The Opunake Times. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1896. LOAN BILL.

Opunake Times, Volume V, Issue 211, 11 September 1896, Page 2

The Opunake Times. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1896. LOAN BILL.

The Million Loan Bill got rather a bad time, in the Legislative Council on Tuesday, when consideration of it was deferred for a week in order to obtain some definite information as to what works the money was required for. Mr Montgomery, who was a member without portfolio of the present Government, up till some months ago, stated the reasons for the Council's action very clearly. He said " it would form a protest against the lack of information contaiued in the Bill. The Council, he contended, would not be doing its duty in blindly voting the money, and if the Bill were laid aside by them he was satisfied a much less amount could be done with. The voice of the country should be heard before any further borrowing took place, and the Legislature should know how far these railway Hues were to go aud what would be their final cost." Mr Montgomery's action is very ominous for the Government. When the Cabinet moulted last spring, those best able to judge predicted that the Government saw the rocks ahead were in close proximity, and there was no chance of escaping them without jettisoning every scrap of principle and policy. Tho3e members of the the Cabinet who did not wish to sink with the ship packed their belongings and got ashore ; one iu the AgentGeuerai's gig, another in the Judge's gig, whilst the other swam ashore, being quite satisfied to reach solid footing once more without taking any of the spoils with him. Plausible reasons were given by the remaining members for the desertion of their colleagues, but that did not hoodwink their opponents, who knew that the real reason was the Government had lo3t caste, had exhausted the exchequer, and when the general election came round would be sine to go under. When Mr Montgomery, freed from the trammels of office, feels himself compelled to enter into opposition to his erstwhile colleagues, it can easily be imagined that he was not a passive participator in the many wild-cat policy measures with which the colony has been flooded during the reign of King Richard, and preferred retirement to a row. The once solid rank of the Government is now only a conglomerated mass, which when put through the threshing machine by the electors, will be so winnowed that it will not tip the scale with the weight, majority, placed on the beam. The most fatal blow to any administration is a collapse in finance, and this admittedly has now occurred to the present Government. Every available liquid asset belonging to the colony has been run into the general pool, and the pool itself has run dry. So long as there were sinking funds avai'able and other means of raising money locally the Government could bounce along, and not only profess to keep all the necessary works going, but show substantial surpluses as well. Six months ago the' Treasurer claimed to have £215,000 of a genuine surplus, and iu his Financial Statement predicted bright prospects for the colony. Now. sfx months after, he iuforms the House, in order to get his Loan Bill swallowed, that uuleas he is provided with a million of money that all works must cease at'the end of this month. What has occurred in the meantime to bring about such a stupendous change ? It can hardly be attributed to loss of revenue, as returns show an increase. In Auckland last month the return was £53,000, compared with £83,000 for the same month last year, showing an increaso of £20,000. Iu other parts of the colony we know of no phenomenal decrease. On the other hand, we have not heard of any great increase in public works, either iu progress or having been initiated, aud, in the circumstauce3, what has caused the collapse in our finances ? Can it be, after all, that Captain Russell, Mr Duthie, Sir Robert Stout, and others were right when they stated at the commencement of the year that our finances were completely rotten, and that in reality there wa3 ho such thing as a surplus, hut, on the contrary, if the floating liabilities were liquidated, there would bo found to be a huge deficit. We regret to say

that it looks extremely like it. Raising another million means an annual charge of £85,000 a year, which has to come out of the taxpayers' pockets, and taking the past for a precedent, will mean heavier taxation. As there is nothing now left untaxed this policy of squander will result in adding further additions to the cost of the necessaries cf life, of which the working and small farmer class have to bear the largest share. When will the people wake up to protect their own interests ?