OUR SYOHIEY LETTER.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 2995, 24 September 1891, Page 4

OUR SYOHIEY LETTER.

[M;mi i>; ii iiv.n r; •■,:i:i-..>! , i»M)i:NT."l Syi.nkv, August IS. l'l\.\M'i. i.; tin? i| i-.-lion th;tt '>o:i:|i!! < mo r lit.'Ml ion JH'. , n >\v. A rc'uri :in\:"l fur in tin , J 1.-iisi; ..how* i.hat dmii'_i liif uiirivnl. vii t:i'• 0 nvnini ; -it W.iv borrow,-.,! f:-,,:n ,md olhrr ■ iiuivi i i:b:iiir ii ni!i!i"ii mid tbn c t|iiai - ti-i.-= i-f imiiii'V. P..rt o!' rlirsr riiiv.un:! , .) himhr,.:u i-.'piiid i\r, tlifv matiiivd, l.avin-,' vrvy ~ ~-ly r. million ~m.l a b.ilf st'il t.u iiiu'- Vi-iy just at tin , titu--thi-s 111 l i-iii.U i.-ii v.a- iiii|):u-liMl to til : As.S'-ini.iy, imiiii , ;i .■.'il'li , from London, uliicl: was publislu-d in tlu- Herald, statiiil; that tin: Coverninunt l:ad contracte.l ,-i ]o:t:i of a million and a-half in London without beat of drum at the hitherto uiilhwiloi 1 price of K7- Kefore 24 hours had elapsed, however, it was manifest that the usually well-informed Herald had been " had," and that its London correspondent had been made the tool of iioiuo persons who had given him false information. No loan had been contracted. The Premier, who was administering the Treasury during the interregnum caused by thu resignation of Mr Macmillan, declared that no proposition of the kind had been made. His duuial was re-echoed by Sir .Saul Samuel, the colony's Ageut-Gcueral in London, and matters remain in statu '/no, so far as the Government overdrafts arc concerned.

Certain smart broker*, however, pifted with the power of foreseeing what waH not tfoi'ifj to happen, made forward sales of Now South Wales sorip of OSA, in anticipation, no doubt, of bcinp able to supply themselves at 97. Did they invent the story in order to effect u "bear" transaction successfully ? Such a project seemed too risky, and tho hypothesis too improbable to bo soriouply onturtiiiued. On the other hand, had negotiations really been cutered into, and wero they ho iiuar fruition, that tho financial kobulwcciiM thought, they might a ifoly assume they would bu completed. Tliih HijuuiH thu most probabli; explanation. Under ordinary circumstances il would be excluded by tho denial of tho Troumiry aud of the Ageut-Goooral. But at prcNcut thoru i:i a third party which has a very iuiportuut " nay " iu thu matter, und which ban as yet been peculiarly dumb. [ refer to thu bauliw—tliu Bink of England, presumably—which havo advanced l;hc million and u half already mentioned. These advances were not made without security, nor without full power to deal with that security iu caao of default, Who can toll what negotiations havu pascod between nervous bankers anxious to haudle their money once more and keen monOy-brokors, scenting in tho wellknown necessities of the colony the chance of a profitable transaction. I should not i)u surprised to hear that this is the hole through which the milk got in the cocoanut. The banks, however, cannot foreclose upon us this way just yet. Tho .Lyndon advances do not mature till the ouil of October next. But for all that ti cy may have thought that a transaction which would have suited them so admirably would have becu equally welcome to Up; colony, and in this belief may havo given the financiers encouragement which led them to suppose that their offer only needed to be made to bis accepted.

Let the explanation be what it will, the exposure of the colony's indebtedness is humiliating and the fact that we are practically in the hands of the moneylenders more disquieting still. We are ii'jw beginning to see the effects of tho culpable folly of the Government in launching outjjiuto increased loan expenditure before they had been able to spe their way to borrow the money. My readers will remember that at the time this increased expenditure \va-= resolved upon I commented upon the Micawberish rashness which it evinced. New South Wales as long as she keeps well within her means is a very desirable cuatOTier on the English money market and is able to command the most favourable terms) that are going, lint Now South Wales with an empty Treasury, with trust fund* speut, owing money to her bankers all round, and with heavy commitments which must be met on a certain date in a few weeks time, has abdicated her rightful position. Instead of commanding tho market she is at the mercy of the market. The difference between extravagence and thrift could hardly bo more forcibly illustrated. Mr MacMillau'a reputation as a capable Treasurer will suiter from his want of firmness iu permitting this ruinous folly.

