THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAT, AUGUST 29, 1878.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2976, 29 August 1878, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAT, AUGUST 29, 1878.

The Public Works Statement is much: more satisfactory in a general sense than was the Financial Statement of the Colonial Treasurer"; in that it deals with the pro-' gress of the greatscheme which dates from a period anterior to the accessionto power; of the present Ministry, although it may: be said that the Minister of Public Works: whose statement is under notice was very closely 'connected with the statesman; whose; name will everbe associated with the Public Works and Emigration policy, in the carrying out' of which this Colony has distanced its contemporaries in the race of progression. In population, settlement of lands, development of resources, and, we may say, accumulating a national debt, Nett Zealand has made rapid strides in advance of her neighbors. But in the matter of population the advantage is all on the side of the Colony, while the augmentation, of the national debt has been in the direction of what must prove to be ':■ a reproductive. work—opening the country by means of" railways. The first great debt New Zealand incurred was the . three million loan for defence purposes in the North Island. That may be said to be the nucleus of our national debt, although before that liability had been incurred ' some indiscriminate borrowing by the Provinces had been indulged in ; and now we rejoice in a national debt of a respectable amount, somewhere between twenty and thirty millions of pounds, which thepresent

Government seem disposed to increase. In this we recognise an endorsement of tho policy of Sir Julius Vogel; and as that policy is admitted to have so largely contributed to an increase of settled population, agriculture, and trade, we cannot be surprised at .the present administration proposing measures for an extension of that policy. Indeed it may safely be said that, had they been ever so much opposed to the scheme of Public Works of their predecessors, tho force of circumstances and existing requirements must hare forced them to the conclusion that retreat was impossible. They must either continue what had been, begun by the Ministry that had preceded them, or meet certain failure in endeavoring t© stem the tide of progress. Wisely, as we thifik, Ministers have accepted the good parts of their predecessors' policy, especially in re" gard to th,e public works department 1 and railway extension. Their reform policy has little or nothing to do with this phase of Ihe Colonial question. Under the present rule there may be fewer political railways, authorised or constructed, but more utility works carried out. The Statement of the Hon. tlie Minister for Public Works war-; rants us in the belief that the.intentions; of the Government. are based upon the wants of the ■country. We may be accused of selfishness in so expressing ourselves, but none the less we must- say that the Government,' in elaborating the scheme of railway communication throughout the Colony, could not ignore the claims of Thames to consideration in that system; and although we are thankful to Ministers for including us in their projects, we do not lose sight of the fact.that it is no more than our ri^ti;. The Thames has shown a self-reliant spirit throughout, and to that spirit may be traced the origin of the Districts Kail way Bill. If the Parliament affirm the desirability of making a railway connection between this and Waikato, other districts may yet have cause for rejoicing that the persistency of the Thames evolved a measure that enabled themi to connect with trunk lines under circumstances possessing exceptional advantages. We are bound to consider the Statement from a local point of view" first, while recognising the grand future foreshadowed. In a short time this Colony will possess a network of railways ex-, ceeding in length that of any other colony jo the Australasian group. These railways have been constructed out of borrowed moiey; but they have so enhanced the value of land, increased the population, and raised the credit of the Colony in the mother country to such an extent that the colonial debt sinks into absolute insignificance. The! carrying put of the policy on credit is so essentially sound and commendable that we can unhesitatingly concur in the concluding words of MrMaeahdrew, arid confess to.some jealousy in having a " share with those of whom it shall hereafter be said that they had influence in promoting the prosperity and the greatness of New Zee land." When any historian shall arise to write the story of New Zealand, the name of; Japies \Macandrew will occupy a promi-; nent position. , .. .