NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 540, 22 June 1909, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

':''■'"'■"" ————<-... ' —:;■. • . . ' ■ It would be -interesting to know_what Sir -Joseph Waru, on the eve of his departure, said i-to his . colleagues on the subject, of Ministerial J responsibility. Probably.he did not say nearly as much as he thought.' But had ho been able and ■inclined to speak freely of the joint and several obligations of members of an Administration, his discourse need not have lacked present and apposite illustrations. Mr. Hogg;' disappearing ati the moment into the outer darkness of; private membership, would have served him as a shocking example of what to" avoid.,; He could have said, as some'of his journalistic supporters have said, and riot without reason, that if Mr. Hogg was not prepared to subordinate , his.'[personalviews to the policy of the Government; ho ought never.to have accepted a port-, folio. 'Me. 1 Hogg has,stated that ibis .opinions t woro;well known,.and that he was never asked; to sink them, but the 'Prime Minister's, "retort. could.;' have been that.:iri the.interests of.the party.it was necessary for him to do so; and, he should have done it without being; asked. Sir Joseph Ward may. have been frank enough to say all this, when Mr. Hogg was safely outside the door. , But then his eye might have fallen upon the Hon. J. A. Millar, and he would be painfully conscious that the Minister .for Itailways had erred in precisely the same way as their lost, colleague. '] If Mr., Hogg had said that the . State should issuo paper money aftor the Prime Minister', had said it should not (for this, according to .the ex-Ministcr, was-the head and front of his offending),"vMr.MMillaßj' with equal contradictoriness, had declared that the .'railways must ,payj while his chief had said that .they But tho; Peime ' MiKiSTER, no" doubt, recogniso(i that there was • a great difference between Mr. Millar and Mr., Hogg, v At the moment when ho most, clearly (as,wo suppose) saw that the actions, of the two he had toadmit to,himself that, while the vibwsof tho\ one were eri roheous. unshared by: most of the electors and liable to injure the country's credit, the -adoption «of', comparatively business-like' principles of administration was right" and popular, ;;and calculated to improve the standing, of the country on ■ the, money market.:'_Hc knew also' tha) Mr. Millar is-, politically,: as well as in other, ways, the strongest man in tho, Ministry. '.If Sin Joseph • Ward thought of showing Mii. Millar'the door, he. must, have quickly-dismissed the idea.

Later on, in oiir ■ imaginary peep into the Cabinet: room, we: see him .suavely insisting that it will, bo in accordance with inviolable constitutional precedent |that Mil. Carroll,, as.,senior Minister, should be Acting-Premier during'' his absence. Mr. Millar readily, acquiesces, and,/ like" the, 'Prime, Minister, . thinks; much'more than he says. He thinks ho can very well afford to.bide his time. But wo .anticipate. Let us go'back ,to. Sir Joseph's' imagined discourso , on Minis: torial responsibility. : . After. ..characterising Mr. Hogq with a "Look on that picturfij" ho/tUrns, with, "and,on this," not to Me. Millar but to Mn. :Fo\vlds. '■Here," he says, "is .the bright:and shining example. Tho private views of Mr. FowLDS are perfectly well known. They are as'inexpedient as the views of Mr. Hoqq, .and as conscientiously-' held. But Me. Fowlds has kept - quiet. Ho has just administered his Departments, and spoken only such things as I approve. Blessed are they. who wear their muzzles- patiently!" We must admit ■parenthetically that Sir Joseph, Ward would nb\ have put'it like .that; his customary treatment of ."the'English language is quite out of harmony with that frankness which we are supposing him,■;just ■ for once, to employ; It must be conceded that Mr. Fowlds has shown a very proper sense of his obligations as a Minister. As to whether-he was wise, from his-own point of,viow, in accepting a portfolio and the riiuzzle which, for him, was necessarily attached to it, that; is a question with which we have nothing to do. We: may, however, -permit. ourselves to suspect that Mr.- Hoao, the un-. perceptive, outspoken, has already begun to realiso that there are* pleasures and advantages in what- ; has been, called, in almost classic phrase, "a position of more' freedom and |lcss responsibility."

; The recently-gazetted water-power regulations, which are causing lively indignation in Westland, reflect very seriously upon .the,business capacity of the-Gov-brhment or,upon the sincerity of its pro-, fissions of concern for the country's welfare and progress. They may not haveboen devised for the discouragement of enterprise, but that is what , their effect must be. An applicant for a license under the Act must deposit £2 10s. per head of water required) and must furtiish extensive plans and details of his proposed works.. If, after this outlay,'ho obtains a license, he must complete his w.orks in two years, and must Dogin to pay a severe rent at. once, , although the rent may be waived for one year. A telegram from : Hokitika which wo, print ■ to-day gives figures which will illustrate the formidable nature of the barrier, which the Government has' erected against the. utilisation of the water power which furnished the late Mil. Seddon with material for so much grandiose rhetoric. ' But the obstacles in the way of -development are greater than those contained in, the recently-gazetted regulations. 'The' Act empowers'-tho'Gov-ernment to insert a purchase-clause in any license, and it provides'that in .the event of purebwe bobxe eh&ll bo no pay-

ment for goodwill. Such insecurity of tenure is not likely to prove attractive to capital. Thero aro numerous other discouraging provisions in the Act. The Government retains the power to fix the maximum charges for current, to fine a licensee for any breach of Tegulations, and to cancel any. license. It is with no surprise that we learn from a Westland journal that a London visitor who has been examining the prospects on the West Coast has stated, since the regulations were gazetted, that it is useless to expect outside capital for developmental work. Whether the regulations, like the original dairy regulations, are the product of simple ignorance, we could not undertake to say. What is quite certain is that the Government's.'anxiety to keep tho clutch of the State as firm as its Socialistic allies desire can have no other result than thelocking up of the power now running to waste. .Fivo years have elapsed since Mr. Seddon painted. his glowing picture of the intense progress that would follow his scheme for Harnessing, the waters.. And. what has been accomplished,! Practically nothing butthc erection of .obstacles against the premised development. ..'..'

