THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY: 24, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1116, 24 February 1872, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY : 24, 1872.

As it was in connection with the question of Local Government, so with that of the Railway, there was little said either to or by ;the Premier during his recent visit to Grey mouth. Greater attontion was given to other public works of greater urgency, and it is one good result of the Premier's presence that, by his. intervention, the preliminaries of these have been materially promoted. There is excuse also for the silence which was observed on the subject in tho fact that the community is in daily expectation of receiving a visit from the proper Minister of Public Works, whose attention might with more propriety be directed to such a work as the railway, and whoso ability to describe the designs of tho Government, in that one particular, may be greater than that of .the Premier himself. We shall expect, however, that whenever this visit is made, the eppor-. tunity will not pass without such representations being put forward as the urgency and importance of the undertaking may justify, or without some more deliuito understanding being arrived at as to its commencement than unfortunately at present exists. Of course, in comparing the contemplated railway with other works as being in any degree less urgent, we recognise only the urgency of tho protective 'works as an urgency altogether exceptional and different from that of public works generally, in the ordinary sense of the term. As a public work puro and simple, and apart from such ( considerations as have justified the immediate commencement of the river protection, the railway must be admitted to be primary in its importance — an importance derived not more from its local necessity than from ita value in connection with the interests of the Colony as a whole. It was upon that ground, and fairly so, that the line was included in the schedules of the Act ; it is upon that ground that the public expectation of its' early commencement has been' based; and it will be upon that ground that any deputation to the Minister for Public Works may reasonably urge that there should be no longer indefinite expectancy, but something like a distinct understanding as to the probabilities of the practical inauguration of the works. We are not, indeed, without misgivings that in this matter of the railway the inhabitants of Greymouth and its district have up to the present time been less diligent than is their habit, or than the circumstances would justify, in stirring up with the long pole of public agitation the Department with whom rests the promotion of the' railway works agreed to by the Assembly. If it is the Briton's privilege, it is not always a pleasant social characteristic to be perpetually grumbling and grieving ; but, if we compare the activity which prevails elsewhere with the passiveness which has prevailed here; on the part of the Government, there would seem to be fair grounds for just a little grumble, or, if not for querulousness, '• at least for inquisitiveness. Other places, more privileged have not hesitated to institute comparisons between what is being done in their neighborhoods, and what i 3 being dene iv situations of inferior deserts or requirements ; and even avowed supporters of the Government' have questioned the exclusiveuess with which the Government has given its attention to railway works in the North Esland. For a larger share of attention being given to the North Island there is, no doubt, justification in the circumstances and in the spirit which first prompted the Government policy. The pacification of the country was as much a part of their design, as public works and immigration, experience having long ago taught generals as well as politicians that, for the easy possession of an enemy's country there is nothing equal to roads, and in cprrying out that design the Government are exercising a wise discretion in constructing throughout the North Island, as speedily as possible, the means of communication and of concentrated action. But the Middle Island has suffered long enough without this being done to the detriment of either its local or general interests, and there is .some force in much that has been said in a speech which we have already quoted, and to which we promised again to refer— the recent speech of Mr Reynolds, in' addressing his Dunedin constituents. " If we judge by the newspaper reports (said Mr Reynolds) the Ministry at the present time are carrying on works in the North Island to a far greater extent than they are in the Middle Island. When addressing you after the session of 1870, I pointed out that the special appropriations of that session were at the rate of about £\2 12s 3d per head of the European population in the North Island, as against £5 10s 7d per head of the European population of the Middle Island— that for every £5 103 7d expended, upon public works in the Middle Island, there were £12 328 3d to be expended in the North Island. Well, lam sorry to say that during last session things were improved very little, if at all. We find that tho Afsambly sanctioned tlie construction of railways in the North Island, at an estimated cost of £1,029,500 as against £1,021,100 for the Middle Island. Here, however, it is but right that I should mention, that out of, £630,000 voted for the railway from Waitara to Wunganui, only £50,000 is to he expended during the current financial year. But allowing this, even then the North Island will have a larger proposed expenditure, upon rail' ways than the Middle Island, and there <*nn be no doubt that as soon as the Assemr bly meets, seeing that they have authorised the construction of the railway, tho balance of the money will be voted. Now, it must appear to you, as it does to me, a very unfair apportionment of the public expenditure, when I tell you that the

