"THE £40 STEAL." TO THE EDITOR.

Evening Post, Volume LX, Issue 104, 30 October 1900, Page 2

"THE £40 STEAL." TO THE EDITOR.

Sir— From the North Cape to the Bluff various journals have expressed their condemnation of the looting that took place in Parliament ere it closed, but beyond the Evening Post no other paper has pointed out what is the duty of those members who Raised their voices' in protest. It may bo all right to voto in a certain direction in order to show what softie people term principle, but if there is as eager a rush after the spoils of office on the part of those who at first opposed this unconstitutional allocation of the taxpayers' money, then in what senso can they be considered better than thdso who f clamoured for the "loot" throughout^ the proceedings. I might mention, byway of illustration, that however much W,e tt^ay condemn the' actions of a burglar 6i v embezzler, , ouy condemnation counts for, nothing if we in any way share in the spoils of the aforesaid. Your suggestion thtii" the . members who voted against the- £40' grant should hand their amount over to charitable institutions is worthy of adoption. Other, members who did not vote, and may-have qualms' of conscience, could adopt -a similar course^ and those' who were absent the 'biggest part of the session 1 , aad; therefore could ndt have earned,. it, let. -them also hand over their amounts to some orphanage, old men's home, or Othe'is benevolent institution if Jhqy ,have . &riy\ respect for v/habjs cHdit^eV,.'.Be|pye i ;.CQncluding I wouldi'like'to m'ehiion.,thatit would have been more to their credit ha.d they increased the wages of their officials who have to exist upon 69 per day. When the Premier, wh6 is supposed to be a friend of t-ho Avorking man, Was urged to do so, his reply was that "he could ge,fc others to do the Work for'the wages offered." Then, Why did he hot consider that at the late general election. There were hundreds of candidates who offered themselves for the £?40 without, any thought of having it further increased by a £40 bonus. Seeing that such was the case how then can the Government be justified in increasing their salaries all round "and voting these extra amounts to the members of both Houses?—! am, etc., UNIONIST. Wellington, 27th October, 1900.