The Waikato Times. TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 1872.

Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 18, 11 June 1872, Page 2

The Waikato Times. TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 1872.

IVur.N the Immigration mid Public Works scheme was first, propagated, it met with j opposition from a I urge section of the popai itiou on the ground that Ike money would bo •■ frittered away in salaries to the supporters-of j the Ministry and their friends. The predio- | lions of the oppositionists have only been too ! truly veritieJ. We believe that wo are cor- | rect in stating , that the £1,200,000 is j spent, no immigrants have yet been imtro- j duced into thy country, and wii.h r©. j #ard to the progress made in railway construction wo will use Mr. Rrogden's own | words, spoken at a diuner given to him by i the poople of Queens-town in Ofcago. He says r j <: He had, however, been here to his annoy- j juice for six months and all that had been j done was the making of one and a-half miles o the Waikato roads. It was not his fault, but thore was a screw loose in the Government management." We are not prepared to throw all the blame on the Governmout; it is a well-known fuct io all who have watched public atfairs in New I Zealand, that the people of this colony are politically dishonest,-. we meau by this that there is no feeling of patriotism to be found in the country; —it ma/ exist deeply buried in the breasts of a few, but they remain passive from a feeling that it would be utterly useless to attempt to stem the current of selfishness ■which is- present in every district. The pressure put upon the Government by the representatives- of the different political centres by their representatives compelled the Government, if they were to tetain power, to commence the survey of no less than thirteen railways-. The majority of the money has been- spent ii> these preliminaries. No man with a grain of sense eould suppose for a moment that more fcbaii two- or three of these contemplated Hues could fulfil the conditions under which, according to Mr. Gisborue, they were only to be constructed, viz.— that there should be a prospect of their paying interest and workfng , expenses. The clamour of the people has been too gveat for the Government, aud they have had to pander to their dishonesty—no other term- will probably apply to their Conduct. Many of these railways are to be constructed solely in order that some of the Government money shall be spent iu certain localities. They are not required, aud the people who agitated for them are well aware of the fact. Mi\ Brogden in his speed), iu place- of iwng* the term ""dishonest," which probably would not have been polite under the circumstance:*, utfcriaured , tin* partial failure of the scheme to '* log rolling."

We have no intention of defending , thecoiidticf- of the Government, although we have taken fiorpe trouble to exi)lain how, to some extant, they have been compelled to place the country in the position in which it stands, t e., having spent, A* 1,200,000, Dorw.ved /or a specific purpose, without having , anything to show for t.£e -money. On all the principles of political and conaraoji honesty, when they found that they could not carry out their scheme in a manner calculated to benefit the colony, they should have said so and resigned their seats. The people would thin have understood how matters stood. In place of doing this, for the sake of returning , power, they have allowed the affairs of the colony to drift, to use the expression of Mr. Waterhousu. In place of explaining the state of affairs to the people they have allowed them to discover their error when too late. We have no hesitation in stating most emphatically (hat a Government who have conducted the attairs of the country in ettuh a manner are no longer entitled to the confidence of the people. We should perhaps be more correct in saying—who have allowed the affairs of the country to conduct them. The intense deaire to l'etain power seems to have completely paralysed their actions. They succeeded in obtaining the support of large majorities during last session by dint of most liberal promises in the shape of public works to the representatives ot almost every constituency. It will be no longer possible to keep up the deception, and there is now some chance that those members who supported the Ministry for what they could get, will vote as their consciences tell them they should —in the intercsts of the whole colony. " Out of evil good sometimes arises." .