population of the North" Island is only. 98,805, and the revenue wjhich it contributes to the Colony is only £347,109, as against a population of- 159,386 in' 'the Middle Island, which contributes £641,970 to title revenue of the Colony. I think, gentlemen, that when you take these figures into consideration you will see that at any rate, with such a large population, and contributing so much more to. the revenue of the Colony, we are entitled to have onehalf of the expenditure upon railways. I would not bp satisfied myself with onehalf, because I say that where tho population is, there the railways should be. The railways should not be constructed in anticipation of population that may never arrive.— (Applause.) I opposed the Government railway schedule, ' and more particularly in connection with the Wellington and Masterton, line, which was to cost £350,000, and the Napier and Ruataniwha railway, estimated to cost £171,000. Now the country along the line to Masterton is of such a nature that I don't believe the returns from this rail-* way will ever j>ay the cost of -greasing the wheels and carriages. — (Applause. ) I will just give you an idea of the production of that portion of the Province of Wellington. ■ It has now been settled for 28 or 30 years, and they are actually up to this time importing their wheat from Oamaru and Timaru to Wellington, and then carting it up there to supply the settlers. They have not a single article to export, and the only things they have sent down to Wellington are possibly a little butter, i a few eggs, and some bacon, in addition to the timber. Then, the population of Wellington city is only 7836. The Hutt, which is the next district, has 2175 ; and the Wairarapa district, including Maaterton, has 3570 ; and yet for this handful of people it is proposed to expend £350,000 on railways. I leave you to judge whether such a railway is ever likely to pay expenses. Then the population of Hawke's Bay is 6059. Well; they intend to take a railway from Napier, to Ruataniwha, at a cost of £171,000 for the convenience of 6059 souls ; and., a great many of those people do not live in the district through which the railway is to pass." ■■■'.-■ . ■■ :■ Whatever may be tho actual facts with regard to the railways thus referred to by Mr Reynolds, it is sufficiently known, ' with regard to some of them, that in no respect can they compare with the Greymouth and Brunncrton line, in their capability of paying for costand maintenance, or in the amount of benefit conferred upon the country generally.- An attempt has been made to show, that the proposed railway would fail to be a remunerative work — that it was absolutely inferior, as a means of conveyance, to the boats which at present maintain an intermittent supply of coal at this port. This is neither the time, nor is there the necessity, for answering such arguments, but a few facts relative f to what was understood to be one of the most hopeless of all Colonial railway \mdertakings are not unworthy of being quoted. The facts were stated at the meeting which Mr Reynolds thus addressed, and were given by the other member for Dunedin, Mr Bathgate. One example, as Mr Bathgate wisely said, was better than a bushel of argument, and the example which he gave was the much caricatured railway of Southland. It would hardly be believed, said Mr Bathgate, that iv 1871 the Southland Railway, in a district with only 8000 inhabitants, was a paying concern. All the working expenses had been paid every ; workman employed had received his wages. That railway was not a burden to Southland, but actually, during the first year, there was a surplus of £31.7, a thing almost unknown in railway history. The railways in Canterbury were also paying, although the tunnel cost £250,000. Yet they left a surplus above working expenses of £17,000. He was perfectly satisfied for thb Government to go on with railways, provided the cost did not exceed £5000 a mile. The experience of the Southland Railway proved it to be the best and cheapest mode of conveyance, and it would have a most important effect iv developing the country. With such an example as is here given, and with the tenfold superior promises as to the reproductive character of the Greymouth and Brunnerton Jine, is it unreasonable to expect that our local railway should have a preference, in point of priority of construction, which the Government has not yet given to it, whatever may be looming for us in the immediate or distant future?