The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1872.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 26, 30 January 1872, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1872.

Mr. Lightband has published his defcuce, and we may fairly take the opening: paragraph of his letter to the Colonist this morning, which will be found in another column, as an indication of the confused state of his raind with regard to (he railway question. He actually tells us, and, it is to be presumed, expects us to believe, that it was " the flood of articles and correspondence on the subject of his letter to the Evening Mail of the 9th," that, led him " to ask the question, would it not be better to divert the expenditure of the construction of the Foxhill railway," for the purpose of opening up the country by cheap tramways ? Iv other words, (he replies that his proposition called forth induced him to write the letter that prn- ! yoked them ! Cause and effect are here so intermixed, and jumbled together, nnd Mr. Lightbaud is clearly so utterly unconscious of what were the real motives I that urged him on to adopt a course so completely at variance with the wishes of his constituents that we really are quite sorry for his sake that he has attempted to explain away the action he ha? taken in the matter. When first they discovered how ready was Mr Liuhtband to betray their interests, the feeling of the electors towards their unhappy representative was one of unmitigated anger, but now that they see him floundering so helplessly in the mire — seekiug for a standing place and finding vone — the only seasatiou they can experience for one who has got himself into so hopeless a scrape is that of the most profound pity. But, passing over the strange reason given by him for writing his unfortunate letter, we will proceed to notice some of the excuses he offers for his attempt (o d«mn the Nelson railway. He has visited the West Coast and obtained certain information with regard to the Inangahua district, which leads him to believe that a line tapping the Upper Buller would confer certain advantages upon Nelson. This line he does not advocate "in opposition to a permanent and substantial railway," and yet he proposes to divert the money already voted for the Nelson railway, and which cannot possibly be appropriated to any other object until the next session of the Assembly, to the purpose of constructing tramways into the interior. If this is not opposing the " permanent and substantial railway" already provided for, we should like to know whnt would constitute opposition to it. And here we must notice the remarkable vacillation of our representative, and the ease with which he shifts his position. He had not been to the West Coast when he penned his ill-advised letter, nor had the replies to it been published, which, be tells us, led him to write it, and yet he then felt called upon to advocate a course directly opposed to that of which he was in favor when in Wellington. That he at that time expressed his entire approval of the construction of a . railway which he has sinee — notwithstanding anything he may now say to the contrary — compared to a bubble company, is clear from certain telegrams which were published early in the month of November last. At the risk of wearyiug our readers we will once again give these statements of the opinions he entertained three short months ago : — Mr. Lightband to Mr. Barnes. Wellington Nov. 6. Quite agree with j oa respecting railway. Lightband. Mr. Barnes to Mr. Lightband. l^lson, Nov. 6. Electors expect out and out support to Foxfciil railway scheme. Reply immediately. Barnes. Mr. lightband to Mr. Barnes. Wellington, Nov. 6. Have telegraphed to chairman of meeting that. I will support Foxhill railway to the best of my ability. . Lightband. To this last telegram we happen to know that there was & slight addition which was not published at the time. It waa to tbis effect: — "Anything more wanted ? " and tin's seems to us to furnish the cue to the whole, of Mr. Lightband's conduct iv this matter. Whilst under pressure he was prepared. to do auy thing he was asked ; for the time beiug he was willing to sacrifice his own opiuious, if he

had any, — and this really seems doubtful j — in order to curry favor with hib constituents, but immediately the pressure is removed, lie turns round aud dops his best to unset a rnrasure with which he had but a short time previously expresses himself as being "quite agreed." If ho (hen disapproved of this railway, why did lir not say sn in nn outspokeu manner ? If he really believe"] that it, was a desirable work, how came he to write in such damnatory tones of it a few weeks later, when nothing had transpired in the meantime to induce Mm tn alter Ins opinions ? It ib all very well for him to tell us now that he ha 3 "only one honest wish in this matter, namely, the prosperity of the town of Nplson," but we would tell him that, prosperity is not. to be achieved by (he representatives of tbe town, ia the welfare of which he profppsps fo take so deep an interest, blowing hot and cold in this mannpr. How is tbe Government to be guided in its action with regard to this province if our representatives tell them to-day that we want this, and tomorrow that we would rather have something else? They can have no possible guarantee that if we now ask them to postpone the commencement ot our railway, in order to allow U3 in the next session to advocate a tramway to somewhere else, that we shall not in tbe following y<^ar request ihpm to shelve a tramway to the Upper Buller in favor of a drnyroad in another direction. No doubt, they would highly approve of such vacillation, ns it would furnish them with n vpry plausible excuse for doing nothing at, all for us; hut surely this will not suit the views of the people of Nelson. Lft us not. be understood, in any remarks we may liave mnde wiih reference to what has fallen from Mr. Lightband, to be opprsed to the opening up of the country by tramway, railway, or any other mpnns of. pommunir-ation, but, whnt we do object to, and that most strongly, is that the Government shall be asked to refuse to spend the money already voted for the Nelson railway on the oJj^ct for which, it has been set aside. To do this will certainly be to deprive ourselves of (he hope that we now have of a through line to the We6t Coast being commenced, while it is extremely doubtful whether the tramway that it, is proposed to substitute for it would ever he constructed, as when once we relax our hold upon the sum that t!ie Assembly has already agreed to expend upon tbe Nelson railway there are plenty of other provinces and districts far more powerful than Nelson, with its members pulling in different directions, that will step iv aud greedily snatch up the funds that we are nsked by Mr. Lightband to set at liberty. In advocating such a course, and in doing all in his power to prevent the construction of a line that, once commenced, must be carried through to our westernmost boundary, Mr. Lijrhtband is inflicting a most serious injury upon the town he represents, and whose welfare he affects to have so greatly at heart, while, at the same time, he is doins? it all the hnrm in his power. As a private individual, no one would much care what were Mr. Lightband's views on this matter, hut in the position in which he has been placed by the electors of tbe town of Nelson, he is able, and apparently only too willing, to inflict upon his constituents the largest possible amount of damage in the shortest possible space of time.