The Patea Mail. (Published Wednesday and Saturdays.) WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1880. TO THE PUBLIC.

Patea Mail, Volume VI, Issue 506, 7 April 1880, Page 2

The Patea Mail. (Published Wednesday and Saturdays.) WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1880. TO THE PUBLIC.

With this issue, the Patea Mail begins a hew chapter. Promises shall be few : performances will speak for themselves. Some indication of ihe policy and plans of the new management will be expected, and these shall be indicated m a few words. Carlyle being the commercial purl of an extensive district of present importance and great promise, the journal which claims to represent its interests ought to keep pace in character and strength with the c.,.,r fi^Ls .'i>.n. mauioL. ir there lias been room for disappointment in this particular, we ask the public to give us the benefit of a fresh start, letting past regrets pass into oblivion, and turning with cheerful confidence to welcome all the good which a promising future can give. The Mail will he enlarged and published three times a week. This change shall be made visible at, the earliest practicable date ; and we will then challenge comparison with any journal in the North island, excepting only the larger papers at Wellington and Auckland. The Mail will be found much more efficient and complete as a news sheet than hitherto. Its reports of local and district affairs will be on a scale not previously attempted, all important meetings being reported verbatim. Its telegraphic news will bo as late and as full as the best facilities of the Post-office enable us to obtain by expenditure and energy. The interests and affairs of adjacenttowns,especially Hawera, Waverley, Nonnanby, and other populous places, will be reported and discussed promptly and fully. The Editorial management of the Mail is that portion of our enterprise which admits of no preliminary flourish. An Editor who understands journalism) and is not a dreaming ilbviee, cannot be expected to say more than that he hopes to earn public confidence by merging hia identity in the journal he conducts. Mr Joseph Ivess resumes the proprietorship of the Mail, and it is his intention to publish this journal in a style creditable to himself as an experienced manager. The office is being enlarged, and in a few days a new machine and steam engine will be set up. A complete stock of now type is also lying at the wharf awaiting officeroom. When this new equipment is put into working order, the Mail will be presented to the public in a form much superior to that which they have known hitherto.

THE RAILWAY CONFLICT. The Minister for Public Works lias visited Patea harbor, in company with Mr Blackett, Engineer-in-Cluef, ami having conferred with representatives of onr public bodies, and brought their common-sense to bear on the vexed question ot a site for the railway station and wharves, we may now await with confidence an early and impartial decision on the facts of the case. Mr Olliver promises to review the whole matter when he returns to Wellington a fortnight hence, and he affirms with honest emphasis that his decision shall be unbiassed by any consideration of private interest. That is all we could •possibly expect as a community,

Let the question of railway route he determined with a single r-gard to the ' best interests of the Fatca district. Um ■greatest good to the greatest number should be our sole contention. If a few members of this community have private interests which appear to clash witli the greater interests of the town as a whole, we may reasonably expect them to subordinate those separate interests as a duty they owe to the town. Their contention may that the promotion of these separate interests would in no way jeopardise the prosperity ot the town. Where that is so, the case ought to be so strong on the face of it as'to carry conviction to all fair minds. The townspeople can have no desiic to injure the legitimate enterprise ot individuals, for private enterprise is the essence of public progress. When that enterprise is pushed to lengths so unreasonable as to compel a community to combine in self-defence, there must surely be some ground for a suspicion that public interests are in danger ot being sacrificed to private speculative greed. A suspicion so unworthy ought not to enter into the public affairs of ibis mtelIb'ent community. On the part of this journal, no such suspicion shall influence our advocacy of public interests We refuse to harbour an unworthy thought ao-ainst eminent townsmen. There may have been misunderstanding, hut let ns pull together, and do everything aboveboard.

So far as the Patea Mail can contribute by public usefulness to a sound decision,'our advocacy and good-will arc pledged henceforth to an earnest, honest, unflinching, and we hope intelligent promotion of public interests as opposed to those of scheming minorities. consideration of private profit shall blunt our judgment in choosing the right, and standing by it with judicious persistency. In this matter of the railway, facts must be faced. Is it a fact that a railway can bo brought along the town side nt the river as cheaply as on the farther side 7 Is it a fact that the farther side is in private hands, while the town side is public piopeity I s it a fact that a station on „Mc would promote the growth ot the town and bring into increased value its public reserves ? Is it a fact that a station on the farther-side would promote the growth of a port suburb on the Swamp, filling the pockets of luilt-a-dozen speculative owners, but retarding by so much the concurrent increase in the value of town allotments ? Is it a fact that all the land along the town side would be given free for the railway line iuid for terminus requirements ? If, therefore, those be the main facts on which a judgment has to be formed and a public advocacy has to be based, there cannot and shall not be hesitation about the opinion of this journal. If there be other material facts not known to ns, let them be placed before the puhlh* A« a,c coo oLands, and iwwo muhTStaild IC, we have no logical option but to infer that the contention of the public, as expressed at recent meetings, is unquestionably right. Being right, we hope it will prevail.