Our Wellington Letter.

Opunake Times, Volume VIII, Issue 356, 8 February 1898, Page 2

Our Wellington Letter.

Wellington, February 3. STILL 1 BAWLING. The enraptured souls of the Westlanders are still throbbing with the intoxication of Premier Seddon's oratory. This he provides for theni wholesale, retail, and for exportation. Three hours and twenty minutes did he discourse last night at Hokitika, and if he did not galvanise the audience into a state of wild enthusiasm, it must have been the fault of the previous refreshments. In Westland they like their liquor with a hook on it. Thab is why tbere are three times as many lodgers in the lunatic asylum in proportion to the population as in many other similar institutions in the colony, The Press Association boiled down all this into a paltry three inch space, and this will lead to a withdrawal of its privileges. As to the matter of the speech, it is a matter of surprise to find something new in it. Mr Seddon has confided his views on the state of Europe to Hokitika, and says definitely there will be no war. This will give Lord Salisbury a sense of security which may enable him to enjoy a good night's rest. No doubt bis familiarity with Imperial politics and his close relations with Germany have enabled him to clear the sky, and reassure as that our delapidated torpedo boat may still rest in peace, and that Fort Seddon at Wellington with one gun, and Fort Tlumpson at Auckland with no gun will not be called upon to make a demonstration against a foreign foe. It is really a wasting of opportunity and a neglect of his proper station for him to remain in a mere colony. Europe is calling aloud for him in these critical times; he is the cynosure of the diplomatists and; as a Privy Councillor of the British Empire, his commanding genius entitles him to go Home and go at once with his escutcheon emblazoned aut Qasar, ant nullus. When he condescended to come down to matters of a comparatively parish character, he intimated to Hokitika. that he will proceed next session with the Old Age Pensions, Local Government and Childrens Protection Bills. As to the first we are getting enough and to spare of both sides of the question in every paper we pick up. There is no need in this note to go over the well trodden ground. The whole of the arguments are summed up in one of John Ruskin's works, and no one will deny the sympathies he had for the poor and needy. He wrote " Charity is the temple of which justice i 3 the foundation, but yon cannot have the top without the bottom." This will be found worth thinking over, and the old proverb about being just before we are generous is another wise old saw which is much to the purpose. Any man can make himself popular with the mob if he promises something—even a shilling a day—where no work has to be done for it and no self denial exercised. So far as I can judge the only difference between charitable aid and a Seddon pension is that under the former the recipient has to show that he is in want, aud if he gets alms he has to behave himself or the authorities will soon stop supplies, while under the latter the sturdy begga,r may go to the post-office, exhibit his ticket, draw his money and liquidate it forthwith at the nearest pub and no one can say him nay. That is why the liquor ring is so much in love with the scheme. Brewery properties are booming in anticipation of the anticipated spurt, and red nosed publicans are all apostles of the orthodox faith. How could they be otherwise '? LOCAL GOVEKNMENT. As for the Liberal Government passing a Bill to enable local bodies to build their own bridges and construct their own roads, the idea is so grotesque that one has only to realise that if such a reform happened the virtue of the loaves and fishes department would vanish, and with it the majority. If Westland, of all the counties in New Zealand had to depend on what it could raise by local taxation, and on its own credit, it would be bankrupt in a month aud depopulated in a fortnight. This is no exaggeration as one or two extracts from official records will show. (1). The Hokitika Harbor board borrowed £IO,OOO of Post Office Savings Bank funds. It

ceased to pay interest three years ago, and the repayment of principal should have been made in November, 1896, but it is still owing. (2) The populalation of the county exclusive of towns is 4732, aud the rateable value of tha property £179,200 which realises rates amounting to £ll2O, per annum. Take as a comparison a farming county—Hawera with a rural population of 6934, a valuation of £1,170,000 and a 1£ rate which realises £9125 as against £ll2O, and the outlying districts in Hawera have also a special rate of £d levied on them. (3) The population of the Westland county decreased from 5031 in 1891 to 4723 in 1896, a falling off of 805. Kumara decreased by 27, Hokitika by 119, and Ross by 95, a total of constituents to Mr Seddon of 549 souls or 6-3 per cent; and this in spite of the rnagnificient appropriations in the Public Works Department to induce them to stop. (4). That maedstrom the Kumara water race and its complementary sludge channels is an unknown quantity—a veritable x—in estimating what it has cost the colony, by reason of the ingenious manner in which tha mines report is concocted. After much patient exploration in the 237 pages of that distressing compilation of rubbish, the following facts have become clear. The Kumara race, the Waimea race and sludge channels Nos. 1 to 5 ate part and parcel of what would be considered one going concern if a private company owned and worked it. Being a State-owned property,_ and being, moreover, in Westland, it is not run on commercial lines. That goes without saying. The capital cost was as follows :

This sludge channel item is the same within a few pounds as it was in the 1896 summary, yet in the works done and in progress the following year there is set down for sludge channels, main tail races and drainage channels, which are all the same but named differently—.£3742 spent and £2517 owing, all in the neighborhqod of Kumara. The number of men employed is 90 on the Kumara section and 66 on the Waimea. After paying for the use of the water they are officially said to make from £2 3s to £3 15s per week. But a well-informed resident of Kumara of many years’ standing, with special facilities for knowing the facts, assured me that from 25s to 80a was nearer the mark after the cost of tools and explosives was deducted. It is when the Mines Department makes up the profit and loss account that the comic element comes in. There are seven different tables, showing in a most elaborate manner that a net profit of £1716 was made last year. Here is a condensation of three

pages of figures :

But these races are worthless without the sludge channels, which are a constant expense. Both are necessary, and both are part of one concern, but the sludge channels are left out of the cost of maintenance altogether. Hera is an extract from another part of the report: “ No. 5 tail race is not yet completed. . . The total amount paid by subsidy for this work was £2463.” But as shown above the expenditure and liabilities on these works last year was £6529, and as the so-called “ net profits ” were only £IB2B the colony has to find the balance of £4436, which,; ‘divided among the 166 sluicers using it, gives a subsidy of £2B 10s to each. This ought to exempt them from participating in Old Age Pensions, but these leeches are very much in favor of the scheme. The figures quoted above are made up to March 31st, but soma farther enlightment has reached us through the report ot a deputation which waited on the Premier re No. 5 sludge channel. They wanted something, of course, and the great man's reply will be of interest to settlers who may have approached a Minister for a £SO bridge. No. 6 as shown above had cost the colony £2463 up to March, and £BB3 was then due on it; total, £3246. Mr Seddon was critical but gracious. He replied “ That he did not wish to find fault with the carrying out of such an important work as the No. 5 main tail race, as, without doubt, the trustees had great difficulties to contend with, but in his opinion the whole of the channel should have been completed in one year. He must say he did not approve of the present system of doing the work. It should be let by contract, and the men at present engaged should be kept at work until one was let. He was willing to give threefourths of the cost if the promoters found the remainder.” In one short sentence he abandons the co-operative system, the foremost plank in the Liberal policy. He encourages mining promoters, who also seem to be trustees, spending thousands of public money of which no account is rendered, or, at any rate, published. How in the name of common sense could Westland exist if a Local Government Bill were passed ? As remarked at the top of this note, Westland would be deserted in a fortnight.

£ Waimea race .. 137,284 Kumara race .. 41,463 Kumara sludge channels 21,965 Total 200,712

Waimea Race. Kumara Race, Sale of water £777 £3502 Cost of maintenance .. £669 £1786 ' £107 £1716