THE GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL SCHEME.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 684, 2 August 1870, Page 4

THE GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL SCHEME.

♦- The following is Mr Tancred's speech on the financial proposals of the Government, as reported in Hansard :— I have no doubt that every hon. member as well as myself has anxiously and seriously considered the question before the House. I will in a very few words give my reasons for tbe vote which I shall give, and explain the mode in which I have arrived at the conclusion to which I have come respecting the question now before the House. I shall not attempt to go into the financial question. I do not feel that I should throw much light upon it, but I wish to state my views, as I do not feel quite in accord with any section of this House. Perhaps that may be because I have no pretensions to be a financier ; but I think there are some broad common sense views which all of us can understand, and which it is our duty to express upon any question that comes beforo this House. In considering this question in my own mind, there appear to me to be three courses from which the House may choose. The first is that of rejecting the scheme altogether ; the second, of modifying it ; and the third, of accepting it as it stands. But then the views which I hold on the subject are not, as I know, acceptable to any section of the House. I cannot, therefore, pursue that course which appears to me abstractedly the best, but that which appears the lesser evil, and ally ■myself with that party which I think most likely to inflict the least amount of injury. If I had the power to carry, out my views, and had the decision of the matter in my own hands, I should vote very differently from the way in which I intend to vote. I may at once say that lam absolutely and unreservedly opposed to the whole scheme, and to any modification of it. It is my firm conviction that neither the scheme nor any modification of it can bring any good to the country. My wish would be to see a stop put altogether to borrowing, and to economise, at all events for a few years. 3?hat was the temper of the House last year, but as far as I can perceive, it is not the temper of the Houbo during the present ses sion. The experience we have had of borrowing, whether by the public or by private persons, is not by any means encouraging. It appears to me that the only result we have arrived at in cither- case has been to cast upon ourselves a load of debt with very small advantage to the country. I believe that the country, if left to itself, would have made very nearly as great progress. • The result of our borrowing may be summed up in a very few words. It has been to create a very high degree of prosperity and activity in commercial matters for a certain period, only to be followed by a corresponding degree of depression. I believe, fc ir, that - that depression, and the difficulties in wbich the colony finds itself, is a very much smaller evil to the community than those difficulties which the reckless expenditure, and those habits of luxury and extravagance engendered thereby, have brought upon private individuals. The most important evil that bas resulted from that excessive expenditure has been the destruction of the happiness and prosperity of the people as individuals. The embarrassment of the state is bad enough, but the embarrassment of its people is far more to be deplored. I . am sure, Sir, if we look back for ten or fifteen years, that we must admit that the people of this colony bave not improved their position since that time — that, in fact, they are worse off now than they were then. The hon. member for "the Hutt, who last spoke, referred to the three million loan. Well, Sir, of course we all admit now that the whole thing was a mistake, and that the money was thrown away, so that the failure of the loan cannot be used as an argument against borrowing at tbe present time; but then I say that tbat three million loan is only a small proportion of the indebtedness of the oolony, which, I suppose, is about from nine to ten millions,—at any rate there is four millions of provincial borrowing. Now, I should like to . know whether the expenditure of that money by the provinces has made tbe people, considered as individuals more prosperous ? We have, it is true, large works, such as railways and roads, yet a great deal of money has been squandered, and a great deal more spent on those works than • ought to have been spent; and what is the good of all the roads, railways, or bridges, if tbe people themselves are getting poorer ? Well, Sir, that is a consideration which, it appears to me, has never been taken sufficiently into account, whether all our borrowing has really made the people more happy and more prosperous, or whether it has made them poorer; and, Sir, that is or should be, after all, the real object of all our proceedings — to consult the well-being of the people. When I listened to the Colonial Treasurer making his financial statement, it struck me the whole scene was a most remarkable one. With that black box before him, Sir, when like a magician, he was pulling out one wild scheme after another and brandishing them in our faces, the effect on my mind wns something " uncanny." It was like the last throw of a desperate gambler, and I could not help thinking: suppose the throw Bhould fail, nothing will remain but wide spread ruin and distress. At the conclusion of the hon. member's speech, thej impression on my mind was, that of all the wild- and mad schemes I had ever heard in my life tljat was the maddest and wildest That is my- idea of the financial statement. But, Sir, however wild the scheme may be, I am quite confident I cannot give effect to the views which I hold. Not only the House but, the country,. I am quite satisfied, are both so dazzled with' the proposals that it is altogether vain to attempt to contend against the current ; and there is this further consideration, that if the scheme is rejected we shall only be jumping from tbe frying-pan into the fire, for we shall have all the provinces borrowing, and instead of there

