon anybody — there is little room to complain about the clearness of provisions in the colony— but, on the other hand, the extra charges to bo levied upon manufactured articles are exceedingly likely to result in converting some of our colonial concerns into dangerous monopolies. The ad valorem duty on the ordinary kinds of clothing has been advanced from 15 per cent to 17 S per cent, while the heavier sorts of woollen goods, such as are manufactured at Kaiapoi and Mosgiel, are to ha\e an additional .") per cent clapped on them. This is not -wise, and its unw isdom is all the more apparent when we reflect that Kew Zealand woollen stuffs really do not call for protection. We are bound to confess that w e \ iew with alarm the leaning towards protection, which the Government has through the Budget discovered. If our infant industries require bolstering, let the aid be given by mean-> of subsidies. We ought not tax one class in order that another may prosper. We aie, of course, not unmindful of the fact that the Treasurer is harnessed up in company with some very queer steeds. It may be urged that he ought not be got into their company. Perhaps not. But what, we might ask, would the team be with, out him 9