THE GLOBE. THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1880.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1899, 25 March 1880, Page 2

THE GLOBE. THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1880.

The unprincipled, manner in which dirt has been thrown at the Premier by the Gloucester street papers in the matter of tho Canterbury interior lino of railway would be calculated to astonish the public were it not well aware of the lengths to which the “ Lyttelton Times ” and its journalistic infant arc prepared to go when on tho war path. Wo publish in another column the views held by the “ Timaru Herald ” on the course taken by our contemporaries, and wo can heartily endorse all that is said in the article on tho subject. But the writer of tho article does not appear to bo well posted in one or two particulars which aro necessary to show the entire falsity of the venomous attack on the Premier.

One of the main points of the attack has been that the section of tho interior line running from

Oxford to Sheffield is not now put in hand, but that, instead of it, another section running through Mr. Hall’s property has been undertaken, and insinuations unfavourable to Mr. Hall’s character have been deduced from this circumstance. Now if the propagator of the scandal had taken the slightest trouble to ascertain the true facts of the case, he might easily have found out the real reason why contracts for the Oxford and Sheffield section have not been advertised for. It happens that in connection with this section there are a number of very heavy cuttings, to construct which would be exactly the description of work best suited for the unemployed. It must be remembered that unskilled labour cannot be profitably employed in railway work of every description, but the formation of embankments and the making of cuttings is the very form of labour best suited for persons not navvies by trade. Last winter, when the unemployed were in want of labour, the then Government had in its mind to send a body of them up to the Oxford and Sheffield section, but, inasmuch as other sections —notably the Waikari—■ were being made, and seeing that the pressure for labour was gradually eased off, the idea was abandoned. Now in the winter that is coming on, it is unfortunately only too probable that the question of finding work for the unemployed will be again raised in perhaps an aggravated form. With a view, therefore, of providing for such an emergency, the Government have held back from advertising for tenders for the Oxford and Sheffield section, reserving the work connected with the section for the benefit of the unemployed when the times are the hardest for them. This fact might easily have been ascertained by the writer of the virulent articles we have alluded to, but inasmuch as the ground for insinuation against the Premier would have been cut from under his feet, it is easy to understand why he did not exert himself in the matter.

With regard to the other matter mooted by the Gloucester street papers, namely, the bending of the line away from the hills, so that, as it is asserted, it may pass through Mr. Hall’s estate, the answer is still more simple. If the writer had cast his eye on the map attached to Mr. Macandrew’s own Public Works Statement, he would have found this self same bend projected for the railway. Into the question of the value of this bend wo are not prepared to enter but at all events Mr. Macandrew and the House appear to have been satisfied with regard to it, and in point of fact, the developer of the plan is Mr. Macandrew, and not Mr Hall at all. But the most effective answer to the slander perpetrated is, that if the lino branches off by Glentunnel in order to skirt the hills—a route so enthusiastically taken up in Gloucester street—it will still pass through the estate of the Hon. J. Hall!