being ten millions borrowed by the General Government, as large a sum will be distributed amongst the provinces, and then there will be an entire want of control over its expenditure. So, Sir, it is not only useless to contend against tbe present scheme, but even if we succeeded in rejecting it, and prevailed upon the country to reject ie, the colony would be in a worse position. The total rejection of the Bcheme being thus out of the question, there remains only the choice between* acceptance and modification of it. At first my inclination was to adopt the latter course. I considered that the smaller the loan the smaller would be the evil. With regard to the remarks of tbe hon. member for the Hutt (Mr Ludlam), in reference to the administration of the money by means of a Commission, such a plan would probably have the effect of preventing the loan being squandered away recklessly. That would be an advantage if the whole object of the scheme were merely an economical one, or one which dealt only with the material interests of the country ; but it appears to me that the question is not confined to that. There are two objects for which the scheme has been devised. The first is to develop the resources of the colony, and the second is to solve the Native difficulty — one is economical and the other political. Now, it appears to me that we cannot engage in a scheme which has a political element, without entrusting the management of it to the political head of the country. That consideration, I think, is fatal to the appointment of a Commission, I unless that Commission were the servants of the Government, and its duties only to carry out the views of the Government. Then it appears to me tbat the scheme now before us is one which, whatever may be its defects, is carefully elaborated, and probably, if any important modifications were introduced into it, it would be rendered unworkable or very injurious in its operation. We have before ua, Sir, a great many examples of the evils of tampering with a matured plan. We see it every day in the legislation of ordinary Bills. A well-considered Bill goes into Committee, and it often happens that each member suggests amendments to meet his own views, and the Bill comes out of Committee a confused mass of unworkable clauses. I would be inclined to consider a well-matured plan, which had received such careful treatment as the Colonial Treasurer appears to have given to the present scheme, but I would not be inclined to consider any crude modifications proposed by hop. members who have not thought over the subject thoroughly. The three million loan was squandered, I believe, because too many hands had the spending of it, and because there were different views andideas concerning it before tbe Legislature; theobject of some being to economise, of others to promote the works and operations as quickly as possible, and of others to please the society for the protection of aborigines, in England. The Governor took a line of his own altogether, those who had the administration of the money were pulling different ways, and the consequence was that the whole scheme failed. Now, Sir, I 6hould be very sorry to see anything of that sort happen in thia very much more serious matter, and I think, although tbe odds — for I think that ah appropriate term to apply — are ten to one against them, still x* do not wish. to interfere with what we must assume to be a carefully-con-sidered scheme. We cannot afford to throw away a chance, therefore my present intention is to support that scheme, which appears to me to have received the greatest attention, and on those grounds I Bhall support that proposed by the Government as it stands. My object is to get as carefully prepared a scheme as I can. We must go in for borrowing ; we cannot help ourselves. If we could help ourselves, I would gladly try to get rid of anything like a loan. The hon. member for GlaJstone told us that he would be willing to go in for two millions. Well, it appears to me that I might apply the argument to that hon. gentleman which is generally applied by teetotallers to moderate drinkers — that moderate drinkers are worse than confirmed drunkard?. If we raised only two millions, the effect would be tbat we should have to raise two more a short time afterwards, and that probably, in about five years, we would have borrowed the amount of the proposed loan without the slightest advantage. I look upon the present scheme, taken as a whole, as, to aome extent, a final scheme, at all events for some years. It has the element of finality. Under these circumstances, however much I may disapprove of their plan, I can do no other than support the Government.