The Press. THURSDAY. MAY 8, 1890.

Press, Volume XLVII, Issue 7546, 8 May 1890, Page 4

The Press. THURSDAY. MAY 8, 1890.

Db. Hodqkinbon, the member for Wallace, in addressing his constituents the other evening again raised the question of selling Our railways, as the only practical means of relieving the colony from the heavy burden of taxation tinder which it is laboring. Ha admitted, it is true, that there was some improvement in oar condition as compared with three years ago. Oar financial credit in England had improved; the exodus from the colony, be'said, had ceased; our exports had greatly increased. He referred especially to the frozen meat industry, the flax industry, the improved condition of the wool market, and the satisfactory surplus 00. the year which has lately ended. Having thos stated the bright side of the picture he proceeded to present the dark. He referred to the large sums of money that had been sunk in the improvement of land, and which had been in many cases absolutely lost. He then went on to dilate on the fact that: a great deal of that improved land required population to make it really useful; but that with the taxation which stared them in the face in the colony we could not expect to attract people with capital to occupy that land. The colony, he went on to say, " was being bled to death by the drain of one million six hundred thousand pounds of interest on onr' colonial debt remitted to England, besides about as much more for interest oa debt* for local

bodies and private indebtedness. The interest oni our General Government debt, if paid in produce, would amount to about eleven million bushels of wheat, or three million frozen sheep, requiring a fleet of a hundred ocean steamers to carry it to the English bondholders." Having painted ; the aitx-WkiSfa these gloomy are the remedies whioh the honorable gentleman suggests? We cannot, he says, control markets and raise prices, but we can stop the increase of our publio debt, if we so will it, andt we can yet effect further retrenchment. But short, he adds, of " a rise in prices, the only thing that can give us speedy relief would be to sell our railways, if we could get a fair price, pay off part of our colonial debt, and thereby save sufficient in yearly interest to enable us to do without & property or income tax." The other remedy which he proposes ia a reform of local government " such as would stop the perpetual demands for money out of loan for roads and bridges." In a former article we discussed at some length Mr. Lance's proposal to sell the railways, and need only on the present occasion very briefly point out that, apart altogether from considerations of public policy, the advocates of the sale of the railways simply beg the question. They take it for granted that we shall be able to sell them at such a price as will relieve us of an amount of taxation equal to the burden of the property tax. They forget or ignore the fact that the railways are at the present time contributing something like 3 per cent, on the cost of their construction. If we sold the railways to-morrow for

I the amount thej cost, it appears to be forgotten that we should have to redeem our bonds in the open market, j and if it were known that this colony; | was a purchaser of its own bonds to the amount of £15,000,000, what would the natural result be ? New Zealand securities would become as valuable in the market as consols, and it is a question if we; would get the 3 per cent, now derived from the railways,: We should have to purchase our bonds' at such price as would not relieve taxation to a greater extent than the railway revenue does at present. On' the other hand, what would the Syndicate that acquired the railways do? Were they induced to give the suni; named for the railways, would they be content with 3 per cent.? And if not,: how would they set about improving the income? Most assuredly they' would in no way consider the interests of the settlers. They would extract every sixpence out of them :that could be got. The net result I would be that, as far as taxation is concerned, we would be no better oft than. we are at present, while, the I people who used the railways would have an increased tax imposed upon them in the shape of rates and charges. This, it appears to us, completely disposes of the contention of those who hold that it would be to the advantage |of New Zealand to dispose of her railway property to a Obmpany or Syndicate. The other means of relief held ont to jus ia; a; reform in local government. What these gentlemen mean by %eform is some approach to the | system of Provincial Government abolished in 1876. It is impossible, of course, to discuss the proposal fully unless we have details of the reform before us. -From all chat can be ascertained, it Would ap-i pear that the oentral and local governments are to be assigned separatelaiid distinct functions. The local bodies are to perform at least part of the work at one time discharged by the provinces. j And does the experience of the working [of the system in the past justify the hope that the change would tend to I economy ? The colony has not forgotten Sir Juizrcrs Vogbl's declaration jhn jthe House of Representatives in 1874, that it had cost him millions to bribe the provinces. Whaifc reason [ is thete for thinking that a restoration of some form of provincial government would jresult in any better state of [ things in the future than in the past ? '<iuf dwn opinion is that the colony must endeavor to deal with the situation -without resort to imaginary remedies. The good work has already been begun, and it rests with the electors alone whether it shall be continued in the future.