MR STAFFORD AT TIMARU.

Evening Star, Issue 4484, 13 July 1877, Page 1

MR STAFFORD AT TIMARU.

Mb Stafford's speecif at Timaru- hasibeen > looked forward to with a great deal ?fia-- - terest, and will now iorethe.publiQ, beperuseAwithß<»»efe«|tafc of disappointment; As »" speech"; it is.£ masterly production, rising iiTpaWtd~eld~ quence, and, throughout. Worthy of thejej putation of the qwmfam. Premier j who loek to find in it any indication of the speaker's mind upon the more topics of the day, or of the pog^-.^iXg 1 -' be inclined to shape shonld circumstances I again place him at the iead of a party, will look in vain. The actions of theGovernmentare subjected -to what y&~CSßr<m&~~ designate as a vague criticism, harWfaVof- \ able, but not expressly 'condemnatory; an* a similar vagueness pervades. all that Ja-said upon the subjects likely to be paramount during toe ensuing session—upon no.one pT? which, do we find a positive lOymvaT-eSi* pressed except upou regards ; I}o which it was hardly sensible man to say ahythmgrthe.fijdift having -heen abandoned as chimerical—by all pohticians whose judgments have any weight m the counteyrjt, would be finpossible for ns 4» attempt to' follow 1 mtf Stabfjhid through the.whote l o£%e rpus subjects, many of them tiurely locaff which he discusses; We 01 selves to the consideration of the moreprominent points in his address having a <soh>" mal STCTifiameer system he considers has no£Jbteen fairly tried.™ in Canterbury, where only one County has adopted, the r Act.-in its TenttreWL and he points out the Moma^'under, these circumstances. L of from the Councils making as they didrl suggestions-to the Govcagimentasf ments in an Act; the provisions of -wjfich they had never,practwafly tested. ■ The pes y missive clauses shqffld. "Bel eliminated? 38/ the Koad in the Counties, tin,- order 1 : & V ensur¥ speedy and of the Colony not* traverae/1 **7h' ,% e c > Goyeijiß^^HH^ -nndertoke, independency, of the JdonntyT Cpuncils,. the construction of the. arterial lines of communication. TJpNon the quWtiSh of the Land Fund 'Mp jHpvery diffuse, and not remarkably clear m fact it is not, easy to make.out exactly what he means. First; be.saya.that a largej^a^RU. -of this.fujid should- be devoted stiiietion of rpacbi and ifotie has that "the laud fundkWat tot the Public Works and Iflimigratioa policy; " included, we,presume, here means "taken mto account.": Butifjutber on, spijaKnte* *r Mr Wakefield's resolution vhe says H§ cT entirely approves of their priaeiple, " that the nett land for the cost of- surveys, and land • departs'-■••» ments, should Wdivided itfto two portions. • n * one of 4 which should go in aid '^oV r - r l the 'ordinary the "ordinary departmentsoorf r •'• ment for the interest of; all loans for primary education and other executive services, such as gaols police, asylums, marotenance of atf ~" constructed, and for arterial roads„ and r * - bridges, and subsidies to Road Boards and Municipalities; and the other portion should be devoted ,to local roads-and hospitals, charitable institutions, and pfni- : "% tentiaries not being publicigaofer.'* Ifn2o sta■■< ■.»! 2t>per cent, of the revenue were devofcecL. under this scheme to the various he considers they would be" iufinitfely better off than under the present ** tand^to-ino^h 0 -' system." These two distinct methods if % dealing with the land fund may not' pViii-" * cobsistent; but we must confess they appear tons to be-so,,and in either case the larcS -'? proportion of the revenue would be- alienated from purely- local purposes and ex- ■$ pendedupon the general Colonial account— J an arrangement which we sliQuld hardly'; think would suit Canterbury, the only Prd. 'fcvincial district enjoying a large surplus land 'i revenue. The expretsion of Mr Staitobd's views on this matter, reiterated more thaWW once when speaking upon finance, maypossi-' r bly indicate that he foresees that theabsorp- : ''. tion of the. land fund into the ConsoMated"-1 ■'■ Revenue is ;ikely to become a political : v' necessity, especially if primary educatiou upon a large scale is to be undertaken by the u ■ : ' State. The issue of Treasury bills this last financial year to supplement the land revenue Mr Stafford condemns in • prin-- 1 ■ T ciple, although admitting the necessity. " A fictitious land revenue,"lie $ says, "is thus created, which is a perfect sham." With regard to the preaeht " financial position, Mr Stafford thinks ~ f that the balance st the commencement ' of the year and the savings made on the votes, will about make up tiw deficiency in the estimate of receipts. "We " ventured to express.an opinion tpi-thia effecs 6omc months ago, and the returns .for the -. quarter ending June 30 are confirmalior^W' 0 this view, showing as they do a marked" inv"~" provement in the Customs revenue. Wecannot, but think that in hisTemarks upbff > the administration of the public WQrksm^^-S' Stafford is unnecessarily severe. &o doubti a good deal of money was--at-the outset spent in an unremunerative and. there are short lines of railway which should never have been undertaken, but we : can scarcely credit that "the result generally ; has been, that we- have only got about-half ~ ; our money's worth." This surely i&» J of speech; and prebably to the Batne of verbal exaggeration mayie referred^theTreiy" L strong remarks upon the defective engineering of the Public :Works -4>epartararfcr~Upon Education a good deal is said, btttJm*fc tv ":a SiAFFOto leaves us ih,*«ry doubt as to what course he intenciato 'i pursue He disapproves of fees, as tending to induce parents to keep children/fronts school, and he evidently, on the other hand. 13 * 1 recognises the enormous expense &«riS&' free system wouldstrongly advecates SUte sunport of iha higher schools and colleges, as a denommationalist are>eft loio«Midr -1 it may be presumed furaer,.aKhbu«QK I"' does not say so, that lip is noA* f^wU-V----the comptdsory system,; There points of interes| in the have been obliged to pass wiffS! bably take smother opportunity of command xng upon. J wm ™^:.