THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, JULY 7, 1871.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 123, 7 July 1871, Page 4

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, JULY 7, 1871.

Since the introduction of the railway system into this Province has become an established fact, and since such system will necessitate the expenditure of very large sums of borrowed money, the question naturally arises as to the best and most judicious manner in which such money can be expended. We all know that certain iines of railway have been determined upon, among the principal of which we may, we think with justice, mention the Great Southera and the Great Northern Trunk Lines—the former to connect Dunedin with the bouth, the latter Waitaki and the intermediate places with Dunedin. As might have been expected, the contemplated expenditure of large sums of money on railway construction have brought various honorable members of the Council to the front, each showing, or attempting to show, some reason why the particular district he represents (and in which his interests lie) should come in, if not for a part of the loaves and fishes, for at least a portion of the crumbs.

One remarkable instance of this attempt at scrambling lias arisen with regard to a proposed branch line of rail between \Y r aitaki, Oamaru, IMoeraki, and Waikouaiti, which it would seem to be the intention or desire of some members of the Council largely interested in those districts to have completed even before the main trunk line has been commenced. This unjust and unfair action has roused the people of Palmerston, bhag Valley, and surrounding districts, and has been the means ot producing the petition, a copy of which will be found in our present issue. The reasons adduced by the petitioners are, in our opinion, such as fully justify their conduct, aud to their side every impartial man, whether member of the Provincial Council or otherwise. We have ourselves ever held that we had not yet arrived at the Railway Epoch in our history—in other words, that the Colony was not, nor is yet, in a position to afford so expensive a luxury. Since, however, our legisla tors have, in their wisdom—or, perhaps rather their folly—decided otherwise! and have determined to plunge the Colony into an abyss of debt for the purpose of carrying out their railway and other progressive tendencies, it becomes the duty of every portion of the Press to bring its influence to bear —be it great or be it small—to prevent, if possible, the undue or unfair expenditure of the loan out of which these

works are to be constructed, and to endeavor to have the money so expended that the Colony, and not private interests, shall have value for the money for which it will eventually have as a whole to pay. We have no hesitation in saying that we commend the Palmerstonians for the action they are taking, and heartily wish their efforts success. The line proposed to be at once constructed is to commence, according to the words of the petition before us, at t,he extreme north end of the ' Province, and stop short at Waikouaiti " —that a line of rail is to be constructed at immense expense which is to commence nowhere and end nowhere. A'or is this all, or nearly all, of the objection to the present proposed line. All who know the extreme north end of the Province must be fully aware that from Waitaki to Otepopo, a distance of some fifty miles, not a tree is visible throughout the entire distance, and that even timber for sleepers and other purposes would have to be first landed at that not most inviting of ports —Oamaru—thence drayed some eighteen miles to the primary scene of the proposed operations. A more egregious act of folly, and a more wasteful expenditure of public money we have not for some time heard of, though the Provincial Council of Otago, by their | careless and reckless votes, have obtained for themselves long years back an unenviable notoriety. It appears to us, and we feel sure that it will do so to our readers, that the proper course to have adopted with regard to this great bone of contention—the Great Northern Railway—would have been to have first commenced the main trunk line at the natural port of shipment— Port Chalmers—constructing- and carrying material along the line as construction went on, as well for the line itself as for any branches which it might be afterwards resolved to construct, either inland or to any intermediate port between the metropolis and the Waitaki, such as Waikouaiti, Moeraki, and Oamaru. The starting ot the rail from Port Chalmers would, as it progressed, have gradually been serviceable to the up-country districts, by lessening the rate of cartage as the line approached Palmerston, from which all the up-country districts are reached. The present proposed line from Waitaki to Waikouaiti is and will be useless, except to a few wo.dgrowers and farmers, and we cannot conceal from ourselves the fact that its construction is a gross job, reflecting credit neither upon its proposer, its seconder, or its promoters in any way.