The Wairarapa Daily. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1882.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1008, 25 February 1882, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1882.

The question of a uniform rate upon our railways is an open one.. The Contemporary Review of November last contains an excellent article upon " Railway Resolutions," in which this 'question is practically settled so far as England is concerned. The principle the laid down is! that the duty of any railway is to develop the resources of its particular district to the utmost possible extent. Mr Allp'ort, the manager of" the Midland line, stated before a commission of Parliament •that he thought ,it would be a national calamity if this principle \vas:violated,; and the whole trade of the country concentrated in one ; particular port, ;which, the Liverpool,, people! were anxious to bring.about by meaiis of the. .uniform rate. " What have you," asked Lord Stanley (now Lord Derby, and; a, large, landowner) j" to do with its being a national calamity if trade 1 is' concentrated in one; port 1 Is it not the business of a Railway Company io ( carey as much as they can get to carry,' and take as niiich profit as they can f <( Yes/wthefeply, "but I spoke j\iß ; t,. now : as a member of the commiinifcy at large, and perhaps I should'

not-have done so.' N . I sid©r> ifr my ; duiy, lis, manager Midland Rail way,)tf>. develop; the ip sources ,of tlio district totheutniost t&f Mr AjMomfm the case of Derby: From' Gloucester' to Derby the entire line belongs to the Midland;-^ there is nothing in any of our Acts to present, the traffic from Gloucester to Derby at such rates as it pleases, provided they are within the maximum of their Parliamentary tolls, A timber merchant at Gloucester, will write me and say: ' Lcould do a trade at Derby, but your rates are so high that I cannot get into the market. If you can reduce your rates Is, 2s, or 3s a ton, I can put a trade upon your line which will be a benefit to'you and to me,' My business then is to inquire: whether that statement is correct, and if I find that it is correct I give him; a rate, and the result is that lie brings traffic upon the line." Lord Stanley admitted the force of the proposition as thus put. In the course of the commission the following is repoi'tecll presume," said Lord Stanley to an advocate of uniform rates, "if one line is made between two. great towns, say between; Liverpool and, Manchester, and : if; another line is made, say through the; Highlands of Scotland, there would be ai great deal more traffic 011 the former line than upon > the latterand where the traffic is greater and the trains run further it is possible to carry, passengers ; and goods at a cheaper ratef " Undoubtedly," was the reply., "Do you think, that an equal mileage rate in each of these cases would be just?" " No," replied-the witness, "I cannot say that it would in that .case; as a matter of course I cannot say.it would; be." " Then you are not in favor of a' uniform mileage rate throughout the the kingdom 1" " I cannot," the wit-' ness frankly added, "in the wpy.in which your Lordship puts it before me, say no!" Now, all this appears'plain enough. The duty of a railway is evidently to develop the resources of its particular district, But ours in New Zealand are political railways, and ; Auckland would grumble if we in tlie Wairarapa were allowed to send too much timber to Canterbury for instance, therefore the Wellington-Mas-terton lino is not to develop the resources of this district, save to an extent wherein it will only equalize Auckland. This is utter nonsense, ior Auckland has a timber trade with the I South Sea .Islands in which we in'tlie Wairarapa do not share. But we must not conjecture too much, It may be that the great working cost of our particular railway renders a low charge | impracticable. If so, let us clearly understand this, and admit the folly of having constructed a line the working expenses of which alone renders competition with timber carriage by sea impossible. If we admit the facts and folly, we may not continue the mistakes, as Mr Hall is so anxious to do. The duty of railways in New Zealand is not to develop the resources of their particular districts, whereas Mr Hall thinks that it is.

The Rev. Mr Ross of Turakina preaches in the Presbyterian church to-morrow. Mr J. J. Freeth the Deputy Returning Officer for the Alfredton Licensing District was in attendance on Thursday last at the place of nomination but no one put in an appearance to nominate candidates for a licensing bench. Under these circumstances the Governor will have to appoint the committee,.

The net proceeds of the Kurupuni Wesleyan Sunday School Anniversary amount to U 12a 9d, the greater portion of which will be expended in the purobase of books for the more efficient working of the school. To have so respectable a balance after giving the children a treat is a proof of the interest felt in the school. A challenge has been received from the Taita Cricket Club by the Masterton Olub to play a friendly game on the 23rd Marsh. The Taita Club contemplate playing a matoh in Featherston on the 20th, Greytown 21st, and Carterton 22nd. The Wellington correspondent of-,the Canterbury Press, wived on the 20tll in'st, : as follows : " The Postmaster-General (Walter Johnston) returned to Wellington this afternoon from Castle Point. It is understood that his snddpn return is in connection with negotiations between the Government and the directors of' the Wellington and Mauawatu Railway Company, in regard to which a hitch has occurred, as telegraphed by me last week." As Mr Johnston proceeded back to Castlepoint yesterday afternoon we may presume that the hitch is unravelled.

