The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 1880

Temuka Leader, Issue 282, 17 August 1880, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 1880

The letter,.which appears in to-day's issue, from one who evidently, with ourselves, has been an observer of the doings, or rather misdoings ot the present Government, with regard to the procedure with ther railway employees joins issue "wifch us. A sh*rt time «Rgo we took notice of the responsible position held by guards and drivers. Thdft article has doubtless caught the eye of " A Lover of Justice," who can s.e neither justice nor wisdom in reducing the'.salaries of servants on whom our lives daily hang, to the level of a common navvy. We eel as strongly convinced now as when that article was written, of the gross injustice and folly of reducing the pay of these valuable servants the usual ten per cent. 10s to 12s a day io poor remuneration for placing your life daily in jeopardy, and for being liable to be pulled up at any moment for culpable homicide (even when you are doing your duty) by s'me one who may have a friend's life taken aw«y by an accident There is no doubt the "Government just now is flooded with applications from

this one or that one, who has a little influence, to spare their friend'si and it requires great firmness—greater we fear than a Hall Government possesses —to be able to resist the importunities of their friends ; but pleading the cause of the railway are pleading the cause of no exclusive friend. These officials are the friends of the whole public, in whom they are bound to place implicit confidence, if they expect to en joy a pleasant and safe journey to any part of the Colony.. A petition, it will be observed, has been sent up to Government by those public servants, praying that then little pittance may not be further reduced. The interests of the travelling public demands that this petition will not be lightly cast aside. The sum saved would be little compared with the risk that is run of having the service thinned of good trustworthy intelligent men. If it is not too late, It would be well for th« Government to pause ; even go further than that, make this an exception to the rule. Retrenchment is an absolute necessity, if we are, as a Colony, to pay our way ; but retrenchment should be judiciously conducted, regarding not the disappointment it may bring to this individual or that individual. But the National railway guard is as essential to the safety of the lives of the leagues, as the National life guard. It is to be hoped their usefulness will not be impaired by a wrong system of remunerating it.