MADAME MELBA.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12212, 3 May 1909, Page 5

MADAME MELBA.

For twenty years now Madame Melba has ,reigned in the popular favour. as the.Queen of Song. She recently commemorated her twentieth consecutive season at Covent Garden Theatre with a matinee by which.she, raised £2000 for the sick and suffering. The proceeds were devoted to the maintenance of two beds in i^he London Hospital, and a tablet has been placed in that institution to commemorate her generous gift. Melba's recent English and American performances were a phenomenal success. At the Manhattan Opera House in New York she created a sensation* in opera, and, said the New York Musical Courier, she was greeted by "an audience the size of which, set all police regulations at defiance, and proved conclusively to manager Hammerstein, and to the public, that.in the realm of opera Melba is the most potent and .profitable attraction in the world." Last year when, at the earnest solicitation of the great Hammerstein, she revisited New York, her voice rang ..out more glorious r ly than ever, and the largest audience the Opera House had evet held greeted' her with unbounded enthusiasm. Tim© after time, at the close of the opera " Othello" she was recalled, and .the audience remained applauding after the j orchestra had gone, till, eventually, the old piano used in, connection with the teaching of the chorus, was dragged pn to the stage, and Melba sang again to the delighted audience. It was just on tho stroke of midnight before she could get away from the theatre. . It is the same Melba, still at the zenith of her fame an dpower, who will sing to the people of Wanganui on May 12th. The opportunity of hearing her is one not to be missed, for she will never make another New Zealand tour. She is making this tour to enable as many of the people of the Dominions over the seas as possible to hear her, and" those who i avail themselves of the rare chance will be likely to keep her memory green for many a year to come. .

HURRAH! Hurrah for Barnard of the Push and Prosper Pharmacy, the leader in the smash «--f n ices. London prices only charged nt the Push and Prosper Pharmacy. Glance at tl is: Al'enbury Feeders Is 6d. B ixter's Lung Preserver lid,' Pink Pills 2s tid, Cnticura Soap Is'-ldj Steed man's'Powdcs Is Id. Note addrecs, near Newmtirket Hotel, Avenue. Cod Liver Oil is one of the most." nourishing food-medicines, known. In Wilton's Emulsion you have it in its ';est, freshest and nicest form. 3s 6d large t >>ottle. Wilton's Pharmacies, River Bank and .next Post- Office. ■ . ■ : — Philpot, .Taylorville, for good. Table Potatoes. At the Da vies Pharmacy drug, want's have always been jaold at Auckland prices. Ayers' Sarsaparilla 4s, Hair. Vigor 4s, Allenbury Foods Is 9d, Calox Tooth Powder Is 6d, Calvert's Tooth Powder 6d, Allenbury Feeders Is 9d, Pink Pills 2s 9dy Doan's Pills.-2s 9d, Bovril Is 6d. Everything at corresponding prices at the Davies Pharmacy. A -Lumbago Belt placed right over that weak spot in the back will prevent many an attack of. Lumbago. Prices of Wilton's Lumbago Belts, 4s 6d,'ss 6d and 6s 6d each, at Wilton's Pharmacies, River JBank and next Post Office, For Children's Hacking Cough at night, Woods' Great Peppermint Cure, ' Is 6d and. 25;.6d.« Send your orders for Fruit to Philpot, Taylorville. Philpot for everything. Telephone WHERE TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED. Go to the "Tesla" Studios, opposite the Post Office, Wanganui, when wanting an artistic portrait together with a faithful likeness. The firm are also prepared to copy old photos to the same size as the original, or enlarge them to* any size. M. LAMPE, proDrietor. 'Phone 381. * Lay in your winter stock of Potatoes. 'Phone 134.

■ ; ; v (Per, Press Ass INVERCARGILL, May 1. Sir Joseph Ward delivered his promised pihcy speech here on Saturday. Ttie audience though not demonstrative, was attentive and';fnend:y, .the speech being frequently with an- ! plau&e. ■ . . -. i -' , THE FINANCIAL YEAR. Sir Joseph Ward said the financial ; year had been one of the heaviest, and ■ in some respects,'the most important, in the history of the Dominion, and he was glad to say that notwithstanding that a tightness had existed in tho - money market oF^$W Zealand for some time, our finances were exceedingly satisfactory. As. showing- the desire of opponents to "try:'-and predict that things are really wor.se than they are, we have an instance only to-day, whero the Opposition organ in Wellington states* ■ • - .-.•■:; ■ ■:..■ ■-■ ■ - .• ■■, ;

