The Lyttelton Times. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9,1882.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LVIII, Issue 6692, 9 August 1882, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9,1882.

Mb Montgomery's notice of motion demonstrates the futility of the new polioy inaugurated by the Government on the motion for the second reading of Sir G. Grey's "Constitution Bill," That was a new departure of whioh the Ministerial party professed to be, very proud. It was not only that any appearance of courage and purpose was welcome after two months of stagnation and irresolution. But it was fondly believed that the new policy wo-ald both destroy the Opposition and make the remainder of the session of some use to the country. Ministers had won a great victory, we were told, and were following it up. Supply became the first order of the day, and day after day the estimates were rammed down (so the phratie'ran) the throats of the Opposition. In their endeavour to foroe supplies from the House and please themselves what business they might choose to do after. Ministers

received unbounded applause. ' Gonsti-' tutionaT usage produced no cheok on their proceedings, and the Opposition never wasted time in protest. Ministers tried to force them into protracted trials of strength, but in vain. The monstrous fiction was circulated that the Opposition was obstructive, but the Opposition quietly did whatever work was placed before it, without turning restive to the anticipated extent. The Native Reserves Bill even failed to provoke any waste of time for whioh the Opposition could be blamed. It was triumphantly proclaimed that the Opposition was no more. Government was about at last to push through the Loan Bills, and pass a few of the Consolidation measures. The end of the session was in sight, and the poor overworked members—who, by the way, do not give their money's worth of service, and are yearly supposed to be making more difficulties about the little they do givewere bidden to rejoice at the prospeot of a speedy return home. The Opposition leader, however, was merely biding his time. He was preparing to give 'Ministers a valuable lesson. The business of Ministers is, as we have often pointed out, to lead the business of the country, not to manoauvre the Opposition into a fight for existence. Having taken the wrong, course, Ministers have discovered that their work, and consequently the country's time, have been dreadfully wasted. Mr Montgomery, in spite of their aggressive negleot of duty stands before them with a compact party, and a motion of Want of Confidence. The only really good thing they have done since the session began is the prompt answer they have afforded to the challenge of the leader of the Opposition.

" That this House does not approve of the loan policy of the Government:" that is the Opposition challenge. No sensible man can approve of that policy. Every Loan Polioy most be judged by the objects upon which the money is to be expected. We referred at some length the other day to one of the railway proposals of the" .Government. We dwelt on the fact that for the sake of ninety minutes saving of time in the transit between " the ends of the Colony" New Zealand is to be saddled with a burden of not less than a million and a quarter sterling. It is exceedingly doubtful whether this line can ever be finished, and more than doubtful whether, if finished, the million and a quarter of the estimate will do the work. The line will open up about 150,000 acres of private land, in two blocks, one at each end, the blocks being in the Cheviot and Flaxbourne properties. Between the two there is a gap of 70 or 80 miles of iron bound coast, half of it without beacheß. For, between 20 and 30 miles a terrace of 500 yards in width offers railway facilities of doubtful character, while the balance is high land coming almost sheer into the water. In theße 70 or 80 miles not an acre is ploughable, not a pound weight of produce can be expected for railway traffic not a chance of communicating with any place beyond the coast range exists. Such is the gap between the favoured properties. Bespecting it there is not a single estimate as to railway cost from any engineer which can be pronounced definitely reliable, or to be even remotely a guide. Yet on the plea that this is the shortest and best route by which 90 minutes of time is to be saved to the country, the Government has actually set down this line on the schedule of its Loan Bill. What House can ever approve of such a proposal P And this is not all. The question of northern railway extension in the Middle Island is one of the most complicated and difficult of public questions. The objects to be considered as necessary to be attained by a large public expenditure are numerous, and of extreme importance. The selection of the objects to be aimed at, as the eventual aim of a progressive public polioy, requires careful consideration, intelligent enquiry, thoughtful study of masses of information of various kinds. We do not hesitate to say that the selection of the coast line shows, to any unbiassed mind, one of two thinge. Either the Government has come to a conclusion upon the knotty question of railway extension in the northern Middle Island, without care, knowledge, intelligence, inquiry; or the Government has put railways on the paper for purely political purposes, or, to speak more correotly, impure political purposes. In either case, the Government is unfit to hold offioe for a day. Again, what are we to think of men who, after proving conclusively and publicly the benefit which the Colony has received from free immigration on a large scale, propose to confine the Colony for three years to come to driblets of assisted immigration, at a time when other countries are attracting by their high bids the cream of the European populations to their shores P Further, there is the Auckland million loan. No man j knows whether the country is fit to carry a railway; no man can tell whether an acre of land will be directly or indirectly available for its construction; no man is even aware whether it will be allowed ; and not a soul has ever attempted to count the cost. The necessity for a schedule with a Loan Bill has been demonstrated before now in the history of New Zealand. But it is a schedule of works of which Ministers and the House know something. Any other kind of schedule commits the country to borrowing huge sums of money blindly. That is the main blot in the borrowing policy of the Government. It is no wonder that a prudent man like Mr Montgomery, of good business instincts, should think that polioy unsatisfactory, and offer to get his opinion backed by the majority of the House of Representatives. We have a semi-official threat of dissolution hovering in the air. For some days the Ministerial correspondents have been giving out that they believe Ministers intend, if defeated, to appeal to the country on their loan proposals. This is the usual method which unscrupulous Governments adopt of dragooning the House of RepreI seatativM. It is quite true that

members of that House dislike the trouble and dread the expense of an eleotion; and not a few are afraid that an election means for them at least temporary, ostracism. Hence the threat of a dissolution always is depended upon to produce a certain effeot. But it is not by any means an infallible speoifio against defeat. In this case we only hope the Government will, if defeated, appeal to the oonntry. The country will very soon tell them what it thinks of the " ninety minutes" railway, of the policy of determining to spend enormous sums on what may, for all the directors of the expenditure know, be sheep walks, pumice land, or precipitous rooks. The country will give them its opinion very freely of the policy of determining questions of the most vital importance without the slightest consideration of their merits. The country will treat them to very definite views of the polioy of fastening burdens on its Bhoulders for ever, for the aggrandisement of those who already are wealthy. The country will epeak plainly of nonprogressive immigration and illogical timidity. If Ministers like to appeal to the country on these, points, they ought to be allowed to do so without delay.