The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, MAY 10, 1887. OUR FINANCIAL POSITION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1579, 10 May 1887, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, MAY 10, 1887. OUR FINANCIAL POSITION.

When the Hon. W. Rolleston addressed his constituents id Temuka recently, Mr Twomey asked him the following question :—" If all our exports go to pay for our imports, where will we get the £4,000,000 a year which, you have said, is required to pay interest on our borrowed capital ?" Mr Rolleston, after much hesitation, said that he did not admit that it took all our exports to p iy for our imports, and that the question was one which was occupying the attention of the leading men of New Zealand. That was not a very lucid answer. It was a clear case of bpgging the question. As regards his refusal to admit that it takes all our exports to pay for imports, we must say indeed that we expected a better answer from Mr Rolleston. It is useless for him to refuse to admit it; the statistics of the colony proclaim to the world the incontrovertible fact that since the beginning of the colony we have imported ±43,000,000 worth of goods more than we have exported. Mr Rolleston cannot be excused for not knowing this; he ought to have known it, and to have been prepared to give a better answer to the question than he did. He had been asked the same question often before ; he had had the subject brought under his notice frequently during the previous couple of years, aDd it does uot say much for him that he never bothered about it or took any interest in it. The question implies that publicly and privately the colony is on the verge of bankruptcy, and the politician who tries to hide this fact from his constituents is uot all could be Iflsired. Now let us look facts in the face. Mr Rolleston said on the platform of the Temuka Volunteer Hall in 1886—that is not long ago—that we wtre paying £4,000,000 a year interest on borrowed capital. We have often shown that our acnual interest is more than that, but we shall not go beyond Mr Rolleston's own estimate. The money has been borrowed in England ; the interest must be paid in England, not with promissory notes, bank notes, or bills of exchange, but with real soid gold. Now, what means have we of raising this £4,000,000 a year. We have no means except our wool, wheat, gold, frozen meat, etc., which we export, and as it takes all our exports to pay for our imports there can be nothing left to pay interest on borrowed capital. Mr Rolleston ought to know this, and ought to tell his constituents the whole truth in reference to it. But it pro-' bably does not suit his policy. Let his views be as liberal as they may be he is allied with the monopolists, and it is not the monopolists' policy to let this be knowD. The monopolists believe—and they are not far wrong—that when the crash comes property will diminish in value, and that they who have the money will be able to get it for a mere song. We do not believe that Mr Rolleston has any such ideas in his mind, in fact we readily acquit him of 6uch motives, but he is associated with those who have, and until he "cuts the paiuter," and leaves them to paddle their own canoe, our confidence in him will remain very weak. We have frequently urged upou him to join Sir Robert

Stout anti Mr Ballance, but he persists in unalterable attachment to the monopolist faction, and ha will find it to his disadvantage yet. THE MAGDALEN ASYLUM. Tee Rev. L. M. Ginity, parish priest qf Christchurch, has established in that city a great institution. It is the Convent of the Good Shepherd, at Mount Magdala, otherwise known as the Magdalen Asylum. This is an institution established to provide homes for homeless women. At almost any hour of the night or day a woman may gain admission ; she needs no recommendation, influence will have no weight ; all that is required of her is to conform to the rules and regulations by which the convent is governed. She is not asked many questions, it does not matter to what creed she belongs, she is welcomed, and no influence is brought to bear on her to change her religious opinions. As soon as she enters a new name is given her with the view of biding her identity and past history, and if she remains two years in the Asylum she is provided with a good outfit and a pound note. Her life in the Asylum is not hard. We cannot do better than give the following quotation from an article contributed by a Protestant lady to the Melbourne Argus, and reprinted in the Lyttelton Times :

After breakfast, the bed-making and so forth is resumed. All move about calmly and leisurely, the press and hurry of the world are shut out. But at 9 o'clock the bell calls to work, and one large contingent, about a hundred in number, moves off to the largest laundry in the Southern hemisphere. From 9 o'clock till noon, the work proceeds briskly in the different departments, aotively supervised by the sisters in charge, and in complete silence, save for their necessary instructions and directions. At noon the summons is to dinner. That meal consists of boiled and roasted meat in rotation, sometimes with soup. On fast days soup maigre, preserved fish, or when the market inspector happens to remember the Magdalen Asylum, small fresh fish, and always plenty of fresh vegetables out of the convent garden. On Sundays and feast days pudding is added to the menu. In silence the women enter the refectory and take their seats. In silence, unbroken, save by the voice of the reader, the meal proceeds. Dinner over, then comes the recreation hour till half-past one. For the hour, in convent phrase, " holy liberty " prevails; each one does what seems to her best, but she must do something. Eecreation hour over, work is resumed, but the privilege of speech is not yet withdrawn. At a quarter to three the "children" again come in silence to the refectory for woman's solatium—a cup of tea. From three to four, work with talk; at four, without stopping work, the Litany of our Blessed Lady is sung, ©r, in the event of a death, only said, and the pall of silence again descends for a time. By five o'clook laundry work for the day is concluded. All things are left neat and ready for the next morning. Those whose clothes or shoes are wet change them and all gather orice more in the class-room. Prayers are again recited, and a brief space for meditation follows. Then sewing is proceeded with in silence until supper-time at six. Supper contists of bread and butter or jam, vegetables cooked in various ways, fresh fruit from the garden (when in season), and tea. Supper over, then oomes the merry time, when all gather in the class-room for the final hours of the day. " When toil remitting lends its turn to play, and jokes go round and harmless chat," droll tales are told and games of guessing indulged in. On festival oocasions the song and the dance are the favorite amusements. The library opens off the class-room, and contains a good piano, which is wheeled close to the door, and performed upon by one of the sisters on suoh occasions. But on ordinary evenings, amid the talk and laughter, needlework still goes on. Prayers at 8 close each day. This description refers to a Melborne institution of a simliar kind, but the same regulations govern all such places. The work done in the laundry is done for the general public, and the profits from it go far towards supportiog the institution, It will be seen from this that for a poor homeless, hapless waif—the scorn of ber sex, the prey of her betrayers—the Magdalen Asylum is an earthly paradise. She can leave at three days' notice, but if she goes before the expiration of two years no provision is made for her. The nuns never find situations lor any of them, as in that case their past history would necessarily have to be disclosed, and tbe lrading idea is to wipe out the bitter, past, and Incite the penitents to look forward to a bright future. Such is tbe institution Father Ginaty has established, and in our opinion a more praiseworthy, benevolent one could not be conceived. The children of error are those who are succored it is true, but "to err is human, to forgive Divine," and here the Divine attribute appears to be exercised. Father Ginity is at present appealing to the charitable feelings of the people of New Zealand to assist him in completing this good work, and we trust he will not be disappointed.