The New Zealand Herald. AUCKLAND, THURSDAY, JULY 2, 1868.

New Zealand Herald, Volume V, Issue 1443, 3 July 1868, Page 4

The New Zealand Herald.

AUCKLAND, THURSDAY, JULY 2, 1868.

SPEOTEAIUK. AGESTW. Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice • Jake each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. This above aIl,-To thine own self be true Ana it must follow, as the night the day Thou canst not then be false to any man."

If present taxation is a heavy burden too grievous to be longer borne, more especially when Provincial Governments are imposing poll-taxes, and if the people will not submit to further taxation, then it is quite evident that m the face of a falling revenue there must be less expenditure. If the branches of public expenditure be taken it will he seen that there is scarcely one in which very great saving may not be effected. We are employing steam hammers to make pins and imitating also the frog in the fable which desired to be as large, as powerful and as imposing as the bull. . But we «o further in reckless and log-rolling expenditure than is perpetrated in England, which is supposed to be governed by a few aristo- ! cratic families. In the face "of a low snf- ! frage,—almost amounting to manhood suftrage,—we have a most scandalously expenBive Government. The causes are not far to seek, if only men would steadily search for them, instead of averting their eyes and looking in another direction. The real origin of this expenditure is the state of parties in the House of Eepresentatives

There are nine different sections in that House. Each of their financial interests are supposed to be diametrically opposed Each tries to dip its hand most deeply into the common purse, by having appointments and salaries paid within its borders to. as large an extent as possible, and bj increasing the general indirect taxation of the'country JNo ministry can properly govern under presentcircumstances in the face of these nine parties. Each of them can be bought and it is not until the ministry of °the day has secured, by fair means or foul some of the larger of these parties that the business of the session can be proceeded with. If reduction is attempted in any particular Province, a great is made against it, and most exreasons given why that reduction cannot be made without danger to the commonwealth. This sort of thin"- is certainly not statesmanship, by whatever other name it may be called. Practically the House of Eepresentatives is not less influenced by unworthy motives than was theHouse of Commons during the reign of Walpole. The only difference we can see is, that "Walpole had to bribe individuals while a Colonial must not only

do that—witness the Pitzgerald and the gaol commission job—but Provincial Government representatives also. Were there but two strong parties in the 'House'j one would attempt to do its duty properly in order to retain office, the other would promise to do even better—and thus act as a check on inefficient Government —with the view of one day obtaining office.' At present Government is carried on simply by a gigantic and wide-spread system of ertrava-I gance, which means, when translated into the ■vulgar tongue,—jobbery for buying off opposition, or jobbery for buying active support. . Let us glance at a few of the leading items of expenditure in proof of what we state. The Panama mail foolishness is in reality an attempt to appear very great, influential, and important before the world. It never has done New Zealand one atom of good in any possible shape in return for the expenditure bestowed upon it; it will not, it cannot, do so. It is as certain as that two and two make four that there will not be any appreciable advantage in return for that subsidy. It is perfectly useless to the country settler, it can do no good to our commercial men; indeed it is simply throwing so much|money away in order that we may appear richer and in a better position than we really are. Wise men only look at such conduct with sorrow and contempt.

Take now our standing army, for that is what we have got under the name •of militia, armed constabulary, and so forth, and a minister for defence. In the financial year just closed the sum of £127,943 was voted for this army, and we must add our navy, in the shape of a steamer or two kept apparently for the purpose of enabling ministers to take occasional trips. Add to this the loss to the productive capital of the country as represented by the forced idleness of the men in our army. Suppose each man's labor to be worth £2 per week, —a very low general average,—we hare a sum of probably £70,000 repre senting the loss to the community in labor by our army. Taking, then, the money we directly expend, and the money in labor, which we lose by our present defence arrangements we are practically spending £197,000 a-yearupon this branch of the public service. Well now, what has the service done, what do we get for this large sum of money? We positively can see nothing at all, except native disturbances. This seems to be the sole object of the Defence Office at the present moment, at least it is the only tangible result. We believe that if the Defence Minister, his satellites, and all our standing army were left totally unprovided for in the next estimates, as well as a number of magistrates and others connected with the native department the peace of the country would be secured. A murder is committed on a Maori, some man, woman, or child is shot down by a member of this valiant defence force, and what follows r The Maoris bide their time; they say revenge is sweet, and in due time retaliate. When this is done a great fuss is made, an expedition marches a few miles with a loud flourish of trumpets, some of the expedition fancy they have seen Maori tracks, or recent traces of the enemy, and then return home, having effected no more toward subjugating the Maoris, than if they had remaiued at home,, or in the nearest canteen or hotel smoking their pipes. So the wheel goes round, and so it will continue to do, and the taxes of the country with it, so long as there is a Defence Minister, a standing army, and a swarm of native department officials. The cause must bo removed before the effect will cease, and the best way of removing the'cause is to cease voting the supplies. Let the Defence Office be entirely abolished, as also a separato native department, and let the work in connection with both be done in the Colonial Secretary's office. Let each Province provide for its own police, and if it should be thought.after mature consideration, that an extraordinary number of police are required in any one district, no objection could be entertained to a small sum for police purposes, being given to such a district from the general fund.

The judical exponditure is also enormous. It is not too rauch to say, that more than one-half of this could be easily saved. There has been some slight reduction in this department in this Province, but not to the extent desirable.

We have thus indicated three different branches of expenditure, all of which could be reduced to an enormous extent, greatly to the benefit of the public in every respect, in conclusion we raust again remind our readers of that monstrous Civil Service Act which ties round our neck a host of officials in middle life well able to work, and even permits them to reside in other countries, spending there the taxes of this colony. This is an absenteeism of the most hateful kind. Landlord absenteeism is bad, but to have a race.of absentees kept out of the taxes of the country is something even beypnd landlord absenteeism The Civil Service Act ought to be abolished. Each civil servant should provide for his own future, just as the ordinary taxpayer has to do, who, in addition, has to meet the vicissitudes of life in the shape of being out of employment, losses in business, or other matters of a like kind which the civil servant is entirely freed from, for his bread is ordinarily sure and certain.