The Bruce Herald. "Nemo me impune lacesset" TOKOMAIRIRO, JUNE 8, 1880.

Bruce Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 1201, 8 June 1880, Page 3

The Bruce Herald. " Nemo me impune lacesset" TOKOMAIRIRO, JUNE 8, 1880.

In- the Legislative Council on Friday, the Hon. Mr Waterhouse moved for the production of all papers connected with the conversion of the last loan. The lion, member spoke at some length and showed that the conversion to 4 per cent, brought the loan down to 81 per cent., whereas South Australia had just raised a 4 per cent, loan at and over 92, and New South Wales one at £95 16s Bd. These are indeed startling facts, which leave no i-oom for any doubt, but which must, at the same time, be extremely annoying to New Zealand taxpayers, while they are disgraceful to the Grovernment. As far as may be gathered from the remarks of the various speakers, almost the entire blame is at present put on the shoulders of the AgentGeneral, Sir Julius Vogel, who was spoken of by several of the " lords " in terms anything but complimentary. It would, however, be premature to pass any opinion as to who is to blame, until the papers asked for are laid on the table, which will be done in due course. The Hon. Colonel Whitmore, in seconding the motion, spoke rather strongly, remarking " that Sir Julius had acted without instructions, and should be told that he was not master of the country, but a high servant ; or else the Government had given instructions, which showed them to bo wholly unfit for their financial work." The Hon. Mr Scotland waxed warm on the subject in the following unmeasured terms : — " He considered that the Colony had not the moral courage to get rid of Sir Julius Vogel, who seemed to cast a spell over every Ministry, and do as he liked with a country to which he owed everything, having come to it as an adventurer and broken-down gambler." The Hon. Colonel Brett defended the AgentGeneral but was called to order, and Sir ~F. D. Bell immediately afterwards said that " we had made fools of ourselves in the conversion of the loan," which is about the most correct conclusion that could be arrived at. Whether or not Sir Julius is implicated in the business, time will show, but we cannot expect that a man, who has played a high hand for years past, and has almost defied control, can come out of this latest performance altogether free from blame. At the same time the quotations we have given above, plainly indicate a strong feeling of discontent against our A gent-General's continuance in office much longer, and our present Ministry, if they remain in power, might yet be compelled to make a fresh appointment. A man who goes into Home politics, and travels about for electioneering purposes, cannot help neglecting the duties he owes to the conn" try which pays him, and that handsomely too, for his services. Many of the subagents were blamed for swamping the Colony with hundreds of impecunious immigrants ; but might not this have been prevented if Sir Julius had, like any other paid servant, devoted the whole of his time to the business of his masters 1 Regarding the last loan it has long since been proved, if not admitted, that the Gbey Government were on the verge of bankruptcy, and would certainly have had [to stop payment, had the mone\ r not been procured at tin: very time it was urgently wanted. But there could have been no need for making such an immense sacrifice as is now announced, to the astonishment, no doubt, of the whole of the Australian colonies, and to the mortification of unfortunate New Zealand. While Mr Waterhouse snoke to his motion for the production of the papers, he alleged that, by the conversion of the five million 5 per cents, into six million 4 per cents., we would lose £1,600,000 in compound interest, and £1,000,000 more in principal — making a total loss to the Colony, in this one transaction, of £2,600,000 when the time arrived for the repayment of the) loan. Should these calculations prove to be correct eveu to one half the amount mentioned, they would be sufficient to make the Colony tremble to its very foundations, and revelations like these also tend to show that a iuan who plays unlimited 100, and goes iu for £5000 electioneering expenses, simply to turn up a bad third at the poll, will be equally reckless in squandering the finances, and damaging the credit, of the country to which he owes his rise, after having spent thousands of pounds iu unauthorized travelling expenses. Finally, when he saw the inevitable cricis approaching, fate once more turned up in his favor, and enabled him to fill up the vacancy caused by the death of our late lamented AgencGeriera], than whom a more able, honor-

able, and painstaking statesman New Zealand never possessed. But for the untimely demise of Isaac Earl Featherstone, who will be gratefully remembered by thousands, the Colony would be holding a position in regard to its financial matters, very different fiom the humiliating, if not disgraceful attitude which' it now occupies, after years of Sir Julius' manipulations. We shall watch with interest the result of the pending investigation, which is not unlikely to cause some further startling revelations.