The Dominion. THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1908. THE MANAWATU RAILWAY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 286, 27 August 1908, Page 6

The Dominion. THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1908. THE MANAWATU RAILWAY.

Some attention is due to the discussion that was provoked in the House on Tuesday by the proposal to' appropriate £500,000 for payment to the Manawatu Railway Company in order that it might extinguish its 6 per cent, debentures which shortly fall due. There appears to bo nothing to be taken exception to in the Government's method of avoiding a long-term renewal of these rather highpriced debentures. The adyantages are qbvious. The company will save a little in the way of interest, and the. State, when it takes over.the line, will not be in the position of having to pay a greater rate of interest than is necessary on half a million of the purchase money. Of this arrangement we have nothing more to say, excepting that it would have been pore business-like to effect the transaction otherwise than through the schedule of an Imprest Supply Bill. Wo must say a word, however, upon the neglect of piembers to express their views upon some important aspects of the impending acquisition of the company's property. As was stated in the Budget, the Government intends to introduce legislation to enable the State to take possession of the property in December next. As the law stands, the expiry in December of the twelve months' notice of the State's indention to take the line marks the beginning of the Government's liberty to set about acquiring the line. What is proposed, therefore, appears to be a very material variation, at the eleventh hour, of the conditions under which the company enjoys the possession of its property. The notice to prepare for negotiations is to be converted into a notice to quit. Why the Government should be so anxious to take possession of the line in December next is not explained by anything that Piujie Minister has said.

A correspondent, in a letter which \vc printed some six weeks ago, expressed the apprehension with which he and other shareholders in the company view the mysterious legislation that is to be introduced in disturbance of the existing contract and tho Act of 1681, He .urged

that the Act is not explicit as to the right of tho company to bo paid for goodwill if the Crown, by negligence' or design, omit to give tho notice of intention to purchase within tho twenty-one years. " The Crown," he added, " has, in order to avoid this claim; omitted to givo the notice till such a time as the Crown would (as it has probably been advised) be able to resist a claim for goodwill. It is, no doubt, intended now, in some ' special pleading' legislation, to prejudice the position of the matter. The Privy Council, it-is feared, might not take the same view as the Dominion Judges, and might hold that the company is entitled to compensation for goodwill." Our correspondent also feared that the Government would attempt to arrange for some kind of arbitration other than that provided by the Act, and ho pointed out that tho company's position would be prejudiced "if it is dispossessed and its officers turned • out before the evidence is given to the arbitrators of the condition of the line, and material." When such doubts are current, it is clearly desirable that the Government's motives and intentions should be - frankly placed before the public. The acquisition of the line will be the largest act of expropriation ever undertaken by the State, and there should be exercised tho greatest caution lest Parliament should appear as having legislated the company out of any of its rights. It is unfortunate, therefore, that members of the House did not seize tho opportunity on Tuesday to announce their recognition of the necessity for a scrupulous avoidance of anything like the tyrannous use of Parliament's great powers.