COLONIAL FINANCE. (FROM THE " CANTERBURY TIMES.")

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIV, Issue 3403, 12 June 1868, Page 4

COLONIAL FINANCE. (FROM THE " CANTERBURY TIMES.")

It the people from end to end of New Zealand were asked what they think of the form of government in the colony, we are satisfied the universal answer would be, "We think it is most unsatisfactory." Indeed, a wide-spread feeling exists that » radical change must soon be made in the present form of gororument, and many think that any change/ however extreme, will necessarily be an improvement ; others, more patient and far-sighted, deprecate the idea of revolutionary ohangei, and believe that good government can be attuned by adapting improvements to exiiting machinery. But, whatever may be the.differences of opinion among political men, however extreme may be their views, all are agreed upon one pomt — that a change in the present system ha 3 become imperatively neoesiary. The dashing of the General and Provincial Governments, and' the unsatisfactory results which nave already occurred from their ill-defined financial relation?, have satisfied the public mind that a very material modification ii required in the' forms of government now ruling in the colony. What that modification is Vo be, becomes every day a more interesting and important topic of discussion. The proposals contained in the letter ■written, h^ Mr.' Stevens, of which we gave a lengthened abstract on Tuesday last, have the great advantage of being opportune. The public want advice to guide them in their difficulties. They want some tangible scheme laid before them, to simplify the present complex system of government, and render economy compatible with efficiency in the administration pjE f public affairs. , r They hope for the day when 'it will be no longer possible to .pledge the credit of the colony for loans to h f e jobbed away by sections of the community in return,' for political services. ' They long to ,se» the time 'when the expenditure of the colony ,stiall be brought within its income, and when there will arise pome prospect of relief from the heavy taxation under thOj colony at present labours. They iriah to see the wounds of the colony healed, and the unseemly strife which has been stirred up between ,the General Government and the provinces, for private, selfish ends, put a stop for once and for all. And, earnestly dealing to s,ee these thing* carried out, they will doubtless give an attentive"ear,to auyoue who is entitled 'by experience and position to advice them on theae points. It may o almo3t seem an exaggeration ' to' say that Mr. Stevens's ' policy, if fairly carried out, will produce all these results. It may bo aiked by many, how can this be,? How can this policy, which .confines itself almost exclusively to finance, effect all these ends ? The answer is simple enough. Finance, is the key-stone of the political arch, upon which \he' entire fabric rests. r Iu r *ddressing himself to' the finance of the colony, Mr. Steveus begins at' the beginning, and occupies a position which commands all the other objects to be aimed at. It is this which renders his scheme bo infinitely superior to those of other politicians who mostly dabble in the shallow waters of dttail. Mr. Stevens has plunged boldly into deep water, and, what is much to the purpose, the depth is not beyond him. In somewhat stilted .language he elaborates a scheme as nearly perfect in all its parts as may be, and one thai; does infinite credit to his powers of thought. Now that the public mind is becoming accustomed to the maxim " that those who speud ought to raUe the taxes," it is wonderful how trite and commonplace it appears. Whea the present extravagant and clumsy custom by which the General Government raises revenue for the provinces to spend has been swept *w»y, we shall all wonder how it was that successive Governments were so blind as not to perceive the simple beauty and truth of this maxim. It is only doing justice to Mr. Hteyens to state that the credit of first calling the attention of the Assembly to this principle of political economy is due to him. He first enunciated it in a simple form, and ever since he has pressed it upon public attention. He now proposes to carry out the principle by insisting that no province shall draw any portion of its funds for the future from the consolidated or common revenue of the colony. If thii- policy is carried out, it becomes plain that the General Government will have to raise only such revenues as are absolutely required for meetiug the interest upon loans and the expenses of its Government. But, coupled with this provision, there should be, it appears to us, a positive prohibition against the negotiation of further loans for the provinces for a certain fixed period. That period might be made to depend upon the increase of population and revenue. At present the colony is far too deeply in debb, and in any scheme which proposes to ease the public burdens we think it necessary that a positive