CORRESPONDENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 152, 30 June 1887, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

ftlr Wcwinan on the Political Situation.

(To the Editor.)

Siß, ;i —*Not> s beirig a candidate for Parliamentary perhaps give me greater '4ib6rty -to point out some of the errors of our Parliamentary proceedings. A crisisrjds'at-hand, and it behoves each one who has the welfare of the colony at heart to offer Jiis, contribution of advice, and thus effect,}if possible, .a removal of the difficulties that surround us. -Ho one,has greater confidence in the future of the -colony than I have. In the course of three dr four years I believe we shall forget all the troubles that <now .embarrass us, if we only make a wise Selection of men to represent us in the next -Parliament, Finance must of necessity (claim our attention before any other subject is considered; and I fear very few of us fully realise the extent of our liabilities or the difficulty of meeting them. If we rely upon past party lines, we shall not obtain our object nor secure the reductions , we require. Sir Robert Stout, Major Atkinson, and other leaders of party must, for the time, be not considered. A sensible reduction in our expenditure must be effected, and if one leader cannotdo this another must, and one Ministry after anQther'must'be set we find, onethat will. The exigencies* of the time demand this ; otherwise we shall not be able to meet.the interest upon our national debt; and any dishonour on this score will be fatal to our future prosperity and credit. But statements like these, without pointing out the dark spots in our expenditure and how to remove them, are useless, and I feel that I am chargeable with egotism by supposing! know any better than my neighbours, as to what we want do nefor us to Improve our condition. Please take my statements for what they are worth—and let the public set them aside if they fail to suit. First;'l think we are over-governed for a population of 600,000—our machinery Is out of all proportion to our requirements. If the General Assembly can be ■reduced rto fifty members, we should be better 'governed; the talking power of : -the House would. ,be sensibly lessened— ■ ,the 'Ministers, could then be reduced to four ; the {honorarium can be reduced to ; ,one~hundred pounds, the Ministers' salaries , to £1,000 for the Premier and £600 L : ior .the -others. .The Legislative Counj, cil being a '.place of honour, and its • members wealthy, need m*JJ ay - The 1 Speakers -all the other ; «sLcers could then be reduced in proportion. The de- ; j|ence ; e x peuditureiCan>be ? almoßb.suspended

for a time. Already a fearful outlay has been incurred and our debts augmented by guns and fortifications that are of very questionable value, and a few years -hence will be set aside as useless. Meanwhile our poverty and our determination to defend our house and home are our best defence. Let us first enrich our country, and we shall find means for defence. Let us not beggar ourselves by finding the means now to please a lot of " hangers-on," who are every year dragging us down -to poverty. In this evening's Star (June 28fch) we have the report, from Wellington of a commission being appointed comprising two Major-Generals, two Lieu-tenant-Colonels, and a Major, with a captain to act as secretary. Of course, each commissioner "will expect a salary corresponding to his " title." As a matter of course, they are expected to make a great show for their pay ; and a Commission sitting at Home (in addition to the one hero) lias recommended a new rifle for adoption, entailing additional expense. Already the guns we have mounted for pur defence are said, by a competent authority, to be nearly useless, and must be superseded by others. Shamo upon tho Government, who, while the people are groaningundcr the present taxation, and daily passing through tho Insolvency Court, are forcing us into debt by fresh appointments, whose yearly pay, although large, will bo trifling comparod with the changes they will introduce into their departments. Mr Editor, is there no means of stopping this waste of our hard - earned money, or is it possible that your whole paragraph from Wellington respecting the commission is a hoax, something like the "cask o' whisky" in Mr' Luckie's editorial days? We have next our education little bill of £500,000 per annum for 600,000 people, which Sir Robert Stout says ho will sustain, if ho suffers martyrdom (political, he means). Tor this I shall be sorry, for he is a clover man, and may bo of great service to the colony it he can only be separated from his evil genius (Sir Julius Vogol). Nevertheless, tho education voto must bo reduced by at least £150,000 yearly, and I trust Sir Robert will survive tho operation. I believe we shall render great service to the rising generation, and increaso thenphysical ana brain power, by deferring their education until they are seven years old. Let them be encouraged to spend as much time in the fields and in our parks as possible. They will then be prepared to battle with their lessons far better, and at ton years of age be quite,as forward in their education ; meanwhile saving tho country about £70,000 yearly in their capitation fees and tho additional school accommodation that must be provided to keep pace with tho present and futuro increase. Some reduction can bo made in the higher classes by reducing the ago, but until wo can get generous citizens to provide an increase of scholarships to givo every smart, intelligent boy a show, 1 would deal cautiously in this direction ; but all tho boys over tho Fourth Standard whose parents can afford to pay for their children should be required to do so. Our universities are in the right direction, but, alas ! ten years in advance of our means. One university for the colony would be better, and if Ofcago has got endowments to sustain a good one, let her do her part generously, and provide for all-comers. I have not gono over all tho ground open for inquiry. There are tho higher salaries in the civil service— the judges and their courts, tho Governor and his balls, tho evils attending Bellamy's, not so much in tho cost, but in the wasto of time, by speakers inflamed with too much wine lengthening out the session beyond all reason. .There are also tho steamers and Ministers' travelling expenses, together with secretaries and private secretaries, and a number of. other things for which I fear to trespass upon your time and space., But while trying to enforce economy on our Government, I should not be true to my principles if I failed to point out with an emphasis far stronger than any I have yet indulged in, that if wo wish to save the colony and a speedy revival of trade and -commerce, we have the remedy in our own hands, i Let each individual put a restraint upon himself and abstain from all intoxicating drink. The effect would be liko life from the dead ;we should advance by " leaps and bound ;" we could then nearly dispense with our police ; our gaols would soon be half empty—and while all we can hope from our futuro Government will be a saving of about five hundred thousand pounds (£500,000), by a suitable reduction in the liquor traffic we could save at once two millions a year to tho country oi our adoption, and would be morally and physically bettor for the change. Let us become patriotic for once, and stand manfully in tho breach and save our country.—l remain, sir, yours truly, J. Newman. p.g.—I lay great stress on the last sentence, for 1 have no faith in tho man's honesty who would entail sacrifices upon everyone else, and'yet make none himself.— J.N.