THE Marlborough Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. TUESDAY, MAY 1, 1888.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 314, 1 May 1888, Page 2

THE Marlborough Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. TUESDAY, MAY 1, 1888.

Tub fallacy of the retrenchment policy of the Atkinsonian Government, to which, we referred some days ago, has had a fresh illustration, and from the fact of the example being' a local one, the subject will attract more attention, and the hollowness of the pretensions to economy for which the present occupants of the Ministerial benches take credit become more apparent. Of course we are quite prepared to hear that venerable argument advanced that while the cry for retrenchment is general throughout the Colony, it is merely an abstract agitation, that the moment it is driven homo the people are up in arms against it; or, to put it in a different way, that each locality is prepared to shed its brother’s last drop of blood -in the cause, but inconsistently objects to the slightest approach to a surgical operation being performed upon itself. That is a very convenient reply to many oblique actions, performed under the plea of retrenchment. The latest example of this eccentric policy is Mr Passau, of the Sheep and Kabbit Department. That gentleman is universally admitted to ho a most capable officer, and as far as we are aware, no fault lias been found with the manner in which he has : carried out his responsible duties. He is a thoroughly experienced officer, much of that experience no doubt having been gained at the expense of tho public. Had the Ministry in its supreme wisdom to sacrifice Mr Passau for economical reasons pure and simple, no adverse comment would liiivo been necessary ; but when wo find that another officer has been appointed- in his place, much younger in the service, and doubtless 'with all his experience to gain, the query qui bone, may well be put. Verily j the life of a civil w

such a system, is full of sorrows and uncertainties. That there is room for a wholesome retrenchment in .some departments of the Civil ‘service cannot be denied, but when it partakes of the eccentric nature indicated, the result is more- mischievous than satisfactory.

r i ie interesting legend displayed outside the Omaka Licensing District Office last evening, showing the result of the local option poll, is but another proof, if that wore necessary, of the utter absurdity of the legislation on the licensing question. The ponderous machinery of tho Act was set in motion, with all the attendant expense, and the result was that five people evinced sufficient interest in the question to record their votes. The ridiculousness of the proceedings is emphasised by the fact that the majority of four against an increase of licenses constitutes under tho Act a sufficient warrant for the returning officer declaring the negative proposal carried. Experience has shown that tho measure is altogether in advance of public opinion, and that as an experiment in the way of theoretical legislation it is a complete failure.