Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 1873. " " MEASURES, NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 282, 26 June 1873, Page 4

Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 1873. " " MEASURES, NOT MEN."

The Council is to meet on the 30th inst., and will not, we presume, be very long in session, seeing that many of its members are also representatives in the Colonial Parliament, which is to meet in themiddle of July. A short session may be a very good one if the Council will but set itself diligently to work, and not indulge in absurd waste of time. The- Taieri electors have again returned the three obstructionists — exactly what we expected them to do ; but we are of opinion that the Council roll has been, by an appeal so wisely made to the province, sufficiently weeded to render successful obstruction an impossibility. The elections have resulted In. tne importation into the Council of several men who are certain to alter its tone, and that doubtless for the better, while as an additional assurance that such will be the effect, we notice the absence of several whose presence in the House did not give it dignity, and we congratulate the new Council upon having got rid of some whose whole and undivided attention was, as a rule, devoted to hearing themselves speak. Whether the Tolmie Government, as at present constituted, continues in power or not, we sincerely trust that its policy will be adopted, and earned out The Council, numbering as it does within its ranks* many sensible tand erudite men, will hardly allow the question of mode of appointment to be again introduced, but will, we apprehend, bend all its energies to the dispatch of business, without caring one straw by whom the instructions of the Council are executed, so long as the work is done faithfully and welL As regards public works — the most important question which can possibly occupy the attention of the Council — the programme presented by the estimates as framed by the Tolmie Executive has already been fcommented on by us pretty fully in our issue of the 29th of last month, and has our entire approval — so much so, that we ardently hope that it will not suffer any material modification. The railway question is of gigantic importance, and we trust that the Council will not only do all it possibly can to ,have the contracts already let carried out, but that it will advocate the construction of the line from the Mataura to the dutha, with a branch from Tapanui ; as also a line from Lawrence to Clyde. The latter is only a matter of time — it is as sure to be constructed, and thais before the lapse of any considerable time, as is the Toko-Lawrence line ; and anyone opposing its construction on the ground that it would prejudice the interests of the Tuapeka district, is as ignorant of true economy and the laws which govern reciprocity, as he is selfish and narrow-minded. The fact of

Tuapeka being a terminus, would not benefit the " place really and substantially. Travellers and foods might and would be detained ; ut that would not produce any real advantage — quite the reverse. We could exemplify 1 the cfedvantages which would accrue, were it necessary so to do ; but our space is too valuable to reason with men who have no reason in them, and no aptitude for the receipt of common logic and truth. The Tuapeka railway secured, we declare ourselves firm advocates of its extension to Clyde — and even further. Let all the districts which it is possible to reach, be connected by a network of railways ; and much as His Honor the Superintendent's old saying, that he would make a railway to the moon if possible, has been laughed at — accepting it as it was intended, viz., metaphorically — we endorse it, and hope to see the day when the railway system in this province and in this colony, ! will be as complete as the most sanguine moon-reacher or sphere mover could possibly wish it to ba One other matter, to which we have also more than once within the last few weeks drawn attention, we wish again to remind our representatives of — it is the entire abolition of Provincialism. We were very anxious to see what Mr. Bastings would do this year. He declared himself last year, and pro/^ised to renew the fight. This year he has not yet had an opportunity of fulfilling his promise. He will have it in a few days, and we shall be greatly mistaken and disappointed if he fails to act up to his avowed intentions. No great public reform has ever been carried to a successful issue in one or even half a dozen sessions of the Imperial Parliament We hope Mr. Hastings will remember this, and not be discouraged by want of complete success. If he "be not weary in well-doing, in due season he shall reap if he faint not."

The extension of the telegraph is a subject upon which we have long intended to dwell, and this is an opportune +1016 to call attention to tne matter, seeing that the incompleteness of the line hereabouts has recently occasioned considerable delays in the transmission of election returns. The large and important district of Switzers is wholly unconnected by telegraph with any place, and this is one of the reasons why Switzers has suffered the neglect to which we allude in our local columns. Distant from tha Teviot only about 25 miles as the crow flies (though upwards of 60 by the road), a wire could be carried between the two places for a comparative trifle, and would thus open up the tine district of which we speak, to communication rwith the entire colony. Another matter we wish to refer to, viz., the necessity for establishing a telegraph station at the Beaumont. It is quit© possible that it would hardly pay working expenses for a year or two ; but the increasing importance of the locality — the fact that some thousands of pounds are now being expended in the erection of a bridge over the Molyneux there, and the scattered population, all of whom have to travel 15, and in many cases 25 miles, in order to send a telegram, would warrant the - maintenance of an office, even at* a los<*, on the ground of public economy and convenience. These two matters we commend to the careful consideration of the member for Mount Benger, and we are satisfied that he can confer no greater booH upon his district than the ob- ! taining of a telegraph between j Switeers and the Teviot ; and, as regards the station at the Beaumont it is very near home, and may well be handled by him. Our members would do 'well also to look after these matters, and if they tackle them, we have no fear as to the result. Even during the late election a constable had to travel upwards of 100 miles to ascertain the whereabouts of a ballot box, all of which a telegraph to Switzers "would have saved. Again, a deputy returning officer had to take a ballot box over a very dangerous road in a buggy, whereas he would otherwise have travelled on horseback, and that only to find that there was already a ballot box at hja station. A telegraph to Switzers, Stud a horseback jovumey of a f&W miles, would have saved this. We trust that our remarks may have the effect of awakening public interest in the subject, and we would strongly recommend our Switzers friends to take the matter up by public meeting, and petition the Government strongly, entrusting their memorial to their Provincial Council representative,