WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 27 May 1927, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

STATE RAILWAYS. THE LOAVES AND FISHES.

(Special to “ Guardian

WELLINGTON, May 24

Mi- \V. n. Viola. the member for Otaki, who never spares himself in the service of his constituents, earned a place in the picture pages <>l the morning paper yesterday hv announcing at the opening ol a school within his constituency that lie “had it on the very test anhority". that a beginning would he made with the construction o) the Tawa I'hit lailwaj. jn the near future. “I am not. in possession of all the State secrets.” he modestly admitted to the assembled parents and children, ‘‘hut I can tell you from information I have received that you will he hearing something about yum- railway this year, either in the- Railway Statement or the Public Works' Statement.'’ Mr Field would not have said as much as this

mcrc-ly on tlie Prime Aiinbier's mention in North Auckland the other day of n numhep of big works the Government had in progress or in contemplation. The Tawa. Flat line was on the list. Imt so also were the North Auckland .Main Trunk line and the electrifying of the Lyttelton tunnel, two works that may lie as remote as the completion of the i’ai'lia'jwnt Buildings, Mr Field, whose lobbying achievements include an extra train between Wellington and Palmerston North, however, makes sure ol his ground as he proceeds. LOSSES AND SUBSIDIES.

The “Evening Post" while in duly hound In give its countenance to the construction of a line which would serve Wellington and the \\airarapa district so well as would the lava Flat deviation, does not attempt to disguise the fact thaL the time is not altogether opportune for adding to the capital cost of the Doniiaiou'.s railways. Hail way returns fir the past financial year are not cheering'' it says. “Expenditure increased last year by £22,152 and revenue declined by £20,108, though the subsidy received for branch lines and isolated sections was £115,221. compared with £'s>9.510 in the previous year.” Ihe increase fn expenditure and the decline in revenue are matters for no great surprise in view of the prevailing conditions; but the increase of the subsidy from the Cons didated tuiid to

non-paying lines to £4-15,221 from £359,5-10 emphasises afresh the need for a drastic review of this inequitable feature of railway finance. The figures really mean that the shortage in revenue was not merely £20,108 hut no less than £115.221. a sum equal roughly to 5 per tent, on £9,000.000. It need not he suggested that the e instruction of the Tawa Flat deviation and other lines the Government has in contemplation is going to add to this drain upon the country's resources. hut the taels are sufficiently impressive to call far close scrutiny and serious consideration. CHIME AND ITS CURE.

Mr W. B. Mellveney. the Commissioner of Police, has tound I lie Mcllingtmi newspapers useful allies in his attempt to purge the Dominion of undesirable visitors, and in doubt I heir co-operation has been of the greatest assistance to him in making the lot of the uninvited immigrants uncomfortable. Sp liking at the ‘■send-off’’ accorded to the Wellington detectives yesterday, however, lie seems i > have drawn comparisons between Auckland and Wellington which neither the police force of the northern city nor its public is likely to appreciate. '‘When Sinclair and Hunt arrive in Auck-

land,’’ he said, “the criminals will take to their heels, because these two men know their jobs and know them well. In all, five detectives are being transferred t > Auckland simply because they need good men thorn to trv and suppress the wave of crime that is sweeping from one part of the nor 1 '

ern eitv to the other. There is no mistake about it; there crime is everywhere." The Commissioner went on I i declare that Auckland, despite all its police, had many streets of crime. The evil-doer was loose among the public. ,Sueli a grave state of affairs count not he allowed to continue. S'om"thing would have to he d mo and “the house-breaker, the thief, the trickster and the other rogues and scoundrels v.ould have to be laid low.” No one need find fault with the Commissioner’s zeal; but his tart and judgment well may be questioned from the Auckland Doint of view. DAIRY CONTROL CONTROVERSY. The well-meant attempt of the Afinistor of Health to bring about a reconciliation between the chairman of the Dairy Board and the Prime .Minister seems to have failed irretrievably. “Afr Young asserts,’’ he says in a letter he has addressed to the newspapers, “that the Prime Minister has been misrepresented. I have very deep respect for the office of Prime Afinister, but I have a greater respect for the truth. Replying to the Prime Almister recently. 1 said that my statements were specific and precise, and nnini’pearhably accurate, which is still incontrovertible true. To claim that liecause the Prime Afinister told the London deputation that- ‘control-’ was decided upon, and would continue, while he opposes the adoption of one of the first -essential details proves nothing beyond that lie is prepared to take an empty shell, or an inclination to fare both Mays, to run with the bare and hunt with the hounds.” Afr Grounds adds that he is quite prepared to join with ihe Prime Ali nister in “quiet and cool consideration"’ of the position; but he re-affirms bis conviction that “although the great backing of the party in office is the farmer -throughout the country, the whole momentum of the political machine has been directed by the mercantile interests.” While Afr Grounds holds fast to that fallacious notion no abiding reconciliation between the contending parties is likely to he effected.