Manamatu Herald. FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 1889. THE RAILWAY COMMISSIONERS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume VII, Issue 235, 18 January 1889, Page 2

Manamatu Herald. FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 1889. THE RAILWAY COMMISSIONERS.

" The) Jtong is dead, long live the king ", iB now the cry. The Gbvernment^ave atlast suoceeded in appointing- ttfree gentieman to the post of railway commissioners. Mr Maxwell's authority as adviser to a Public .Works Minuter is gone, but is again to'thefore as one of the Commissioners. We have at' times said many hard things of Mr Maxwell in his capacity as General Manager" of Railways, but his explanation, when accorded One, was that he was handicapped by political pressure. That there is considerable room for alter.ation in our railway management must be. conspicious to au, but wnethef ysu> great powers now handed pver to ihese three gentlemen.willbe wielded simply for the advancement of the profits of the railway, without due regard being taken to secure the advancement and progress of the district through which that railway runs, remains to be seen. Clause 20 of the act, after conferring all the powers that hitherto rested with the Governor in Council or with the Minister to these gentlemen, mildly requests them in fixing the scale of rates and charges, to give due consideration to the promotion of settlement and the en. couragement of industries in the vicinity of such railways, but who is to make them, or who is to advise them? The determination to place thejtailwj&ys under a non political boarcNras agreed to, purposely to keep^the administration free of all political influence, so we must necessarily expect that the ohief view that the Commissioners will take of any railway will be one of pounds, shillings, and pence only. In the near future we may certainly look for. many a loud and continuous wail, and many a denunciation hurled at the heads of these unfortunate men, but that the railways will yield a larger return under this

administration we feel assured of. On the|^ction of railway in which we are most interested wje have no doubt but very material alterations will soon be made, as only a Government railway, worked under political pressure, would permit the absurdities in the freightage rates that have been made over the whole section. When the question is looked into with a business eye, as to how as much haulage can be obtained at a reduced cost, the formation of the railway between Foxton and Halcombe, and between Halcombe and Wanganui will be considered. Under no other management than what is now passed, would it have been possible for heavy goods traffic to be carried from Halcombe to Wanganui over forty-two miles of verySheavy grades, in many places requiring the assistance of two engines to do the work of one, with the consequent very heavy wear and tear on every class of rolling stock, at the same price per mile as it is carried over the same mileage from Halcombe to Foxton, over what may practically be called a dead level country. If the Commissioners are inclined to adhere as far as they possibly can to the request made that they should " give due consideration to thd promotion of settlement and the encouragement of industries in the vicinity of such railways," here they have the opportunity. As we have said previously, taking into consideration the heavy grades that Jie between Halcombe and Wanganni, it would be absurd to ask that the rates on timber to that port should be reduced, but if the timber industries of Feilding and the whole of the Oroua Valley, Taonui, Ashurst and Palmerston, are considered by the Commissioners worthy of encouragement, it would certainly be both in their power, and to their advantage to direct the trade over the easiest portion of the line, by making a reduced rate to Foxton. In the days gone past, any suggestion of this sort was always met with the assertion that the tariff must be uniform, and therefore the charges for hauling from Halcombe to Wanganui were always charged too low. No sane person could ever say that the cost of hauling the one distance, was equal to the other. This question is not one affecting the port of Foxton alone, but affects the interests of a larger population this side of Halcombe than can be found on the other side of that town, and should therefore be kept in view by all who have the welfare of these counties at heart.