RAILWAY COMMISSIONERS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 337, 26 January 1889, Page 3

RAILWAY COMMISSIONERS.

Mr Vaile asked how ifc was that the motion with regard to the appointment of Eailway Commis-sioners had nob been brought forwai cl. The Chairman explained that he had though b that Captain Ashby would give them valuable information upon immigration, and also to get his idea of the state of the country. If the members were willing to discuss the matter of Railway Commissioners he was willing, bub he thought it was worthy of a larger audience. Mr Vaiie said that if it was out of order in nob giving notice lie was sorry, but he thought that when a meeting was adjourned the whole of the adjourned business &hou,ld come 4 up at tho next meeting, Tho Chairman said that notice wag never given to the Chamber of the motion. He thought that notice must be given. "Not the slightest provision had been made for the discussion of the matter. Mr Vaile said that if the Chamber thought that the matter of appointing Railway Commissioners was of little importance, he for one did not wish to bring it forward. The Chairman said that he con.s^deyed the matter an important oipie, but he questioned whether any goo?) would come oi discussing naw> as the Government was now committed to ic. It was foy thorn to consider whether any good would come of tho discussion. There had been no intention to shelve the question. He was of the opinion that the meeting last time lapsed simply because notice of this matter wa& given. They simply thought that it wa,«i now useless to waste time by_ f,v\yfch«n discussing the Bubjecb. Mr King quite agreed with the Chairman in that ma,frfcei\ He found that the paucity o$ attendance was because Mr Voile's scheme of railway management was to be disQussed. He was of bhe opinion 1 from conversations with various members that they were all possessed with tho idea that Mr Vaile was going' to address the. Chamber uponhia scheme. He would like, to have seen the, scheme tried, but, un- ! fortunately, it was not. advertisements, he was ■ sure,, had kept peop)o away ( from the meeting, as, they thought the subject had been thrashed ouc. >

; Ho had no doubt that the mailer of ap- [ pointing the Railway Commissioners was one of great importance, and they all felt i that the Government had made a great blunder; but it could only be altered by abrogating the Railways Act ' which appointed the Commissioners. He hoped that before the Parliament assembled their members would be pledged that they would not sanction tho appointment of these Railway Commissioners. Before they had Maxwell, and now they had three of them. ECe hoped bhab their members would stand shoulder to shoulder when they returned to Wellington. At | present th'oy were called milksops because they would not stand together. The Chairman : ■' Nob' milksops, sir, they are not called milksops but soft heads." Mr King :' " Well that's about synonymous." 9 Mr Reid thought; that if any good could be done by it, Mr Vaile might bring his motion forward at the present meeting. 2 The Chairman did not think that there was a befitting audience there to consider the question, more especially when they thought of the trouble which Mr Vaile had taken in getting the matter together. He had thought so at the previous meeting when he saw the small attendance. Well, thoy were in the same position now. Nine members were now present. Still he would be quite willing to hear Mr Vaile. Mr Vaile taid that he had done the work simply as a public duty, and not as a pleasure. He was not surprised at the action taken by the Chamber, because it seemed to be the accepted opinion that the Commissioners were appointed, and therefore nothing could be said. But if they had read the Act rightly they would find that they were not appointed until gazetted, and that would not be until the first of next month. He wanted to call the attention of the Chamber and country to that Act, but he had no desire to proceed any further with the matter now. Mr LocJder said that he had made inquiries, and was informed that the Commissioneis were already appointed, and if they wanted to gef rid of them it could be done, but only by paying them five years' salary. Mr Vaile produced the Act, and said that such was not the case. Mr McLachlan considered that Mr Vaile had not been tioabed with .sufficient courtesy by the Chamber. He could but feel that the Council had taken an unwarrantable liberty with the motions of private members. Mr Vaile had given so much attention to the subject that ib was wrong to sweep his motion oft the order paper without consulting him upon the matter. Mr Milne said that Mr Vaile had not sent in any notice of motion co the Secretary. Had he done so and then been ignored, there might have been cause of complaint. It was the Council of their own free will put down the question of the appointment of Railway Commissioners. Mr Vaile said that since he had been a member of the Chamber, it had been the custom of members to bring forward business without notice at the quarterly meetings. He thought that members should have some liberty of action. He consideied it rather extraordinary that at an adjourned meeting all the business should have been swept off the order paper. The Chairman considered that the matter of the appointment of Railway Commissioners was tho motion of the Council, and that they had a right to defer ie if they chose to make room for the remarks of Captain Ash by. Mr Vaile said he did not accube either the Chairman or the Council towaids himself.