A CRITICISM.

North Otago Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 9409, 6 March 1899, Page 1

A CRITICISM.

Commenting on Mr Soddon's asaertiou hat tho 0 d Ago PouelonB Aob bad ndvoctisod tho colony and helped to float Us 'cconb loan, the Sydney Telo« graph aays : <% 'Experiment,' to put ib plainly, is an ill-fittinpr word for this Now Zealand von^ taro. 'Politloal expedient' would bo a much moro appropriate namo for It. Tho Aob purports to do, if ita promobors are to bo bakon seriously, by a clumsy, arblcary method what tho brightest Intellects in England havo confessed tholr inability to do. Thon, onco pasBod, it turns out to bo fcho holloweati of hollow shams, boneliting only a email porcentago of tho population, and benefiting them very meagrely by comparison with tho indul* gonco extended to those who, happily for themselves, cannot qualify. Meroly In tho facb bhat> tho odvortlaemonto will only coafc Mr Soddon L150,000 a yoar wo havo proof of tho insufficiency of tho eohome, booaufio obviously a vory much largor sum would bo required bo niako propor provision for tho country's needy poor and aged. Thus the • oxporiraonb ' is robbed of iutoreab, It is the eorb of erode, do« coptivo dovico thab would only be reported to by politicians who knew how to tlcklo a confiding public's thick hldo with a strong finger, and neither know nor troubled about doing any more."