The Southland Times. FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 1873.

Southland Times, Issue 1693, 24 January 1873, Page 2

The Southland Times. FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 1873.

Blunders and failures on the part of the Government in attempting to complete the simplest arrangements never excite the slightest feeling of surprise. That impersonal personality, at once the servant of the public and its master, in theory responsible, and in practice the absolute embodiment of irresponsibility, habitually indulges in acts of carelessness and negligence that would ruin the finest commercial agency in the world in a twelvemonth. Yet the public, at once employer and victim, submits to the imposition with a long- Buffering patience which in the private relations ot life would be regarded as little better than idiotic. When some uuusually irritating piece of stupidity is discovered, a few of the more impatient spirits relieve their feelings and their consciences at once by reviling the powers that be, and then let the matter drop. It does not appear to bfttgeneraJly understood that every one who does so, in a country where popular institutions and liberty of speech flourish in unrestrained luxuriance, is simply " writing bimself down an ass," in the most emphatic and undeniable manner. Government, in such a country, is after all very much a reflection of the public mind ; and if anything is notoriously neglected or mismanaged, it may safely be concluded that the public, whatever it may think individually, has not been at much trouble to pronounce on the matter in its collective capacity. Aimless grumbling, or stolid acquiescence, in the case of an acknowledged grievance, are equally unmanly ; and a practical, welldirected effort for its abatement, is the only way in which the feelings bfa sensi ble man" should find expression. Having, as we trust, secured the acquiescence of our readers, so far, in regard to the general question, we proceed to lay before them an actual case in point, by which each will be able to determine for himself bis own value as. a political unit, accord-

ing to the standard above laid down.' We state the facts broadly, without any detail. Every one knows what the East JRoad was like last winter, between Woodlands . and Invercargill. It is equally well, known that it will be even worse-this winter, and that the New Zealand Meat Preserving Company will not b« able to' send any produce for ship^ ment by that route, and, having: no ot! er, will probablv suspend or greatly contract their operations. This, if it concerned the Company alone, would not merit any notice in our leading columns ; but seriously affecting as it does one of the- principal outlets for the surplus stock of the district, it must be considered a matter of public importance. To make the road would take Borne thousands of pounds. . " But why make the road at all, when the railway passes close to the works ?" Just so; here is the Government blunder, which we have been using as a text. When the railway was commenced, the contractors, Messrs Bboodbn and Sons, voluntarily and most explicitly declared that if Government provided the rails and rolling stock, the portion in question of the line would be finished before the coming winter That promise, it is understood, they are still willing to 4 fulfil. But Government have not furnished the rails rolling stock. Whose fault that ia we cannot tell ; and it appears to us that the enquiry, however interesting, is extremely unlikely to lead to any practical result of the slightest value. The materials have not been forwarded from London, and cannot bow be sent out in time. But they are to be had in Dunedin. An engine, one of two imported for the Clutha line, but which will not be required for eighteen months, and all the rails which will be needed, can be had from Dunedin at a cost for freight of some £500 or £600, while the necessary trucks can be buiit in Invercargill. The Government have been applied to, by the Railway Committee, to send this material round, but decline, for the present at least. It is possible that there is some fear of offending the Dunedin people. To take Dunedin rails to finish an Invercargill railway might appear to be a violation of propriety. In the meantime, as the rails will not be needed in Dunedin until there has been plenty of time to replace them, it seems to us an exceedingly sensible thing to do. But it certainly will not be done unless some pressure is brought to bear on the Government in the way of public agitation, and it as certainly i»ill be done if that pressure is applied persistently. Aimless grumbling, as we have already said, is of no use ; it is positively discreditable to those who indulge in it and do nothing more. Systematic agitation, steadily persevered iu, will do wonders. The matter seems to be exactly one which it falls within the province of the Railway Committee to consider. Public action usually springs from some organised centre, such as that Committee can provide, and should the agitation be successful, the Committee may lay claim to having done the State some service. There is, however, no time to lose. We cannot now count upon more than three months of fine weather, which will not be more than enough.