The Star. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 1879.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3490, 18 June 1879, Page 2

The Star. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 1879.

Mb Bowbk objects strongly to triennial Parliaments, and is very half hearted in regard to any proposals for the extension, of the franchise. Mr Stevens will be found hereafter voting in favour of triennial Parliaments, and he oonsiders the Electoral Bill of the present Go. vernment to have been, in all but the dual Maori vote, a very excellent measure, a measure, in fact, representing as far as he is prepared to go in any proposal to extend the suffrage. Mr Richardson: voted for the Ministerial Electoral Bill — not because it fulfilled the promises made by the Government—but because he hoped that in Committee it would be largely improved, " and be be made much more liberal than it was." Mr Bowek and Mr Stevens denounce the Land Tax as an iniquitous Act. Mr Richaedson, on the other hand, "thought the Government had been perfectly justified in levying a land tax on unimproved hnd which psople had gone upon for speculative purposes. Ifc wonld be a fair thing for Government to come in and say — 'Pay a tax on this land.' And not only that, but a progressive tax, or a tax heavier in proportion as the value of. the land increased, so as to force the owner to improve or to sell it, that was the only land tax he would be inclined to support," It will thus bo seen that Mr Righabdson, bo far as hiß expressed opinions are ooncerned, differs most materially from the political company in whiob. we find him associated. The points of "difference, if any exist, between his views and the principles of the liberal party are ho small as to excite wonder why he should be found in the ranks of their most bitter and unscrupulous foes. A glance at the speech delivered on Friday night, however, is sufficient to disclose the fact that, notwithstanding the liberality of his political sentiments, the present Government have not a more bitterly hostile opponent in Parliament than Mr Richardson. We pass now from bis political principles, which we are willing to accept, to the consideration of some of his criticisms upon Ministerial administration.

We will begin with what Mr Bic..gaedson is pleased to call " the granting of special wires to particular payers." Now, Mr Richaedson, in common with everybody else, must know that, when the present Government came into office, one firm held an absolute Monopoly of the bnsinesa of distributing telegraphio information to the v. reBB { n u fl w Zealand. That mono;p O i y afc tb . e time waß a most valuable property, and in the progress of events, as the Colony adyanced in popul; d t; on an< j material prosperity, it wop .\a certainly have developed into a great power secured by vestsd rights. In the interest of the whole Oolony, that monopoly has been broken, and free trade has been established in telegraphy. There have been no spacial piivileges granted to any particular newspapers. Any individual, or any association of individuals, can go to the Government at any moment and obtain special wires by paying for them. Mr Richardson knows this perfectly we)', and if his mind had not been strongly affected by party feeling he would not have stooped to convey the unworthy suggestion that he did. We have but used this, however, as introductory to what we desire to state. The truth is that the whole Telegraphio department is in a most unsatisfactory condition. We concur with Mr Richardson that private telegrams are now delayed so as to materially depreciate their value, and if the general publio are dissatisfied — as we are sure they have a right to be — still more dissatisfied is the Press. From the North to the South of this Oolony, from the Press and from the general public, there is universal complaint, and the reason is that tho administration of the Telegraph department hai not risen to meet the growing requirements of the publio. More than twelve months ago we devotod considerable attention to this subject. We pointed out that telegraphy as a servant of the publ-o was yet in its infancy, that every year witnessed new developements in its power, every year increased its facilities and extended the area of its usefulness. Further, we referred to the fact that m the administration of the Telegraph department there was a large balance of receipts over expenditure, and we claimed that this balance should be reinvested ia the multiplication of wires, so as to afford facilities to meet the rapidly increasing demands of the publio. The wires, more especially between important centres, are altogether inadequate to carry the messages required to be sent, and should at onoe be in* created. When any event of more than ordinary consequence oocure, the wires become blocked, and it is impossible to get a message through within a reasonable time unless a ridioulously high price is paid for the consideration.

If Mr Eichaudson had not been, aB we believe, actuated by the smallest party feeling, he would have dealt with this matter in a larger, broader spirit. The bhargewKioh we bring against the Government is, that .they have permitted the administration of one of the. most important deparfcmeftta^of the Colony id remaUTitf add:^ienterp'rising hands. The present administrative head appears tQ ttink that in tele-

graphy the Colony has attained the maximum of success ; that I beyond the condition to whioh he has brought the wire service it is not possible to go ; therefore be has apparentlyadopted the policy of the late Government and gone in for rest. This is not what the. public have, a right to expeot from a " fief orm " Ministry. The principal expense in establishing telegraphio communication is the erection of the poles ; the ..hanging of wire B coijts comparatively, little. Now the posts are already^ «p, what is wanted is that the profits df the department should be expended in increasing the number of wires and telegraph workers. The profits would come back to ,thede-. partment again in the consequent increase of business. In short, the head of ! the ' department should have made an effort to develop a rabidly increasing : ; .'business and meet the convenience and legitimate requirements of his oustomerß, just as any private individual engaged in trade would have done. He' has not done so. He ie^ not. ready, so far as we know, with any proposals to do so, and he should makewayfor-a--more active and enterprising spirit. The Government are to blame that they have not seen this and aoted upoh it, and in our view Mr BrcHiitDSOK , in order to serve his party has chosen to be incorrect, petty, and peddling in his indictment, instead of broad, comprehensive and true, as he might have been, to serve the whole public of New Zealand.