IN THE LIMELIGHT

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2481, 21 April 1909, Page 6

IN THE LIMELIGHT

The decaying mana of the; Ward adtii i lustration shows slight * feigns-.- of- rei, Tiring. .By two. or • three bold strokes. New. Zealand's. plun.iJag'financier has given ; tho country something else to talk .about than the miserable record of his Ministry during tho ..past, few years.: With one hand millions are given away, for battleships, and with the other , a quarter of a million is lopped off the: cost of the Civil Service. The Dread-, nought offer, whatever the cold-blooded economist may say of it, has stirred the pride of a patriotic and spendthrift public, r. NeiV /Zealand ?is \ beginning," to enjoy the sensation of rushing out with a whoop and saving The- Empire every year or two. And if Mho cost- of this exciting ■ pastime ’is heavy/ 'well, posterity can always, be .left:to foot, the •f»ill. Of course Sir Joseph doesn't'intend to do anything of the sort. . Ttie bill, he declared 'amid loud and ' deafening applause, is to be paid by ourselves in ' our own time. These pious •.resolutions have been' made too often in Australasian finance; to be worth much. The past fortnight has seen pretty wel 1•’ the whole newspaper press: of the Dominion unanimously suppdrt-’ jug the Dreadnought ! offer, and ! it • is! interesting to note that while the Prime Minister did not think it- worth while to sound members of. Parliament in tho Seddonian style with a' circular : telegram before he made his offer, he nevertheless took the trouble /to - sweeten tip the newspapers with h-Eiyst-er-r ioul private mid confidential message. —“The Citizen.” ■/