The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1888. CURRENT TOPICS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1972, 17 October 1888, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1888. CURRENT TOPICS.

Apropos of railway mismanagement our attention has been called to the fact that the (Government is allowing itself to be deprived of a copsiderable amount of railway revenue m connection with the traffic between all places south of that point and New Plymouth. It appears that the through trains from Wellington are only run twice a-week, at intervals consequently of three and four days respectively, and that as the Tnion Company's boats seldom or never arrive m Wellington m time to catch the trains, passengers have the alternatives of waiting three or four days or going on by steamer. Nine out of ten elect the latter, to the gain of the Union Com- [ pany and to the loss of the Government [— m other words to the loss of tie taxpayers generally who have to make lup the railway deficit. Common sense would teach us that it would be vain to appeal to the TTnion Company on these grounds. They would very naturally reply that they have nothing to do with the interest of the* taxpayer, their business being to secure as large a revenue as possible for themselves m the interests of their shareholders. But it would bp quite possible to appeal to that very motive by intimating that unless the Union boats are timed to fit m with the time table of the northern railways, the Government m the interests of those railways, which are the public interest will put on a connecting boat themselves between Lyttelton and Wellington. 1 here would be no difficulty about this as the Hinemoa either is or ought to be by this time fitted-up with her new boilers for which a vote was taken last session, and as she is not wanted for the Jighthoufc service or for toy other,

particular service that we know of, 1 she should, be available at any ) moment. Were she laid on as ' a connecting link between the two systems of Government lines — m the ■North and South— -it would be quite possible to offer inducements by means of through tickets, which would secure nearly all the ptssenger traffic between this island and all parts of the North I Island from New Plymouth southwards. ' It is quite certain that were the railways managed by a private firm possessed of a steamer or steamers of its own, stops would quickly be taken to prevent the traffic being diverted as it is now being diverted, aud if not beneath his notice the suggestion we have made might well be acted upon by tho Minister for Railways.

One by one they pass away, and those who were once the foremost men of the pulpit, the stage, the farm, or the workshop cross with silent feet the narrow line that divides the here from the hereafter, and m a few short hours tho places that knew thorn once so well know them no more for ever. And who that remembers him m his palmy days but will regret the once so popular Johnny Hall — not he of the political world, but he of the sock and buskin. Time was that he was the prime favorite of the theatre-going public, and many is the time that he has moved us, anon to tears and anon to laughter. Though ho was perhaps at his best m comic parts, yet he was emphatically a good all round man, and when he was m his prime we have heard good critics aver that his Rip van Winkle was equal to Jefferson's ; while his t-alem Scudder m "Our American Cousin," his impersonation, of the old boatbuilder m " Ihe Guvnor," his Widow . Twankey m the burlesque of Aladdin and " Azucena " m " Ultreated II Trdvatore" I will long be remembered by old play ' goers. Well, too, do we recollect hi 3 marriage to that favorite of the Christchurch pnblic m her day, Miss Emily Wiseman, and the joyous picnic m honor of the occasion on the sands at fcsumner. Both are gone now, nay there are more gaps than these two among those who formed that merry party, Genial, good-natured, careless Johnny, we fear that of late years, like most of us, he has had care enough, and let ub hope that now " after life's fitful fever be sleeps well."

Differences m matters which come within the region of theory or opinion are easily accounted for, but there ought not one would think to be such wide differences as are ofter observable m relation to matters of fact. Yet there have been of late some curiously noticeable discrepancies m respect to the quotations forwarded from different sources, with regard to that easily aecertainable fact the value of wheat m London. For example, the Press Association cabled under date, London, October 9th :— " Tb.B English wheat market is improving and increasing m firmness. The Continental and American markets have also an upward tendency. An Aus-tralian-off coast cargo has been sold at 42s to 42s 6d." Again on the 13th from the same authority came the satisfactory news " Ihe English wheat market continuous strong, and continental remains steady, while American shows a slight decline. Australian wheat, on the spot, is quoted at 43 s 6d. New Zealand long-berried, 43s 6d to 445. For cargoes of new crop sellers are asking 42s 3d. " Yet again, on the 15fch the Association cabled : — " Six thousand, quarters of Australian wheat, OctoberNovember shipment, sold at 435, An Adelaide cargo sold at 41s 10^d." Turning now to another source of information, the messages from the London office of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, we find under date 10th October the following : — " Wheat— The market is quiet- New Zealand average is worth 41 s 6d per 4961 b, ex stoic, and. New Zealand, f.a.q., ci.f ., to arrive, 40s per 4801 b." And, again, under date Oct. 15th. Wheat— The market has a slightly downward tendency. There is no speculative demand for Colonial wheat." Now it certainly does appear that either the Press Association gives too favorable a view of the market, or that the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company understates values, Which is it ?