The Midland Railway.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 4 March 1908, Page 69

The Midland Railway.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir —I noticed that in a =urvey of tn» woild's history for 1907, published by onev, of your contemporaries, there was not a/ solitary reference to the Dominion of New, Zealand. It mentions events in nearly all} the other British possessions— the tuifor-,' lunate bridge in Canada, the earthquake ai ' Kingston, and the antagonism between th» Canadians and the coloured aliens in British/ Columbia, also the colour trouble in South* Africa, end many other subjects of great! , interest, but not a single word about the> great, gigantic "West Coast Seddon-WarcS railway, and its expensive white elephant tunnel, about the christening of which somei of the people of the West Coast are ! quarrelling. Many sensible peop'e on tho Coast are estimating the cost to the country, of keeping it in repair after it is finished, to say nothing about interest. Bridges,, tunnels, viaducts, river fascine formation, slips, etc., all have to be kept in repair. 1 I ask every man in New Zealand to watch, . this work, and young men especially. Don't j condemn the Government when there is •» . lull or when bad times come. It doesn't j matter what Government i 9 in power, this extravagance must stop. Our railways will be handed over to the money-lenders as soon as the loans cease. About £10,000 or £12,000 per day will be swallowed up in interest. How long will our floating capital of about' four millions last? If these railwajs pass out of our hands, the cost of freight and travelling will then be a burden on us. Our present Government has been very liberal to the working man — better wagea and shorter hours. This is good to a certain extent, but it has not in many instances* benefited the working man. It has simplygiven him a new coat and robbed him ol his trousers by nearly doubling the taxes. It is quite time things were altered. Th«, money we have borrowed (some of it has been well spent and a great deal of it wasted) has certainly enabled some fert fortunate people to make money. It is all very well to have great ideas. Our great surplus reads well at a distance. We hava another Switzerland long tunnel on the West Coast, and some of the finest scenery in the world; without doubt there is none better to be found. A little money spenfl in bridging the rivers of South Westland. I believe, would be good for the whole of? the colony. This Dominion being a country that resembles Switzerland more than any other in the world, I should very much like to see the Swiss form of Government established here, so that people could have a voice in spending their owd money. I am sure that if the public were to insist on this we should be in a better position to mcci poverty when it comes, as come it will A-her our ciedit is stopped — I am, etc . Hoeatio. 1 -

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