Colonial Extravagance.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 528, 6 November 1890, Page 2

Colonial Extravagance.

a Few h acts. A i.eadixo member o! tb« Legi.latm Council eenda ihe following lo tha Wait, ganui Herald :—Among the many re. proaohee oa.i by iho tai distant “Conurvativa” party ot New Zealand at iu opponent, of the “Liberal" aide, one ia that the latter involved the finance, ot the colony by its extravagant expeudinire. Let ua eXamin, this charge. In 1870 was born the Public Works and Emigration policy. Twenty years have elapsed since ih-n. Of these twenty years the Liberals have held office five and the Conservatives fiueen. Sir G. Grey's Government lived two years, and on taking office was allowed to borrow 34 millions, one million of which had been anticipated and borrowed in advance—* half from the Bank of New South Wales, half from the Bauk of New Zealand—and spent by the continuous Ministry. Two and a half alone was spent, theref, re, by the Grey Ministry. The Srout-Vogel Government borrowed four millions and lived three years, having in all spent three millions. In all, therefore, out of say Bi millions the Liberal pauy i> answerable for 51. Now, out of 31 million, bow much remains? All this rem.iant was spent by the economical Conservative* who never got the finances of ihe colony into a mess —according to tbeir own showing i Each time Sir Harry Atkinson baa endeavored to make capital out of ihe supposed extravagance ot bie predecessor", but each time he has been unseated he has spent more than his euooeesors. Ater Sir G. Grey was unseated, Sir Harry Atsineon purpose y left finance to drift. He obtained a loan of five millions, made a panic speech <Oet. '79) which shook our credit in London, and there floated his loan on terms by which five millions were borrowed, but we became liable for six. This wa. probably the worst piece of finance the colony hae known since Reader Wood's fiasco of 1868, After ihe defeat of the Stoct-Vogel Government, Sir Harry, who bad railed against further taxation wben ia opposition, calmly adopted the taxation proposals of the Government he succeeded, and added to it • retrenchment iu small salaries, which wet more cruelly and widely felt than any relief it afforded to ihe colonial finances justified. Directly, he did not raise a large loan a* in bis former Ministerial days. But it will be found that, indirectly, he did succeed in gelling hold of a very considerable amount of loan money, at all event! more than the Stout-Vogel Government. Now Conservatives and Liberals are Only men. Sir H. Atkinson ha. placed it on record that he holds it to be, when in office, his first duty to keep his party in power | hit second to the colony. And truly the Continuous and all other Ministries he has bsen connected with, have so exclusively o|.d IoM money to reward support, that the Liberal party may be excused for thinking that a considerable balance had been run up, and la due to those who, though supporting the other side, are neveriheioss aa good setUari as those Who prefer the Conservative faction, Aa a fac, four-fifths of the colonial debt «ince 1870 has been incurred, or rather spent by Sir H. Atkinson's party, and the absurd reiteration of the charges ot extravagance against those who differ with hie opinions, are wanton mis-staiemeuts ot tact.