BOGUS RAILWAYS.

Mataura Ensign, Volume VI, Issue 285, 31 August 1883, Page 2

BOGUS RAILWAYS.

The claims of the Seaward Bush Eailway have been for some years persistently urged by a certain section of Invercargillites, On no other point were the two journals t ere ever so unanimous. To cry up this their pet " fad," they hay« more lhan once laid abide their cat and dog i-iokt-- rings, and, backed up by the rt-uoubtabie ur JDalrymple wiih iiis bushel and a half of those Manchester reminiscences of bltssed memory, have made common cause. Banners were hung up on the outer walls; thespir. t stirring drum and the ear-piercing fife tooted out their notes of jubilation as a breathless world witnessed the spectacle pf a real

live Minister of the Crown, stripped to his shirt sleeves, turning the first sod. , It was felt that a new era in the \ world's history had been entered upon , that henceforth peace and plenty would , reign triumphant over this happy , planet; and that the city of magni- \ Rcent d stances would at last reach its just position as the capital of New Zealand, if not the Southern Ueinis- , phere. v *'e sbill shortly endeavor to ascertain how fir our duar old granny friend the * Times ' anJ «>»r pugnacious lioilu contemporary the 'News' were jus ificd in the pecans of prai™ they ifted up, and whether ftftur all the Seaward Bush Kail way is such a national blessing really as w<3 are told it is Any uwn of ordinary prudence ende .vory, bofoie pledging himself to an undertaking, to ascertain, at all events approximately, what th^ cost will be. Has this been (lone in the case of i he Sea-waid Bush line] Has even a flying survey be< j n made? Who knows an) thing of the nature of the country it will have to pa»s through'? Are those who are so blatant in its advocacy aware that the latter portion of it is under the flood level of the Mataura river, and that either a viaduct, costing half a million oE money, must be built, or the line laid so that it will be liable to periodical inundations and interruptions in traffic 1 ? Where are the topographical particulars of the country between the ten miles already surveyed and the Mataura? We confidently predict that when the money now appropriated for the line is expended, the folly and wickedness of goin<* on any further will be manifest. But very likely those who are making all the noise are not really concerned whether Fortrose is ever reached or not. Their end will be quite as well served if the suburban land at the skirt of the bush is increased in value, but the general public have to pay the piper. We hear a great number of vague generalities about some rich moss land in the interior of the bush, but no figures are given — in fact, the who'e thing bears too much resemblance to the proverbial pig in the poke. And the folly of committing the country to an unknown amount of expense is the more culpable when we have already in course of construction from Edendale to Eortroso a line •which is exactly the very one the district wants. This line will find profitable business from the moment of its completion, as the land along the route only asks an outlet for its produce. It will promote settlement, and, if Invercargill only saw its real interest, it will do it more good than the bogus scheme now under consideration. But there is yet time to mitigate the result of such folly. The ten miles already authorised will co - ein very useful for some sawmillers, and will, as stated before, be a useful adjunct to the tramways of Invercargill and thus enhance the value of suburban sections. 3ut;.tp'- commit thej^puntry to a flying