CURRENT TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2304, 28 April 1898, Page 3

CURRENT TOPICS.

We have just received from the Government Printer a buncle of parlia- | A. batch lnentary returns asked for at of various dates during last session. belated It has evidently not been found bbturns. convenient by the Government to issue them before. In April last Mr Buchanan asked for a return showing — (1) The amount applied for duriDg the year ending March 31, 1897, under the Advances to S9ttlers Act ; (2) the amount agreed to ber advanced ; (3) the total estimated value of relstive securities ; (4) the total amount actually advanced ; (5) the separate sums in which such total amount has been advanced ; and (6) the separate sums which have been advanced on suburban land. The answer of the department was categorical and bald. It rues thus : 1. Amount applied for during year ending 31st Match, 1897 £825,050 2. Amount agreed to be advanced during year .£681,633 3. Total estimated value of relative securities £1,370,075 4. Total amount actually advanced to 31st March, 1597 £1,112,775 5. Separate sums in which such total amount lias been advanced — Under £100 £107,631 £100 and under £300 ... 276,852 j£3JO it £500 ... 221,890 £SCO ii £750 ... 138,489 £750 n £1,000 ... 106,490 £1,000 ii £3,000 ... 261,473 £1,112,775 6. Separate sums which have been advanced on suburban land Kil. The above information is, no doubt, ititoresting, but if it ever had rut co.:tioveisjal vdue it h&s '

none now. In October Mr Kelly asked innocently what sums had been expended in various districts to complete the electoral rolls, and the persons employed, with the sums paid to them. It eeems that the Government are extremely solicitous lest the electors should not enrol themselves, and persons were employed to enrol them. Only somp ol the districts were favoured in this way, and Dunedin was among the number, the amount expended being" £17 10s ; while the cost of nursieg the Caversham electors was £3 10a. | 2 The electors of Waihemo must hava been parj ticularly apathetic, for Mr other Martin received £10 for rßmindI eetubns. ing them of their privileges, Mr i M'Kay £10 2s 6d, and Mr Goodfellow £4- 4s. Kaiapoi also cost £12 5s jin this respect. Ohinemuri, however, tops the I liat, for £24 9s was expended in bringing j electors to a sense of their duty. There were seven men scoutiDg in the Bay of Islands district, and they entailed an expenditure of £18 15s. Altogether 63 persons were employed in this way, and we have a very strong notioa that these same 63 persons are hungtiiy looking forward to the next general election for some more little perquisite's. A very large class of persons will wait several months in order to get a precarious day's work because if; is well paid and easy.' In October Mr Pirani was consumed with a desire to know how the Native civil list, £684-3 2a Id, was arrived and one of the returns to hand give the information. Quite a host of Maoris are pensioners and assessors, these being significantly classed together. Then there is medical attendance, which costs quite * respectable sum. Food and clothing cost £1060, Mr Carroll and his entourage spent £225 in travelling expenses, and contingencies, like the " et cetera" in the young spendthrift's bill, were very larga, amounting to £2314Evidently there were many reasons why returns should nob be furnished until the recess. ' Although the appointment of Mr J. F. Bl I Fraser to the position of Crown I the new prosecutor for Dunediu will nob | crown by any means give general ■ peoskcutoe. satisfaction, it can scarcely be 1 said that the news that ib has been made will create much surprise. It was indeed quite an understood thing that Mr Fraser was to be rewarded for his unswerving support of the present Government by appoint- ' merit to 'the positioD, and hifl selection is but another instance of the obnoxious^" spoils to the victors" policy, against which the independent section of the people and press of tha colony have for so long a time protested in vain. The sinners have become too hardened for any reproach, however deserved, to affect them, and tHe~only consolation lies in the accumulating evidence that their power to dispense patronage will shortly draw to a close. As to Mr Frasar's ability to perform the duties reqaired of him, we do nob question it, and &9 time goes on we shall be pleased to see tbaft he cultivates those other qualities of mind and temperament which are requisits in the holder of the office and which were possessed in so marked r, degree by his predecessor, the late | Mr B. C. Haggitt, who for 30 years filled the I position with such credit to himself and benefit j fco the community, jI It is pleasant to award praise after the neces* I sity for speaking plainly, in I me justice deprecation of the bestowal of wiluatus's political patronage has been f successor, cast upon us. In the appointment of Dr F, W. Pennefather to temporarily fill Mr" Justice Wilhams's place during his- leave of absence, we congratulate the Government on selecbing a gentleman whom we feel sure will perform the high duties about to be entrusted to him with perfect satisfaction to the colony, and whose independence of political parties is unquestionable. Called to the English bar gome 20 years since, a 8.A.. and LL.D. of Cambridge, and' subsequently private, secretary to Sir William Jervois when the latter filled the governorships of South Australia and New Zealand, Dr Pennefather became well known to a number of our colonists as a clearheaded, methodical, and industrious man of good abilities. His appointment as Lecturer on Laws in the Adelaide University, followed by that of Professor of Laws in the same university gave him an excellent training for the higher duties be has now been asked to assume. It may be objected that Dr Pennefather haa been for some time absent from the local profession, but there is not much weight in the objection. He was during his residence in the colony » diligent student of New Zealand laws, and although in taking up the work of so eminent a man as Mr Justice Williams Dr Pennefather may feel the weight of his official duties press heavily on him, wo are quite sure both the bar and the public will quickly recognise that tha j Government have made it judicious and eati*factory appointment.

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