TOPICS OF TALK.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 274, 5 June 1874, Page 2

TOPICS OF TALK.

Wis had thought in our simplicity that the matter of deepening the •Sludge Channel was a settled thing ; but it appears that it i.> far from it. From Mr. Keid's reply to a question on the subject we find that the policy of the new Government is to delay enquiry until action can n<).. longer be, taken. The late Government-—two members mow sit on the Government benches, of which one of whom was the responsible hea(3*^e^aire3'' : Tully"inio the matter. Not only did the miners themselves, at their own cost, prospect the' country thoroughly, but they also furnished the result of their prospects to the Government. « Besides this, the resident engineer by instructions supplemented this prospect by other shafts, which he had sunk in such localities as he thought desirable, and this report is no doubt in the hands of the Government. Yet the Provincial Secretary stands up in the Council and says they have np information, and his unblushing colleague sitting beside him—-whose Government gathered the very information—gives his silent consent. This is playing with Government with- a venaeance, and speaks volumes in favor of the, abolition of the dual form. If this information had been■ obtained ?by the General Govern ment wi.th the sole responsibility—no matter what changes c't Executive had taken • -place—thtK information: would not be lost; and, if\a..late Premier had" himself collected smiS data, he, sitting as I reinsurer only, in-the new Government, could not afford to be ignorant of the fact. > As it is, we are playing with a,toy to "enable those who have the power to grasp the Provincial estate unchecked, so lons* as any estate remains. If that.can be done, it is no matter whether -delegated Colonial works, to the 'extent -of £50,000 or £60,000, are carried out properly or not.' The district should at once take the matter up, and force the attention of the General Government upon the | matter, as redress or any satisfactory result trom Mr. Keid's Executive is ! apparently hopeless.

Some very interesting trials were made lately-on the mil way near Danedin with the two engines at work on the Port Chalmers and Green Island railways. On ,t.he Green Island line a few heavy gradients have been cut, and it was a matter of some importance to HBcertain, before ordering further plant from Home, whether the engines already purchased were suitable for such gradients ; that is to say, whether they could haul easily payable loads up a gradient, of 1 foot in 50 feet. The double engine Jfairhe drew eleven full waggons t and a brake-van, estimated at 112 tons ; the engine Clutha drew nine leaded waggons and a brakevan, estimated, at 8S tons. .'The trials were pronounced as very 'satisfactory —the P.lutha giving . especially good results for her weight. The .importance of these trials may be understood when we say that it sets aside all doubts about the feasibility of railways being constructed to any -part of the interior at no great expense. Given a gradient of I foot in 50 feet as practicable tor Heavy trains, and there are very few hills between Waibemo and Clyde that will be a serious obstacle to a cheap line of light railway.

It appears a very haphazard affair this of selection of'lines of railway bv the Provincial Council. "We do not hear of any principle guiding the Council in the discussion, of the propositions submitted, by the: Government. An enthusiastic, member such as Mr. Diiniels; of Kiverton, gradually infects the Council with his-feelings, and the result is the determination to make a line to Orepuki. without the least knowledge of facts —-, only a bare statement that a tree is .to be found some twenty-lour feet in circumference. Another member hiis an interest in, or a mild enthusiasm tor, a coal-pit, rapturously reported on by a geologist on a cursory inspection, without prospect. As • . consequence: we have a: railway proposed to Kaitangata, and declaimed upon as a pressing necessity. Another member has a mild enthusiasm for opening up freehold lands, and as a consequence we have the Waireka railway under construction. 1 It never appears to have occurred to the Government to appoint- a Commissioner to tike, if it is necessary, a year to report— not- only as to the cost of the lines, but as to the amount of 'and such railway lines would~open up, and render of double value. No; nothing of the kind. We (the Government) will depend upon our own ideas from Dunedin and Taieri, and the wisdom (save the mark !)'ofthe Council. If a railway line can be made for £IOO a mile cheaper than, another, that is the line to adopt, without the least enquiry as to the immense amount of money the State would lose if the cheapest-line were made, if the country opened up by it were only the onehalf or one-quarter of that the dearer line would open up for settlement. But this is a subject.on which many articles could be written—far exceeding a topic. One thing may be said shortly, that these lines to coalpits are a great maistake. If a coalfield is a sure one, and of value, the companies working it will make the railway themselves—for this reason : that, as a matter of profit and loss, if the scheme is bona fide, it is much cheaper to run lheir own produce to the consumers than to pay freight to the Government. ;.A;n axiom might almost be laid down that : The value of any ; coalfield'-may. be ascertained by noting | the simple fact who first finds the means of carriage—the titate or the