The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. MONDAY, JULY 9, 1883. The Prospective Portfolio.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 990, 9 July 1883, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. MONDAY, JULY 9, 1883. The Prospective Portfolio.

Whether or not the House will agree to the proposal contained in the Public Works Statement, thVt a Minister for Railways should be appointed, we have as yet been afforded no opportunity of judging, but the suggestion has already been criticised adversely in several quarters. It seems to be generally accepted that if this office is created, the member for Ashburton will be asked to accept it, and this fact is in itself quite sufficient for a certain section of the northern press to condemn the proposal. This, for example, is what the Wellington Evening Post has to say on the matter ;—“ But there is one more new proposal in the Statement, and it comes first in order, although we have designedly left it the last for comment. We allude, of course, to the recommendation that the creation of a new portfolio shall be sanctioned, and the appointment authorised of a special Minister in charge of working railways. We gather it is not intended that this increase in the numerical strength of the Cabinet shall be in addition to the new Minister ot Agriculture, which the Premier promised the Christchurch Chamber of Commerce should be proposed to the House, but that the extra Minister is to have Working Railways, the portfolio of Agriculture being possibly allotted to Mr Rolleston—undoubtedly the best man for the post —he, perhaps, relinquishing to Mr Walter Johnston — relieved of Working Railways—the Departments of Mines or Immigration, or both. But we do know this—that the proposal looks most suspiciously like a device for providing a congenial portfolio for the hon. member for Ashburton, Mr E. G. Wright, who, it will be remembered, recently expressed his willingness to accept Public Works, but declined any other portfolio then available. That was the conclusion to which nine members out of every ten jumped at once when they heard Mr Walter Johnston’s first few words last night, and at which nine persons in every ten outside the House arrived when they read the Statement to-day. If this is so we may say plainly at the outset that we strongly disapprove the suggestion. We freely recognise Mr Wright’s ability and professional capacity, but we entirely dissent from his declared views on railway management, and we are convinced that to hand over the railways to him would be to intensify and to accentuate the evil results of those influences, which through their effect on the Government management of the railways have already involved the consequence of seriously diminishing the profits of their working,” Those who remember how strenuously Mr Wright has opposed the perpetration of political jobs in the North Island can easily account for the dismaycreated in the hearts of the Wellington people when the idea that he was about to enter the Government was first mooted. They have never forgiven his opposition to the construction of the Wellington-Master-ton railway—an opposition that has been amply justified, as the line was, of all the New Zealand railways, the most costly and has been the least profitable. What the Post thinks of Mr Wright’s views of railway matters is not of much moment, but it will not be without interest to consider upon what the opinion of our contemporary is founded. Last session Mr Wright exerted himself with characteristic determination to obtain a reduction of the gram tariff, and his success in this direction entitled him to the gratitude not only of his own constituents but of the whole province. The Post argues thqt this reduction meant a corresponding falling off of the profits in jthe working of the railways, and that the returns prove that “less money is earned for the same woskjdonc.” But

one very important fact is omitted. Under the old system when the grain growers of Canterbury had to pay an unduly heavy charge for the carriage of their goods, the profits on our railways ran up to nine per cent, which simply meant that this province had to submit to an unjust imposition for the purpose of paying for the losses on such lines as the Wellington-Masterton, whose returns have never exceeded sixteen shillings in the hundred pounds. Canterbury has been the milch cow of the North Island quite long enough, and not the least cause for congratulation on Mr Wright being appointed Minister for Railways would be the fact that he would put a stop to this order of things. It is easy enough to account for the objection which is felt in Wellington to his taking office, but the strictures of the Post on Mr Wright’s views of railway management, considering upon what they are based, will be considered as complimentary to their representative by that gentleman’s constituents.

The Local Government Question.

The dulness of the session has been suddenly broken by the tabling of Mr Montgomery’s resolution on the subject of local government. It is by a long way the most important question with which the House of Representatives has been called upon to deal for some time. It has been lying in the background of politics for several years, and having once come to the front is not likely to be got rid of again in a hurry. Only a few days ago, when criticising the Colonial Treasurer’s Budget, we made the observation that the financial necessities of the Government might ere long plunge the colony into a serious political convulsion; and whatever may be the fate of Mr Montgomery’s motion, it is perfectly certain that unless the Government grasps the subject firmly and produce some measure which will place our system of local government upon a better footing than it occupies at present, it will have to retire in favor of another Ministry. On the present occasion the Government proposes to tide over the difficulty by treating the resolution as an abstract proposition and not as a want-of-confidence motion, which it really is. The move displays considerable dexterity on the part of Major Atkinson. It will enable the Government to ascertain to what extent dissatisfaction prevails with the existing form of government, and whether the resolution be carried or lost, it will give the Ministry until next session to mature their plans. Still, these Fabian tactics will only serve for a time. The problem will remain unsolved, and will have to be elucidated some day or another. Our particular object just row, however, is to urge our readers to attend the public meeting which is to be held in the Town Hall to-morrow night. The promoters of the meeting, we gather, desire not to make a party demonstration one way or the other; but to give an opportunity for the public voice to be heard on this matter, than which none is more important to rural districts. Save at election time, the Ashburtonians are rather apathetic in politics; but we hope that on this occasion they will muster in strong force, so that the opinion of the meeting, in whatever direction it is expressed, may carry due weight.