N.B.W. POLITICS.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 248, 17 January 1889, Page 2

N.B.W. POLITICS.

MR DIBBS SUCCESSFUL IN FORMING A MINISTRY. Sydney, Jan. 15. Mr Dibbs has been successful in forming a Ministry, and the following portfolios have been allotted.— Premier and Colonial Secretary, Mr Dibbs Attorney General, Edmund Barton Minister of Public Works, J. Fletcher Colonial Treasurer, Jas. Patrick Garvan Minister of Justice, T. Michael Slattery Postmaster-General, H. Clarke Secretary of Lands, Wm. Lorin Lynne Minister of Mines, John Moor Chanter Minister of Pub ic Instruction, Hon Wm. H.

Sutter, M.L.C. President Legislative Council and vice-Pre-sident Executive Council, Hon John Lockoy, M.L C.

Tho following from the Sydney Daily Telegraph explains the reason why the Parkes Ministry were compelled to resign :— We may say at once that in our opinion the evidence convicts the Government of unwisdom. The policy of expending large amounts of public money upon roads passing through private estates, as has been done upon Messrs Burns, Withers, and R. B. Smith’s estate at Hornsby, is an improper one. A considerable quantity of work has been done by the unem-ployed-on Crown Lands, but the two private estates mentioned have also benefited materially. Upon Messrs Burns, Withers’ and Smith’s estate at Hornsby, it is said that about four miles cf road have not only been cleared, grubbed and formed, but also metalled, culverted, and drained at the public expense. The lowest estimate given of the cost of this work is £2,300. As to the other estate, Mr Copeland put the case to the House in these startling words:—There are forty.three miles of roads traversing the Holt-Sutherland Estate, and almost the whole of them have been as well and perfectly made as any road in the Botanic Gardens. They are perfect carriagedrives.and most of them are two chains or a chain and a half wide. They are beautifully formed and gravelled, and culverts and bridges have been put in where required. Over 100 men are, I believe, employed upon this work at the present time. In one esse a cutting as high as the strangers’ gallery in this House—and oerhaps higher—has been made through a hill of solid rock. I suppose the work must have cost £5OO. Where does this road lead to ? To a little fishing hut of two rooms owned by Mr Frederick Want. The only justification alleged in behalf of this extraordinary business is that the money has been spent upon “roads of access,” in the one case to Crown lands which were intended to be sold, and in the other case to the National Park. In regard to the recipients of this public bounty it is to be noted that there is an important difference between the two cases. Messrs Burns, Withers and Smith are all members of Parliament, and Mr Burns, described by Mr Withers as the financial manager of the estate, is Colonial Treasurer. We (to not see how Ministers can shift their responsibilities in this matter upon the shoulders of the Hon. John Davies, Chairman of the Casual Works Board. They appoint him and must bear the blame of any mistakes he may have committed. It was their bounden duty to keep a strict watch upon the use that was made of the unemployed, and to prevent Mr Davies and the officers associated with him from entering upon any undesirable or indefensible course. Only politicians demoniated by party passion would venture to justify the publio expenditure upon private estates which has >een sanctioned by the Government in the two cases under review. A wrong policy has been adopted, one which ought to be at once abandoned.