PUBLIC OPINION.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2448, 12 March 1909, Page 2

PUBLIC OPINION.

RETRENCHMENT. Public extravagance was the natural outcome of the unabated prosperity wliicli the country bar. enjoyed for so anany yea re, but now that economy, and retrenchment have, been forced upon every private bittiness by the financial stringency of the last few months it is not fair that the struggling taxpayer should be burdened with a public service which ban.been abnormally swollen in prosperous times through political influences. and it is now costing far more than it is worth and far more than the country can afford to pay, Nothing heroic or-drastic is needed, only a recall of the administration to the lines of badness and common sene© indicated in Mr Millar’s recent r-poeehos, and the sooner the work is tackled the better will it be for the finances of the country and the credit of the Government. —rWcdiiugtou “Post.” 1 .. THE CIVIL SERVICE, .Amongst the officials now being retired there are many who are fully competent to discharge their duties for years to come, •some whose present energy and ability cannot be bettered by their successors, lx a system oi honest iPserimination could be. instituted. under which im-fitnces for office, and not grey hairs, would be 'the signal for retirement. efficiency' and economy would botli lie served,, while the complaint of the younger, men about the greybeard in the way could not have any hearing in a service thus based on the recognition of merit. But the country could not possibly trust Ministers with these powers of discrimination. It the service, were removed from the reach of political control, matters would bo different. We might then be able to retain the useful men, and dismiss those not worth retaining, when the age limit was reached. —The ‘‘.Dominion.” OUR FINANCIAL POSITION. The last fourteen or fifteen years of Government control should have convinced the peep's that the patronage of the Government overshadowing every department has been the curse of the colony. AVe have seen it grow up in front of cur eyes, and we accepted it as one. of the- indicates that- every man had his price, tiro price being me sty Government- billets. With all its drought", and limited returns from the land, Austrii'a is comfortably off, because it has refrained from borrowing and rejuandeving money, whereas New Zealand, with a!! its wealth of returns, has grossly Kjuandercd its substance, and is about to whip the cat. 11 he.country is sound and solid, but the pace of the Government has not been properly regulated.—-North Otago Times.'

THE BLOCK TO SETTLEMENT. Every taxpayer in the Dominion ought to remise that the railways built from leans and calling for annual interest, and the roads built b.v_ heavy local rates and Government subxtl.es, are largely wasted owing to the Native Land they pars through, which pay no rates, are held for State-made values, aml lie as an incubus upon The prosperity of the Dominion. The mistakes of the part we cannot easily :octrfy, but the mistakes of the present we can end at exec, particularly that fundamental mistake which allows Native Land to block settlement in districts made accessible by great public expenditure, and wh eh makes iher British settler, even in railway townships. practically the bondsman of the Maori. THE MAO-RI INC CBUS. In Taumurunui, which is only cue point of the huge area similarly affected. Pukeha cottlcment is being carried on wholly for che benefit or Maori owners and-without any power of rating noon any Land excepting that leased to Europeans. The. British settlor who steams but of Auckland or AAT'llingtou to bs left by- the train in" that extraordinary countdy finds- that his fate -is to pav rents to'Maori Boards, for shortterm leases, at values mode, by the national expenditure, to bo. subjected to c. Deportment in which Maori influence's are dominant and to be utterly unable •to carry on.the local government which the'instinct of British - people, or to build uo the prosper ty and progress which i.;.-the laudable British .ambition. Nor does it appear that the individual Maori benefit; in the “slightest degree by th’s pernicious . and unpardonable policy. For i-lre Alaori v.lio wants to work hard and to tike all possible advantage of European civilisotipn finds himself; denied all* right to act upon his oayn iriiTKilive ami fioenis not co be flb*o even to .obtain his share., of the rents thus filched from the Pakeha. —N.Z. I HI era Id.” MAORI MILLIONAIRES. In Orakei, close to Auckland City, wo have an equally preposterous state of affairs, the 'Native' Minister.actually ieTing us that the proper course to ir.irsue is to lease tho land upon short-; term leases for suburban residence sites —ill us for th-e perpetual benefit of a mere handful of .Maori owners, who' form a ntrange local blend between millienairedom and pauperdon. And at the very moment when the Jving Country is locked against settlement, when Taumrrunui cannot levy rates or provide decent township conveniences, when Orakei is being plan-, nrd by Cabinet Ministers as a suburban gold mine for idling natives, the cry of the unemployed has been raised in the streets of Auckland, and the Primp Minister has been explaining the attitude of the Government in encouraging immigration. And why is it-that we cannot encourage British immigration ? Why is it that in this, sparsclv- ]) apu kited country loss' than a million British settlers are found too many? The reason is plain. There are unemployed in. Auckland became in tho Northern Peninsula and on the East Coast, in tbs Waikato and in the lying Country, vest areas of Native Land, Situated on railways- built by the Government, on roads far which settlors have been rated, are locked up against that production of raw materials which -is the very life bleed of the towns.—N.Z. “Herald.”

THE ADDINGTON ENQUIRY. As far as can be aecertained the men at Addington yards take- no exception to the personnel of the Commission appointed by the Gove-vnment to inquire into the allegations made in Mr Ronayne’s famous letter to his officers. Many of the men know Professor Scott, who'was works manager at the yards for some years. They .eay they have no doubt lie and other members of The Commission will be fair. There is a feeling amongst them that they would shave been more satisfied if they had been given, an opportunity to nominate one member of the Commission, but they have confidence in. the fact that they will have representatives present at tlm sittings of the Commission, and after all they say the public will lie the real judges between. Ahem and the ',vmui who lias brought the . charges ago i nst them.— ‘ ‘Ly t tel ton Ti mes.' ’ BUSH SCENERY. It is (gratifying to know that the Government is pushing on the work or acquiring and reserving scenic areas on tli-o North Island Main Trunk route. Prior to Christmas Mr Phillips Turner, Inspector of Scenic Reserves, was specially detailed to explore and determine the host boundaries and areas around Ohakune, and a party, luaded by Air Salmon, has now completed the survey of the Ohakune scenic reserve, comprising about 1090 acres, on the steep bailee of the Rae.tihi block. A second pajfty, under tho supervision pi Mr -J. H.' Liiulmyv, liar, proceeded to Turangareije, to define the boundaries of about 1200 acres of Cwwn and native land west of the railway line. 'AVhai this work is finished tho , remaining areas between Horoixto and Riurimu will bo taken in Laud. These reserves will include what are supposed to be the finest examples of native bush in the North Island, and being mostly situated on the lino of route for ordinary settlement or sawmilling, and within full view of the railway, are admiral)'v adapted for scenic purposes. —N.Z. “Times.”