IS THE LIBERAL PARTY TO STAND ?

North Otago Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8004, 18 June 1894, Page 4

IS THE LIBERAL PARTY TO STAND ?

"A Radioal" writes to the Daily Tlmei m follow : Parliament meet! ic • week or ao, •od in many reipeoti the ■esalon will be an important one. The colony In la • crit'o*! ittte. The prices of oar mala produots, except gold, are down, and there is little prospect of a rise Wheat, oats, and wool were never a > low before, while the fnture of the frozen meat induitry does not look ao bright ai it did two years ago. Com* petition from Australia and the Argentine will inevitably toll its talo. Then the loam possible by conversion ar > •mall In amount ; there la now n > ohanoe of • orrowing by seizing aocrued ■inking fund*, The Liberal party is pledged to abstain from open borrowing, and a seorei borrowing has beoomo impossible — what are the party to do? I firmly believe that the Liberal paitj h*s nothing to foar, notwithstanding the difficulties 1 have referred to, and notwithstanding the faot that there is greater distress in New Zealand than over befors. Bat It mast go itntitht. It mast Bhow that Hhpraltam is no' another name for corrupt, ji, jobbery, und nepotism ; and unless it cuq do that its fate is sealed. I write as a Liberal to Liberals, and I ask chew to see that the party is not !-. >ight to rulu by the politloal corrup. f< ■» r«f «t« leirierp, for if that prevails tbore is do hope for the party, Let m* exp'aln what I mean. The party la charged with certain misdeeds. Are they brae? ft they are true, will the Liberals in Parliament show their independence by denouncing the offenders 1 I shall specify a few only of the charges that have been made, and Id the first place I shall deal with the accusation of nepet'im, Is it trua bhat thaHon. John M'Kenzle has given his ion employment in his office in violation of the Civil Service Aoti What salary doss the youth get 1 Has he passed any civil service examination! Knob, is it fair that he should he Illegally thiuitover the heads of yoaog men who hava ompetcd for positions Id the oivil service and passed the necessary examination 1 One would have thought that the itorm of criticism which the appointment) of his (riend Mr Danoan Camp* bell raised would have been a salutary lesson to the Minister for Lands ; but bVieema deaf to lessons of that kind. By the wty, althoagh the Minister declared that he was never even an Acquaintance of Mr Campbells, yet bb • matter of faot he was a visitor at Campbells house, and Campbell wai one of his bosom friends. But nepotism hai not been oontined to the Minister for Lindi. Mr Reeves has appointed his own brother-in-law hie private uoretary. There is this d fference, it is true, between this appointment and Mr M'Kcnze'f, that Mr R c evea'a relative is a genb'eman of the higheet edacttion ; bat tbe practice of appointing reh tires to such positions ia none the less to bo condemned. The Premier, ntn t to be outdone by hie O'lleagms bju appointod relatives and West Caartets to places all over the colony, the Civil Service Act to the contrary notwithstanding. Ills brother-in-law was appointed to examine the (ire appllaneeß at the asylums because he had been a captain of an op-country fire brigade in Victoria, Was there no Gre brigade man in New Zealand fit for the work) Then a manager was appointed for the Mount Ida water race, and no less than<t*o West Coasters— -friends of the Piemier — have been sent to Ceutral Ot«go for this work. Of course, there are no OUsn »n nnra anit'tble for tho work. There are other examples that could be given, but are not these suifiolent 1 Then there Ib the charge of overriding tho law to help politloal friends, Colonel Fraser has received the appointment of Bergeant*at-arma in violation of the express provisions of the D squalification Act. Why ? Is it that his character ia so far abovo other colonists? The minute book of the Auckland Club will throw some light on this question. But not only baa the law boen set at nought to favor friends, it has bean ignored for the Minister's own personal aggrandise* menr. Tbe law allowd every Minister L2OO a year who has not a house pro. vidsd for him. Three houses are provided, and thrro are «lx Minioters Obviously, therefore, the colony has only to pay LGOO a year as houße ullowanco. It ia paying Ll4OO ! Of the three houses provided, one is let at • huhll nominal rental ; two others are, •t the expense of the colony, looked after 1 The Auditor-general Ib helpless, as be has been informed they are for ■ale ! The Promier'd residence is vioant ; the colony pays tbe aalary of Its oareliker, and also payß the Premior L2OO a year as hoase allowance. But has there not be9Q jobbery ? Fancy the G)vemment advert eement^ taken from the Otago Witaesa ani given to the Tablet and the Otago Workman. Yet each ib the fact ! And what ii (o be aald of some of the recent appointments of the commission of the psao. Fitness for judioal office has been a secondary consideration, What lives have aoma of the oomineoa led in the past ? And what is the character of lome of them now ? If the fountain of justice is polluted, what can be expected of the colony? And what shall we say of the vaunted administration of the proaent Government? L't me take one example. A great noise was made about the cutting '■ up the Bell rum near Macraes, and •boot tho rental that was realised. What has happened? The Messrs Donaldson got three of these ■mall runs. They were said to be sapporters of the Minister for Lands. After the election the three runs had been consolidated into one, and they are now owned some member of the Donaldson family again, secured, no doubt, by ballot, the compensation being iixed at some L9OO so aa to exclude all competition. If the MeBsrs Donaldson had been opponents of the Minister, the Macraes people believe the runs ; would not have been consolidated. ] And what is to be laid of the Fox ' business ? But why rehearse all tho ] charges? The question is/*are the Liberals to carry on their shoulders the misdeeds of the present Ministry ? If they do, they will find the burden ( to onerom that) under ib the party will {PMPPW*