Citizens "must be rather puzzled . ere this concerning the real position of the abattoirs loan. Me. Hiblop's carefullycompiled explanation of the position, as seen by him, is so involved as to be likely ,to make confusion worse, confounded. The facts are not really disputed. The confusion arises largely out of the late Mayor treating what should have been two separate: transactions as One; while his successor insists on separating them and crediting or debiting each separate account in the proper way. The position roughly is this: An old loan amounting to £51,000 was ■ falling due, against which there was £2700 in hand.. The Council had, therefore, to raise in round figures £48,000. It issued 416 £100 which were floated at a ; . discount, and realised £40,806 net. The balance of, the . debentures necessary to make up the £48,000 did not go' off, and there was a consequent shortage of some £7400. How was this shortage met t '• The abattoirs loan of, £15,000 was floated. The A\M.P. Society had been responsible; for £16,000 ,worth of the £51,000 loan,.and it"agreed.to the substitution ■: of' abattoirs loan debentures issued at a higher rate of interest for the old debentures. , This was done : The effect of the transaction ■ was .' that the £51,000 loan was mot, and there can be, no doubt at all that the abattoirs loan was uced to assist this purpose. On Mr. Hislop's own .'showing,: tnis ; : must .be ■ plain.,'Here.aro his own figures: ■■'■■-■ . ■■:;"■-••'■■; v '.' : 'f;': :■■■■■.£■-■. ' . Net amount rai6cd-\...... -40,806 -.' Cash in' , hand ..... r .:.;.V. v . 2,700. •■■':'• ■■'■'.' : :--'-'.^:'.- ] '■'■ "r. : ::;'£43,5t)6 ;y.: This was the amount raised towards wiping off tho old loan; plus the amount in hand already for'that purpose! -This left the shortage before mentioned of ( £7494; That shortage was made; up r from the abattoirs loan, as the following table will show: ' ! K.. : ;: ':■'■■■: ''-.". ■/.'. ■.'.'''/■'. ;\':'-'\ ' '. ■ ■ Net' , amount raised ......... -40,806 .: "„■ Cash in hand'...;;.......... r ., 2,700 \/ ■ \ Abattoirs, loan; ...........-.;. 15,000. ;-. ■'■,;.':V ■■\^ ; -',.' ; .' , , : ■ ; :■; ;"£58;506 \:. Deducting the £51,000 from ■[ this, loft £7506 of the abattoirs loan, which -was credited to the district fund. In the meantime, however; £4500 has been paid out of the district fund.for abattoirs purposes, so that the amount now chargeablo against tho district fund for abattoirs : purposes on -the abattoirs loan is, as stated by the Mayor, : £10,200-the difference between the £15,000 loan raised and tho £4800 paid out'of'the distript fund for'abattoirs' loan-purposes. This will have to come out, of the .'district fund,; which, however, -1 will be) credited with the amount roalisablo on ; , the unissued loan renewal debentures, oi a face value of £6400ij We have endeavoured to put the/ position ,as; clearly as possible. It is confused, as we before .stated, '.by tho two transactions beingireated as one. As to! the effect of tho thing on the -city's". finances, At simply means that the right thing-wasj done in a': wrong; way. ; The abattoirs loan ehould have been, kept separate from the general account. It was a special loan for a specific purpose, and the Mayor was quitc ; right in-direct-ing- the" attention of the Council to the temporary' diversion of/ the, money.

TflE interesting story, published; elsewhere! of the half-million claim against the Dominion made by the Amorican Government, on behalf of one of its citizens,will;be read with.more amusement than, concern./ The ; circumstances, as stated by our Auckland correspondent, show.-that the claim'is a vory old affair,- and.that if; has been fully investigated already by'.the.-Chief Justice," Sir Kobert -Stout.. It is a little puzzling in the circumstances.to understand why the, Prime Minister should have so shrouded the matter/,in- mystery; When approached by' representatives of the press prior to his departure for England, l Sir Joseph, Ward■ treated -..the matter with, the utmost seriousness;-..': and expressed his 'inability to give any'infprmation on the; subject. He.,would not even etate the nameof/the claimant,'or the country to which he belonged, or the nature of the claim made,'.;No doubt the Solicitor-General; will enjoy, : the trip Home; and should the whole thing fizzle out, as would seem probable if the Auckland story is to be relied on, he -'will _' at least havo tho l satisfaction: of knowing that ho obeyed orders in ', accompanying Sik Joseph to London. Possibly it- may even' bo ■ found that ho can make himself useful there in other directions, so that the cost of the trip will riot be all dead loss,to the country./ ; . vj ' '