The Timaru Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 7, 1889.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 4533, 7 May 1889, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 7, 1889.

The controversy about the alleged offer of a portfolio to Mr Whyte has not, yet come to an end. The truth of the Premier's statement that he did not make the offer is not questioned. But the adversary changes his ground. It is now eaid that the communication was not between the Premier and Sir Whyte, but between the latter gentleman and Mr Fergus. Mr Ballance's paper, the Wanrjanui Herald, thus states the case : — " Sir Harry Atkinson did not offer Mr Whyte a seat in the Cabinet, but one of bis colleagues did, and in a manner to convey to the member for the Waikato the distinct impression that the offer was made on behalf of the Premier and the Cabinet. The oiler, in plain terms, was made personally by the Hon. Mr Fergus on the occasion of his visit to Auckland, and beforv Mr Fisher had retired from the Ministry. Mr Fergus informed Mr Whyte that it had been determined on that two Ministers would have to retire, namely Mr Fisher and Mr Richardson, and upon Mr Fergus pressing Mr Whyte to join, the latter remarked, to the astonishment of the Minister, that he had lost confidence in Sir Harry Atkinson. Thereupon the conversation and the overtures came to an abrupt termination. These facts we have from a reliable authority, and we feel certain they cannot, in substance, bo truthfully denied. The deductions appeal' to be, that before Mr Fergus went to Auckland, certain members of tho Cabinet decided that Mr Fisher should be called on to retire, and that the Premier had agreed to take the step. It is probable tbat, while Mr Fisher was supposing the subject of the beer duty prosecutions was under deliberation by Ministers, he had already been doomed in secret council, and that the execntion of tiie warrant was delayed to give him an appeal — which, under the circumstances, was a hollow sham — to certain resident Ministers at Cbristchurch and Auckland. In fact, while Mr Fisher was still discussing the bearings of the tjuestion with some of his colleagues, be w;u, unknown to himself, subject to an order oE expulsion decided upon in Cabinet secretly in his absence, while an intrigue was going on to supply his place." The public cares little or nothing about the alleged intrigue for the purpose of getting rid of Mr Fisher, or about the exact time when his dismissal was determined on. The point of interest in the affair 13 to ascertain whether the filling up of the vacancies caused by his resignation is to be regarded as a permanent arrangement ithat is permanent as far as the lifetime of the present Ministry will carry it) or whether it is, after all, merely a temporary expedient to be set aside at the first convenient opportunity by the introduction of new blood into the Cabinet. The positive denial of the Premier that an offer had been made to Mr Whyte, the giving of the vacant offices to gentlemen already in the Cabinet, and the semi-official announcement that no appointments from the outside would be made, removed for the tizno the impression that the opportunity of carrying out a promised act of retrenchment would be neglected. If we were to accept as correct the statement of the Wanganui Herald that Mr Whyte actually had the offer of a portfolio, though not directly from the Premier, a doubt would again arise. But notwithstanding the positive manner in which the statement is put forward, and the reference to trustworthy authority, we do not believe that any such offer was made. The Premier's denial was something taore than the mere quibble which it would have been if an oiler had been made to Mr Whyte through Mr Fergus as the agent for bis chief. Nor can it be supposed for a moment that MiFergus would have given., such an invitation withont the explicit sanction of tho Premier having first been obtained. We regard the whole story as a canard, and feel sure that the intention of the Premier is fairly to try the plan of carrying on the Government with a less number of Ministers. Tub Government have mipplied tbe following figures relating to the expenditure of the Public Worka Fund during the financial year ISBB-8:t. The accounta of the fund are uow kept under three diatinct heads, No. I being an account of the balance remaining unexpended of loaua raised before lSSii ; No, 2 being tho account of the North Island liailway Loan ; and No. '■> the account of the loan authorised in 18S(i. Under Part 1 Account there was expended during the year £2(>!>,010, as against £425,223 in the previous year. The separate items were — Immigration, .C'B7'Jl ; departmental, .Cti-ioS ; railways, £4701 ; roads, £104,031 ; watorwoiks on goldfields, dES4 ; Native hind purchases (North lalaud), JLT>OBB ; telegraph extension, £12,047 ; public buildings, £34,s92; lighthouseß, harbour workß, and defences!, £52,593 ; rates on Nutivo lands, £10,304; thermal springs, £93-"> ; expenaesof raising loan, £25,758. Shillings and pence are in all cases omitted. In the previous year the expenditure (under this account) on immigration waa £15,507 ; roads, £198,347 ; telegraphs, £22,!)81'; buildings, £90,328; lighthouses, &.0., £70,825, so that in all these iteuiß there have been large reductions. Next, under Part 2 Account, £86,182 wns expended luh compared with £152,:". 15 the year before', vi/., dcpurtiueutitl, J.'iiOOU ; railways, ii]}'o ,'j l'.\ , riiiiilii, US'.JV ; ifative land purchaueu, £33iii ''} ; expeuaus of rainiDglDan, £51,785. Lastly, under Part o Account, the expenditure wno £275,16e; (us against £372,!)H0 in 1887-8), viz., dipirtincntu], £12,000;'

railways, £241,801 ,- expenses of raising loan, £24',364. The total public works expenditure for the past year ivas £633,364, as against £950,528 for the previous year, a reduction of some 33 per cent. Thiß great diminution of public expenditure, together with the drastic retrenchment of the Government in other directions, goes a long way in supplying a reason for the socalled exodus from New Zealand which was noted during the course of the year. All things considered, the colony baa come well through the experiment of trusting more and more to revenue and less to loan expenditure. The congested labour market is already relieved to a large extent, and the abundant harvest and the comparatively high price of staples may be expected to work wonders in the course of the next few months.