RICHARD JOHN, THE HUSTLER Will He Step Up This Way?

Free Lance, Volume III, Issue 134, 24 January 1903, Page 8

RICHARD JOHN, THE HUSTLER Will He Step Up This Way?

SINCE the holidays began, King Dick ha:, been down among his own constituents, and crowding no end of banquets, deputations, and all sorts of public functions li-to the twentyfour hours' working day. Judging by the West Coast, papers, he keeps going under a, full head of stecm the whole time. More than that, he does not seem to allow the glory of the Premiership to blind his eyes to the fact that he is also, and was primarily, member for We&tland Fortunate Westlaiid 1 If the Bullei "Miner" is a, reliable chronicle. King Diok has been shaking up thmgs in the public works line on the West. Coast, at a great rate. There is a cheerful disregard of red-tape about him that is positively refreshing. According to the "Miner," the Premier has lost no time m giving effect to some piom.se which he made to a local deputation about an extension of the> railway down the Inangahua Valley. The Public Works Department, so. the Argus-eyed ' Miner" learns, has been instructed to start operations at once, and put on fort^ men to clear the track. [t is also stated that the Premier had inquired and ascertained that the Midland railw ay had fared badly in the pioportion of votes spent last year, and he was detei mined all this should be alteied at once All this is veiv interesting, if it may bo taken as gospel It shows* that, as far as the West Coast is concerned, Mr Seddon has been galvanising vigorous life into the Public Works Department, amd, in fact, pretty well running the show Now , cannot an effort be made up here m the North to capture

the Piemier befoie Ins public works zeal cootfs dow n, and set him to put down his shoulder and give the North Island trunk railway a 1 luroh forward? Up till two ye?rs ago, it was moving along at a snail's paee I—at1 — at a rate that might promise completion say fifty years hence. The speed has beem somewhat accelerated since then, and last session a vote of £250,000 — about the biggest on record — w as taken for the prosecution of the line. ■/ * # But|, voting the money, and spending that vote, are two widely different things. Time is drifting on, and we should like to know hotv much of that quarter-million vote has 1 been used. If only King Diok could be, nobbled on the West Coast, brought up North, and taken over that devoted and rusty old trunk line, things might be hustled into activity there also. A quite alarming degree of hustle w ould have to be generated if the Ministerial promise of several years back to have Auckland and Wellington united in four years were to be kept. And, even if the line is to be open to Taihape next Christmas, as was promised last session if w e mistake not, a rate of celerity will haye 1 to be used to which the North Island Trunk so far has been a complete stranger. At any rate, when the West Coast has quite done with King Dick, we need ai loan of him up in this quarter to get up a few heads of steam on our public works. The holidays are over, the fine weather is slipping away and we want badly to hear the unwonted sounds of rush and hurry and rapid performance on the iron read which is to open u.p this island, and link together the two most important cities of New Zealand. Oh, let it be soon !