THE RAILWAY QUESTION.

Southland Times, Issue 699, 22 July 1867, Page 3

THE RAILWAY QUESTION.

(TO THE. EDITOIt- OP THE' SOUTHLAND' TptES.) ! Sib, — The spurious arguments ardseur¥ility of your contemporary 's dence on the question of railway eitensiori is much', to be regretted^ and': tends td lower the high moral tone which:... should be a characteristic' of the priblic press detracting," moreover, from the utility of any nomoebpathic grains of commonsense which .might perchance find their' way into the "News-;" nothing" is more'; indicatiye of fallacious argument and want of ! marital -yigour than resorting to personal abuse and venomous invective. ;./ ... -: In .discussing the merits of an important question,, nothing is so calculated to bias fair judgement and : to create an irritable feeling as the letters which have recently, appeared in the columns of your contemporary.' Charges more reckless and less supported by fact I have seldom met with ; the purport of their diatri-bes-is so '.obscure that I can only attribute-,, them to personal spleen. Should there be any truth in the accusation made against the late Executive by! the friends and partisans of those now holding office, I trust there will ' be no, • f sharianagan"(if this word is not spelt cor-; rectly I beg to refer my readers to the Pro-! vincial Secretary,: and that we shall have a; fair and candid statement of the alleged 1 malpractices before the "next election, as the accusers are now behind the scene. ■ It is a hopeful "sign of future prosperity that the colonists of Southland are at last bestirring themselves to obtain good and honest representatives by the formation, of an Electoral ,Assc\ciation, and I hope one of its chief* objects will be to oppose ; the insidious attacks. ; of ■ the squatting league, composed of men, who are of far less value to the province than 'the v : pro- ! vince to them ; it is lamentable to see members of the Council become ithe mere tools ,of ; a Bquatocr.acy. :Whilst:fully:alive to the advantages derived from pastoral settlement in the early days of colonisation, I deprecate the. evident attempt on the part of the squatters to , convert this Province into one vast sheep run, by their persistent opposition to every progresssive movement. It is unquestionably upon agricultural pursuits, that the future. .welfare of, the province mainly depends, but to encourage the farmer to settle upon the Waste Lands, our policy should tend to open up for him a cheap and convenient means of reaching a market for the disposal of his produce. From ; the great difficulty and expense of forming ' and keeping in repair metal roads, owing to the sparse supply of suitable material n the Province, 1 am of opinion that a railway of light construction is the cheapest, most permanent, and remunerative mcde of transport for. the Council :to adopt, and I think it is impossible to over-estimate the wisdom of the Stafford Ministry in- offering us such a liberal grant out of our 'insolvent estate for the purpose of constructing lines of railway only. They evidently at Wellington are better aware of what is suited to our requirements than the majority of our mis? representatiyes. Give us but cheap and convenient means of transport, and |we shall soon have a large agricultural population, which alone is required to make this Province one of the fairest spots on" earth. Sincerely hoping that the days of Provincialism are numbered, and that we fc shall soon be relieved of the terrible incubus of providing twenty men of sufficient legislative capacityjjto represent the true interests of the Province in the Council from our very limited population, I remain, Sir, your's &c, ■ - . ■ ■ A. Cockatoo. Oteramika, 15th July, 1867.