THE NEW ZEALAND LOAN BILL.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 638, 25 August 1882, Page 2

THE NEW ZEALAND LOAN BILL.

Tin*! Loan Bill schedule has passed through the Mouse in Committee, and there is a fair prospect of tho Peninsula

receiving a share of the benefit accruing, for it has now be*-ri'd«oided that £30,000 shall be allocated for the purpose of extending- the Little River Railway nearer to Akaroa. This is certainly the "most important of all the measures that have passed, so far as we are affected, an-1 no doubt we owe the vote, to a certain extent, to ihe able efforts of our member, who never forgets his constituents, however he may be swayed by party feelings. Mr Shrimski-s amendment to the Loan Bill was as follows :— " Wlien nny rai way or portion of a railway made under the provisions of this Act shall be open for traffic, if the net earnings from such railway or portion of a railway, after deducting working expenses and all costs of ropa re of permanent way, rolling stock, and plant be not sufficient t<» pay the interest upon the money expend.-I it making such railway or portion of a nil way, then the Governor-in-Council sha'i raise an amount sufficient to pay 811* h interest by imposing and levying a tax in such manner and at such differential rates as the Governor-in-Coun-cil shall deem fit, upon all lands within 15 miles from either side of such railway or portion ot railway." Now, this undoubtedly >vas a very wise step indeed on the face of it, but if we come to analyse it, we shall find it wa*-. by no means calculated to have tho effect of only allowing paying* railways to be constructed. It is quite certain that many linos, to connect two centres, often pass through a country utterly incapable of supporting that line, and yet when the whole of plan is carried out they may bo exceedingly lucrative. Take for instance, our own line of railway. It is carried as far as Lirdling's Flat, a'" place where there aye no exports to send ; where every stick of timber or bale of wool Ins to be carried mile to reach the trucks. Would it be fair to tax residents along the hike for a line of this sort ? Such a thing would be manifestly ridiculous. When the railway is carried on as far as Little Hiver we have little doubt it will pay handsomely, and even under present conditions we daresay it answers well enough, but at the same time if it didn't nobody could wonder, for is not its terminus in. a desert, and did not the Government seem anxious to bury its final rails in the sawdustch >ked waters of Lake Forsyth.

It is quite possible that some such scheme as that proposed by Mr Shrimski might be made useful with regard to completed lines, but oven then great care would have to bo exercised. In a new place like this Colony a line might at first pay badly, which in the course of a year or two might become a blessing to the district through which it runs, and help in no small degree to aid in the progress of the Colony. It must always bo remembered that wo are quite in a different position from settled countries, where the productions of each place have been thoroughly known foi years, and where the railway only opens, without improving. Here the railway causes new industries to spring up wherev r it goes, and often turns an unproductive piece of country into a we Ith producing locality.

We aro glad indeed that Mr Shrimski's amendment was negatived, for it m ant hesitation aud deky, and no commensurate good. Fancy if the Americans had proposed that a section of the Pacific line ending in the great sage desert should not bo formed, because it couid distinctly be proved that the Jack rabbit that inhabited it could not possibly pay for the line !

Depend upon it, tho true view to take of these railways is a general one. Let lines run from the north to the south of each island, let all important harbors be connected with the producing land, and the general good will b.* assured. The lines will necessarily pass through many sterile places on their way to more fertile ones, but as a whole th *y will pay, and that is the real end to be arrived at.