The Southland Times. INVERCARGILL : TUESDAY, JULY 22

Southland Times, Issue 1770, 22 July 1873, Page 2

The Southland Times. INVERCARGILL : TUESDAY, JULY 22

The proposal of Messrs Brogdes & Sons "to entrust to a company the construction and management of the public railways in New Zealand,*' involves so many grave considerations, and is open iv so many respects to argument, that upon the present occasion it is desirable simply to j set forth its particular features without j comment. Having done this, we shall, lat an early date, analyze and comment upon the proposal. Messrs Beogde.y & Sons start with the assumption " that the construction and management of railways can be more economically and efficiently carried on by private enterprise, in the form of commercial companies, aided by Government in the way of legis- , lation and guarantee of profit on the capital invested, than by any direct Government machinery." In proof of this assumption, reference is made to old and new countries in which the adoption of the principle has been attended with success. To this follows the consideration of the risk which must necessarily be incurred by companies in new countries, and the conclusion is arrived at that the Governments of such new countries " should willingly hold out substantial inducements to those who are prepared to embark private capital in constructing and managing railways." The methods by which these " inducements" are to be effected are next pointed out, being either by " grants of public land," or "by a Government guarantee to the shareholders of a minimum rate of interest." The former of these two methods is by Messrs Bbogden & Sons considered obI jectionable in the caße of New Zealand, because of the Provincial system allowing different land laws in the several Pro vinces, and further by the complication which would arise to a company " by the details of managing a large and yet scattered landed estate." JThe first feature in the proposal is " to secure a Government guarantee of a minimum rate of iuterest on the capital of a company which shall take over all existing railways in New Zealand, and contract to make all that are further required, on a definite and comprehensive plan " The proposal then Considers the geographical division and natural features of the country, with the view of showing the main lines and branches which ought necessarily to be, or which might be legitimately (with reference to the return) constructed. In dealing with these considerations, the population, imports and exports, revenue and expenditure, and possible future of, the country, receive their share of atten- j ! tion. The conclusion fis arrived at that 11 to every reflecting observer the evils of employing direct Government machinery for this purpose will be at once apparent." The reasons assigned for this conclusion are the ill consequences of political influence, "firstly, in the determination of the lines to be adopted, the best for connecting attractive unpeopled districts with good ports and with each other," it being assumed that this political influence will often be exercised against " the best interests of the Colony at large, and the successful settling of an incoming population in the most available locali ties. Secondly, in the selection and appointment of oflicers and workmen for the preparatory and final surveys, the construction, and for the management when constructed, the exigencies of Parliamentary influence being almost sure to prevail over the legitimate selection of the most competent and experienced men." The objections urged are supported by the assumed probability of there being under Government management, in many cases "three sets of officers being employed — those of the Colony, the Provincial Government, and the intending or actual i contractor ;" the results being " a partial execution of numerous desultory works," and " great general inefficiency and excessive and unnecessary cost of management, so that exorbitant rates of freight must be imposed in order to cover working expenses." A« an illustration, reference is made to the charge on the Canterbury railways for freight of coal, being sixpence per ton per mile, while in the United Kingdom and in the United States, the freight is a little over a halfpenny. Having dealt with the evils of a Government construction and management, the proposal proceeds to show the advantages of the construction and management by companies, whose object would be to make " the investment pay," which could not be done unless the lines were so laid out and the management such as to secure I the largest amount of profitable business. { The precarious nature of Government finance is urged as an incident which could not affect the prosecution of the | work by a company, and the economy of management by a company is also insisted upon. The repayment of all past expenditure to the Colony is held to be a matter of great advantage, and this with the benefit of the avoidance of political scrambles, and the. value of the unity of the company's action, completes the advantages suggested by the proposal. The legislative security which will be required is specified both as regards the powers" of the company and the provisions for securing a minimum rate of interest on the capital. The arguments by which the proposal is sustained will receive i attention when the subject ib again adverted to. Among the modifications which have occurred to Messrs Bbogden & Sons since their first proposal to the Government, is the very important one giving to the Government " the option of resuming the whole or any part of the property and management within periods and on conditions to be previously agreed on and definitely enacted." Another modification, requiring a provision for fixing a proportion of snares to be disposed of in New Zealand, and with reference to local directors and agents, will also commend itself to attention, j Whatever may be the opinion of individual members of the community upon

the proposal, it is but duo to Messrs Buogden & Sons to say that tho matter is fairly and candidly put before the public. A sketch map accompanies the proposal, and in the interests of the Colony . it is the duty of everyone to weigh "well the subject, and to make an expression by which the Legislature miy be guided when the question is again brought before Parliament.