Lake Wakatip Mail. QUEENSTOWN, FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 1886.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1522, 12 March 1886, Page 2

Lake Wakatip Mail. QUEENSTOWN, FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 1886.

Ttafi.ka is in hith favor with the powers that be. Sir Juui'S Vogkl not long ago honored the elector of that district with a special manifestj, anl now \»e find the Hon. Mr Ballaxck, who combines in hi-i important personality the offices of Minuter of Lands, Kathe Affairs and Defence, making deliverance to a Laurence audience of his Ministerial and individual sentiments, and delighting thegrouudliugs of that distinguished borough with tiia condescending affability. The policy of the Government is still, there is good reason to presume, in embryo, and we re?lly believe that Sir Jt'l.ics has not, up to the present time, confided to his colleagues anything beyond a mere sketch of his designs. Mr Ballakce was, therefore, enabled to assert that he spoke for himself, and did not disclose the hand of the Cabinet. lie was of opinion, he said, that "a Minister should have the right of expressing his own opinions on the burning questions of the day apart from the policy arrived at by the Government." At the same time, we have no doubt whatever that Mr Ballanck. was armed —or perhaps we should more correctly say, fortified—with very precise instructions from the presiding genius of the coalition, and that ho did not advance any opinions, at least on important questions, without feeling very sure that they w ere in accord with those of his chief. One or two novelties introduced were very possibly put forward as feelers—if they suit, well and good ; if they do not suit, as the accommodating Yankee |K)bti«ian said. " they kin be altered !" In respect of the incidence of taxation, for instance, we understand him to advocate what may be termed an allround draw. He would catch the big fish with a progressive land tax, and the veriest minnows by rendering all and every description of property subject to the property tax, without any exemption whatever as to amount in value. " All the people should contribute, and the small man should not be exempt!" But, tie contiaued, "large estates should

S've some equivalent for the enormous benefits con* rred upon them by public works, and what he would propose was a graduated tax upon their properties. For instance, a man with £IO,OOO, who might be said to be well off, should pay at the ordinary rate of Jd. in the pound; s man with £20,000, say sd. in the pound ; and for every additional £IO,OOO, |d. in the pound extra. These large estates would then only be giving a small equivalent for the vast benefits they were receiving from the expenditure of public money. (Applause.) And supposing that they borrowed five millions to expend on public works, the whole of the interest on that money might be met with a tax of that kind, without pressing unduly on the community, if the ordinary revenue did not show an elasticity." The leading principle of the Government evidently is increase of taxation. On one pretext or other they would pile it on all round, and Mr Ballancf, beyond a doubt, expresses thoroughly the collective mind of his colleagues when he is great upon this point and has very little to say, am! that little by no means satisfactory as to retrenchment and wholesome economy. He rather, indeed, poohpoohs the subject, and sneers at that section of the Dunedin Press which has recently been speaking out pretty plainly as to the extravagance of the colonial expenditure. He has the assurance, indeed, to declare that the ordinary expenditure is cut nearly as fine as possible at present, and he would have it understood that no economies are possible without the sacrifice of efficiency. This is demonstrably the poorest nonsense, the fact being that there are far too many departments in the public service, whilst our institutions generally are on far too costly a scale in proportion to our population and means. The expenses of the Executive aiid the Legislature, to begin with, could easily be reduced by one-half; education might be made in some degree selfsupporting, and in many other respects effective retrenchment could be carried out. We venture to predict that the time is approaching when the country will insist upon this, and will no longer he deverted by false issues from what is really the one thing needful, if there is to be good government without undue pressure of taxation.

Mr Ballanck having mounted Protection as a hobby, would seem inclined to ride the said hobby to death. He devoted a considerable portion of his speech at Lawrence to the subject, and, as an endeavor to make the worse appear the better part, his argument was at least praiseworthy. He certainly traded on the credulity of bis hearers, when he sought to maintain that "not the artisan class alone out every class required the aid of Protection." We are not able to conceive how the miners and agriculturists, for example, are to profit by the imposition of heavy duties upon the articles they use and consume, whilst the product of their own labor cannot, in the possibility of things, be raised in value by any fiscal policy. We say "in the possibility of things," because it is not within real possibility that the New Zealand Parliament would ever enact Crown laws or their equivalent. To the gold miner, of course, the general rise in prices, what Protection would temporarily bring aoout, would mean depreciation in the purchasing value of gold. Mr Balance, with all his selfassertion and thorough belief in his own transcendant ability, is but a callous political economist, not having even mastered first principles, and betraying a lamentable ignorance of the practice aud theory of economics.

A few days subsequently to the deliverance of Mr Balt.asce at Lawrence, Sir Julius Vogkl himself addressed a public meeting at Auckland. The onlv really important point in his speech is the declaration of opinion in favor of an immediate dissolution, and there is no doubt that he will endeavor to induce the Cabinet to tender advice to this effect to his Excellency. Whether the colleagues of the honorable gentleman will be incliued to go so far with him is at least doubtful, in the face of very general expression of disapproval of such a course throughout the country. Sir Julius maintains that the people should he consulted iu regard to the policy of public works, and that there is no time to lose in order that ways and means, by further borrowing, may be provided for the ensuing financial year. He descries, in fact, that a new loan should be authorised forthwith, and feeling reasonably doubtful as to whether the present House will give such authorisation, would appeal to the people to return representatives more amenable to his views upon finance. Sir Julius, in regard to the general policy of the future, speaks only in very general terms. He sneers at the idea of retrenchment, and affirms the desirability of piling ou more and higher Customs d'lties. He advocates a vigorous prosecution of railway construction, including, of course, the four million line over the mountains between Canterbury and Westlaud. The speech was, of course, an able one, but it cannot be cousidered in any single respect satisfactory.