Untitled

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 230, 27 September 1881, Page 3

To thb Editob o» thb " Evbhing Mail" .SiHi— "The public mind hsi bean so occupied lately, with City Council elections, the •ppointmenj of a fit and proper perso n as Sesident Magistrate, the unhappy and most undignified Naval Brigade squabble, &c., that what gome people insist on describing *| a gross baoach of faith on the part of the Hall Ministry has passed unnoticed. It is a matter of history, that when these people took office, there was a large balance on the wrong side of the book, and in order to make income cover expanditure, fresh taxes were imposed, a reduction of the staff agreed to; and a reduction of 10 per cent off salaries "all round " resolved on. This last mantioned resolution — the 10 per cent redaction —has bsen carried oat ia tne.most impartial jjcanoer. Civil servants with moderate ftalariea have been reduced, and in consequence, hava had to forfeit, that sheet anchor of men with families and fixed incomes — their life assurance policies — office cleaners, attendants at lunatic asylums, telegraph boys, plato layers porters, have been reduced with a cheerfulness an d celerity that would rejoice thfe heart of that most objectionable English institnticn — happily unknown in the Colony— a tithe farmer. But a notable exception has been made in the person of the Governor. On the 9;h inst. Mr Hall is reported to have stated, " that the Governor had told trim (Mr Hall) that if the 10 par cent reduction was to be continued during this year, he (the Governor) daiirsd his salary to come under the reduction." Liy that to your hearts, O 3re taxpayers. The Governor was graciously phased to advise Mr Hall that if the 10 per cent reduction was to be continued, he I desired bis salary to come under the reduc- | tioa. Noble Governor J Not only is he 'willing, he is absolutely de&irous, burning with anxiety in fact, to pay his share of taxation if the redaction is continued. What a pity it is that it was so generally understood that the reduction was only a temporary meisure, for it lesma somebow to spoil the effect of the Governor's condescension. Some taxpayers there are, grovelling creatures, who, entirely devoid o f the finer feelings of our nature, assert that the meanness of the Governor in accspting the ealary without the reduction, is surpassed only by the treachery — to the taxpayers—of the Hall Ministry in paying the amount in full. But let not the' Governor be diacGuraged, the Hall Ministry sre pledged to reduce the expenditure by £30,000, and thert is yet time for the Governor to intimate to the Ministry the amount he desires to be deducted from his — as some think— excessive salary as his contribution toward the present heavy burden of taxation. Perhaps he bag already done so. Our members wiil, I doubt not, shortly favour us with a recital of their parliamentary experience*, and they may be able to afford us some further information re the Governor's wlary .—I ass, &c, CtCLO^S.