THE NEW EVANGEL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2561, 8 December 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE NEW EVANGEL.

[ VI.-THE MAIN ISSUES. • FiXANCK-EcoN'OMV, Weamh-Produc-tio>", Fair-Lkgisdation. [ PART 11. Btrr let us now again directly turn to > this huge item of interest, and I claim it . can be further successfully attacked ; aud , an immense additional reduction be made. For on opening " The Estimates" what first impresses a fresh eye is the i number aud homogeneity of the loans, and the high rates of interest payable, i The consolidation of the loans at once suggests itself; and also its practica- ! bility, provided we afford proof of restored sanity, That is, if we show the world by resolute retrenchment, promotion of Wealth-Production, and FairLegislation, our determination to be honest and otherwise wise, then in these days of cheap money a consolidation of the State loans, to our immense gain, should be easily feasible. Even if such consolidation could not be otherwise accomplished, we are but the child of a parent, and it is only reasonable to believe that it the parent saw the child renounce dissolute, and otherwise unwise conduct, and carry out reform, the parent would aid. In other words, under such circumstances our Imperial guarantee should be possible for a consolidated New Zealand debt, which should then be convertible at 3 per cent. And the present time, when Britain evidently wishes to conciliate, oris uudesirous of thwarting the wishes of her colonics, seems to be especially opportune. And even if the British Government would consent to such a guarantee only on the condition that no further borrowing was to take place, such condition (whether clinched by an Imperial Statute or not) should not only bo cheerfully accepted, but warmly welcomed, The debt, after the sale of the railways, would become, of course, a very much reduced obligation; and the consolidation, therefore, would only relate to the minor amount, Just imagine tho immense relief, amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds annually, which would be obtained by paying on such reduced debt only '] per cent., instead of 4, 4:j, 5, 6, 6J, and even 7 percent. Indeed, no one perusing "The Estimates " can refrain from being impressed with tho necessity for a New Zealand Goschen to arise. The argument that such a scheme, even if practicable, would not immediately benefit by reason of the loans not hoing at present redeemable, is an objection which would of course only bo tenable in the case of those debts which have not matured, and only in such cases to the extent of postponing the immediate benefits of the conversion of all the stock. The scheme —as a scheme—would still be practicably intact ; its application only might be affected partially, but only even then temporarily, until from time to time the remaining loans become redeemable. And if an onus to dissent could be arranged, as in the case of theßritish " New Threes," and prudent inducements to convert were held out by the offer of a prolonged term, or otherwise, an immediate conversion of all the stock might be at once affected. Given not a genius—for " big tish are not found in little ponds," and as for the brummagem articles, it has been our curse—but a clearheaded, resolute man, and I cannot anticipate any insurmountable difficulty in formulating aud successfully carrying through such a conversion scheme as I have sketched. But I again utter a warning—that unless some such constitutional changes as I have suggested be first enacted, the very success of such a scheme would be probably disastrous, for the reduced expenditure would < simply be used as an argument by the 1 reckless and corrupt to advocate further ' obligations in the shape of further ' borrowing, and therefore further disaster. ' Tims, it would be unwise to entertain a conversion reform, except as part of a whole reform—constitutional as well as financial. j

Not only can huge reductions, however, be made in respect of public debt burdens, but the abolition of more tlmu half of our general expenditure would, with reformed administrative machinery, be easily practicable. Of course, until the gallery te thoroughly woke up. we can onlv hope for a coup itc '.hcatrc suoh us the £233,097. But John Bull, though -tiff and slow to move, yet is moveable—even in the most enervating of climates—if only ho bo poked up sufficiently to realise

that there is real peril, or that ho is " f aso to face with an impossibility."

It is, naturally, impracticable in ono comprehensive article to enter minutely into details ; but without the slightest hesitation, I advocate the extinction of at least four departments —Working Railways (as above mentioned), Defenco (except police), Education and Nativo Affairs (including Nativo Land Purchase), £13,347 ; and as such votes a—

