The Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1886. THE BENEFITS OF RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1644, 25 February 1886, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1886. THE BENEFITS OF RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

Sir Julius Vooel, m his speech m Auckland, contended that, when labor was plentiful and material cheap, was the proper time for making railways. He maintained that railways -were the greatest ajd to the prosperity and comfort of a country, They saved consumers m the country districts expenditure, whilst by giving access to markets they increosed their gains. The railways yielded over 3 per cent, m cash, but that was not all they did. The services they rendered to the post office and other departments might be reckoned at £30,"0p0. Then .they were not worked to/ydeid ! as much profit as could be got from them. We do not agree with Sir. Juiius m his opinion of the advantages conferred by jrailways. He says they are •$ the greatest aid to "the prosperity and coihfort of a' country." Well, surely th> has not been proved to be t&e case m New Zealand. The county w^s better, its prosperity \ sounder, its progress shadier andTJjore i assured before there was a railway m it. Can this fact be denied? We admit there! were periods of depression before the inauguration of the Public Works Policy. But they were not so widespread,, prolonged, or intense as of late years", when tho half-million, all told, of our present population is trying to pay theanterest on our national debt, which Sir Julius desires to increase by another ten million or so. The tendency of the railways has been and will be tb foster the larger towns at the expense of the smaller centres and the country districts.. Take the North Island for instance, and will anyone show tis a district that has received permanent benefit through railWay communication ? Have the prices of produce increased ? No. Have wages improved or the small farmers or working classes seen better times through the railways? No. Wellington, Auckland, Dunedin, Lyttelton, Napier, Invercargill being termini and seaports, have grown,. 1 no doubt, but at the expense of the country districts by which they are connected by rail. We affirm that railways have not increased jth,e gains of residents m the country districts by giving access to markets. They nijight possibly do so to some extent were they more efficiently managed. Waneanui, with railways running into it from 'North and South, for distances of 100 miles one way and 86 another, and also the port for a large area of fine country has not been m a worse state for years than at present. The same with New Plymouth. There is not a township or district from Wellington to Auok^id' (hat hat not hpd

I causg to I'efiet tint introduction of railways. To this statement we challenge contradiction. We have paid far too dear for our railways and other public works, and compared to our population they are out of all proportion to our re quireiuents.