temporary cessation should be put to all borrowing. Then, with nothing to receive from, and nothing to borrow of, the Geueral Government, it becomes conceivable that the vice of log-rolling may to a great degree be I banished from tha Assembly, and a wholesome, ! united, national type of thought and action take its place. It is obvious that, if the General Government is no longer to raise funds for the provinces, the latter will no longer be able to meet the interest upon their loans. Mr. Stevens meets this by making all proviucial loans a charge upon the consolidated revenue, and so relieving the provinces from their liability. This is indeed nothing more tban carrying to a legitimate conclusion the idea of consolidating the debts of the colony. There can be no reason, now that the colony has avowed its liability for the provincial loaus, why the pretence of a distinction should any longer be kept up between the sereral securities of the colony. It is part and parcel of' a rotten financial sygtem, which must soon fall to pieces of itself, unless, some change, of the sort takei place. We conceive that a double benefit will thus be conferred by the change piroposed by Mr. Stevens. The provinces will be relieved of a liability they can no longer meet, and the credit of the colony will be improved by carrying out to the full the idea of the consolidation of loans. Should the previous changes be effected, there will be little technical difficulty in carrying out another proppsition which forms.a^very important point of the policy — the final closing of accounts between the' provinces and the Colonial Treasury. The objection to the General Government raising reyenue for the provinces to spend,applies equally to keeping an ogen account between the two, Governments. The custom has already been rendered available for sapping the independence of seme of the provinces, is a fertile source of trouble and uncertainty to both sides, and can only lead to confusion and extravagance, for which the public will have to pay in the long run. And when the accounts are once finally closed, we may hope for a time the Assembly will make 'a spcceasful stand against reopening them' for the purpose of borrowing on provincial account.' .Another cardinal point in Mr. Stevens's plan ii, that the land revenue shall be received by the Provinoial Treasurer, iustead of being paid as at present into the colonial cheat. The cbi<-f reason for the present custom arises from the position of the loans, and from the double system of accounts already proposed to be changed and abolished. The General Government holds the provinces responsible for the payment of interest upon their several loans, and in any cage where the share of consolidated revenue is not sufficient to meet interest, the Government impounds the land fund of that province. Now Mr. Stevens, has already proposed to place all provincial loans upon the consolidated revenue. This leaves it possible for the General Government to give up the hold it retains upon the land fundj and to leave it to be received by the province iff which it is raised. This ( will protect the land fund more effectually than any othjr process yet proposed, because, for' the first time, the provinces, will really become the possessors of the revenue. At present,' r they are so only by sufferance. f ' ji ' These are the main points in !Mr. Stevens's 1 scheme, and they are of sufficient magnitude and importance to attract' universal attention. ' ' We hope tna4> eVery one will study the letter, and masker the details, of bhe scheme. We trust to find it discussed by the public journals, if only to prove that trie public are no longer ignorant that their pVivate interests depend 90 completely , upon the proper management of public affairs that they cannot afford to be listlesk and iniifferent about the latter any longer. We think it' will be found 'that the policy here propounded will bend to effect great and very desirable changes, and that, under this system, it may be possible to atem the increasing torrent of debt and taxation, which threatens to overwhelm the colony!. There are details in the scheme from' which we differ, and which we shall refer to on a future occasion, but as a whole the policy meets with our decided approval.

The Jtook and the Juryman. — A story is related of the late Judge Fleason of Pennsylvania. On one occasion he was trying » case where the Uw »nd evidence were altogether on the siide of the plaintiff. Orithe jury vm a person who pretended to be learned ia the law, was in the habit of giving legal advice, and added largely to the litigation of the county. In tbia oaae he bad given assurance to the defendant that he would surely win the caie, rad when the Judge had concluded his charge he jumped up and eXolaimed, "Bat, Judge, qua re as to 'that law." "Silence,' sir," said the Judge ; "you are a— — fool, and of that, at least, there uno quaere 7 ." The verdict was for the plaintiff, and the inquiring jurym*v£ nerertad «riy more vUentt.—ißotttn Advettwr,