The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1888. SUCCESSFUL RAILWAY ENTERPRISE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1802, 29 March 1888, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1888. SUCCESSFUL RAILWAY ENTERPRISE.

When the Wellington-Manawatu Railway was first projected there were plenty of croakers who predicted that the line would never pay, and that all sorts of disaster would necessarily follow from the attempt to carry out the enterprise; while on the other hand there were plenty more of tho same uncom fortable ilk, who declared that the concessions made by the Colony to the promoters were immensely too great, and that a perfect mine of wealth was being conferred upon them. History repeats itself, and precisely the same state of things occurred m connection with the Midland Railway project one set of croakers vehemently denouncing the line as nearly as chimerical as a railway to the moon, averring that it never could by any possibility pay for grease for the wheels of the rolling stock, while as for the land grants to be made to the Company they were simply valueless, and the British bondholder was going to be victimised ; while on the other hand, another posse of clamant opponents declared that the thing was altogether a swindle upon the Colony and not upon the British capitalist, and that we were giving away to the Company absolutely untold wealth, Who shall decide when prophets disagree ? Obviously only experience of the actual fact, and m the Manawatu case experience has very conclusively set the matter at rest. The prophets of disaster, those who denounced the line as a certainly unreprodnctive enterprise are clearly put out of Court altogether and silenced for ever, for the last annual report of the Company^ just published states that the working account for the year shows a profit of £17,000, available towards payment of debentures and interest, while the traffic is also steadily increasing, that of the thirteen weeks ended February 20th of this year showing an increase of no less than £219 per week, as compared with that of the corresponding, thirteen weeks of the previous year. Further, it is stated that the gross proceeds of 28,807 acres land sold amounted to £57,294 7s Id, and there still remains m the hands of the Company an area of 210,G91 acres for future sale while, m addition, tho Company has still to receive from the Government m fulfilment of their contract land to the value of £29,805. No doubt the other class of croakers who denounced the scheme on the ground that the thing was altogether too rosy an affair for the Company, and a bad bargain for the Colony, will point to these figures as a confirmation of their contention, butter centra these is to be taken into account the fact that the Colony also benefits by the transaction. For, first, the advantage of railway communication without *ny increase m tbe burden of taxation has been gained, and next the settlement of the land has been pushed on m a manner which would not have been possible but for the railway, and thus the Colony reaps advantages, of a very substantial sort. So far indeed, from (he Wellington-Manawatu precedent operating as a deterrent to tbe further extension of the principle of constructing railways through concessions to private enterprise, it appears to us that it should have precisely the contrary effect; indeed it points very plainly to this as tile right course to take with regard to those other great lines of communication which yet remain to be opened up. Already it has been adopted m the case of the Midland Railway, and there is reason to hope that tho Otago Central v?ill be obtained by the same means, and it is, we think, worth while to consider whether the only remaining great trunk line, that through the North Island, should not also be provided for on this system. If this were done, then the end of tho borrowing system would indeed be close at hand, and with the steady growth of population we should enter npon a period of a corresponding steady reduction m the amonnt of taxation per capita. This would mean the return of confidence, and with it the return of prosperity and progress.