The Press. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1880.

Press, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4756, 30 October 1880, Page 2

The Press. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1880.

We have heard a great deal, ever since the present Ministry took office, of their recklessness of the credit of the colony. Aa soon as the Colonial Treasurer placed the state of the finances truthfully before the public last year, he was denounced in the most violent terms for having ruined the credit of th 9 colony. To this day, whenever an opponent of the Ministry has nothing els« to say against them, he falls back on this cuckoo cry, and informs his hearers or his readers that the Colonial Treasurer has destroyed the credit of the colony by under-estimating the revenue or otherwise looking on the gloomy aide of the financial position. If any independent person ventures to speak out about the finances or to express an opinion that the wasteful extravagance of the past has involved the colony in serious difficulties, he is instantly set npon by half a dozen assailants and convicted without trial of damaging the credit of the colony. If any one dares to say, by way of an incentive to economy and increased exertion, that the colony is in danger of national bankruptcy, he is howled down as if he were a criminal, for attacking the credit of the colony. To judge from the frequency with which this charge ia made, one would suppose I that the credit of the colony was some j merely fictitious thing, the very existence of which depended on the world at large, and particularly the British capitalist, being kept in the dark aa to the actual assets and liabilities, revenue and expenditure, of the colony. The highest patriotism, we might fairly assume, lies in cooking figures and habitually misrepresenting facts. Now this is all great nonsense. The credit of the colony cannot be injured by the utmost frankness about its affairs. Any attempt to disguise those affairs indeed is perfectly useless. The affairs of the colony are quite well known to all who are sufficiently interested in them to make inquiries. It would be impossible to conceal them. They were known, and were freely commented upon in London, long before Major Atkinson put them in such a clear light last year; and nothing was more calculated to raise the credit of the. colony than the warning of danger that he then gave. All our unfriendly critics at home have dwelt mainly on the. fact that New Zealand was the constable without knowing it, o» caring anything about it, and urged that some check ought to be put on our borrowing, in order to bring us to our senses. Our friendly critics— and we have many very friendly, if candid, critics at home — have given us precisely the same warning that Major Atkinson gave. They admit that we have immense' resources," and that we are justified in financing as less vigorous countries would not dare to finance ; but they say, "Do not deceive yourselves. Do not be overconfident. Look the-facts full in the face. Put the brake on before your speed is beyond your control. Stop borrowing, and increase" your production, and you will soon be quite safe again. But above aIL do not deceive yourselves by trying to mske your case out better than it is." We have before us an article in the Economist of the 4th September, which is precisely in this tone. It is full -of minute and accurate information on the finances of New Zealand, and ought to be sufficient, according to the views of the Opposition, to damn the credit of tbe colony for good and aIL It not only demonstrates our position quite clearly, and without the least reserve, from statistics and official returns; but it explains and discusses the bearing of the figures in a most matter-of-fact and common-sense way. The article is, in short, written with a thorough knowledge of the subject. We never remember, indeed, to have met with any examination of the affairs of this country, in a London paper, which displayed so much familiarity with them. In illustration of this wo may mention that, in remarking with satisfaction on the apparent revival of the Customs revenue during the June quarter, 1880, the article points out, as a caution against counting too much on that feature, that the new taxation of 1879 was in the direction of protection. Now there are a great many people, and not a few public men, in New Zealand, who have not yet realised that the taxation of 1879 was distinctly protective, or that it has had and is likely to have a marked effect upon the revenue. Yet the writer in the Economist knew all about it, and dwelt upon it, as something necessary to be borne in mind, whilst estimating tbe capacity of the colony to pay its way. The article, in a word, is practically a Financial Statement for New Zealand, and a very able one too. It is written, apparently, for the information of the commercial public in London, and it neither puffs the colony nor depreciates it Well, the whole tone of that article is such as we have described. After placing all the burdens of the colony as prominently forward as they can fairly be put; and stating quite correctly and reasonably all that there is to be said on the other side; it comes to the conclusion that New Zealand, by a steady course of total abstinence from borrowing, may outgrow the bad effects of past excesses. But, whilflt expressing this encouraging opinion, it reiterates the warning that, until the results of that course are seen, tha future soundness of the colony cannot be regarded as assured. We have nothing to say against that article. We agree with every word of it. We know it to be literally true. We fear, however, that tbe admonition which it gives in so inoffensive a manner, has not yet reached those who affect to have the keenest solicitude for the credit of colony. We have beard within the last few days from the Opposition, the first rumor of a new loan. They say that Sir Dillon Bell's appointment as AgentGeneral has special reference to the raising of s new loan as soon as the period has expired within which the colony is pledged not to enter the London money market. They state specifically

that official notice of that intention has been given. Now we say that nothing is so certainly calculated to injure ths credit of the colony as the spreading of such a report as that. The mere incident that there is not a word of truth iri it, that it is the invention of some irresponsible newsmonger in Wellington, is neither here nor there. The appearance ef such a statement in the newspapers, without any contradiction or explanation, is bound to do a great deal of harm. The Government, as a rule, are wise not to take the slightest notice of the falsehoods which appear daily in the Opposition papers, and which are dissipated by events immediately afterwards. Bnt ia this case we think they ought to take prompt action. They ought without any delay to make it known that there is no truth whatever in this statement, and that there is no intention of making any further application to the London money market at least until the colony is in a mnch better position than it is now to pay the interest on i's present debts.