The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 1890. THE RAILWAY COMMISSIONERS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2061, 19 June 1890, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 1890. THE RAILWAY COMMISSIONERS.

Theke is a quaint old Terse of poetry which Mr McKerrow ought to read, mark, and inwardly digest just now. Ifc ruaa as follows: " Wise men alway Affirm and say It is better for man For to apply Diligently To the business he can. A simple hatter Should not go smatter Into philology, Nor should a pedler Become a meddler In theology." As Surveyor-General Mr McKerrow was a man of mark, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his fellow-colonists. On several occasions we recommended him for his excellent administration of his department as well as for the useful hints he often threw out in his reports on the Crown lands of the colony. But Mr McKerrow, as Chief Commissioner of Eailways, is altogether a different man. Only for his reputation as Surveyor-G-eneral we should be inclined to regard him as a complete fool. At the interview between the Commissioners and the representatives of the railway servants last Monday his first words were that he would not allow the executive of the union to be the medium of conveying to the Commissioners the grievances of workmen, but in two minutes he " cayed in'' and agreed to it. In the same way throughout the whole discussionhecommenced in a blustering high and mighty style, but ended in submitting to the will of the representatives of the servants. The executive won hands down all along the line, and no whipped cur ever occupied a more humble position. JVow, is ifc not a pitiable thing that a man with a reputation like Mr McKerrow should make himself look so foolish and little as he has done all along. We should not have been surprised at Mr Maxwell. He never had a reputation and consequently he had none to loose, and yet he appeared to have acted more sensibly than Mr McKerrow during the interview. One thing the Commissioners may settle their minds upon, and it is that the servants are their masters, and that blustering bigh-and-mighti-ness will not avail now. If the Commissioners are so stupid that they cannot see it, they need only look to the result of the shearers' strike in South Australia and also to the strike in Shag Point. In these two interesting matters they have what children get at school—" object lessons" of so unmistakeableakindthat they cannot fail to understand them notwithstanding all their real or feigned stupidity. The owners of the Shag Point mine refused all efforts to settle the dispute, the secretary of the Maritime Council spent days in arguing the point with them, but instead of listening to reason they obstinately continued to persecute the men on Btrike by turning them out of their homes. The Maritime Council, finding they could not be reasoned with, sent out instructions to railway seryaats not to handle their coal or other commodities, to carters not to cart them, to dock laborers not to touch them, and so on, and next day the secretary of the Maritime Council received the following letter:—

14th June, 1890. J. A. Millar, Esq., Secretary Maritime i Labor Cuuncil of Now Zealand, Eattray street, Duoedin. Dear Sir,—As lite Muitime Council have taken action in the direction of boycotting our respective terms alround we bays no alternative left us but to agree to your proposal ODd take Blackie and Brooke back to our employment,— Yours respectfully, Hazlett and Glendinino. Cannot the Commissioners profit by this object lesson, as it is so simple that they can understand it? 'ihe Commissioners have demoralised the service in their efforts to retrench, but to do them justice we are of opinion that the G-oyernment are mostly to blame. They were instructed to "put money in their purse." and they have been trying to do so, with the result that the servants have been converted into masters of the situation. Mr McKerrow said at the interview that compliance with the requests of the railway servants would put £50,000 a year additional expenses on the working of the railwayß. So far as we can see this will have to be paid, and then where is the retrenchment. The £50,000 a year must come out of the pockets of the ratepayers in direct taxation, and , then, perhaps, the muddling and' tuddlmg of the past three years will be understood. !

COMPULSORY LEASING

We have been requested to explain now a large land owner could be compelled to lease his land. It can be done in a very simple way. All that 1 is wanted » an Act of Parliament embodying the principal features of the iiand Acquisition Bill. This bill B roTided that first of all 25 or more perTluT™ °{ Bettlin S on the land should form themselves into an association, and as a guarantee of good tairn put down a certain s Um of money. Immediately th»y had done tnis they communicated with the Go vernment, stating that they were ready to purchase Mr Somebody 'a

estate under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Bill. The Government then commenced negotiations with Mr Somebody, and if he agreed to the terms all went smoothly ; but if he «lid not compulsion became necessary. Now compulsory leasing could be carried on in a similar way. An association could be formed, the land desired could be selected, a certain amount of money could be paid down, and the Government could then transact the whole business. There never has been a more practical scheme for dealing with large estates put before the public. It can do nobody harm. The large landowner may complain that 5 per cent, is not sufficient interest, but he cannot call it robbery, socialism, or communism, as he usually does everything wbich does not suit him. The land remains his property; he gets fair interest for his money, considering he may very reasonably look forward to an " unearned increment " in the increased value of his land at the end of the lease term. The proposal serves the purposes of State as well as if the land had been sold, and it does not incur one penny risk ; the tenant gets land at a reasonable rental, and has no cause for complaint. We think this ought to become a popular scheme, for it is certainly ten times better than borrowing money to buy out large estates.

AMENDE HONORABLE.

Some time ago, when the executive of the Railway Servants and the Commissioners were at what may be stated as " daggers drawn," a meeting of the Dunedin branch of the Union was held, and at that meeting Mr Harris, the local secretary, made a speech, which appeared to us to savor of disloyalty, We knew nothing of Mr Harris, we never heard of him before, but we concluded that his strictures on the actions of the executive were inopportune and mischievous. At any other time they might be right enough, but when the battle is raging is not the time for a friend to play into the hands of the enemy. In our desire to forward the interests of the railway servants we commented sevfirely on the action of Mr Harris and accused him of disloyalty. A friend in Dunedin in whom we have unbounded confidence, and whose name, if we were permitted to publish it, would have satisfied everyone, has now called our attention to this, and says we have done a great injustice to Mr Harris. He assures us that we have misinterpreted Mr Harris's actions and words, that he hag always been a most able and energetic promoter of everything for the good of the Union, and that the Union has no more loyal member. We are very glad to hear it, and have no hesitation in giving it due publicity, so as to counteract any erroneous impressions which our former strictures published on May 22nd last may cause. We may add, also, that the source of our information is unquestionable, so that no one need doubt Mr Harris's loyalty and trustworthiness. One thing we desire to add, and we trust our suggestions will be adopted. If, in future, any disagreements take place between the executive and the various branches we hope they will keep them amongst themselves. Disunion is a sign of weakness, of which the enemy is ever ready to take advantage. If disunion or disagreement ezisti, let the railway servants hide it as long as possible, and then none of them will be misunderstood, as Mr Harris evidently h&i been in this matter.