The Oamaru Mail TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1227, 23 March 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1880.

It will be remembered that one of the iotteat debates that occurred in the if erase during last session -was that -which arose ont of the propositi of the Government to», in the language of the lion- the Minister for Public Works, "nui those companies -which have been formed under 'The District Railways Act'/* Parties were somewhat mixed in their views orf this question, and political friends. who luui alniost unftiKngty accompanied rich other into the lobbies since the formation ot what—in contradistinction to tbe Qovemment, ( -which also claims to be liberal—is called ! the original Literal party, parted comjmny- It would occupy a volume of space to follow the arguments of hon. members, pro rind coti., on this <jups-. tion, and we think that it would not answer Any good purpose were we to' give our readers arty opportunity of ■wading through them. Suffice it to su,v that, at a certain stage of the debate, the question was somewhat feriKtght into a incus I>y the receipt of a message from His Exceikmey recommending the House to guarantee the Waimea Pfarns Comjtany, the Dyntroon and Hakarterameti Company, the Wttiooate Branch Company, and the

debentures to,the 'cent, upon the ri&ountxnosc companies'had expended. OntliePremiermoving : 'thattheniessage be referred to a committee of the whole House," Sir George Grey moved an amendment setting forth in detail the reasons why consideration of- the question should be deferred until the following session. Thereupon a spirited debate ensued, in which the members for Waitaki took a prominent part. Mr. Hislop, announced in well-chosen, words his allegiance to Mr. Macandrew as recognised leader of the Opposition, -and - expressed astonishment thati the question had been made a purely party one. During the course of his speech, he said—

So far as I understand the proposal, it 13 that we should, in such a way as we can, consistently with preserving the rights of the public, help certain companies whicli have for their object the opening up of certain lands in the colony. It does not matter to ine whether these lands are Crown lands or private property. I have not much sympathy with the system whicli has been urged of simply making public works—of constructing roads—which will go through Crown lands. I believe in public works which will have the effect of increasing the capital.of the country, and which are for the benefit of the whole colony, whether those public works benefit private property or. not. What we have to look at is this : that the public revenue shall not be lessened/by the works which are to be liade?iaken. Under the proposal before us, I think we have a guarantee that there will be no j loss to the colony. It is only proposed to : guarantee the debentures to a limited extent —some 75 per cent. That is no more in fact, it is a great deal less —than would be done by the colony in the shape of subsidies to Road Boards and other local bodies constituted for the purpose of carrying out public works. So long as we hare public works carried out and the revenue of the colony preserved, I say it does not * matter to us whether these public works be carried out by private individuals or by corporate bodies. Now, some honorable members seem to take a prejudiced view of this case altogether. I remember that last night, so far as one of the line 3 is concerned, it was urged in support of the proposal—by the honorable member for Port Chalmers, I believe — that, had the work not been undertaken by one of these companies, it would have beep by this time constructed. I speak of tills "line because I know more ahotft it than I do of the other lines. The Government have contributed LIO,OOO towards the construction of that line, in the shaDe of bridges. The company have all their plant in the colony, I believe; and all the bridges, which are the main part of the work, have been constructed. The question is this : whether we shall allow this capital, which i 3 unproductive at the present time, to remain unproductive, or whether we shall, by a little timely assistance, aid in bringing that capital into use. I say that, so long as we do not introduce into the colony any system which will be abused, or which js hound to be abused without the exercise of some vigilance on the part of members of this House, and so long as, in the proposals which are intended to be carried out, we see that the revenue of the colony will not suffer, I can see no earthly reason why the proposals should not he gamed out. Instead of showing excess of virtue, I think it shows excess of jealousy on the part of those honorable members who, simoly because a proposal of this kind will benefit certain individuals at the same time that it benefits the colony, would throw it over.

