New Zealand Times. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 1875.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4377, 31 March 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 1875.

Of the many colonial works that should be pushed ahead with the utmost expedition, the Wellington and Masterton railway is perhaps the most important. Of course, the railways under construction in. various parts of the colony, are of the very foremost consequence to the principal provincial towns with which they are to be connected; but from a colonial point of view, we think the railway from Wellington to Masterton, with its branches to Hawke’s Bay and Wanganui, is by far the most important. In the Middle Island the country lies open to settlement, and the best of the land has passed into the hands of private owners ; railway extension in that direction, therefore, is more in the nature of private enterprise than colonial work. It is calculated, first of all, to enhance the value of private property tenfold, at the expense of the taxpayers who profit nothing ; and secondly, to enable large landed proprietors to create a landlord and tenant class, with all it's attendant evils. Secondarily, no doubt, and in a somewhat remote degree, it will stimulate production; because men cannot rent lands, supporting absentee proprietors, and at the same time hope to live, without working hard and cropping their farms, but unless they have cheap transport the lands could neither be tilled nor the produce sold to advantage. Railway extension in Canterbury and Otago, although of the very foremost importance, therefore, is not in any sense to be considered as of the same colonial value as the great trunk line from Wellington northward. It will open a vast country, hitherto closed to profitable occupation, partly by reason of the natural barrier of mountains, and partly by Maori exclusiveness. The soil has not been wholly alienated. There is room for a very large producing population, and by bringing the Maori race into direct contact with the industrial results of civilisation, as epitomised by railways, a guarantee for peace will begiven, and many thousands of pounds annually be saved to the colony. As a colonial work, therefore, we regard the Wellington and Masterton railway, with its eastern and western extensions, as the foremost on the schedule approved by Parliament. This being undeniably the case, wo should like to know why it is that the lino in question progresses more slowly than any other line in the colony. What is the reason for the leisurely Inode of construction hitherto adopted ? In Auckland, in Otago, and we believe in Canterbury also, the Government offers contractors substantial gain if they complete their work within contract time. We do not know any reason why Wellington should be left out in the cold. If the Provincial Executive are to blame, we should advocate the adoption of the strongest punitive measures towards them. They should be placed on the stool of repentance at once, and forced to do pennance in sackcloth and ashes ; but if it should happen to be the fault 'of the . General Government, what then ? Are Ministers to escape soot free 1 We should be sorry to say so. The importance of the Wellington and Masterton railway in a colonial poinj; of view, and its certainty to pay a profit on the outlay, whatever may be the faults of engineering, should suggest to the Government tho advisability of applying the forcing system to it which has been found so very , effective in other places. Why not offer a bonus on every month saved by tho contractors for the Rimutaka tunnel, for instance 1 The Government offer largo pre-

iniurns on very much less important contracts., We might put similar questions with regard to other sections of this line, but the one in point will serve as a reminder.

For ourselves, we really do not see any reason why this work should bo the only one in the colony which is allowed to progress in its own slow, contracted, way. We live in “a railway age.” The slow work of centuries is accomplished in a few years. And New Zealand is in the van of progress. Our whole system of taxation and Government is conducted on the high pressure principle ; and while that is the case, we most decidedly object to any part of the colony, and that the most important, being dropped out of the general scheme, and compelled to lag behind. If it be right to offer bonuses for anticipating the contract time in the other provinces, it cannot be wrong to offer similar inducements here. It may be-that the Provincial Government did not urge Ministers to adopt this plan of hastening the construction of the Wellington railways, and it is certain the people, with proverbial supineness, have not made any outcry on the subject ; but this cannot exonerate the Colonial Executive from blame, inasmuch as they are specially charged with the welfare of the whole colony, without reference to locality. .