The Wanganui Tournament

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5226, 5 April 1895, Page 1

The Wanganui Tournament

{Lyttelton Times.) The entertaining political tournament at, Wanganui, which one of our contemporaries has very aptly compared to a two-innings cricket match, waajbrought to a conclusion on Wednesday eveaing, when Mr George Hutchison made an heroic effort to repair the failure o£ His genial chief. It can hardly be. claimed that the member for Patea has improved tho position of bia party. The Opposition' has had the last word, but the honours of the game remain with the Government. Mr Hutchison admitted with perfect frankness that his political friends are without organisation and without policy. These, he promised, will come in time, but he gave no indication of the particular date upon which the "vigorous and progressive " proposals which are to restore " confidence and prosperity," will make their appearance. Beyond the bare announcement that a good time is coming, when the Conservatives will be restored to power ajtd Mr Seddon and his colleagues will be consigned to the place where, all wicked Liberals go, we are still without any outline of the Opposition programme. It is satisfactory to find, however, that Mr Hutchison, who is the financier as well as the orator of his party, does not regard the condition of the country as absolutely desperate. He even admits that there is a surplus. A few weeks ago the Opposition Press assured us on the evidence of its own calculations and the " admissions " of Ministers that there would be a deficit of at least a qnarter of a million. Now Mr Hutchison talks resignedly of a surpluß of =8350,000, and shows that the condition of- our exchequer is some .£600,000 better than his friends hoped and expected. It is truo that he tried to detract from the strength of the position by urging that the .£290,000 brought forward from 'last year should not be included in the accounts. To this we can only say that Mr Ward is simply following the method .that has obtained, "at the Treasury for many years. . It is, after all, merely a matter of bookkeeping. Commercial houses and public companies carry forward their undivided profits from one year to another, and no one ever alleges that their managers are trying to deceive the shareholders or the public by the practice. Why, ihen, should a Treasurer who clearly Bhows in his budget that part of his surplus is derived from the balance of the previous year be accused of a want of candour? A gentleman. who hopes one day to step into Mr Ward's shoes" should not be guilty of framing such a ridicu loub charge. The present Treasurer has, everyone admits, done a great deal to simplify the public accounts, and if they are still beyond the comprehension of the embryonic Treasurer we may fairly assume that they were in . a very bad condition when the 'present Ministry assumed oflice. Wethbught that the Minister of Lands had. in.his address at Dunedin effectually disposed of tha charges levelled against the Government in connection with the Horbwhenua purchase, but Mr Hutchison appears to think that it is both necessary and politic, at the present stage, to say something more about the transaction. His contention that the Government paid the JJ2OOO to the wrong'peraon is entirely fallacious. At the time the negotiations were entered upon Hunia, to whom the money was paid, was the registered owner of the property under the Land Transfer Act, with an indefeasible title. If Mr Hutchison's contention were a good one, it would simply mean that no one would be safe in purchasing land from a registered owner. But the very object of the Land Transfer Act is to establish beyond all doubt the rights of the purchaser, and it is absurd to imply that a breach of trust has been committed in this case by the Government. We might, by tb» way, very reasonably question the taste of urging this charge against the Gov* ernment while the dispute forms the subject of an appeal to the law courts. But the member for Patea is not restrained by any exaggerated sense of propriety. Mr Hutchison's allusion to the Blind River Estate — wrongly telegraphed, we notice, as the Broken River Estate — opens the way for a little explanation. It is quite true that this property cost the Government about .£15,000, and that only half of it has been taken up by selectors. There would not be the slightest difficulty in disposing of the balance if a bridge were erected across the Awatere River, but for the present the Government declines to undertake this work, simply because it would add immensely 1 to the Value of private estates which the Minister of Lands hopes to acquire fcr the purposes of settlement. As it is the- Minister has received an offer for the unoccupied portion of the estate, which would, if accepted, insure the Government against any loss upon the investment. The property, it may be added, was purchased in response to a number of petitions preferred by landless people in the district and at a price below the. Commissioners' valuation. It" this IB the " horrid example " of maladministration, " far worse than Pomahaka," there is no cause, we think, for the friends of legitimate settlement to feel any serious alarm. We need not follow Mr Hutchison to the bitter end of a rather' bitter speech. He failed, ju«t as we predicted he would fail, to convince his audience that there was more to be Baid for his party than was said by his chief; and the'tqnrnament at Wanganui has resulted in a decided victory for the Government. Another Eeduction in Butter at Kinc aid's G.LC.—Mdvt.J