The Press. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1897. THE PREMIER'S EXPENSES.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 9882, 12 November 1897, Page 4

The Press. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1897. THE PREMIER'S EXPENSES.

These is no doubt that the Premier found himself in an humiliating position on Wednesday during the discussion on his two portentous bills for travelling expenses, but he had himself entirely to blame for it. The amounts were so large that some explanation was required, and the Premier ought to havo given it voluntarily, instead of having it forced out of him at the bayonet' 3 point as it were. When theHon. Captain Russell,, the late Sir Hatuiy Atkinson and Sir Geobge Grey attended the Federation Convention at Sydney in 1891, the details of their expensos were laid 'before Parliament a3 a matter of course. The amount was singularly moderate compared with tho Premier's bill for the Hobarfc Conference. The total joint and individual expenses for the three delegates amounted to only £600 7s lid and this included £165 8s 4d for printing reports. Mr. Beddon's bill, if charged on tho same scale, ought, therefore, to have been only some £150 instead of tho £578 which the colony has actually to pay. By his extravagance and by the obatinaoy with which hb attempted to keep from the House the explanation to which it was obviously entitled,the Premier not only took up a very undignified and improper attitude, but placed the House itself in a very painful position. No one wished the Premier pf Now Zealand to appear mean or' poverty-stricken either during his trip to Hobart or his visit Home, and it is not an agreeable task to have to demur to the expenses incurred. It would have b9en much pleasanter for members had the Premier presented a reasonable bill in each case which they might have passed without scrutinising too closely the items. When, however, the Premier of New Zealand charged £1750 for his personal expenses in attending the Jubilee, while the I Premier of New South Wales—tho oldest and wealthiest colony in the group—was content with £1000, it was only right and proper that some explanation of the discrepancy should be given. So too £518 for attending the Hobarfc Conference certainly seemed a monstrous charge compared with the modest expenses of the three Now Zealand delegates at the Sydney Convention. Some sort of explanation was at length forced from tha reluctant Ministry, but we cannot say the details given were altogether satisfactory. They showed at any rate that Mr. Seddon, when travelling oa public business, believes in scattering the ratepayers' money with a truly lavish hand. The attempt made by one of his colleagues to account for a portion of the Hobarfc bill by including opossums and offices was a mournful failure, inasmuch as it was shown that both tho opossums and offices were provided for in another vote. In any! case it is hard to see what the Premier could want with either opossums or offices at a conference with other Premiers. Surely the hospitality of the Tasmanian Government might have been trespassed upon to the extent of any offices that might be required, while we hardly see the necessity of opossums, either to assist the Premier in his deliberations, or to add to his own personal comfort. There is, however, a very simple explanation with regard to the difference between the Premier's Bill and that of the three New Zealand delegates in 1891. The latter were men of simple habits, and were just as careful with the colony's money, a3 with their own. With Mr. Seddon, the maxim, " Easy come, easy go " applies to the money he expends when travelling on Ministerial business. He dips into the colony's purse with a heavy hand. A single illustration of what we mean will suffice. At the Sydney Convention in 1891 the three New Zealand delegates were content with one Secretary for the whofe party. At the Hobart Conference our one delegate ■ deemed it necessary to take three ' Secretaries in his train. Ex uno disce j omnes. With the rest of the expendi- j ture conducted on the same scale the i bill would soon mount up. We see the seme thing ia the ordinary travelling expenses of the present Ministry. They "make the money flj" at a]

rate unprecedented since tha wildest days of the Sheehan regime. Let any one compare the travelling expenses for any one year of the present Ministry with those presented to Parliament when Sir John Hall, Sir Habby Atkinson, or the Hon. Captain Russell was in power. They will be simply amazed at the difference, and they will then better understand why it cost us £518 to send Mr. Seddon to the Hobart Conference whore nothing was done, while in 1891 for £600 we sent three delegates to the Sydney Convention which was really a notable gathering and accomplished a good deal.