In 1908 there was a surplus of rev- C • ernie over expenditure in. the March i quarter of ovctf £.400,000. Has this t been realised'iif 1009? We think not. i 1 Even if the revenue held its own, t which is open to doubt, the expendi- . l tare is ce:tain to have exceeded that I J of the corresponding quarter, of the ; I previous, year, iVhat that expendi- i ;ture has-been^-Sir, Joseph will make :<= :known_this: ey^enihs:. : , >' ■/]'■. ] The' pbsitidn- is*: th^ (expenditure did not f exceed that of tlie, jcQiTe-ponding quar- ( ter of the previojis year—l9oß, £2,- ; 337,352; 1909^. £2:333,577-which is ] nearly four thousand pounds Jess expen- j diture, and the opini^nl ; expressed! that ; ' it ,woiild'-beriri^re; j^..^r6ri^.r ,For the -v) financial year j us£''ended!,. :he e^s.timat- ( ed in the Financial Statement the rev- ' enuo at^£8,985,000, and ]%he expenditure J at £8,878,346. Alter bringing forward ; the available balance of the previous-j year, of.-, £767,819, and transferring/ 1 £800,000 out o^r&vennp to'the Public I • AVorks Account, h<> estimated' tlie^ suj- I plus at- £74,503, a-nd in view of the con- ' tinued atjracks at various times during ] the year as- to -the correctness of his judgment, lie was;not unnaturally more than ordinarily gratified to be able to ' say that an analysis of the-figures show i! the surplus.for tlie'iyear to be £184,321, ■"•: that: is '£109jll8, liiore than estimated in the'rßixdget. iHe twitted. Mr Massoy ] with assuming the" l'ole of prophet in predicting that;/the surplus would bo ; under £20D,OOOJ: when ;anyone : whot ' turned to "the ■'F^iaHcial1 Statement" ' would find tho amount stated correct, and a further gratifying feature of it. was that the surplus exceeded-the estimate by £109,118. The revenue last iyear 'aniounted :i:M: £9j00K185, an increase 1' of. £16j185... pver v the estimate.. Comparing1 the r^yijnue wathtliat of tho previous year' itv^rpuld doxibtlets aflFord immeiiso pleasur^ and indeed to many ■■surprise, to find/jthat there was only a decrease- of £D4|761 on the total recoipts of 'the jpreyibui year. The revcnuo was £9,0&5,946, as against £9,-----001,185 for the year just closed. He was glad to be,able to. say that the, revenue for tho-.year exceeded the expenditure by £215,672. The expenditure amounted to £8,785,513, which, if deducted from-'the* actuaL revenue of £9,001,185, they would find left an excess of revenue" of £215,672. Dealing with- tho. various .Jbcads. of revenue, he said that the i-ajlways contributed £2,----918,507 as against an-est'inateipf £2,-, Sf:s,oot>, and "actual '■receijpiss.dSf'■«3,l6s-,- ' 395 in49o7^B;^herccei^^einl b«tterV ' than the estiniat# by^£B3jW,iands ari^ increase on tfee^pi^v^isry^r^ £15j|, r . 112. Ifc must bi» -beanie gtM-min^ that a reduction of fares and freights Bad been ■ made of £950,00Q>. Stamps la*t year'! brought in £1,591,358, or £18^ befcr: ter than the estimateV^nd' 4bi Increase* of £40,394 ori ■ the previous year's receipts of £1,95^134., Trie jretiirn from the land and inconie..tax reached £926,- ' 000 the exact-figUtes being: Imnd tax £604 J 9Ol-,,iwconTe.;tax £321,044, or £45,- ---• 945 iri-excess bl-tKe rci3timat9 and £83,----194 better thaw that; of 1907-08. "Miscellaneous reveniie was responsible for bettering the estfirhate by £25,210, the amount received being . "£264,210, as against an estimate of £239,000, and £45,868 in excess of the previous year's receipts. Registration and other fees Ehowed air increase on the estimate of £2061, and mSi-ifte in £3815 more than anticipated. Customs did not come up t^ estimate by £148,752; the amount for the year being £2,801,248 as against art .estimate of £2,^^0,000. In his opinion the reasons for this were: (l)':An unexpected falling, off in import vvalues for 1909 as com r , pared with the .steady increase some, years previously^ (2)" from excessive im-. portation duriiig^lOOS in anticipation of thp coming into operation o|; the extended preferential tariff," 'vvtech took effect on March 31st of that|year. -'As:-. tar as he had been able1 to sec tliei v<? had been a considerable faTluig! off, s >ij, ; revenue in almost a\\ the more itaipqvj^ ant countries during the past fihan^isjil year, and it sltoxild not be-a surprise in view of. what has taken place in many oth6f countries^ tc: an enormous extent proportionately^ by comparison with New Zealand that our revenue should be- £54,761 below what it.vvas the prevt pus year. .A..fall in. our^revenue was. predicted ,by Hini in his last Budget, but a gratifying feature of this was that the revenue was higher than tlie expenditure J?y over £215,000.. The revenue receipts fpr the past five years have been as follows:—