We contend that any lion, member, having divested himself of party animus, could not dissent from the opinions so tei-sely expressed by Mr. Hislop. The reasons which he gave for .supporting the proposal under discussion are so convincing that we feel that the hon. gentleman has left us littie. if any, room to add anything thereto, without unnecessarily encumbering our comments by going over the same ground as that traversed by him. We need .scarcely say that 31 r. Hislop's -side gained a somewhat qualified victory, and that the House ultimately agreed that a sum of L 60,000 should be advanced to the previously mentioned district railway companies on ciie .security of their debentures. This is a very different thing from the proposal to advance 75 per cent, on the amount they had expended, but it y/a.s accepted for the reason that it is better to half a loaf than no bread at all. But we want to know how the Government has earned out the decision of the House regarding this matter. It is rumored that advances have been made to the Waimea Plains Company to the extent of L 40,000, on a guarantee being given by the Company that they will "finish the line for that amount. We have no objection to the Waimea Plains Company getting its fair share of assistance from the Government. •They are constructing a Jjjis that will benefit the Company, but it "»\iU also benefit the Colony. if the minor be true that the Company have secured two-thirds of the whole amount voted by Parliament for the assistance of district railways, they have secured more than their share. This Company has virtually consumed the meat and left little more than bone for its companions in misery. We are aware that the Ashburton Forks Company have been piloted through their pecuniary diificultiesi by Mr. John Anderson, the contractor for Jheir line, who accepted the Company's debentures, flTul that they do not therefore require any assistance from the Government. " We are also aware that the Company organised to extend the Waimate Bush line a distance of ten miles inland have disposed of their plant to the Government. But the Company, through selling their plant to the Government, or any one else, in order to enable them to tide over a difficulty, do not incur forfeiture of all claim to a share of the sum allotted. From what we pan learn, the Companyare still anxious to construct this line, which they affirm would cost only 1.30,000. and open np GO,OOO acres of country equal in quality to that in the ■ Waiareka Valley, and from which a large quantity of produce would travel over the main line. Why, then, should such a line be shelved at the will of Ministers ? Then there is the line of the Duntroon and Hakateramm Com]>any. A large amount of work has been done in .-connection with this line, which starts from Duntroon. The whole of the small bri/Iges have been completed at a cast of nearly L 9,000, inclusive of a bridge over the Maerewheriua, constructed by the Government at a cost of L 2,700. The WaintaU' »ud W iutaikj. .County Councils- and the Government ha**o also agreed to expend lilo.OGO towards the construction of a bridge in connection with this line over the Upper Waitaki. Already about LIO,OOO ihav-e been expended on this work, to-

wards which the Company will have to contribute their quota. This bridge will connect the Hakateramea Valley with Oamaru, and render a large and important district accessible. - It' lias been asserted that the country though which this line will travel is in ; private hands. If such were actually the" ;case it affords no argument why it-should not be constructed. We are of Mr. Hislop's opinion in this respect. The Kurow deferred payment blocks, consisting 0f... about ,9.0,00. were" taken iip on "the understanding that the railway was to be constructed, and -some -oi^which—realised -the some figure of L 8 per acre—no doubt in_the_ reasonable jof railway communication—would be opened i up" by the this line. The success of these settlers depends upon the promised facilities being provided for "•etting their produce to market. It will also open up 100,000 acres of land in tlie Hakateramea Valley, a large proportion of which is being worked vigorously by settlers who have proved themselves worthy pioneers, and the whole of the Upper Waitaki Plains to the westward. That a line which promises such advantages should receive the assistance of the Government there can be no doubt. Yet the Government chose to treat it as of secondary importance, and offered the company the L 20,000 remaining from the L 60,000 voted, after granting L 40,000 to the Waimea Plqiijs Company, provided the company guaranteed tP finish the line for that sum. Such 3, thing Tvas, of course, impossible, .and we Syould Hke tg Ipiow what the Government intend tq do under the circumstances. The Government, in their dilemma, now refer the company to the Railway Commission. Why was ij.cjt the Waimea' Plains Company referred •to the Commission 1