THE MINISTERIAL DEFEAT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2334, 2 June 1887, Page 2

THE MINISTERIAL DEFEAT.

Our Te Awamutu correspondent writes : — There is a general feeling of satisfaction expressed at the defeat of what is undoubtedly the most mercenary Ministry we have ever had. From their undignified persistence in holding on to office after morethan one defeat in the House, no one can entertain any doubt of their being entirely influenced by avarice, the absurdly high salaries paid to to them being quite sufficient to excite that feeling in the breasts of men who have not been conspicious for political honesty or truthfulness. I think few men of any sense, in the North Island, indeed I may say out side of Canterbury, had much faith in Sir Julius Yogel, while in the light of recent events Sir Robert Stout is not entitled to the measure of confidence reposed in him at one time. His action re the Representa tion Bill was unworthy of one who was considered a good statesman and an honest politician. The wretched state of our railway management is a sufficiently heavy indictment against the Hon Mr Richardson. Mr Ballance's fad of special settlement is going to be a failure^flnancially— politically it will be a success for the next election, a success in so far as it will be the means of securing a large number of votes for his supporters in the districts so settled. The fact of the other Ministers being collegues of those men is sufficient to bring up against them. Mr Ballance has been the means of perpetrating a certain amount of political jobbery in the Taupo and upper Whauganui districts. Contracts have been let there without tenders ever having been called for; roads have been made there parallel with the railway line for the sole purpose of diverting to Wanganui the trade to be done during the construction of the trunk line. At a considerable cost to the country a road was made through a part of the Tuhua—from Waiiniha to Te Ivoura—a distance of fifteen miles. It begins practically nowhere, and ends nowhere. The idea was to continue the road from Te Konra to Taurnarunui, round the base of the Hikuvancci hill to the latter place, where goods and matorial for the railway were to be brought up the Wanganui River. In order to carry out his scheme for enriching Wanganui merchants, large sums of money were spent in a futile attempt to snag that river, and now, as regards its being navigable, it is in much the same position as it was, for it is

only so for canoes, and nine days is. considered fast time from Wanganui to Taumarunui for lightly-laden vessels. This will give some idea of the timo and money which would be wasted in the attempt to convey goods by that route. South of the latter place roads have bean made which will'not be required for years to come. This is only one sample of the doings of the Ministry under whose guidanco we were to enter on an era of prosperity unparalleled in the history jof New Zealand. While we continue to give Ministers salaries out of all proportion to the work to be done, or to the means of the colony, we shall have the deplorable spectacle of men scrambling '-for office. ' There is no clearly-detined line of demarcation between parties like the Conservatives 'and Liberals of England, or the Republicans and Democrats of America. Here the only difference is between those in, 6ffiee and those out, and until we make the position not worth fighting for from pecuniary motives, this state of things will last. £1700 a year, with three guineas a day travelling expenses, and delightful trips in the Government yacht at the expense of the ,country, are worth fighting for, and to retain these privileges some men will throw honour and self-respect to the winds. Sell the Hinemoa, cut down Ministers' salaries to sums ranging from £600 to £800 a year, and allow them exactly the amount of travelling expenses they incur, and not only will the colony benefit by it, but we shall have a better class of men in office. A t any rate, we should be spared the humiliation of - exhibiting to other countries the disgraceful and undignified spectacle of men clinging to office for the sake of the money attached to it, and in the face of unmistakeable defeats at the hands of members. Latest reports say that a dissolution has been granted. Legally, the Government may be entitled to it, but, morally, they are not. They should retire, and let others take their place for tho short time Parliament has to live, for it expires by effluxion of time in August. In the present depressed state of our finances it is not fair to call upon the country to pay two honoraria in one year, but Ministers care nothing for that if they can hold office for a few months longer. The remedy for all this lies with the people themselves. Let them return men pledged, not to scramble for appropriations for their own particular districts, but to legislate for the colony as a whole, and initiate reform by reducing salaries, beginning with the Governor and Ministers, and going down to their own honoraria, and the salaries of some of the most highly paid officials. It was a paltry thing to reduce the pay of men by the percentage system. Paltry as regards men getting £200 a year and under, while Ministerial salaries would only be reduced by 7i per cent. Seven times seven and a-half would have been about right, but that urgently needed reduction will not be made until the people do it at the polling booths.