THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 1878.

Grey River Argus, Volume 21, Issue 3058, 4 June 1878, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 1878.

Sir George Grey has always been considered a master in diplomacy, and his reply to the member elect for the Grey Valley fully sustains his reputation. A statement received currency that the Government would nofc be able to carry out the promises made by the Premier during his tour through the West Coast, on account of financial considerations ; and this view of tbe case did not surprise ourselves, or probably anyone else who gave a thought to the circumstances. It was never impuced that : the Government made certain promises and entered upon the preliminary stages of works with the pre-determination not to carry them out : on the contrary, the intentions were fully believed, and \ao suspicion was ever cast upon them. -Nevertheless it has been quite evident tbat these good intentions — a material with which Hades is said to be paved — cannot under present circumstances be fulfilled, aud the telegram of Sir George Grey to Mr Reeves leaves things just as they were. The Premier simply denies that the promises were false in intention, but his declaration of what is really intended to be done simply amounts to what we have already stated — that if the money is available the bridges in the Grey Valley will be proceeded with.

Sir George Grey says—" Of course the Government cannot enter into expensive engagements without careful provision for meeting them, but it is not expected that there will be much difficulty in providing for the works you mention if the tenders are fairly in accord with the engineer's estimates." Now what is to be gathered from this specious excuse — absolutely nothing. If Sir Geo. Grey's telegram was sublimated not an atom of anything tangible would be left, the rest would bave gone up the chimney, and we are perfectly certain that in this sense the telegram of the Prime Minister is a delusion and intended so to be. In fact it could not be otherwise, for the prospects ofthe "careful provision"— which of course has always been understood to mean provision out of loan — are by no means lively, even supposing that the Agent- General succeeds in floating the un-hypothecated balance of -the new loan of L 2,50 authorised last session. A perusal of the Public Account will show that there will probably not be more than LIOO,OOO left out of the loan for expenditure upon public works after the whole loan has been raised. A southern contemporary, which is considered accurate in its financial criticisms, thus places the matter : — " The Loan Act of last session provides for raising L 2,500,000, of which L 1,400,000 is for public works and immigration, LBOO,OOO for redeeming debentures, and L 300,000 for discharging Provincial liabilities. In the account for the March quarter we find that L 175,000 has been raised by advances on guaranteed debentures, and L 766,250 by bills on London in anticipation of the loan, altogether amounting to L 941,250. Allowing, therefore, for L 200,000 still available on March 31 in the shape of gurranteed debentures, there was on that date an unaffected balance of the unr'aised loan amounting to L 1,558,750., 558,750. Supposing that the whole loan is raised before the end of June, the close of the present financial year, and that all the guaranteed debentures are redeemed — a transaction very much to he desired under existing circumstances — and that Provincial liabilities are paid, we doubt whether at the commencement of next financial year there would be cash to the credit of the Public Works account of more than LIOO,OOO, if even so much." In drawing attention to the possibility of local expecta tions being disappointed, one can, of course, only be actuated by a desire to warn the public that they musfc nofc depend entirely upjn Ministerial promises. The resolution of these questions is only to be found in a practical vote of the House ; and we say now, as we have said before, that unless the members of the West Coast put their shoulders very strongly to the wheel, they will find a very great danger of the most important works of their district being neglected.