The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1878.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 36, 13 February 1878, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1878.

.In another column, we republish a portion of the' speech. delivered m the Legislative- Council by the Hon. Colonel Whitmore, Colonial "Secretary, upon the Hutt, Waikanae, and Palmerston North -Railway scheme. From" the tone af r the' debate that took place on the second reading of the Bill it seems 1 unlikely that the scheme will be put into operation next session. Sir Dillon Bell, who moved the -second reading, said that he feared the state of the finances next' year (1878) would "prevent Parliament from safely sanctioning the expenditure.' " Yet,, if the matter should be shelved next session, there is not the slightest danger of its being , allowed to drop. A scheme that promises to supply an important link m the West Coast Railway, and to open up a splendid area of country for settlement, now that it has been fairly moated, will be again and again urged upon the House until it receives favourable considertion; for it promises to supply a , want that is month by month be-* coming more deeply felt, both m . and out of Wellington.

The arguments by which Colonel Whitmore has attempted to bring the scheme into disfavour are forcible, but we question if anyone, including himself, believes m them. His arguments appear to be based altogether on the assumption that the population m this part of the North [sland will not increase. . He says that by making this railway the district will be completely •.ruined, as Tasmania was, some time ago, m trying to maintain the. railways. He could not have made a more unjust comparison, for, of all the colonies, Tasmania" and New Zealand are most unlike each other. Tasmania entered upon a scheme of public works,, which j m the absence of any adequate measure for increasing the population, might justly be termed .foolish. For years the population was, as nearly as possible, stationary. New Zealand, on the contrary, has made immigration one of the great factors m her system of polity, and, at the present time, her population is increasing at a marvellous rate ; and unless the country is correspondingly opened up, the immigration will itself prove disastrous. . In a new country immigration and public works must go together if either is to proceed advantageously, and wherever permanent producing industries are likely I to be established, and good scope for ! settlement on a large scale is offered, there it is safe and wise to construct railways. The whole of this West Coast district affords the most certain promise of becoming wealthy m agricultural aud pastoral productions. Every year shows the gigantic strides it is making m this respect. Surely there can be nothing suicida^ or ruinous m bringing it into com muntcation with the metropolis by the most easy and direct route. It appears much more suicidal to partially frustrate the promise of so fine a, district by refusing an aid that is essential to the speedy fulfilment of that promise. There appears to be not the least necessity for placing the Wairarapa district m competition with this. The two are perfectly distinct, and if, as we suppose, population continues, at ita present rate, each will be, m a short time, capable of giving sufficient work to its own railway. The construction of a railway to the Manawatu appears very unlikely to drain away the traffic from the "Wairarapa line. Wellington is not a terminus, but an effluent for whatever produce goes into it m excess of its own requirements, and. it, moreover, commands an unlimited market. For its own sake, therefore, a connection by rail with two good producing districts is important. True it is that the proposed railway will cost money that the public purse cannot well spare, but it has been already demonstrated by the committee of enquiry which was appointed by the House that the price of the land South of the Manawatu will cover the cost of the railway. Undoubtedly, the Northern railways are so far paying but indifferently, but this is purely on account of the districts through- which they run being thinly populated. And as this condition is becoming rapidly altered, there is a good outlook for remunerative working, and good encouragement to construct the line m ques- , tioru