K>ciation). £ 1904-05 7,282,870 ■1905-06 ....... 7,584,359 ' 1906-07 8,399 075 1907-08 ............. 91055,946 1903-09 ............ 9,001,185 A calm review of the position must have a reassuring- effect. A satisfactoryfeature of the year's transactions was that £800,000 was transferred from ordinV ary revenue and paid into the Public Works Fund in aid of public works. During the year they had bean able to reduce the floating debt of £700,000 by a further £150,000, and having -during the two former years jpaid off £30O;O0O There had therefore, been no less asum than £450,000 of this amount paid off Cince the Ward Government took office. In other words their indebtedness in three years had been reduced by £450 r 000, the amount now outstanding being

only £.^-0,003 as compared with £700,;: ~ 000 three years ago. He spoke of satisfactory loan arrangements'made by the Government. In connection with loans he mentioned that in addition to the authorities already given Parliament had authorised the raisng of £1.250,000 for public works, and £1,----000,000 for the acquisition of the Manawatii railway, and it might come as a surprise to most people to know ..that practically the whole ;of" this - large amount of money was raised in Xoirdan on the most favourable terms and with a rhihimiuyi of cost to th© Dominion. In. the Dominion itself the amount of money borrowed from the public was less; thatf £100,000, andVtßis amount was taken up in the Dominion unsolicitcd. On .the, other hand a- much larger sum had been paid off in this country ' for the redemption of. bonds falling due! The .ipplications from local bodies for Joans for roads and bridges have been much larger than usual during the past year.,,, This is no doubt due to the difficulty local authorities find in obtaining mone.y at a reasonable rate of interest within the Dominion. During the year £372,000 have.been spent iii the acquisition of land for settlement. . Apart front the financial operations-, that had bSen mentioned, £1,493,835 12s had been advanced in the Settlers' Department and £298,185 6s in the Advances to Workers' Department, aiid the total £1,792,019 18s actually paid ;Cmt durjng. the .-financial year was a record for ,tho Department, the increase on the previous year; s figures being £390,635. These figures"showed how ridiculous was the statement which had been mad© by those, who had been pinpricking the Government declaring that tlio Department had no funds. He had no hesitation in saying that the result' of the pa^styear went to show oh what. s6lid foundation the Dominion rested, and in spite of the stringency of the money market there was a steadiness and general confidence which augured well for prospe ity. Expenditure under both headings of permanent and annual appropriations had considerably increased. He was not satisfied.with the way in which the expahditur© was mounting up and felt thai a reduction must be niade. and it was for this reason that -the Government had already set to work to make reductions in 'public service to the extent of at least £250,000.per annum. He wished, however^ to say that he did not think there was any cause for apprehension. He ■had that day received, a telegram from ,v.tK© Secretary^?©!' Customs^..: informing ; . him that there was, an. 'increase of. £9803 in; the Customs duties for ;;th'e nionth of April, as compared with the •corresponding month last year. There Jvas also>, a very much better feeling among commerciaLmeii throughout the ■icsunti'y as to the prospects and conditions of trade, and,th© increase in the Customs duties;, Was a healthy sign. • 1 During the yeaiythe sum of £2,169,278 had been expended on public works, as against > £1,874,438 spent 'during thje';. previous, ' Tlie principal items: o| expenditure were:— V * ';■ ";'". ■•- '" .':'' '•"" £ Railway construction .... 713,000. , Addition to open lines 390,000 RoadsV 469,000 Public buildings ........ 285,000 Telegraph extension ..... 163,000 •The business of the. post and telegraph departmfent had prdgreissed: in a .most satisfactory manner. With a,heavy, reduction of fifty per cent, in- money order commissioii, in private box fees, the cost of postal notes, etc, the revenue had increased by £91,000, reaching a total of £914,000 for the financial year just ended. At this fate of increase the million should not now be far off..•'■■. The expenditure amounted' to { £807.500, leaving a substantial balancs of -£106,500 oh the year's transactions. ,Oi the revenue the office contributed £544,648, and the telegraph ,and telephone" £369,352. Postal stamp,eales, : with £480,968, approached ■ * closely td: half a million,, and exceeded all others sources of revenue .combined. That a reduction in rates is followed by increased business is shown by< the fact that a fifty . per cent L reduction in money order commission - had bceii followed during the first year, by an crease of £46,600 in orders i«sjied. The increased work thrown upon the. Dfe partment affected all branches, of s tbe,. eeryice. Increased work necessitated increased expenditure, and an additional £25,000 was expended on mail services and £-27,000 for miscellaneous expenses of management. Notwith-