Civil list: "For Native Purposes," £7000 (which, according to a State paper relating to pensions, appears to be a fund providing specially for withtlrmvtiblo pensions to natives and salaries of assessors) ; Permanout Charges, Land Fund account, £1."),000 ; Travelling expenses of members, including passages £900 (all of which should be deemed to be included in the honoraria) ; Hospital and Charitable Aid (except a very limited expenditure for orphans and lunatics) ; Rabbit destruction, £7600 (subject to payment by results on Crown lands only); New Zealand InstituteDirector of Surveys, £SOO, and printing its transactions, £000 : Compilation of Maori History, £300 ; Encouragement of local industries, £-100; Contribution towards expenses of Protectorate over portion of New Guinea, £2660 (Can anything, for a colony financially distressed, more outrageous bo imagined?); Melbourne Centennial Exhibition, £5500; Paris Exhibition, £500 ; Ministerial residences (see Estimates, p. 7G) ; Telegraph cable subsidy; Thermal Springs expenses, £2585; Geological and Meteorological Department £3349 Doputy Rngistrars of the Supremo Court, £906; General Assembly Librarv (from £000 to £300); Coroners! £2500; New Zealand Law Report subsidy, £150 ; Hansard printing, £2700 and abolition of Hansard staff; Subsidies to local bodies; Railway passes, Friendly Societies Registry Office; Protection of salmon, £300; Introduction of salmon ova, £500; Newboilers and repairs to Hinemoa, £3000; Good attendance medals Wangauui Education Board, £134. But even this is a mere skimming of the situation, for sweeping financial reforms aro urgently needed in the departments which must at present be retained, such as saving in the reduction of Lower House members to 50, and in the non-payment of tho Upper House, in reduction of the number of Ministers to three, in the abolition of dissolutions after a vote of want of confidence, in nonpayment to Speakers (£1200) and Chairmen of Committees (£700), in reduction of the salaries and allowances of future Governors (after Lord Onslow) from £5000, in the conveyance of mails by sea by at least £30,000 (see Estimates, p. 51), in the regulation of the wages of public employes generally by the ordinary law of supply and demand and in the prohibition of all relief works, in saving in the Marine Department, (for I am assured on good authority that at least £1000 a year could be saved in connection with the "Stella" alone), and in huge reductions in the Printing and Stationery Department (£lß,oo2)—the expense of which strikes one as indeed startling. Nor is this all, even of the classes of reductions which should be made—nor by a long way all; for instance, set opposite the word " Contingencies" is an enormous sum, Indeed. '' Contingencies" is a word which should be absolutely disallowed in "The Estimates," as liable to grave abuse ; inasmuch as it offers a convenient and tempting cloak for alt kinds of frauds and extravagances impossible for the people's watchdogs to detect, or check.

For instance, what think you under the head of " Miscellaneous Services" in tho Colonial Secretary's Department, of " General Contingencies £SOOO " or under the section of " Conveyance of Mails by Sea" in tho Postal and Telegraph Department " Contingencies, Bonuses, Gratuities, £5,500 ? " or in the Defence Department, under the head of " Police, Contingencies, £3000? " and so forth, to a most alarming extent, on almost every page of " The Estimates."

Indeed, I fuel sure that no im partial person can peruse the E-iti mates for ISBB- - without fooling shocked at the disgraceful incompetence, apathy, aDd betrayal of trust on the part of our representatives (with only a very few honourable exceptions), sent to Wellington lately expressly to insist ou economy ; and at the cowardice of those who, with brazen effrontery, still persist in posing as financial reformers.

New Zealand members, as a rule, apparently, forget that the real statesman "does not look to the present for an impartial appreciation of his acts ; " and act as if they believed that " though a tongue has sworn .the mind may remain unsworn," and as if they had been expressly admonished by their constituents —" Sipcceas, pccca fortikr."

Electors, too, seemingly, overlook tha the price of economic, as of all other liberty, is eternal vigilance.

As in view of the malversations of American publishers, M. Karr proposes a Bill to enact that " Literary Property is Property," so here I venture to suggest that a Bill be introduced to enact "that " A Political Trust is a Trust."

Retrenchment is unpopular; and the New Zealand representative knows it; and (except in the ease of a few really honourable members) in base accord with his calibre, and with selfish short-sighted-ness, damning to both member and constituent—acts accordingly. Members, however, know that sweeping reform is virtually necessary ; but " man is so inconsistent a creature that it is impossible to reason from his belief to his oonduot, or from one part, of his belief to another." Indeed the New Zealand representative (in the case of a very large majority of members) seems to have taken for his motto : —

" I remember now I am in this earthly world, where to do harm Is often laudable: to do good sometime Accounted dangerously folly." Such constitutioual and financial reforms, as I have suggested, should at once stop British and Australian capitalists from talking of us as gamblers, and of our stocks as risqncs, as '.they do now, and should tend to inspire that confidence, which is the first step needed, not only to temporarily relieve our present acute symptoms, but towards establishing on a permanently substantial basis, the second of our great wants—wealth-production — which, with fair-legislation, I hope to say something about as soon as my leisure permits.

The ridiculous question so current just now, " Are things better yet ?" shows how deep and widespread is our ignorauce of the condition of the colony, of cause and effect, of diseaso and cure. For to place New Zealand oven on tlio track to permanent prosperity, it cannot be too often reiterated that Finance-Economy, Wealth-Production, and Fair-Legislation are absolutely indispensable; that to ensure these constitutional reform is a precondition ; that to secure that condition, members of vastly superior calibre, as a rule, must be returned—and that, to secure tho return of such members, a healthy public opinion has yet to be formed—to realise the situation and the remedy. Until then, to look for substantial, permanent, improvement is idle. For as I have all alonjj: striven to impress, and as the Star recently (September 18th) wroto—" wo say, without foar of contradiction, that it is bad legislation which has brought this country to its present pass, and only good legislation can put things on a proper footing." R. Laisiiley, L.L.D., &c, &o.