ECHOES.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XVI, Issue 5184, 3 June 1885, Page 2

ECHOES.

It. has long been my opinion that the' salaries paid to public men in the Colonies are much higher than they ought to be, higher than.in almost any of the most powerful nations in the world. Our first Minister gets £1750 per annum, or thereabouts, and the others £1200,—their dutieß all arising from the wants and weaknesses of some five hundred thousand, souls— about tho population of a second-rate town in Europe. Added to this we have undersecretaries at £800 per year each,,to assist the overworked (?) minister to administer the affairs of the Colony, and" some twelve thousand clerks, ■■. with other officials too numerous to detail. ■■■ '

--. ■-,-' 9 ■ ■■!! ■:■., The above are the officials of the general Government.' In addition to this we must add on some thousands of persons, and tens of thousands of pounds for the officials of the particular Government,— Counties, Boroughs, etc., ad lib,— all the above receiving high'salaries; the. whole edifice crowned by a Governor at £1500 and perquisites. Let any of our overtaxed and poorly-paid non-official part'of the people, consider these things and say if we are not overburdened with officialsdrones we might with justice call ! a large portion of them,—who eat .up a lot of the honey produced by the worker bees.

The President of the United States, America, receives fifty thousand dollars per annum, and the lesser dignitaries are paid in proportion. The Governor of New Zealand is paid about two-thirds of tho above sum for ruling over the onehundredth part of the people of the U.S. of Amorica. Whilst he gets more than tho first minister of tho British Cabinet, Bismarck, tho master-mind of the ago, gots, as Germany's guide and ruler, £2700,

whilst Von Moltke, tho strategist without equal, gets £1500 per annum, the other members of the German Cabinet being paid about the same sura as our own ministers. W hen one contrasts the sums of money, mentioned*above with .those paid in these Colonies, he cannot help being struck with the contrast, and, is led, to ask the reason of such an anomalous state of affairs. Are the public men in these small populations of such transcendent merit, that they, are worth such largo sums? or aro tho duties they perform greater than those'performed by the statesmen of America and England,-and of Germany? .We think not., Or is it that our public men ' are less patriotic than those others, and more,grasping, more eager to get rich, that they may be able to leave us ? We do; not profess to be able to answer these questions, we merely suggest them, and leave the public to think about it. , •■■,,:; ',-■ :;:'■■■

0o * ; : We suppose that most of our readers know the fable of the ambitious frog, who tried tcrblow himself as large as a bu'li,-an: ambition which could only end in disaster to the* frog. .Does it not appear as if these comparatively small and poor countries were emulating the frog 'in the fable? Instead of trusting jo. a natural state of progress in wealth and : power, as the result of moderation and economy,' we seem to be desirous ; of following in tho footsteps of a class of tradespeople too' well known in most countries, who make ' " a great show for a few,years on other • people's money, and then go to "eternal smash." New .South... Wales might :■ be pointed at .as. a. nearly model colony. • Nothwithstanding that its detractors maysay that at one. time iti'was a : .convict settlement, • the wisdom displayed by its i statesmen would almost make .one wish that the other Australian Colonies had also been convict'settlements before they were , Colonies.. • Victoria is,of a different type.. In the onenature was left to produce the' result unaided by any hot-house forcing—, the present position of New South Wales attests the wisdom of this coarse,' Of all ' the Australian Colonies this is tho.one ■. •' most respected and.looked'up to -'abroad,'"'' and the one least likely to be.the home of disaffection or disloyalty. 'Witness;the " late expedition to the Soudan. In Victoria all that art could ;do has'been done in the attempt to force ;on its;growth., tion has there been able to ; find a';strong-:, hold, and its baneful effects will probably be visited on those of the third and.fourthH : generations. And other and younger colonies will do well to study carefully the present condition of things in Victoria,'' and the state of trade and commerce in ■'■') that hot-bed of .Protection, ; : .; i; v;c..'->-v #<;*/■■ : Exhibitions: seem epidemical 'at'thei.'l: present time. Future historian's "will able to speak of the last half of. the nine-; teenth century as the exhibition \agei" around 1 we hear of them,--""either.;:as'- ' in me ,,or in fulwo.., And,, of course, we .have' caught -the infection, .which., promises to be; an affair with us]' ; as long, at least, as' the; public will stand ■,'= •it."We hope the colony will be none the,; : worse for its attack, of this disease ;■ ■' think its constitution strong.ehougri to ;s throw off even a worse attack than the "','- present one. i&ttm." '" ; V ;', . ; ■:.' .' .v'-v • i '.' ; : ; .',-; / " ; - : v /