standing pessimistic reports, the de- ! posits during the savings bank year I ended December 31st, 1908, amounted to £9,674.075. an increase of £32,411 over the previous year and the total amount at credit of the depositors rose .from £11,523,231 to £12,159,29.4. Thus £036,063 was added to the savings of the population in 1908, although in the i September and December quarters the ' ■ !withdrawals exceeded the deposits., It was a gratifying fact that in the March quarter this year deposits were ogam in excess and there was no mdi- ; cation so far that tha June quarter ' would reverse the satisfactory position, and tho imputation that the savings bank is being used as a channel for investment, was not borne ou,t by the fact that the increased amount deposited is i duo to an increas3 of over 55,000 in the j number of transactions. Tho funds arc well invested, and as a consequence ; £379,808 was last year distributed; amongst savings bank depositors'with- ; in the Dominion as interest, which i might otherwise have been paid out to , the foreign bond holder. The remarks made by Mr Massey at a social gathering at Rangiriri argued a lack of ordinary intelligence on the part of such depositors which they by no means deserved. The depositors were wise enough to know that although Governments may come and go the credit of the Do- ; minion was pledged for the repayment of such monies. In order to pay interest on depositors' money" it was essential that such money should be invested to produce at least a sum equal to that the Government contracts to pay. What more desirable channel for such investment could be found than purchase of d£l}en.tures created under the authority of Parliament? It is true that the stringency of the money market latter part of the year re- - sultfed'tiii an excess of withdrawals over deposits in the September and December quarters. Such movements were regarded as a natural sequence following the fluctuation of the money market. Other fund institutions, at the time of the stringency raised the deposit rates. Ho did not follow that course as far . as the Government' savings bank deposits were concerned, as he was of opinion it would be unwise and have the effect of making money higher and more difficult to obtain, "£250,000 of the: Post Office Savings Bank investments were loaned to local public bodies last year, so that in to the whole-'of the security of the Government of the country the depositors had also the rating security of tha ■ local public bodies whol borrowed money. THE MORTGAGE TAX. There had been an agitation in one ■ portion of New Zealand, particularly Wellington, to endeavour to have what is known as the mortgage tax repealed, on the ground that it was preventing i money from coming into New Zealand I Tor investment. It was astonishing to I',find that during the last sx years there was an increase of investments in mortgage apart entirely from Government" Departments', of £1,664,393, or an. increase of nearly 40 per cant, of capital invested upon mortgage during these years', He then contended that the Advances, to Settlers Department had driven out the mortgage companies formerly operating in J*lew Zealand. The total .amount of capital withdrawn .by them, would amount..to two millions, ." aVid^jas "gFast as it was withdrawn it i wasFFeplaced by the Advances to Settlers' Office, which has invested over eight millions. The real aim -of those who suggest the abolishment of the mortgage tax was virtually to make an attack upon the land taxation of the country. If the tax were abolished it would mean, the. abolition of the land t:j x upon a total value of '=over 72 : millions '■■ sterling^ r^nd^h^/^ incredible i fact• remained 'that; whfch; interest' was ruling jn New' Zealand at; 4£-per cent, large sums were sent v for investment at those rates and the mortgage tax existed at 25 per cent, more than it is iiow• whereas - to-day investors were Igetitiriigj ir^'totT: per cent;' It was foolish . roasomnw to believe that while they 'did, not object when they rate was low we should now be told they should do so when the rate was higher. In reference to money being sent out of the, country." There was/nothing- in the' siatements- except that in a few cases where people have sold large estates in New Zealand they had gone to another country to try to purchase large estates there. The land system was intended to break up large estates, and it could hardly be expected that the Government are going to change a material | portion of the law which was intended to benefit tte country to provide for exceptional cases of that kind. The tightness of the money, market which somo people had attributed to the Government was. not ,due to an^ such cause. On the contrary, the .amount, of money that the Government - had brought to the country during the last year was enormous. They had lent out through four Government Departments iiv round figures tho snm of two and a half millions in twelve, months. The real cause of the .tightness of the nioney market in New Zealand was easily ascertained. During times of r unusual prosperity there was a plethora^ of money available at fow rates of interest, which induced many peon'e to go in for speculat'on in land ana Business and other investments generally. It was helped on by the unusual high pr'ces in our wool market and in some of the other staple p.oduce. Thejrall in the price of wool and flax occurring; end-, denly reversed the position of there being an excess of money available into 'its being locked up, in many cases reclamations having to be made as well as in numerous instances considerable advances being reauired by tlose who had ,purchased land either for snbculative -or investment, purposes arid \ipon * which" thev l-fQUiul they could riot when askrd to do so hurriedly realise. Some people have-blamed the banks., but he did not think there was anything to warrant that- "" ■'• ;

