The Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1886. CAPTAIN RUSSELL'S MOTION.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1696, 30 April 1886, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1886. CAPTAIN RUSSELL'S MOTION.

; We are not exactly sure whether the carrying of Captain Russell's motion last session for a reduction of expenditure of half a million sterling has not been, productive of a certain amount of good after all. It has at any rate allowed the Colony to gain time, and not precipitately to commit itself to works, loans, and expenditure which might have proved inexpedient and the reverse of reproductive. Had the East and; West Coast Railway scheme been sanctioned, Captain Rcsskll's motion would not have had the support it did. And we maintain that the delay incurred m the postponement of important undertakings, such for instance as the Gorge Line, is not to be compared to the gain, secured by vetoing the former project, which would have caused the most disastrous consequences to the credit and ■ taxation of the Colony. Captain Russell may or may not have been sincere m his patriotic desire to retrench, but we candidly believe that on the whole the Colony has not absolutely lost by his motion being carried. Individual districts have suffered,no doubt ; but on the other hand there is grave reason to apprehend that but for the check given, public works would have been undertaken which the Colony would subsequently have had reason to regret. Those bonajide works, such as the Gorge Line, have not irretrievably suffered by the delay, as the necessity for their construction is more apparent now than then. The rapid progress of the Welling-tnn-Manawatu line has rendered the construction of the Gorge Line an urgently pressing and absolutely imperative necessity, and its claims to consideration as a colonial undertaking are more universally recognised at the present time than ever previously. It has stood the test of time, inquiry, comparison, investigation, prejudice, etc., etc. So, doubtless, with several other similar' proposals. The merits and demeirts of the various works, which it is said Captain Russel's motion " knocked on the head," have thereby been before the public a year longer, and the delay m many cases will not be without good and beneficial effects. Those that are really wanted, and will prove reproductive, will command increased attention and favour on the part of the Legislature; while the political jobs and the private schemes will meet their due deserts m exposure, condemnation, and extinction. In such case the Colony must be decidedly the gainer m all essential respects.