THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1887.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 7922, 14 April 1887, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1887.

On the same night on which Mr. Ballance and Mr. Orraond spoke at Wanganui and Napier respectively, the constituents of South Wellington were addressed by their member, Mr. George Fisher. And, from our exchanges, it would appear that, in the opinion of more than one of the Wellington organs, Mr. Fisher's was the best of the three speeches then delivered, while, by one of them, it was reckoned about the best political speech made since last session. Having seen the extended report of Mr. Fisher's utterances we are prepared, without pretending to emulate the enthusiasm of our contemporaries, to admit frankly their estimate to be in the main correct. As a whole the speech is distinguished by no ordinary ability, and is quite free from that rancorouaness which heretofore has commonly marked Mr, Fisher's public sayings. And this is the more noteworthy that he avowedly spoke as a member of the Opposition, and expressed his intention to apply unsparing criticism to the measures and administration of the Government. The criticism, as intimated, was unsparing, but without violence; and, much as they might dislike the outspoken character thereof, the members of the Government themselves could with difficulty find occasion to object to its diction. This unusual sobriety of language, unusual we mean with Mr. Fisher, to whom the choice ; of pungent vocables seems natural, was doubtless due to the fact that he considered it his duty at the present crisis to give the principal place in his address to the financial position of the colony. A dispassionate view of that is enough to sober any man, and we are therefore not at all surprised at the subduing effect it had on the member for Wellington South. So impressed was he with the gravity of the position that if it were possible for any one man to have his way he would, he said, restrict the deliberations of next session to the two questions of representation and finance ; firstly, , because the question of representation must be dealt with, and secondly, because the finances of the country are without doubt in a very serious condition. There is not, we believe, from the one end of New Zealand to the other, one man who has given his thoughts to this subject and who does not allow his judgment to be warped by party considerations, who would not endorse the appropriateness of these words. And when Mr. Fisher proceeds to say that this is not a time to waste days, and perhaps weeks, in the discussing of such subjects as women's franchise, the acquisition of private estates, and land nationalising, he trenchantly confirms the view which we have been endeavouring to impress on the public. To attempt to dazzle the imagination of the people with such fanciful questions, while the nation • is in the agony of a- financial pressure, aggravated by an unprecedented industrial depression, is simply a mockery of statesmanship. In this light does the situation present itself to Mr. Fisher's mind, and, as we firmly believe, to the minds of the great majority of the electors. Briefly stated, the financial position is that the entire Customs revenue and the property tax are swallowed up. in meeting interest on loans. That interest amounts, according to the last Financial Statement, to £1,689,346. To this Mr, Fisher says there has to be added the interest on the last million and a half loan, which, in round numbers, would bring the sum up to £1,750,000. It may possibly be contended that the interest on last loan was included in last Financial Statement; but even then the position is serious enough : and the fact still remains O J that the Customs revenue and propertv tax, which together amount to £1,601,152, fall nearly £100,000 short of the annual interest on our public indebtedness. Now the question is, how is this shortcoming to be met 1 This question, too, becomes the more urgent from the fact that the deficit, as things are now being conducted, is sure to increase instead of diminishing. And yet this is the question which all the members of the Ministry who have yet spoken have studiously avoided. Their aim has rather been to divert public attention from it altogether by talking of matters of no immediate concern. They appear indeed to make light of it by jauntily telling the people, as Mr. Ballance did, that the taxation per head is no heavier now than it was in 1869 before the Public Works policy was inaugurated, a statement appar- j ently meant to prepare the way for the announcement that additional taxation ' will be necessary next session to meet the additional interest on the increased debt, and to carry on the ordinary services of the Government. This is the only allusion occurring in the recent speeches of Ministers to the financial position of the colony, and it is made apparently in utter oblivion of the fact that a serious depression prevails in the colony, and that the people are less able than they were ten or even twenty years ago to bear the burdens cast upon them. The truth is that the Ministry are wilfully closing their eyes to the gravity of the situation, as the examination of it would disclose their utter failure in the task which, on assuming office, they undertook to accomplish. But they will be compelled to look it

straight in the face some of these days, when they become aware of the fact ; that, beyond the adjustment of the \ tariff, the people will refuse to submit , to any further increase in taxation, ' and oblige them, and Parliament along j with them, to reduce the burdens of , the country by enforcing a system of I wholesale retrenchment. . ' This is the remedy which Mr. Fisher J insists on as the only effective , one for our financial straits. And « he insists on it in no vague terms ■ such as those commonly employed : on the subject. He points to what . has been done in the way of re- l trenchment by the colonies of South ■ Australia and New South Wales, and j in effect says to the Ministry, go ye and , do likewise. In January last, the i Government of the former colony met i their financial difficulty by reducing the expenses of administration by , £222,000. More recently the Govern- ; ment of the latter colony have em- : ployed impartial business men to enquire into the working of certain ; public departments, with the view of showing how expenditure might be reduced without inflicting hardship upon officials, with the result that the { Ministry were able to present a budget showing a reduction of £450,000 on the appropriation of the previous year, and that, too, without the necessity of resorting to a loan. These are examples which tell better than any arguments that can be adduced. Founded on these facts, Mr. Fisher's contention is that what has been done in those colonies can be done in New Zealand. And there is no doubt that it can. We have a total departmental expenditure of close on two millions and a quarter; and, as was very pointedly remarked the other day by Mr. James Mills, in addressing the electors of Port Chalmers, for whose suffrages he is a candidate, " out of that large sum there must surely be immense room for saving." And so there is, if only an attempt to discover the " room "is honestly made. It requires nothing more than this to cause the difficulties now staring the country in the face to speedily disappear; and Mr. Fisher has earned the thanks of the colony by fearlessly doing his part towards securing that the attention of the Government, the Parliament, and the electorates shall be seriously fastened on the task thus set them.