The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 1875.

Evening Star, Issue 3847, 23 June 1875, Page 2

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 1875.

The absence of fixed rnd definite principles on which branch lines of railway may be constrncted forced itself prominently on public attention during the late session of the Provincial Council, Whatever other recommendations it may have to public favor, authorising railway construction is not its forte. Districts, the inhabitants of which are not conscious of the necessity for railway accommodation, wev« favored with resolutions authorising the construction of a line apparently because Mr A. or Mr 8., who represented an electoral district through some corner of which it was designed to pass, had a sudden inspiration which earned the House with Id- It does not seem to have been thought necessary to consider whether the construction of these favored lines was physically possible or im possible. Every member became a selfappointed civil engineer. It does not seem to have been thought necessary to consider whether the line would pay; every member, by intuition, grasped the financial advantages. Surveyors or accountants were not needed ; the map showed the termini and the names of townships along the line • that was enough. Township number one’ containing from twenty to fifty or one hum dred families reside a roving population of sln.arera and diggers, showed prominently ou paper, and Mr A„ M PU„ conceived that immense traffic must result if it were connected with township number two His ipse dixit convinced his easy going friends, some four or five in number just sufficient to turn the scale on a vote of no confidence ; and thus that small nimonty, representing for the moment a possible impossibility, became dictators to the Council. Jast m this way were they the wet blanket, thrown upon well-devise/ or at leas;, fairly-considered plans of lines of <-s ..eitamed usefulne-s. The Peninsula, one -*f the most i riile istriofs iu the neighborhood of Dunedin, has hitherto been comparatively useless as a source of supply of vegetabba and dairy produce, becausj of difficulty of access. The cost of transport and the luss o. time in disposing of garden and farm produce, have acted detrimental!? upon the interests both of the di«S?J a Dunedin. We know of no place d Colonies of equal importance to the City With fer:i!e districts so closely connected VAitli it, so badly supplied with a vegetables, and^uX.^Y?£ Sfe oS to be abundant: that they are not hj iT of difficulty of communicatLu whh producing districts m the uebhbnrh™d MdS? 10 ® 1 co “ formatioQ of the country has sa? pursuits, now requires the sacrifice of a da/ tZ D °%°rll BUch transaction gone. Settlers, led to select the Peninsula s a esirable locality, on account of irs fine soil and situation, were primarily treat d bv the.Council as if they were aliens, notwith standing all that was asked was more ner mission to help themselves. In faT a new feature developed itself which stain ; cf T of the" Council wSh fhe Kd 0 ? stolid ignorance and vulgar Dreiudieo t». ™ cvidect ‘hat the jodouey o*men rf capital, so ohapacceriatic of the lower classes of Great Britain, induced many to vote against which found vc.“p, the o i<,e With men so utterly' unfit > to T Se Votes - 1 opinion as those opponent* showed Them? -

v? 8 / * s ÜBe * eßs reason. If they could be held np to their constituents in their .true colors, unless they represent communities equally ignorant they would never again degrade the Council by their membership. We do not know any man of business who does not primarily seek his own interest in the industrial career he has chosen ; and if owners of property, anxious to improve its value, undertake to this end to invest fixed capital in increasing facilities for connecting it with a large centre of population, they can only effect their purpose by means which confer a pos tive benefit upon the public. As m the Outram line, sanctioned by the Council, it may be a roundabout wav of doing it, and, like that project, involve very unnecessary labor and expense. With this, although societv may not be the gainer to the extent that a more judicious outlay would have secured, the investors have mainly to do. If greater expense has been incurred than needful, their dividends will be less, and they must depend upon indirect profits for remuneration. Society may have to complain that they are not so well served as they might have been; but yet the construction of the railway has secured infinitely better intercommunication than before existed, and if it has the effect of improving the value of the laud, as in the case of the railway to the 'Peninsula, giving access to much-needed building sites, the promoters deservedly reap the reward of their enterprise. Their gain is a positive profit to that extent, and the Colony. It will add to its power to sustain a large population in prosperity and comfort; while to invest capital in rash and ill-advised enterprises, although sanctioned by a Provincial Council, is to court failure and to wasfe capital.