South Canterbury Times. MONDAY, APRIL 11, 1881.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2514, 11 April 1881, Page 2

South Canterbury Times. MONDAY, APRIL 11, 1881.

There are few men in New Zealand who hare been subjected to a larger share of public attention than the Hon. Mr Oliver. . Since he accepted a portfolio as Minister of Public Works he has gone through a curriculum of technical training Avhich, however severe or disagreeable for the time being, must, if he possesses any capacity for improvement, be highly profitable. He has been subjected to an ordeal, Avhich though suggestive of his importance as the political head of an extensive department, and perhaps on that account flattering, must be somewhat trying even to a Minister of strong nerve and cast-iron constitution. Petitioned and intervieAved by discharged or reduced servants, bearded in his den by discontented deputations, waited for by the Press in order to be sat upon, Mr Oliver’s official existence has certainly been breezy. Yet for a Minister of mediocre attainments, who has the misfortune to hail from the capital of Otago and is consequently a political outcast, Mr Oliver, in all the storms that assailed him has displayed admirable staying qualities. He has neither fallen off in flesh, nor has he become dejected in spirit, and his spectacles rest as gracefully on his features as they did before he became acquainted with the anxieties and antipathies of Ministerial life. On several occasions he has been denounced as the Jpnah of the present Cabinet, and

numerous writers have consigned him to the deep, but, strange to say, like the renowned Captain Barry he has kept on the outside of the whale. Mr Oliver has been stabbed by poisoned quills, but he has . a thick skin and a constitution that is proof against ordinary detraction. He has been been knocked down by blows from behind and jumped on repeatedly, but he only rises up refreshed. He has borne the iniquities of railway freights on his shoulders yet he stands as erect as ever. In a word he resembles the old lady in “ the annuity,” who to the horror of the Edinburgh lawyer, refused to die, in spite of all his deadly designs and devices. The hostile critics of Mr Oliver, to whose unremitting attention he must, if he has any ordinary gratitude in his composition, feel for ever indebted, are about to experience a very happy surprise. The railway receipts have taken a turn for, the better, and it is anticipated that the gross receipts will reach £BBO,OOO. Instead of a deficiency of £150,000 being exhibited in accordance with the fond conjectures of Mr Oliver’s reviewers, the railway revenue for the year is likely to come within £70,000 of the estimate. It is also said that a saving of £50,000 has been effected in the expenditure, and to those who believe in retrenchment this result must be highly gratifying. When it is considered that Mr Oliver has been hampered in his administration by a variety of powerful influences, and that the railway tariff has been altered and modified repeatedly in order to prevent the owners of badly situated estates becoming utterly dejected, the figures are surprising. For it must not be forgotten that the universally prevailing stagnation of business has affected materially the railway revenue, and that owing to the abundance of idle horseflesh and the merely nominal price of fodder the railway goods traffic has had to contend against a most exceptional and and trying kind of competition. The conditions from which the railway revenue has suffered may be regarded as temporary, but the saving in working expenses should be and for this reason Mr Oliver can afford to look bis jaundiced critics in the face and smile through the greenest part of his goggles. But although we have the heartiest contempt for the captious criticism that has been levelled at the Minister for Railways, we, by no means, admire the way in which the railways of New Zealand are managed. To anyone at all acquainted with the methods pursued in the adjacent colonies,the causes of the railways here being such a burden to the taxpayer must be very evident. There are several important reforms required before any large improvement in the receipts can be expected. It is notorious that one branch of traffic —the passenger—is frightfully bungled. In New South Wales and Victoria this branch is carefully cultivated, ; and it has proved highly productive. People are encouraged to travel, and trips by rail in 'fine weather are regarded as popular amusements. During the summer season the Hues are kept busy with school excursions, special trains are hired at reasonable rates, and the visits of children and their friends and teachers are highly beneficial, not only to themselves, but to the communities with which they mingle. During the Easter and other holidays fares are reduced to such an extent as to make travelling almost universal. Instead of the conventional “ single returns” that we find in New Zealand the fares are reduced to one-fourth and one-sixth of their ordinary rates, and in place of miserable inch and a half advertisements travellers are brought face to face with mammoth posters that would do credit to an American circus. This is what we call railway enterprise, and it is very distinct from the system that we see pursued in New Zealand, where the passenger tariff for long distances is simply outrageous, so much so that steamers travelling between Timaru and Dunedin are able to compete successfully with the railway lines. Before the railways of New Zealand can be rendered profitable, the fossils and slow-coaches under whose directions the traffic is dwarfed must be got rid of, and the introduction of fares that will induce people to travel not only for business but for pleasure must be insisted upon. We do not know whether Mr Oliver possesses the firmness requisite to the carrying out of these reforms, but we cannot close our eyes to the fact that he has done a good deal both to diminish the working expenses and augment the revenue of the department, and if he resigned his portfolio to-morrow he would leave the railways of the colony in a far more piomising condition than that in which he found them.

It is said that in the course of the legislation of the ensuing session another attempt will be made to amend the licensing laws. If so, it is. to be hoped that the measure will not be discussed and proceeded with up to a certain stage only to bo suddenly dropped as was dene twelve months ago. Altogether, apart from any intrinsic merits that a new statute for the regulation of the intoxicating traffic may possess, it is extremely desirable that a uniform system should be established. The existence of special regulations for districts divided from each other by creeks and rivers is most objectionable. For instance, it is a cruel and monstrous injustice to the people of Otago that, unlike their follow colonists on this side of the Waitaki, they should be cursed with a bottle license. The consequences of this active disseminator of vices and crime may be traced in the records of the Otago police. Immediately Canterbury is left and the Wai taki is crossed the social conditions of life arc found to be entirely changed. In every town of any consequence the evide* as of crime, poverty, and depravity abound. Oamaru with its dancmg houses and sly-grog shops has contributed over two hundred offenders during the past three

months, and it is a notorious fact that for years past the time of the Dunedin Bench has been chiefly taken up and its gaol and hospital to a large extent occupied by drunkards and prostitutes. It requires no ingenious argument to establish the close relationship that exists between rampant depravity and the bottle license as it flourishes in Otago. The fact that it is-the most drunken and depraved division in New Zealand, and that it is the home of the bottle license should be sufficient to show the connection. Yet the wine merchants and grocers of Otago are a most respectable body of tradesmen. Many of them attend church regulary, contribute handsomely to the Benevolent Institution and other charities, take a lively interest in Sunday schools, and vigorously support the Bible-in-schools agitation. We have no doubt they would be perfectly horrified if told that they are living on the wages of iniquity, and that despite their magnificent virtues, their profits are the proceeds of social infamy. If challenged they apply the balm to their consciences that by retailing bottled iniquity along, with tea, sugar, and potatoes, they are merely carrying out a very necessary and useful ordi-nance-next perhaps to that of baptism. It seldom or never occurs to them that in contributing up to a late hour on Saturday night to the orgies of a drunken Sunday, and wearing a solemn visage in the pew next morning, they are pursuing a course of life that is not very consistent even in a gilded age. If the Legislature, however, intend discharging the solemn duty that they owe to society throughout the colony, they will close their eyes and ears this session to the petitions of the merchants and tradesmen who represent the “unco guid ” in Otago, and take away that hideous blemish called the bottle license, which we honestly believe is responsible for nine-tenths of the drunkenness and prostitution and half the crime and misery that abounds in that part of the colony.