THE COLONIAL TREASURER'S SPEECH.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9339, 13 February 1896, Page 4

THE COLONIAL TREASURER'S SPEECH.

Op the three Ministers who have recently visited us Mr. Wat.i> is the first te throw off the mask and to put in plain terms the secret object of all the flattering attention which Christchurch is receiving from the Government just at this particular time; Mr. Ward started oil" with the siirae polite fiction trotted out by his colleagues, and led his audience to believe that he had " just dropped in " merely to give them a little political information, and to defend himself from a wicked Conservative Press, this journal being singled , out ias the speoial arch - enemy that the Government have to contend with. Towards the end of his speech, however, he was carried away by his feelings, and made a frantic appeal to the electors to "support the Government" by sending Mr. E. M. Taylor up to Wellington as the very flower and typo of political wisdom which this constituency is able to produce. It is asking a great deal from the electors, and frankly we don't think they willsee their way to granting the modest request. It is not necessary for us to follow the " Wizard of Finance " through all the jugglery with, figures with which he mystified, if he did not entertain, his audience last evening. The audacity with which he twisted history to suit his purpose bordered on the sublime. Take, for instance, his statement in the Housa about the premature collection of the land tax and his speech to the London Chamber of Commerce, which excited so much unfavourable comment. Mr. Ward last night tried to lead his hearers to believe that it was the Opposition members of the House who had represented that the tax had to be collected earlier because the Government were 'financially crippled. Hi\ Ward's own words to the House, in explaining the necessity for the collection of the tax, were, as reported in Hansard: — "We have not, " and we shall not have, on " Bl3t October, sufficient • money "in England for the payment "of interest." If there was any damage done to the credit of the colony, surely it was done by these words and not by any remarks of Opposition members. Speaking before the members of the London Chamber of Commerce two or three months later Mr. Ward flatly denied that the land tax was collected in advance to meet interest falling due in October, and then it wa3 that he committed himself to the ever memorable statement that "instead of being hard " up for cash at that dote the colony " had lying to its credit in London " and still had £3,000,000 worth of " unpledged securities." Mr. Ward has never explained the discrepancy between the two speeches—he did not attempt to explain it last night. He made a great point as to whether the report of his speech in the British Australasian was, or was not, an " authorised report. He never ventured to say that it was an incorrect report. A3 to the " unpledged securities " —the trust securities, be it remembered, of- the Post Office Savings Bank, the Government Life Insurance Department, and the Public Trust Office—his remarks if they meant anything meant that it would have been quite right and proper for the Government to pledge them, if need were, to bolster up the general credit of the colony. That, we venture to say, is not the opinion of the country; it is not a view which Mr. Ward himself insisted upon before the House when he brought down the "Public Securities Bill" la3u session, ostensibly with the object of providing for the safe custody cs these securities in future. -

Mr. Ward devoted a good deal 6f space to replying to an article which recently appeared, in this .journal commenting on his frequent and es.-

tended absences from the seat of Government. Mr Ward's answer in effect was that ho could transact the business of his Department j Ils fc &3 well in Southland as he could in \V e i lingiou, and thai he should atop ay/ay from Wellington as much ;w cve * he pleased, in spito o£ all the criticisms of the Opposition p ress This sort of reply can bu safely loft to the common-senso of the public. A3 to a Minister absenting himself f r(m , Wellington and transacting business by telegraph instead of on the spot we had the curiosity to look up j^ , Ward's own reports as Postmaster-' General for the last four years to 3ee the cost of Government telegrams to the people of this colony. The figures aro a little instructive, and are as follow:—

1831 ... ... £24,340 1892 £24 342 1693 £.23 317 1R94 ... ... £26 050

The amount for IS9I and 1802 w«a i>,i -v- was about tno average. Next year it will be saen theiv was a jump of JMOOQ and the following year showed an increase of nearly £2(X)O\, For how much of this suddeu increase Mr. Wahd's increasing ab» seuces from Wellington are responsible, we cannot say, but whatever it was, the cost falls on the taxpayers and not on Mr. Ward. In spite of all the honourable gentleman may say, the public will agree with us that the proper place of a Colonial Treasurer for, at any rate, the greater portion of the year, is in Wellington, and not Southland. Does any businssg man think that the principal of a large commercial concern can look after its interests properly if he is not on the spot ? Does Mr. Ward think that the business of the J. G. Waud Company can be conducted without close personal supervision ? If he does, we will ask him in future, by way of a change, to conduct his own private business by telegraph, and to give his personal attention to the public business of the colony, which he is paid to look after. Surely the finances of New ZeiUnad are as importaut a3 tlio business of of any private trading firiru

Mr. Ward was very eloquent in denouncing attacks on the private life and dealings of public men. We agree that such matters should be sacred except where they come into vital prominence in connection with their rmblic offices as sorvauts of the people. If important banking legislation is introduced into Parliament, it should be known whether those responsible for its introduction have any convection with the institutions proposed to be dealt If a public man profes33s .to be a great friend of the farmer and producer, aud it comes out in a lawsuit, reported in the papers, as it did in the case of the Hon. My. Ward, that he privately enters into an arrangement with a powerful firm to create a monopoly with the object of benefiting at the expense of th'e producer—that we think is a fair matter for publio comment. • ;

As regards general finance it will be seen that Mr. Ward anticipates a surplus of £100,000. We hopa hia anticipation will be realised, but even if it is, he himself admits that this non-borrowing Government wiU have to seriously iaoe the: question >of a further loan. The Wizard dfl Finance does not intend to "go on; the London market for millions " in the ordinary commonplace way. Hβ, has some mysterious patent method of borrowing, carefully kept up his sleove, which shall give us all the advantages of borrowing without any of the disadvantagea. Wβ have just as much confidence in this as we have in all the other quack nostrums jpufied. auCJ advertised in the same way.