Wairarapa Standard Published Tri-weekly, Price 1d. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1885. The North Island Trunk Railway Loan.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XVIII, Issue 1756, 6 November 1885, Page 2

Wairarapa Standard Published Tri-weekly, Price Id. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1885. The North Island Trunk Railway Loan.

The question now specially exciting interest and discussion throughout the colony, and more especially in Wellington and Auckland, is the expressed intention of the Government to appropriate the one million loan intended for the North Island Trunk Railway Line, to any other purposes to which they think fit. Wellington and Auckland newspapers are furious at this breach of faith on the part of the Government. The Auckland Chamber of Commerce has held a meeting and adopted the following resolutions (1) “ That the Chamber protests against the intention of Government to negotiate the North Island Main Trunk Railway one million loan in April next, with the avowed object of diverting it to other works than those which the Act specified. (2). That the raising of an additional loan for general purposes is unnecessary as well as unjustifiable, and that, from statements submitted to the House, there were sufficientjfunds provided to carry out the works authorised by Parliament until the House meets.”

Sir Julius Yogel in a telegram to the Chairman of the Auckland Chamber, has commented upon those resolutions, and defended the proposed action of the Government. He I observes, with charming naivete, “ that the money (the million loan) will be applied only as the law directs.’’ It really is very pleasant to receive this assurance. But then Sir Julius means to “ collar ” the money all the same—law or no law—because he goes on to say : —“ Owing to the expenditure not contemplated on railways and other purposes included in defence, and loans hitherto sanctioned will not suffice to fulfil the object* designed, aud to set free sufficient money to do so, another loan will be required. I do not know why the Trunk Loan should be less subject to this than other loans. The practice of not conforming to loan schedules, if bad ones, has gradually grown up.” We do not quite see the force of this reasoning. This one million loan was specially allocated to be expended in the construction of the North Island Main Trunk Eailway Line. That was the intention of the Legislature as to the expenditure of this money. Sir Julius Vogel now declares that he doesn’t care a single straw as to what Parliament wished to be done with this one million Joan, but that he will apply it to any purposes which seem good in his own eyes. He adds, in effect, “ that as the same thing has been done before, there can be no harm in doing it again.” That is a strange sort of logic. It means that because wrong and illegal acts have been done in the past, they may therefore continue to be done in the future. We certainly fail to perceive the force of any such argument. The doctrine now preached by Sir Julius amounts to this:—” That whatever public moneys have been voted by Parliament—though all specially allocated for works—shall be expended in any way which the Government of the day may think fit.” That woulu !’ a a really admirable system of dealing with public /unds, It would enable an unscrupulous Colonial T l ' e &Burer to play some very remarkable and startling tricks with the money of the colony. He might consider that whenever any sum of money had been voted by Parliament, it became available for dealing with in any way whatsoever. Thus he might take the money intended for the construction of some special railway line, and spend it in building luxusteam yachts for Ministerial use, or building some palaces in the country as residences for members of the Government when they desired to seek retirement for a time from the cares and worries of State affairs. Nay, Vogel might even go the length of getting hold of an odd quarter million intended for roads, bridges, and railways, and spend it in fitting out a fillibustering expedition to annex some of " the cannibal islands ” to New Zealand, and create a new form of local selfgovernment in them. We remember that a French prefect once tried some such system in dealing with public funds. His financial creed was exceedingly simple, and summed up in the axiom—” all public money voted for expenditure in my department is to be spent exactly as I please.” This gentleman acted rigidly up to his system. He got hold of the public funds and spent them right royally. He maintained several town and country establishments, kept half a dozen fair dames in charge f£ them, and generally lived on a scale of princely splendor. But unfortunately the criminal law got hold of this fine fellow and he was sent to durance vile for a term of years. That seems rather a pity, because flpent, for the public nmiee t in &ny way he

this French Prefect was a man of very large and liberal ideas indeed. The late Er Fea therston, when Superintendent of the Wellington District, always held that any money voted by his Provincial Council should be deemed best. The worthy Doctor didn’t care a straw for the votes of the Council that particular sums of money should be expended on specific public works. If he thought the works were really wanted, the money was spent on them ; but if he thought it could be better applied by expending it on other public works, he just applied it in that way. As a general rule, Dr Featherston was much wiser than his Councillors, sol his high handed action usually resulted in good to the province. But that cystem will hardly be submitted to now-a-days, as Sir Julius Vogel and Mr Stout will ere long find out to their cost. They may “ collar ” this one million loan and divert its expenditure from the purpose contemplated by the Legislature, but when Parliament again meets they will be sternly dealt with for their illegal action.