The Evening Mail. MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 730, 12 August 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail. MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 1878.

Few persons who are acquainted with the nature of the country to be traversed and the shortness of the line required to be constructed will for a moment question the reasonableness of the request which the Railway Committee, at its meeting on Friday, determined to make to Parliament with reference to the extension of the Waiareka railway to Livingstone. But the proposal is pretty certain to meet with considerable opposition from some members of the Legislature, even supposing the Ministry consent to include tinextension of the Waiareka line amongst the railways which they will propose to have constructed at the expense of the Colony. It is, therefore, necessary that, in preferring their request to Parliament, the Committee —or rattier, gentlemen entrusted with the drawing up of the petition to be presented to both branches of the Legislature—should .make their case as strong as possible, by placing the whole of the facts before members in a cleir and concise form, and thus lessen the possibility of any opposition raised to the carrying out of the work by the Colony proving successful. We must not for a moment imagine that we have only to ask in order to receive. Many similar requests will undoubtedly be made, some for lines which mav pav, and others for railways that will not "for years yield sufficient to even cover working expenses. We shall very possibly be told that Oamaru lias already several lines of railway, and that other districts are now entitled to participate in the benefits derivable from the possession of rapid and certain means of communication, and it will be necessary to meet all such objections by the strongest proofs that all the lines running into Oamaru have, predictions to the contrary notwithstanding, proved some of the very best investments that the Colony has made since the initiation of the PublicWorks policy. This, we think, can easily be done, more especially in regard to the tine an extension of which is to be asked for. Times out of number has the Waiarek.i railway been publicly declared to be one of the beat, if not the very best, paving lines in the Colony, and never has anyone attempted to deny the eorreetness of that assertion. But in the present case assertions only will not be sufficient to meet the opposition which will be raised to the performance of the work. We must be able to do something more than say that the line is a paying one. We - must be prepared by the stern logic of ■ facts and figures to place the matter beyond the possibility of a doubt, There may be a little difficulty in obtaining the requisite information, and the collection of reliable data may involve a considerable amount of labor ; but neither trouble I nor labor should be permitted to prevent i the fullest possible evidence of the reasonableness of the request being placed before i Parliament. Let it be clearly shown that the line will not prove, as many others, especially in the northern portions of the Colony, have proved, an expensive white elephant to the country, but that, on the contrary, the extension of the railway to ; Livingstone will not only be be a boon to the settlers in the district, but a paying 1 concern to the Colony. That such a case can be made out as will carry conviction j along with it we have little doubt. Everything is in the promoters' favor. The length of line to be constructed is short; the grades are ertremely light; of en<nneering difficulties there is a total absence; the estimated cost of the line is trifling; the amount of country to be opened is considerable; the country to be traversed for the most part is of excellent quality, and the greater portion is already under cultivation, and last, but by no means least, the line would

be the means of giving access to a large amount of Crown lands, at present rendered almost useless through the want of means of communication, but the value of which would be increased two-fold if brought within easy communication with a seaport. These are all matters which there is no disputing, for most of them are placed beyond doubt by the report of Mr. U.S.-1J hi:, the surveyor who lately reported upon the line to the Government. What is required to be done therefore is to show that the line would pay. and, as we have already said, with a little trouble proof of this might easily be obtained. It may be urged that as the line is likely to prove so good an investment there should be no necessity for going to Parliament and asking for its construction by the Colony ; and wc shall probably be told that the District Railways Act of last session provides a means by which the railway may be made. We may be asked why we do not form a companv. ami lelieve the Colony of the necessity for making the line, the answer to this is a very simple one. The line being meivlv an extension of an existing Government railway, would be a very unsatisfactory one to manage, if made by a company : for there would be a divided authoritv and a division of management upon tin; line which would tend to 110 end of inconvenience, bewilderment, and E annoyance. while the cost of management to both pal-ties would be greatly increased. Then again it would i>e necessary to have a double set of rolling stock, and a break would be made in the transit of pas.svn•_'er.s and goods which would be alike inconveni'jnt and absurd. Thus wo should have the Government railway authorities told, when they had reached the end of the Government portion of the line, thus far shall you go and no further : and the same ■•<'>■•• The double authority and double cost of management would tend to the injury of both parties, and the inconvenience of the public upon whose support the railway would depend for the recoupment of money spent upon it. It would be simply absurd to have an unbroken line of railway, the total length of which would be less "than 30 miles, under the management of two distinct bodies. For these reasons we think the line is one which should be made by the Government, and not by a public company.