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Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1307, 15 June 1880, Page 2

So the Railway Commission appointed by the present Ministry at a cost of L3OOO is not likely after all to result in any good, this is the conclusion forced upon us by the "statements contained in two Ministerial -journals. * These statements are made by correspondents at Wellington who appear to be in the confidence of the Government, for they write with a'degree of authority that certainly indicates Ministerial prompting. We have therefore little doubt as to the correctness of the information they supply. We are told that the. Hon. Mr. Oliver will not deliver his Public Works Statement for a fortnight at least, and perhaps not then. The reason given is that the statement obviously must depend " to some extent" upon the report of the Railway Commission, otherwise the appointment of that Commission would be a farpe. We ask our readers to mark this well: The public works proposals of the Government will " to some extent only" depend upon the report of the Commission. There can be no mistake about this fact, for we are informed further on that this report will not be ready for nearly a month, and that "some sort" of ad interim report will probably be presented, sufficient to enable Mr. Oliver to frame his statement and estimates in accordance with the Commissioner's recommendations, "so far as the Government concur in them." If this does not mean that, despite any recommendations the Commission may make, the Government mean to do very much as they like in regard to the works to be undertaken, it means nothing. When this Commission was appointed we were told that it was a necessity in order to have information of a reliable nature as to which line would be remunerative and which would not; that it would strengthen the hands of the Ministry in their attempt to check the construction of political railways ; that the Ministry would be guided entirely by the recommendations of an "independent" Commission as to what works it was desirable to carry out; that the House would be asked to support the Government in carrying out their determination to have no more political railways ; that by the appointment of a Commission to report upon all proposed works the Government would be relieved from the unduepressureof clamorous members; and that the task of inquiring into the relative merits of the different works was of so vast a nature that the Ministry could-not undertake to perform it thoroughly, while it was necessary, in order that the report might be free from the slightest taint of suspicion of favoritism, that the work should be removed from all political influence. These were the arguments used in support of the appointment of the Royal Railway Commission. Now, let us see what the result has been. The Commission was launched into existence under bad auspices. The Government selected the whole of its members from the ranks of their supporters, and appointed as Commissioners men who, with one exception, possess no special qualifications for the work they were supposed to perform. Then the Minister for Public Works made a tour through the Colony, and recommended deputations in all manner of places to press all manner of railways upon the attention of the Commissioners. The Commissioners, accompanied by a couple of reporters, followed in his wake on a flying visit through the country, rushiDg hither and thither, hastily gathering "information" from this source and that, looking wisdom itself the while; inspecting casually the works in progress in some directions and viewing from afar those in other directions —all at the expense of the Colony. Everybody, save plain matter-of-fact people, who looked upon the whole affair as a gigantic fraud, was on the tiptoe of expectation and looked forward to something wonderful being achieved. Ministerial supporters said, " wait till its report is received, and you will see that this Commission has been the means of doing a vast amount of everlasting good by putting a stop to all political railway jobbery for the future." Simpleminded folk were thus led to believe that after all this Commission was a splendid thing for the country, and that no matter what the expense might be it would be cheap at the money. What is the result ? The Government intend to maintain the privilege of pleasing themselves and their friends ; to set at defiance the recommendations of the Commission; to propose such works as are necessary to secure support; to consider the report of the Commission only when it tends to strengthen their handß in opposing railway construction in districts from which they have nothing to gain ; to say in effect that, although they appointed this Commission to do a certain work, there was no necessity for that work to be performed; to declare that they are the best judges of what railways will pay and are required ; to demonstrate clearly that after all they have no intention of altogether ruling the country bv Commissions; and to pay cheerfully the expenses - attendant upon a pleasant, but fruitless, trip through the | country for their friends. This, then, is | the result of one of the Commissions ; this, then, is the outcome of the expenditure of L3OOO of the money drawn from the pockets of the oppressed and longsuffering taxpayers of the Colony. And yet the present is a wise and economic Government.