: • MORE BANKS. The conclusion-that he had personally come to is that the growth of "business wijtltf' the increase of settlement -and with the large areas of fresh laiid heing taken im in New Zealand were not ent for the amount of business required to be carried on in the country. Either those institutions carrying on ■ that branch of the work of the country should largely increase their capital and available funds, or else facilities should be given for an increase in the number of banking 'institutions to keep pace with the expansion of business that ha<l gone on and would continue t> go ori throughout the I>o.minion. -Further faciJities would ronuire to be provided by legislation to enable the .Advances to Settlers Department to meet to a greater extent the altered condition of affairs. If it? machinery- could be used to heln obtain money for lending upon mortgages with pronsr securities to a greater extent than it was doing now, and should, be done, there is no reason why, with judicious administration and coyitrql its work should not be extended 4o mqetthe liewcond.tions wh'ch pre ented themselves. ' Hft/wis not in accord .with, the advocates of the. paper currency, who wish to supersede' the present system in operation 'in the country. J3usiness was conducted upon the basis of n. gold standard, Tand until the time •arrived for the 'co-qperajtion "of . the great lending countries From which the Dominion had borrowed large sums of mpnev tn<i first,eansiderationllq be kent, before them w^sjtd ensUjTe. not- only good faith b©jncf kept; By those: who: borrowed theimoiuey r > hut that no alteratidn ■ be- made *in a^inatter' so delicate and difficult as that of thet currency. It could only beapw^ached .with the active concurrence; «f- these who were, vitally iaterestod in New. Zealand, and ■'/t&ilK.' .'f\ -'v"■-'■■

we in turn wore equally vitally interested in keeping the bond undertaken: preserved in both the letter and spirit, of the law. He did not say that refornt in banking cannot be advantageously effected, but no Government would act precipitately in matters of that.kind.