It would not however he fair to charge the whole of tho blame upon the Government. The Opposition are quite as much to blame. Members of tho Assembly have bitterly conflicting opinions as to who should, or should not occupy the Treasury benches, as to the fiscal policy which should be adopted, and as to the character ot tho changes which arc necessary in the way of social reform. !>ut they arc all agreed that a liinre expenditure of public money is an excellent thing for the " working man,"' and a atill more excellent thing for the working man of each member's own electorate. Furthermore, there is a pretty thorough consensus of opinion that iu order to entertain any ruasonable hopes of geUim; money spent in his own district, a uiiMiibci , must not be too " nasty particular" iibout :>. liitlc liivishness in other distvi'if.-. If lie wants: his own lit 11. , r..r< mi!.,l, h>: mini luiid a liMid to ii!li'.t.-. l'i i-oM I ■•it-i»- I. , :; imii.-m. So it eann: !.,, p-iv, I bat. ivbiiV.ver'cl-.-.t. , lin-y disiugrr.rd upon, O|i]i'r'iliuiii.-:t-- and Ministerialists win , ' , th'>ioi:;''lv ;; : ;rred ill endorsing propo iliu'i: which involved enormous i •.j.iindiluri , , Mini in leaving the question .ii '.vajii mill mean:! to take care of itself. When the J louse authorised the Government to borrow it said, "Thank he.iveu, I hat';; settled," and never stopped to think that being authorised to borrow was not exactly the name thing as lieing ;iblo to borrow. You may authorise a man to draw a cheque, but if you don't take care tint there shall be funds I.r> meet ir, the authorisation is only likely to lead to trouble.

Tin; new Treasurer, Mr B"uci'. Smith, is u h.mii of fjreater determination than Mr ?,I i! ii'.illau, anil there is room to hop" l!i it. li" M'ill i!MTt; a s;ilnt'iry lvntrpinim , inv.er i>v'in , the extravagance of Ilis colliallies. Meanwhile, howo\vr,a jiruat dual of mischief has beeu done. The uiivvoutcd iiberalily of our loan expenditure li.i--iiU.iwjU , 1 numbers of persons from nominally prr.dii'jtive. pursuit.-.!, which would i-tin'i-vv!.<i! hive added to ill.? wenltli of ihe colony instead of increasing its ii>debtedne.;!<. In the absence of funds it has been found necessary to curtail this uxponiiituri;. ami it is ijiiite within t1i , . , . hounds 0! possibility that it may h;u'K to lie stoppi-d aitriu'cthoi'. But in this mpo the niimhcr of nncinploycd, which 13 already forinniablo, will be iuoreased, mill it will bo fonnil much more difficult to get back to iiormul industries than it was to leave them. Some of the works elfiT.tod by loan money are legitimate I'linufih, ami would havo to bo ejected Koouer or latur ; but they coulil very well ha vu waited ;i year or tun longer. There wan no impe.ious necessity for the initia lion of such an enormous expenditure under huoli unfivour.ible circumstances, and the problem now is to git out of the mess willies; little liinneial and industrial disturbance as po;-sible. appointment of Mr Young as Minister for Works dois not meet with much approbation. Ah .Speaker Mr Young was not a success, nor h;:a hi: in any walk of life proved himself a man of sup'Tabundant ability. However, his .scat i.-i pretty safe under our present aystrni of s'-infliiit; u.:wly-appointed Ministers for rc-i'lcetioii. This is a, convideration whioh often outweighs those, which are of greater intrinsic-', importance. Miidamo P.frnh.ii'dt lias takfn her , d(>liarture, f-o wo im-o spared one sourco of irritiition at. lea.-t. We am no lonijrr (Onfroiilod with ohilifirato :ii>:ninfn!s ili--sit;[Uifi 1 d to prcvf'lhnr ;nurdrr, ndiiltnry, tceaelifry find intriguo, or nt Inimt their MiPM(intini(>nt ou the stasro, are healthy, moral food. Madamo Bernhardt's trip >vin '■'■ pecuniary suocnss, and will no j'onlit further oornmMid Australia as .1

,■i<-lif. 11 >: > • li-M i'ir lh» i-lobp-t rotting nhnwinan mid hi* carefuliy ''lii-ri-'iu-il e/lebritins.

The sensation just now is Robortfl, trio billiard champion, who is as perfect in his wiy ii.h Mirtuine B"rnhanlt in her". I ;iiu afraid, thong-'-, that liin treasury nci'ijitH will hardly b> m> satisfactory. His .-flvill wi'li tlii- oub is phenomenal, but I'v-iihi' skill p.iiii'r, make thn game inte-n-tiii|f to fj-pdtiit.oM Miter tlip first haif hour or so, Still il is sometbin:,' to m-,> an export. To bo ;m rxp'T*— a r<-:il one, nor, 0n,, , of t)io shams who an: so iinpl"u■•iintly iiiimnroiH-in «. irn-at ileal more. Thi , people who iire experts :md million-iiirr-.-i at the same time, or who have any prospect of attaining to [,'rpa.t wealth, arc too few to be taken into the account. I mentioned a short time ago the disastrous failure of the anthrax experiments. I now learn that in one flock of 12,524 sheep inoculated with the deadly virus, 3174 died, or 25 per cent! It seema to me that very little pains has been taken to publish those results, though the whole country was filled with high flown accounts of the inflated hopes which wero cherished respecting the result of this disastrous experiment in wholesale bloodpoisoning. Remarkable are the pains with which the Roman Catholic Church is investigating the condition of tho labourer, and self-evidently true are many of the recommendations which are made. If all alike, masters, men—employers and bourers, were to do the best they could for one another labour troubles would be a thing of the past. One turns however to the countries where the Papacy has had most sway—to Italy, say, or to Spain, or even to Ireland—and can only conclude that it has failed to follow its own advice.