“A LYING SPIRIT.”

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11867, 20 January 1902, Page 7

“A LYING SPIRIT.”

TO THE EDITOB. ■ Sir,lV ell , might I; paraphrase-, a . wellknown scriptural quotation, and say, "0 mine enemy hath: written a letter, and delivered himself entirely into mine hands." Mr. Clinkard has utterly failed to convict me of misrepresentation or unfair statement. Now, I retort upon him. that his object is not fair statement, hut an endeavour to score" off me. Well, that sort of thing edifies nobody.; I did not say all (only that) Ministers were guilty .of a lying spirit. Some do not seem to have spoken upon 1 the subject of railway dismissal; still, . they must share the odium of those who rendered the Ministry ridiculous. Mr. Olinkard is not manly, but quibbles, stumbles, and fumbles like a twopennyhalfpenny attorney with a bad case. ■ - Failing to convict mo of the misstatement lie accused me of, because I showed beyond doubt I was only dealing with loan, he says I 'have mixed up other matters therewith. No; I used a different table for another purpose, viz., to ishow 'that recently our expenditure on railways has been very limited.; This is tlio only table that reflects specially upon his friends, the present Government, and includes expenditure not only .that from loan, but doles from Consolidated Revenue, Wherein, then, have I been disingenuous? We have heard of borrowing millions and of half-million surpluses, and : yet for what is generally regarded as the mainstay of publio works —with the exception of last year's, during the tenure of the present Ministry the expenditure has only been £200,000 to £300,000 a year. Mr. Clinkard's attempt to depreciate railways appears unfortunate, in face of the clamour for them all over the oolonj', especially Auckland; therefore, ho may bo safely left to the common-sense of your readers for condemnation. Whilst fully admitting the importance of waterways, they do not do away with the necessity for railways. Take the Thames railway— is laid alongside the river. •" . '

The reference to Captain Russell plays into my hands. He, like me, uses round numbers, so that the idea may be more readily grasped. Captain Russell contends the. railways should yield 4 per cent, on 20 millions. A million or two cannot vitiate the argument. I have been contending all along the railways should be made to pay their way. Tho Government ; takes the cost—why, ' I don't knowas 3 par cent.,- but it is £3 15s. Captain Russell thinks they would pay 4 per cent.; therefore, ho is on my side. I 'have written much about tho colony, but the man does not live who can accuse me truly of crying stinking fish. What Ido assert, and the -Agent-General utterly failed to disprove, it, is that, the colony has been constructing from loan much that should have been 'borne by Consolidated Revenue, as but of fleeting value. This would not have mattered much had . the self-extinguishment fund not been,seized. I have always glorified the colony whilst condemning the unsound-, ness of its system of financing. Mr. Clinkard says we have invested in lands. We have borrowed to purchase Maori lands, but most of that has probablybeen resold. ;; Where are the proceeds? Have they gone towards repaying the money borrowed? Probably swallowed up in colonial finance', never to emerge therefrom. , But there are other valuable lands, not to mention _ advances. i Quite true, the colony is becoming a huge pawnshop. Some of tho' purchases were not the best of bargains. More _ than once I . have seen references to them in the Herald, especially about I'omahaka. We ' have only 800,000 inhabitants (Sir Joseph Ward said, recently the colony would support 40 to 50 millions), yet at this early stage we are purchasing estates, much to the oontont of tho sellers no doubt, for close settlement. All this sort of thing is purely experimental, and has yet to pass through the ordeal of hard times. Mr. Clinkard hurled a'sneer—tho cheap sneer of Ignorance— at my reference to the £1,400,000 borrowed, according to Sir Joseph Ward and the Year Book, for accrued sinking fund. Although not oocksure, I am satisfied I know more about the subject, thanks largely to Messrs. J. M. Shera and Henry Green, than nine out of 10 M.H.R.'s. It is giving effect to the Consolidated Stock Acts of 1877.* and 1884, and has no connection with the sinking fund column, attaching to the description of loans amounting to * about a million, ' v.-: . Briefly, for as much of the loans scheduled in those Acts as remains unconverted, the: sinking fund has to bo paid into the hands of Commissioners to accumulate, £1,400,000 being required during the past ; 10 years. 'That £1,400,000 was paid, not from revenue, but by means, of debentures floated ;to . provide the funds. Thus wo have the spectacle of the colony borrowing to pay what is always associated :• with interest, : the : sinking fund. This is seizing the sinking funds, • because in the ordinary course of events, if the original intention had been followed, the sinking fund would have been paid out of Consolidated Revenue, : instead of borrowedv money. Cast thy burden upon the waters (of time), and the other follow his disgust find it after many days. I, shall not trouble you further on the subject.—l am, etc., - WM. S. Aickin. I