On Friday afternoon Mr D. Barry, head master of tho Olareville School was presented with a handsomely illustrated testimonial ly Mr Bairstow on behalf of the settlers of that locality, accompanied by good wishes for his success in his new sphere of labor. The testimonial embodied the great respect and esteem which was entertained for Mr Barry by the Clareville community. A costly marble timepiece suitably inscribed was. at., the same time presented by the pupils of the' school. On Monday next Mr Barry leaves the district to take charge of the Kaiwaira School and carries with him the regard of nearly the whole of the inhabitants of the neighborhood in which he has labored' for the past few years. The Masterton Debatiug Sooiety met last evening the President (Mr Grundy) in the chair, The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. A notice of motion, proposing to have the rules printed, was postponed owing to the absence of tho mover. Mr Park briefly referred to a letter Bigned " Anti-Hum-bug " which had recently been published, attacking his essay on local -government. The speaker intimated that if '' Anti Humbug" would adopt the manly and straightforward course ot signing his name, he (Mr Park) would answer any specified objections that might be raised to his Scheme' of local government, but he submitted that he .could not, be. expected to lake trouble in recognising thei subject when the anonymous' writer, for aught he knew, might be a close ' relative! to the celebrated historical animal, only in its 'case the ass when it spoke, spoke ser.se, a commodity which " Anti Humbug" appeared to be devoid of, otherwise lie would not write on a subject 'of which he evidently knew nothing; l .' As''the 'number requisite to elect new members did not turn up, the election bf two new'members was allowed to 1 Bland ov^r,.,. The subject 'of ihe evening was also'adjourned, after which' considerable i discussion arose on the best means/or promoting the Interests of the Sooiety, the general'bpinion being that: member a Bhoul d essay; a Higher flight than 1 'they have hitherto 1 attempted The j question'of getting a larger room was postponed till after the. meriting of the Library Oorainittee^"

the M&sterton Rifle be sent in before the ilßt Piiifi\ ' "vi of Kaumingi auver|is9sjl(w&:tpith merino ewesand 100Q sale. C v is abouTto be made in which the distinc-■tion-hithertookflrved-in the patterns of law court duty, receipt andpostage stamps" will be done away with. IdvSi'tiSea- for- tenders for cuttiug and delivering 20 cords of firewood ; also land to let on cropping leases on easy terms. A pro forma meeting of the Masterton. Town Lands Trust was held last evening to consider objections to the voters list. As no objections were lodged, the business, transacted was nominal. -, The direotora of the Wellington-Man-awata railway company intend to make a second local issue of shares to the extent of another 150,000 before placing the enterprise on the London market, A meeting of the Committee of. the Greytown and Lower Valley passenger and parcel service is convened for Tuesday next. At a meeting of the Fernridge School Committee held on Thursday last it was resolved to striotly enforce tho compulsory olauses of the Education Act. Messrs Robert D. Dagg, William Griffin ! Gunder Gunderson, Hobert Hare, and,' Duncan McGregor ,have been returned unopposed as a Licensing Committee for the Masterton Country district. His Excellency has appointed William Waring Taylor, Esq.,- and George Beetham, Esq., to be member of the Land Board of the Land District of Wellington. The appointments to date from the, 16th February, 1882. We understand that overtures have already been made to Mr William Lowes to induce him to come forward for the captaincy of the Masterton Rifle Volunteer Corps. Should he accept them and be elected, the Volunteer administration in thrown; would be in capable and vigorbus ha : ndß, • > 1;;. . "1. ;*i. : The Masterton Highway Board elec"tion for'N6 ! 2 ; ward is'proceeding quietly to-day.,. Up to the fyour we went to press only about forty ratepayers had recorded thejr votes... .The Result is regarded as a foregone conclusion in favor of Mr Dagg.

:We Were sorry to > sea i that Mr Marter wbb unsuccessful in -inducing the public last evening to patronise Faust and : Id: the town Kail being ve'ry scanty? This drama is one of the moßt powerful ones that has ever been placed on the stage, and though presenting it on a reduced scale it is shorn of many of its beauties, enough is left to give a fair conception of the grand original. " Indeed; Mr J, . 0, . Marter has in the way of scenery and dressea accomplished wonders; i He has drilled hiscorapany. with greatjability, and he. has supplied a string band to which it is a treat to listen. He undertakes himself the impersonation of the central figure in the play, Mephißtopheles, an individual who is not >o black as he is painted, and who iB in fact a very gentlemanly fellow, Mr Marter proved equal to the portrayal of the weird grim humor of this character and hia sonfmade an excellent Faust. Mr George Buckingham waß very efficient as Valentine,' arid Feida was a decided success as Martha.- ■ The other parts in the piece were fairly represented by different members of the company, and the whole play from beginning to end went off without a hitch, There will be another representation this evening, and we trust that the. public will give it more encouragement than they did last evening. Special attention is called to Rapp and Hare's price lißt, ; which will be found on our front page..For olothing, boots, ironmongery and grocery, they will be found the cheapes, and best house in the trade.—To FarmersJust arrived,/ Harvesting Gloves ; 1,000 Corn Sacks, equal to new, at Is fid per dozen,—[Advi.] .Carterton v Masterton. —As a proof of who are the cheapest storekeepers in the Wairarapa we wish to draw our readers' special attention to B. A, Gardener & Son's advertisement on our front page. This firm is determined to keep up their reputation. From the time of their commencing business in Carterton ; they have repeatedly proved ■that theycan. withstand competition, no Imatter how: 'strong!- It is therefore ridiculous for another i storekeeper from a neighboring township to post price lists to their customers and pretend to sell at wholesale prices, when for the smallest quantities B, A. Gardener,& Son supply goods in almost every instance 10 to 15 per cent cheaper, and in large quantities still further conces sions are made.—Mdvt -