The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1896.

Timaru Herald, Volume LX, Issue 2183, 10 September 1896, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1896.

The very meagre abstract supplied to us by the Press Association, of the proceedings m the Legislative Council on Tuesday night, gave but a poor idea of the character of the debate on the motion to commit the Aid to Public Works and Land Settlement Bill, m other words, the Loan Bill. The Minister of Education moved the committal; and the proposal was at once traversed by Captain Morris (a member of the Government party) who moved that the order be discharged from the Order Paper, and that the committal of the Bill be made an order of the day for Tuesday next. He appears to have objected to borrowing at all, but especially to the passing of a Loan Bill which gave no information, or the vaguest information, as to how the money was to be expended. He also taxed the Government with having abandoned their boasted policy of selfreliance, a change of front which, he said, would be resented by the electors ; "he had voted for and supported the Government for many years ; he had hoped that it would be hone3t, and this washis return." Mr Ormond expressed surprise that a new policy should be initiated by the Government m the expiring days of the Parliament. " The Council," he said, "was within its rights m asking for delay m order that it might judge whether there was the urgency alleged by the Government, and whether the purposes set forth m the Bill were sufficient to justify the Council m passing it. The Council should be possessed of full information m regard to the purposes on which the Government proposed to expend the loan, and by a week's delay the Council would give jbhe Government an opportunity of affording the information which the Council had a right to demand." Mr Reynolds supported the amendment on the ground that the Council should not pass the Bill until it had an opportunity of learning what the people of the colony thought of a borrowing policy/ We confess that we cannot see how that object was to be attained by delaying the committal of the Bill for a week. Mr McLean thought that the Bill should be kept back till after the General Election. At that time the constituencies could express an opinion as to whether the loan was ' wanted or not. Mr Stevens said :— " As the public works policy had absolutely broken down, we might now look forward to a continuous and unlimited career of borrowing. There was absolutely no information m. the schedules as to details of the proposed expenditure. Some day people would say that the ridiculous farce of borrowing on the credit of the whole colony for •the benefit of a single class, as m the Advances to Settlers Act, should cease, and that by a simple clause they could empower the Public Trust and Life Insurance Departments to lend money m this fashion." Mr Montgomery looked upon the proposal for delay as a proper protest against the Council being forced into blind and hasty legislation : " before the legislature sanctioned further borrowing it should know how far it was intended to push the eleven railways mentioned m the schedule. If information were not given to the Council within a week it would be the Council's duty not to reject the measure absolutely, but to delay its passing till the country got the information required." Mr McGregor, looked upon the Bill as the first step m a long course of borrowing. He was opposed to that, but would support the amendment m order toobtain the information. Dr Grace said that there would be no disaster if the Bill were thrown aside altogether, but he, too, agreed with the amendment, because the Council was entitled to full information. Sir George Whitmore supported the amendment, and thought that the Government should not be oliended at the delay. Three members spoke against the amendment as they considered that nothing would be gained by passing it. The amendment was carried on the voices. It is remarkable that it does not say anything about the want of information, but the Government are well informed on that point by the speeches made m the course of the debate. The Council were clearly justified m seeking to obtain information. Their business is not merely to register the will of the Government or even of the House. They are a branch Of the legislature, and their work should be reasonable work, and not done m the dark. Nevertheless it is quite certain that they will obtain no more information than they already possess. The same demand for information was made m the House, not only by the Opposition but by members of the Government party, but the Premier withheld it, and what he would not do for the representative Chamber he will not do for the Council. The fact is that he has no information to impart, for he really does not know how the money will be spent. The Government wanted a till-full of money so as to be able to make judicious promises during the General Election, and the particulars of the expenditure wiU depend upon circumstances as they ari se. A general likes to enter upon a campaign with a well-stocked military chest, but it would puzzle him to give beforehand the items of

his. expenditure. The Council will therefore be no wiser next Tuesday than they are to-day, and the next point to be considered is what course they will then pursue m regard to the Loan Bill. Will they vote for further delay and thus give the Premier another opportunity for declaring himself ? Or will they reject the Bill by carrying a motion that it be read that day six months ? Or, finally, will they put their principles m their pockets, and go on with the Bill and pass it without having obtained the desired particulars. There is one thing that they cannot do. It is a money Bill, and therefore they cannot alter it. They cannot stipulate how the loan shall be expended. There is the Bill, and they must either take it or leave it. Our impression is that a majority of the Councillors are opposed to borrowing, but we are by no means sure that they will go the length of throwing the Bill out. Indeed, we are inclined to think that, having made .their protest, they will oppose the Government no further on this occasion. It may be a very I bad sign, but it is a fact that the country has not shown any strong symptoms of disgust at the proposal to borrow a million.