THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1887.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8020, 6 August 1887, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1887.

When - the Stout-Vogel Ministry as* sutned office, ifc was with a highly pronounced intention to reduce the public expenditure, and the Premier, anxious to damage the reputation of their predecessors, actually condescended to name the extent to which the reduction could easily be effected. But instead of practising the economy they then preached,they have gone on increasing the cost of the departments ever since. No sooner, indeed, had they got securely seated on the Government benches than they commenced their career of extravagance, by instituting, as a rule, the payment of a salary to the Chairmen of the several standing committees appointed by the House, positions which, for the most part, had hitherto been filled by members who gave their services gratuitously. This was certainly a bad beginning for a promised reign of economy. The excuse urged for such an innovation was that tho Chairmen were bound always, to be present at the committees' meetings, while the other members were not, and that it was unfair to impose such an exaction without some remuneration, and that the House and the country ought not to grudge the small acknowledgment of £100 for the services rendered. Such reasoning, however, was both specious and dishonest, as it ignored the fact that there were members in the House, and on the Government side of it, too, able and willing to do the duties of Chairmen gratuitously. In view of this fact, both the House and the country were entitled not only to grudge the salaries thus saddled upon the people, but also to condemn the principle and motive underlying the innovation. For the effect of that is undoubtedly to place the Government in the position of holding these salaries as bonuses with which to reward their supporters, or to tempt some wavering members to join their ranks. With such an end to be gained as that of strengthening their party, it was of course only natural that they should quite forget their economic intentions, and begin their course by giving the lie to their virtuous professions when bidding for office. It was, as we have said, an inauspicious commencement for a vaunted policy of retrenchment, and, as might have been anticipated, their subsequent administration has been an unbroken flow of extravagance. It was therefore in no way surprising that the Premier, at his late appearance in Auckland, manifested a rooted disinclination to pledge himself to a retrenchment policy. It is of course very difficult to overcome evil habits once they become confirmed, and hence Sir Robert Stout goes in for high salaried offices and plenty of them. In the present mood of the people, however, it is expedient that some members of the Stout-Vogel Cabinet should pose as the apostles, of retrenchment, and it would appear that Messrs. Tole and Ballance have been told off to perform this role. They are certainly the best selections that could have been made in the limited range of choice; but, as it turns out, neither of them is very fortunate in sustaining the character allotted to him. Mr. Tole did his best during his first address to make people believe that the Stout-Vogel Ministry had reduced the departmental expenditure by £140,000, apparently failing to see that, if this were the case, there must have been great extravagance going on concurrently in some other directions. If the above represented a permanent reduction, it would have gone far towards meeting the deficit in last year's revenue, which, but for the. notorious windfall of £104,000, would even on Sir Julius Vogel's own ad mission have amounted to £196,000. This suffices to show that the departmental reduction Mr. Tole boasted of was a pure delusion, and that, as a matter of fact, the expenditure, if the stoppage of the annual payment towards the sinking fund is taken account of. has gone on steadily increasing ever since the Stout-Vogel Ministry took office. I Nor has Mr. Ballance been any more successful than Mr. Tole in his attempts at demonstrating the small economies of the Cabinet of which he is a member. He, like Mr. Tole, has managed to persuade himself that great reductions had been effected, and has endeavoured to persuade the people that retrenchment would be carried yet further by the combination of offices and other similar means. But, in order to see vrhat value there is in such promises, it would be instructive to learn how Mr. Ballance has carried out the retrenching process in his own department as Native Minister. It so happens that there is a case now being ventilated in the New Zealand Times that serves as an illustration for this end. At the beginning of this year it seems that a clerk of 24 years' standing in this department received official notice that three months' thereafter his services would be dispensed v/ith, not on account of any fault on his part, but in view of the necessity for retrenchment. The clerk in question complained of the injustice of this proceeding, seeing that within the eix months) preceding two new appointments had been, made in the office, and that his removal could not in these circumstances mean retrenchment but simply the making room for others. Ho was then assured by Mr. Ballance himself that the two persons referred to were only temporary clerks, and would have to leave on summary notice. As a matter of fact, however, they got no such notice, but were on the contrary retained; while, in addition to them, three other clerks have since been taken on. The practical result of this little attempt at retrenchment is, therefore, that while an apparent saving to the extent of £300 was effected by dispensing with the services of an experienced

clerk, five inexperienced clerks have been taken into the office, whose aggregate salaries entail on the colony an annual cost of £874. Yet this is dignified with the name of retrenchment! and is on all fours with the generality of those economic processes which the Stout-Vogel Ministry claim to have put in motion. Mr. Ballance, it is true, has endeavoured to make this case assume a different complexion by representing in the Whanganui Herald that one of the two clerks, appointed during the six months preceding the retirement of the experienced official, simply took the place of an officer who had just resigned. It appears, however, that both these clerks had received their appointments some time before the resignation in question occurred, or was even anticipated ; and, even though it had been otherwise, the subsequent appointment of three additional clerks, in view of the alleged process of retrenchment, remains wholly unaccountable. There is something further that might be said in connection with this case, which would even more instructively illustrate the peculiar manner in. which, under the pretext of reducing it, the departmental expenditure is, in the long run, invariably increased. But, for the present, we forbear. We have said enough to show that the claims of the Stout-Vogel Ministry to be credited with the virtue of economy, are quite baseless, and that the promises of retrenchment they are now making to the people in order to retain their offices, will prove utterly illusive.