The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA: TUESDAY, JULY 22, 1902.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXVIII, Issue 1537, 22 July 1902, Page 2

The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA: TUESDAY, JULY 22, 1902.

Contrary to all expectation, the d». iaue on ihe i'manual Statement was a >et\ bnei one—one oi the brieiesi uvo..d. it as I Lilly anticipated Hat, tins k'lug ilie ijjial session oi Hie ramanum,, members would takjl .uivantage oi tiie uenate in, order ui i'Aj.i.uii io their consiiiuenis, throueii liii.isaid, ti.eir opinions the i.naiiciai alians oi the country, jet the achate that ojiened oil 'lues-luji-ii. was allowed to out nights iheieaiter, and a api ears ih,it. iln- .question of luiance aj. io. 3 elher laued io interest a majorof members lor even that briel per, oil. (nit of 71 members of tu i.ouse, ( ill) 11 took part in the deDale, and i veu ] Ul( j i 0 s p eali lo eiii,,ty benches. Ac one stage a memher (ailed the attention of the Speaker to i he siatu oi the ilouse. 'i he •sp.a, er thereupon made a count, and ue.hired lucre was a quoru/n, there .icing member:) present out of M! 'luis is not an unusual state of tlie t.ousc, and yet ihcsi? gentlemen appropriate to themselves £3OO a-year each lor thus periunctorily attending to the t;:siness of the country lor a icw moiiti.s cadi year. Various rea-, sons have been assigned lor the inc\it.y of the debate. Last year Mr Seddon pointed to the necessity ior the country " going slow " in the matter of borrowing (although h{ niau.-ci lately aiterwai'us ini.rea.seil li.s proposed loan by £250,uu0;, anil .u i.i.', la, (. i iiig-oii proposals he was *.:pporlcd by the Amiistenal .k;Iow i:.g, .is wen as by their constituencies. '1 his year i\lr Ward, Ik'ing m ' haige, i.as retuiiied ho a policy ol .".Uraiaguiit liurrowing anil spending, and no uouU't, members had goou gMjin.d for u<»|.bting as to whether their co; sLlliieiiis would approve oi 'lie undif..nitied somersault, it would iie iiLce:-.saiy for liiem to cxec.ute in older to support a policy of increased hoi rowing. In their case, lliereK re, si leu ee was probab'iy golden. • vgain, it, is admitled on all hands i hat some able speeches were delivered tjy t;.e opposition, particularly I,\ Messrs 'lJii.mson, Allen, and sir VV. itussell, in which serious charges were brought against the (ioveinmint hnaiue, and pointing out, that th: outcome must be increased' ta\alion <,r national bankruptcy. Kvidrnth no Minister felt equal to a reply, and Air Waid could easily sec 1 ha! the miserable attempts of the mediocrities of ihe rank and file of ill' Gilfedder order making matters worse, iie was, therefore, an\ll ,iis lo prevent a catastrophe by bringing ilie debate to a dose as soon as possible. He kept on the watch for an opportunity to reply. Several tunes he rose .simultaneously with others who wished to speak, and had lo resume his seat. At length (luring a momentary hesitancy on the j.art of others, he rose; lit had hall a sentence uttered before ineiiibeis realised that he had com* mc;::ed his reply, and according to the rules of the Mouse he could only Ic allowed to proceed. Thus Sir J. G. Ward brought the debate to a dose, and saved his followers the necessity of declaring their support of bis financial proposals. Ihe re\suit, of the debate has, however,mil been altogether of a negative character. It has been clearly shown* iow lar the Liberal Government lias 1 drerged from the policy on which it oh• a,iiitl oliice. Mr liallance's poluy was ;v prudent, self-reliant, no-bor-rowing policy, but the present is one of tie largest borrowing Governments that, ever sat on the Treasury hem lies. The gross increase of 1 he public debt for last nnancial year w,:.', £3,3/;»,and -vlr Ward admits that since the present parly came into power on self-reliant policy, tney haii boirowed £l-1,000,000. lie explained that circumstances iia\e cha..g ana mi.n, d. i.ss iave ban casi i,n ihe State since i\ir balance's 'lay t '''l,; re, < > i principles flu not ;h.i,»i_. j\o i.iic objects io ne, <•••. f.ai y pul.ljc won.s I cing carni'il out, but in the tarrying out of these ■■'.i 1 ,usance studied economy. Jjo ilie present Government lollow in ms ■ Ic.s in his ? \Yi:n,.:.s the Ai&hoi,;nc viaUt.i t ;.s an example, A con-Ua-:tor tiiideied to construct ilii viaduct for t-IN,OOO, and to complete it m iwo and a-haif years. 'lhe Go'.eriiua n't carried it out by co-opera* tive labour at a co:;t of pro:,ai)if -I io,sib.i, laiving .six yeais lo complete it.: And many believe this lo Itt a faif specimen of the Government

" economy " in. the carrying out of public works. The great underlying fault is that everything is done ioi political purposes. There are political railways, political appointments, and political jobs—in everything the spoils to the victors, anfi all for political support. This is "the oniy principle known to or practised by the Government, a>;d it is in onlei the more fully and successfully to carry out this principle that so much borrowed money is required..