THE Thames Advertiser. TUESDAY, AUG. 11, 1874.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1888, 11 August 1874, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. TUESDAY, AUG. 11, 1874.

Another four millions! At last it has come out. This is the amount of money which is to be borrowed this year under the new Loan Bill about to be introduced into the General Assembly. It will be remembered that in his Financial Statement Mr Vogel was very careful not to allude to the further borrowing powers which would be necessary to carry on the Public Works policy, but he told the House that his colleague the ..Minister for Public Works, in. his annual statement, would "describe to you the steps proposed to be taken to complete the greit work the country is already pledged to." Mr Richardson certainly did tell us all about the progress of the various railway works in the colony, but he did not throw any light upon the financial aspect of the question, and the country has been kept in profound ignorance of the new borrowing proposals of the Ministry up to the present moment. The "Wellington, correspondent of the 1 Southern Cross,' however, lets some light in upon the subject, and telegraphs as follows" The Immigration and Public Works Loan Bill provides for the issue of debentures not exceeding four millions, interest not to exceed six per cent, on the same terms as in former Acts. , The other provisions contain the usual technical arrangements regarding the disposal of debentures. The money to be applied as per schedule thus'.—Railways authorised and toi'be authorised by Assembly, £3,000,000; public works under Immigration and Public Works Act, 1370, and on goldfields, £500,000) roads under same Act, and roads in North Island, £60,000 ; for immigration, ,£500,000; Public Works buildings, telegraph lines, lighthouses, and other purposes, £390,000." The loan is surely large enough to complete all the railways authorised, and to join up those "gaps" in the main trunk Hues which have not yet been authorised by Parliament. Let any one who cares to ponder over the progress made in heaping up the debts of New Zealand, turn for a moment to the tables appended to the' Financial Statement delivered by Mr Vogel in 1873, It will there ha seen, that, under tlm head o£|

ia- r ,- — TTTTfTTI —ril 111 l FIT—-"-J the " amount of debentures in circulation," there was a total indebtedness, provincial and general, of £10,369,736. One year afterwards, on the 30bh June last, the total under the same heading had jumped up to £13,411,736, or an increase of more than three millions sterling. And now the General Assembly is to be asked for authority to borrow a further sum of four millions, which will bring up our indebtedness to more than seventeen millions sterling. And we shall now be compelled to continue the borrowing policy until all the through lines are completed, because there would be a complete collapse financially were any stoppage to be made at the present junction. But out of all this money the Thames ha 3 not received a sixpence for railway purposes, although the inhabitants are taxed and' have to bear their full proportion of the annual charges on the loans. The indirect advantages to the Thames of the expenditure on railways is also exceedingly small, its labour has been drained away by the undue inflation of other places, and the cost of living has been materially increased through the inauguration of the. Public Works policy. Our complaint is not against a public works policy, but ifc is directed against the manifest injustice with which the Thames has been treated by the Assembly. Instead of a fair share of representation we have really none at all. On a population basis we are entitled to four representatives, but have only one, who is, unfortunately for his constituents, bound hand and foot to the Ministry of the day, and when the question of the present inequality was ably argued in the House we find even the Superintendent of this province voting against us. One thought, however, gives us some consolation, and that is, that the financial position of the country will shortly compel the General Assembly to sweep away Superintendents and Provincial Councils. And if the Public Works policy were to bring no other advantage or benefit to the colony than this, j we are disposed to think that it would be cheap at the price.