MATTERS OF DEFENCE. i The present Defence Council was toounwieldy for a country of our size^ and: . the Government proposed to dispense with the-Council and to submit important alterations in the defence system,, generally for the consideration of.' Par- : liament next session. The whole matter required to be viewed from the. j standpoint first of the actual, needs of I the country and second = the total amount the country could afford to deI vote for the purpose. A great deal hadS I been done in the last two years—con-, struction of new forts at Auckland and! : Wellington revision of defence schemes, mobilisation orders,and regulations for ; all branches of the defence force had I been issued and the total armaments I and equipments haS baen increased. He.' pointed. out that there were now 20,425:. men under arms, which was a record for New Zealand and a bigger proportion to the population than any other portion of the Empire. He was anxious to see the internal defence "ut upon a much better footing, but ho could not shut his eyes t/> the difficulties that surrounded such a proposition. There were to-day in the Dominion capable of" bearing arms en service in tho field, after allowing for the unfit and other exemptions a'^roximately 160,000----men. At the same rats of cost that was now going on 160.0Q[> men would' run into an expanse of £1,080.000 perannum. A large number of these meir could not afford to devote the time that a military organisation would require unless they were' paid so that in dealing with the matter they had to keep before them what they were prepared' to pay annually. The question was ono upon which no hasty conclusion should' be arrived at. The Government would submit proposals to Parliament makingprovision for a gradually improved system upon that which existed, and *he* thought the good sense of Parliamentwould enable a system to be established in accordance with what was feasible from both the practical and financial standpoints. • <;■■■ -railways. r:-':. ;,. ■;■■" The business for the year ending March 3lst last.had teen very satisfactory, the revenue being approximately £2,929,525, against £2,761,93? for the previous year, an increase of no less than £167,588 Passenger traffic, which had grown in a most remarkable manner for many .years past,, showed an increase of over 700,000 passengers for the year, the number of tickets issued being in round figures. '•10£ millions. The total tonnage handled: exceeded that of 1908 by no less than 37,340 tons. The mileage of line apeii for traific has bean increased by 170* miles. % The railways superannuation fund provides for over 900 persons, involving an annual liability of, in round figures, £40,000. The accrued balance standing to the credit of the fund on March 31st last was £157,000. Notwithstanding concessions totalling £2,~ 709,000, the result of the working railway system during the last financiaL year had been vewf satisfactory, and. the net return would again exceed the 3 per, cent, which the Government de- \ cided in 1898 that railways should boexpected to return. The Union Steamship Company had intimated willingness: to adopt a suggestion made by they Railway Department to undertake atits Wellington Office the sale of raiL tickets for the journey between Lyttolton and Christchurch. This would commeiicc in a few days' time and would :'' prove to be a considerable public, con- • yenience and assiit 'm'eomewhat reduc*'-- - ing the time that e'apses betweenthe arrival of the ferry steamer at Lyttelton and the departure of the train for Christchurch, LAND SETTLEMENT. In land settlement during the yearthere had been a very satisfactory in- ' crease. . A total of 242 settlors took up--1,381,132 acres. The total number of selectors of Crown land at March 31st, 190i>, was 25,315, and the total.area held, by theso selectors was 18,263,924. acres, and workers! transactions showed a neb gain of 2402 selectors for the year, thearea selected by them being no less than 1,391,132 acres. Tho revenue forthe year was £696,126, or some £32,000* over the total estimate. The estimated" receipts for national endowment of £73,547 had been more than realised, as the total receipts were £76,597 5s lid. This was all the more gratifying as for some t'imo" it appeared that thereceipts * from national endowment would fall off owing; to- the difficulty of getting the land into the market. The public was prone to gauge the Department's work by the area of native land set apart and actually rendered available for settlement.- He had thereforehad prepared a return showing theareas dealt with since the passing of th& Act of 1900, for the purpo?o of comparison. The return showed tho work done during the twelve months ended tho. 31st March last, and also the total* to date. Summarised it was that since - Octobsr 31st, 1900, an area of 1,699,047' acres had been rendered available by sale or lease or mortgaged eitherthrough the agency of the Boards or by tho direct agency of the - orders themselves. The Government was obtaining information in regard to a further area which was also proposed to be dealt with and vested in the Boar.i , for settlement purposes. It was intended to nsk Parliament for further fund* to enable the work of survey to be carried out vigorously. DEPARTMENTAL RETRENCHMENT"

In the organisation .of tWpuV.ic service,. Sir. Josepli,;Wi\r<i said/naturally ' one's 'feelfirrgs are; sympathetically deposed to timiß whey may be unfor ix n a*••■>: enough to'com© under the retrenchment proposals, and the Government \yn.» ■ anxious as far as possible t:> makft.. things as easy as it couM. Still, they had their duty to perform, unpleasant though: it was. None of thus i v?howould be affected would, bS'tunnel out during the winter, cr in suchcases as retirement from the service is found necessary .they-.would be. • ('.onrDensated for a period which would; <;6ver it. He was convinced that it was essential th*at by amalgamation and retrenchment they must relieve -the expenditure from the consolidated fund tothe extent of a quarter'of; a million peryear. "The argumsnt doubtless-is T'aised by some," lie Avent cii,-'"as to why if it were neceSsai-y preyiously t» have cumberons departmfents t \vhieh a;© now baing merged they are not being continued now ? My answer is that in everything the circumstances and necessity materially alter cases A great deal "of excellent work has been done by virtually all the departments that are being merged, and the heads of the departments know from me personaliy that it is nob against them or against their administration that the change isbeing brought about, but because of thefact that-the work of _ the Department having now been put into practical efc feet, under the. Acts governing them, the work of the Departments can now be carried out with considerable economy by some of the larger Department* to which they have recently been attached, and which can carry on their uew duties under the same law. v THE GOVERNMENT'S POLICY. Speakinfr of the Government's policy, |he said that, bis aim this ses-ion would bo to place on the Statute Book someimportant measures that would, in his judgment, be of immense service to thecountry, and among the more important Would be the National AnnuitiesBill and the Land Settlement Finance- ! on page 8.)