THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1871. " Measures, not Men."

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 190, 5 October 1871, Page 4

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1871. " Measures, not Men."

The manner in which the Govern- ! nient propo's^io cany out the Public Works and Immigration Act, as indicated by Mr. Gisborne in his speech on the 28fcn ult., betrays such astounding ignorance of the requirements'of this Province, or criminal disregard of its interests, that we may be excused for supposing that the" intoxication of success has de- ] pfived the chief of thj? Qahinefc of! Msi usual sagacity -'^dvfb resign t. Mr. Gisborne, after remarking that " the two principles that would re?gurate the construction of railways 'were, Ist, their ability to pay working expenses, arfd^id, the power of local rating," proceeded to inform the House th^t the lines proposed to be undejpfeiken this year were, InvercargjlP tp rMataura- 40 miles, by guarantee ;'Moeraki to the Waitaki, 40 ni^es ; Rangiora to Waipara 2(£miles;"^mton to Kingston, 6.9 Vralingtori to Masterfcon, 70 • mijes ; Napier Ruatamoha, 53 miles ; Auckland to Mercer, 47 miles ; Auckland to „ Kaij-.ara, 17. miles ; Nelson to Foxhill, 21 miles ; Dune--H^ifcHe Clutfia, 31 miles; Wtal : 449 »iu«s. mc r '-^n.TiwiSHfo* recommended last .session by ,fcke. Provincial Council, is conspicuously -absent ; but, in its. stead are the line-j from Invercargill to the Mataura, and Win ton to Kingston. It will be seen that the defunct province of Southland, which, after squandering | three quarters of a million of money I on twenty miles of railway sacri- j ficing its landed estate, and living for } r ears on the charity of the General Government, was compelled- to re-unite itself to Otago, has again been taken in hand by the General Govcnnment, and out of a total length of 449 miles of railway to be constructed in New Zealand, is to have 109 miles, or one fourth, within its late boundaries. Mr. Gisborne said, " the first principle that would regulate the construction of railways would be their ability to pay working expenses." Let us see how he has applied the principle to the contemplated Southland railways. The line from Invercargill to the-Mataura 40 miles in length, will pass through 33 miles of freehold property of the New Zealand Land Company, who. with two or three other monopolists,, own nearly the whole of the land between the two places, which they devote to wool growing. Its only trade will be the coj&'eyance of- a few t>a.les of wool, aa<?bome preserved meat from WodeHancta (11 miles from Invercargill) bo the Bluff. Of any other traffic there will be literally none. As to local rating, there will benobody-to-^ate-.-exeepb-l the New Zealand Land Company, i and the probability is that if that Company is asked to contribute towards working expenses, it will send in a claim for compensation for allowing the railway to pass through its "land. The New Zealand Company lias been trying hard for Tso~*ne years to get -this-, line made, but without meetings-much encouragement. Even the speculative Government of Southland could not see its wwar} r clear, and, if we mistake not, refused an offer made by the Company to construct the line and take payment in land. We have no doubt that if the House of Representatives is foolish enough to sanction the construction of the line, the Company will be obliging enough to become the contractors for the work, theife-. by not only enhancing the value of its. property, but securing a -hand^ some percentage besides. We enV^ phatically protest against such malversation of the publicfunds. as Che guaranteeing interest m the cost of

this line. Such a course wouM* simply mean;^nig the people of New Zealan/'foTihe purpose of rendering, valuable the property of a few British land monopolists who never sa.w "the colony, and do not care whether it becomes bankrupt or not so long as they can screw a , •few pounds out. of it. There are plenty of works far more useful and reproductive to be completed before the Invercargill and Mataura railway is undertaken.

Regarding the line proposed to be constructed between Winton . and Kingston, we cannot see what- argument can be adduced in its favour. Certainly it would facilitate communication between. Inveicoargill and Queenstown, bnt even that desirable result scarcely warrants the construction of sixty-nine miles of railway to secure. North of Winton there is no settlement and no agricultural land. The proposed fine W ? UI V~ <" through treless, sterile, wmd-svwept plains, unfit tor ai» y j.T,i n^ butsheep walks. Any patches of agr£ cultural land there may be within fifty miles of any part of this railway are hot available for settlement, i'f^J'it is a notorious fact that the l^ranholdevs, under the pernicious tree selection system, have performed " j the operation known as "spotting." so effectaully.that the whole country is practically in their hands. , A weekly mail service between Invercargill and Qneenstown has been found amply sufficient, so the trade betwe'efrrthe two places cannot be very expensive. We consider the proposal to consturct a line of railway between Winton and Kingston, at the present time, an attempt to j enrich and aggrandise Invercargill J at the expense of Duneein and the rest of the province. It is well known that the attempt made by Invercargill to secure the Lake trade, when that district was in its palmiest days, resulted in Southland becoming hopeless^p^ankrupt. Can any sane man hope^fchat now, when the Lake , traded is not onetenth of w-hat^pn't was then, a similar at>te"mpt v not end disastrously?- Qratrtiide'is undoubtedly a very noble sentiment, but when it goes the length of 10$ miles of railway we think it JS^ratber too exuberant. We* think, morever, that Mr. H Macjiinarew puts too high -a .- value upon. himself" when he attempts to* make Otago pay Southland half-a-million of- money for ("making him Superintendent of trie s -_*»u~a -p^P^rxeoo^^g^do J__t' object - to Mr. Macandr£jj^|g^ng"*ms gratitude, but we oVyect" to him doing so at our expense. It really is too much of a good thing that we, who have just paid- Southland's debts, should be- deprived of railways, and forced to pay for their construction in that defunct province. One of the ■ objects contemplated by the Public Works and Immigration Act is the promotion of settlement. How, we ask, is settlement to be promoted by the Invercargill and Mataura line, when all the land commanded 1 by it is in the hands of absentee' monopolists ? or the Winton and Kingston line, when the little available land there along its course is locked up by the runholders ?

We demand as a right that tha&s railway between Tokomairiro anlTr Tuapekabe commenced before ci theft ' of the Southland lines. We will no|| • recapitulate the arguments in itH favour, for it is admitted by all acquainted with the subject that it . would pay^ bette,^-than any other line j.n^s^|6 ; and why itnvas not ifrcltfcfecl in". Mr. Gisborne's list of railways is V>nly to be explained by the supposition mentioned in the commencement of this article. But the way? of-gpvernmenfcs are sometimes inscrutable, and it does seem ' inscrutable? Jihafc the Vogel' Qbvfera-, ment should prefer to "make "long and expensive rail waysj trough un-- - peoplea.;vj£astes to . cojas^acSn^a^ , shorfcrline to the richest and most popnlous~'goldfield in Oiago, which, throughout its entire length would traver.se a comparatively thickly settle^ district We will say no more on the subject at present, but before concluding we- desire to impress' ggpiv Mi». Vogol that if he rises superior to party considerations, and carries out the great pdlicy he has originated^ in a manly and. slraightfbrwaacD^inanner for the general benefit of the colony at large, it will be crowned Avith success, and he will deservedly win the gratitude and esteem of every col^st; but if he uses the loan merely -as a means of purchasing suf£ port— as from present appearances* Jh^ seems to be contemplating — * ,*<3it; allows it to be squandered off works like the proposed 'SonthlagjS f the Public Work^'aM ,t, t Scheme will *^M m _. disastrous failure, coloniaf bankruptcy and general ruin,' and his name will be as universally

execrated in New Zealand" as that j>f him who sold his Master for fcirty pieces of silver is throughout Christendom.