The Evening Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 865, 23 January 1879, Page 2

The Evening Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 1879.

1/ we are to> believe the statement made by Mr. Kftttr at ttie Kelly and teoii Mrntttreh* entertainment list evening---and ww see no reason to tloubt the truth of what he "satd—railway aflairs arc not so weß managed in Dunedin as they should be.. According to Mr. Kmav's statement, » portion of the company's luggage w»* sent down to the Dunedin station the day before the company left for Oamaru, bttt up to last evening it had not been fotwarded to it.* destination. The consequence was that a change had to be nude in the programme. This was not a very serious, matter s<» far as the audience were concerned, and they accepted the announcement with a very good grace ; but the neglect or inability of the department to fulfill it* obligations to the company becomes a matter of public importance when, we consider what might have been the result had the management trusted to the whole of their paraphernalia being forwarded to Oamaru after they had left '• the metropolis. What would have been the result under such circumstances i The company would have been compelled to break faith with the public by not giving :»n entertainment, and would have been severe losers in consequence. Whether the department would have been liable for damages or not is a question for the ■ Bench and Bar to decide, but we shrewdly suspect that an action for damages would not have been unsuccessful, and that the public purse would have suflered. But it is not only in this light that we have to look upon the matter. If delays occur in i the forwarding of the luggage of a travelting company who are to remain for three days only in the town to which their goods are to be forwarded, must we not suppose that vexatious delays also occur in the transmission of merchandise by railway from Dunedin to Oamaru ? The very natural reply to this question must undoubtedly be in the affirmative. It U in ; this way that the question becomes one of importance to the public; and on this ground we, as representing the public, ask for some explanation. The line is an exceedingly bad one, at any rate for some portion of the way from Dunedin, and we are perfectly well aware that id is impossible for an engine to draw tt very heavy load up some of the steep grades. But surely a few boxes of theatrical wardrobe, &e., would not be too great a strain upon the powers of the railway engines, more especially when there are some five trains a day leaving Dunedin for Oamaru, and two or three day* to (tt> the work in. Of course it is probable that a large amount of freight previously booked was. awaiting transit to Oamaru, and that, acting up toihe letter of the ott-repeated saying. " First come first served.'" the department kept back the minstrels' boxes until their proper turn came round. This, however, cannot be accepted as a valid excuse, for under these circumstances the railway officials in Dunerfin should and must have kn»wn that they coiitd not forward the luggage in the proper time, and should have acted straightforwardly, however great the commentary might have been on the efficiency of our railways, and at once have told the management that the work could not be performed, and thus have afforded them an opportunity of getting their luggage brought by steamer. This would have been acting, fairly, though the admission to be made- might have been humiliating. We commend the matter to the consideration of Mr. Otuutt, the General Manager, with a hope that, in his zeal to promote the public good and render the Railway Department thoroughly reliable, he will cause an enquiry to be made. The credit of our railway system is at stake. The Kelly and Leon minstrels are people who travel to all parts of the universe, and should they leave our shores under the impression that they nave had a fair sample of how our railway aifairs are eondueted.jwe shall be made the butts for the : sneers and ridicule of every country that . know* how brines* should be transacted.