The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1891. FURTHER BORROWING.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2165, 19 February 1891, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1891. FURTHER BORROWING.

lx ia amusing to watch the agonising efforts of our Tory contemporaries to make the public believe that the pre- 1 sent Government intend to indulge in further borrowing and lavish expenditure. A good many of our old debentures are falling due just now, and exactly as Sir Harry Atkinson did during the past couple of years, and Sir Julius l : ogel before him, the present Government intend to convert them into per cent, stock. The result of the conversion will of course be that a great saving will be effected by the reduction of the rate of interest, ; and that large sums of money will fall into the hands ef the Government from the sinking funds attached to those loans. It is computed that close upon half a million of money wil l be 1 thus placed at the disposal of the Government, and it is this which is giving our Tory contemporaries so much ' trouble just now. They say that instead of making use of this money the . Government ought to employ it in paying off a portion of the public debt. The Press objects to this money being used in the extension of public works on the ground that it has been got exactly in the same way as if it had been borrowed, and its echo, theTimaru 1 Herald, which invariably rehashes the ‘ Press’ opinions on the following day : after they appear, grows furious over it, and characterises the supposed proposals of the Government as “ bribery.” “ Twice within the last few years the electors pronounced strongly against * further borrowing,” says the Press, and then it gees into a mild fit of hysterics at the bare notion of disregarding public opinion. Now, one of the times the electors pronounced I against further borrowing was in 1887, when Sir Harry Atkinson replaced the i Stout-Yogel Government. In that election Sir Robert Stout proposed to i borrow £2,000,000 in ten years, and if we are to believe the Press it was be- , cause of this that he was ousted from office. Sir Harry Atkinson took the reins of Government, his cry and that of his followers being “No further borrowing,” but what did he do ? The £2,000,000 which Sir Robert Stout proposed to borrow in ten years he borrowed in ten months, as well as i £400,000 on top of it, and our Tory friends said not a word in opposition to him. And what is more, be spent * it all in three years, as shown by the fact that in his last Financial Statement he proposed to raise another loan in the colony with which to push forward roads to open up Crown lands. r Not only that, but he laid violent 1 hands on the sinking funds of local ’ bodies, and spent that too, as shown ’ in his Financial Statement. Now, how is it that the Press never saw any impropriety in all this ? and how is it that it did not condemn Sir Harry Atkinson in June last when he proposed to borrow in the colony? Six months ago the Press supported Sir Harry in his proposal to increase the public debt, but now it will not be satisfied unless the present Government pays off some of it. This is not r reasonable; this is not fair; this is not just. If such was the position in June ; last that Sir Harry Atkinson felt it necessary to borrow more money, it is not reasonable to ask his successors to begin paying off our debts. If the Government can avoid borrowing we shall not begrudge them the use of 1 any windfall which may come to them from loan conversions, more especially i as these operations will greatly lessen the amount of interest we have to pay. But it is not certain yet that the Government will use this money. Mr Ballance at Wanganui did not mention it, neither did Mr McKenzie at Hawera. Both said there would be no further borrowing, with the exception of a small loan from the Government Insurance to open up Crown lands. There is where the shoe pinches the Conservatives. They expected that the present Government would rusbj into further borrowing; that this would serve as a cry, and that on thal cry they would be hurled from office. In this they have been disappointed, and now they have been trying to make mountains out of a molehill with regard to this conversion money.