, 1893-04-29

= VII JAIN lag IuASOhACNOA5 RdItAbAuBuAU
hat disgraced the careers of governor after
governor, one half Of he men Of influence
always ready 70 malign apd bespatter the
other half, the governor fomsnting heir diff.
felences TO suit bis own purposes, the totml
Suppression Of ~cliquiNm during Gornanaton's
reg.me ought always 10 be with
gratitude. Arriving here az the closr IF s.
Henry 1rving's services when the lntmbers Il
the Legislature were full of fey ~ snatipn
against the alleged tire cherl u tAt Governor
in his dealing with he Court, cerfmn of his
Official puppets having been Encouraged by
hun IL ~Irrltate the Legislators by acts Of A..
< ant misconduct, he might have fallen INTO
the mistake of sympathising with one or
other; but his sense of Justice saved him
from such a deplorab.e error and standing
aloof from the coptending parties, he was able
by q strong appeal to the manly feelings Of
the Legislators to soothe their indignation and
divert their thoughts from the contemptible
scandals of the Irving regime to the graver
questions affecting the interests Of the public.
For some years previous to 1888, the Finan-
ces OF the colony had been going from bad tn
worse, and the disorganised state Of thu legiS.
lature rendered it either inexpedient or i'm
possible for Governor Irving to propose mea.
sures for meeting the yearly increasing def,
cit. Possibly too, the fact that his own term
of service was nearing its end, and that an
increase OF taxation was an ungrat eful task
which a wise Governor should, if possible.
leave to his successor, influenced Sir Henry
to leave i'll alone. Lord Gormanston was care
full enough of his own reputation to insist
upon restorative measures at once. When
the Combined Court assembled under his pre-
sidency for the first time he called their az.
t%ention to the shortage lin the income and
a6yOnqTnu "a rnaOrf To the GtamN nuoc 90 n -
easy and certain way of obtaining an increase
of revenue. He said he had every confidence
in the future of the colony, on account of It's
vast resources, many of them untouched or
neglected. and he felt that with due care and
economy in the administration, the finances of
the colony could be restored to a satisfactory
condition. The result of his policy. which
was then adopted, has justified his am icipa.
ton. for, saving, the year Of his arrival. the
public accounts have shewn an amount annu.
ally to the good, and if this state Of things
should continue for q year or two longer, the
old accumulated deficit will be wiped out, as
we'll as certain items of no real value. that
have been retained on the "assets" of the
colony purely for the sake Of appearance.
The sugar cane he regarded as a provsdfriend.
Amongst the untouched or neglected" resour-
ces of the colony were it's gold deposits, and
His Excellsncy set himself to legislate for
the development Of this new industry, the
. potentialities of which he seemed to recognise
in a clearer manner than did any of our lead
ing men. 1t has been the custom during the
past year or two to cry out against the Gov
eminent for its lack of interest in the Gold
Industry but the statistics of the Custom
House give the best reply to these accusations.
In 1887 the export of gold was less than
$4,000 ounces. In 1892 it was Gloss upon
100, 600 ounces and yielded a revenue from
royalty Of nearly $4,000. Such rapid de.
velopement as is here revealed would have
been impossible if the Governments position
towards the new industry had been antagouia
tic or discOuraging. Not only did the Gov
ernor, as we have pointed out, recognise the
possibilities Of a large additional revenue &C.
cruing from the gold industry The was
always alive to the necessity of simplifying
the regulations, shortening or facilitating
the journey to the gold fields, and settling
the question of disputed title az be
tween Britain and Venezuela. he was the
FIRST to suggest the appointment of q Gold
Commissioners aud in his haste made the
mistake Of sending to England TO get q mait
wh2 could be of very limited practical ability
owing to his want of local knowledge and hs
unhtuess for the climate. But his stubborn.
ness. would vielh to no persuasion that the