HOW WE ARE GOVERNED.

Evening Star, Issue 7308, 5 September 1887, Page 4

HOW WE ARE GOVERNED.

TO TUB EDITOR.

Sir, —That the public may he led rightly to value tho statement of tho Cabinet Ministers, I enoloso an extract from a speech delivered at Taranaki by Colonel Trimble, one of tho candidates, and which I will thank you to publish.—l am, etc., Jacob Omnium.

Dunedin, September 3. “ In 1878, when Sir George Grey was Premier, it was not known what to do with Mr Larnach, who was a member of tho Ministry, Ho went Horae to fioat a company to buy his own land and that of some four or five other largo owners, and tho Government, quite unnecessarily, oppoin'ed him loan agent, and paid him L 2.600. He floated the Company, and tho land was taken up at LO 15s an acre, and then the payment of those who floated tho loan—virtually those selling tho laud-was 7J per cent.—that is, they cot a commission of L 82,000 to bo divided amongst them. To utilise the land the Company decided to make a railway through it, and tho security for the railway was to be a tax upon the people of the district. Everything went on swimmingly until the line was opened, and then there was no traffic. One of the directors was the present Treasurer, Mr Vogel. He gave it up to be Treasurer. The Minister of Lands was one of the promoters of the Company, and the Premier was the legal advisor. After a good deal of shuffling tho purchase of this railway by the Government was carried by a majority of two. The Government got L 122.000 with which to buy a railway valued at only L 05.000. An insidious attempt was made to buy the Ocean Peach and Fernhill Railways. For example, I find that on the 30th Juno. 1579, tho debt was L 23,222,311, and that on the 31st March, 1886, it was L3i,!)C5,222. In other words, the debt had increased by L11,742,9U. Almost tho only direct return which tho Colony reaps from borrowed money is that derived from railways. For the year ending Juno 30, 1879, that revenue was L212.C17, and for the year ending March 81,1886, the railway revenue wa5'L357,078 The railway had increased in the interval by L144,461,.whi1e the interest on tho colonial debt increased L 500.000. Every million borlowed means L 40.000 a-year additional taxation.”