The Opunake Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1894. THROUGH WHICH SPECTACLES?

Opunake Times, Volume I, Issue 50, 21 December 1894, Page 2

The Opunake Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1894. THROUGH WHICH SPECTACLES?

Capt. Eusshll, who is the leader of the Opposition, has been rating the Government pretty soundl}' in his address recently delivered. Amongst others, he takes them to task for their cheap money scheme,.from which he anticipates nothing but corruption and jobbery, and ultimate loss to the colony. Seven years ago, he proposed a very similar scheme himself, which, he claimed, would raise the colony out of the mire and avoid the depression which was encircling it. His proposal was that twenty millions should be raised by the colony for the purpose of lending' to fanners —only that he proposed procuring it at 5 per cent, and lending at G per cent, which, as circumstances have since proved, would be very little competition when compared with what monetary institutions are now prepared to accept on first-class securities. At that time, he said ; “The loans could be raised by the colony at about 5 per cent. He should propose that the money, be lent to mortgagors at 6 per cent., which would give 1 per cent on £20,000,000 to pay the expenses of working the department and guarding against loss of any kind ; but under the land tax valuations there would be ample and authoritative evidence of the value of properties ; and under the Land Transfer Act, under which all properties would have to come, no difficulty would exist as to title. He had just said that a somewhat similar practice was established in England, where the Government w'ere lending money at from 3 to 4 per cent, to reclaim land from the sea, drain large swamps, and bring parts of Scotland and Ireland under cultivation, which have hitherto been lying absolutely waste. There could be no reason, he thought, urged against the Government lending money to improve the soil ; hundreds of struggling settlers, who were unable to improve their properties owingto the high rate of interest they had to pay, would, under his scheme, be able to employ quantities of laborers with benefit, to themselves, to the laborers, and to the colony ; undertakings which cannot be now thought of, because capital was practically unprocurable, would be commenced, and an era of prosperity, such as they had never enjoyed before would be before them ; the amount of money retained in the colony would be great, for taking the debts at twenty million?, and the difference between the interest payable at 2 per cent, (that was between 6 and 8 per cent), the saving would be £400,000 a year, which would be retained in the colony and expended in productive labor, which would in itself be of inestimable value to the colony ; nor would the advantages stop there.” The present party in power have adopted bis scheme —only that they lend at 5 per cent., and the extra 1 per cent., which he would have taken from borrowers, goes towards a sinking fund, which in a given time wipes out the principal. If his scheme would have proved as beneficial as he depicted, how much more so will the present one prove when the same annual payment will not only pay the interest, but rub out the principal too. Truly, political spectacles are wonderful things, and equal the best kaleidoscope ever made for giving different view's.