The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 1882.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1022, 14 March 1882, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 1882.

A Masteotoh man journeying down South writes to a friend in this town as follows:—" Arriving at Lyttelton and making for the train I was much pleased with the railway management, and considerably struck with the difference between the North and South Island railway lines. Here you have civility, comfort, and speed combined, The first-class carriages are first-class carriages, while the secondolass ones are a decided improvement on some of the first in tho North Island. There is no jolting, and when you go through a tunnel you are not choked and blinded with the foul smoke of the engines." We have been at some trouble on various occasions to point -out to our readers tho bad management on our local line, Perhaps want of management is the more accurate definition of the position, and the cause of it the non-existence of a manager, the time of Mr Ashcropt, tho. nominal manager, being fully occupied with other duties which preclude him from moving about the line, 'lhe letter from which we have made a verbatim extract proves very conclusively that there are efficient lines in the colony as well as inefficient ones, and the question may fairly be asked why should we have fourth rate accommodation when other parts of the colony have first rate accommodation, seeing that one paternal Government is over all, ,and one general manager controls every line. Why should Sir Maxwell convey the Canterbury people in ease and comfort; and the Wdruraja and Wellington people in Inisefy aiitT VrefdfiedneVsr'ThTmSsT obvious reason is -that the' Canterbury people will not'put-up with dirty cart'iages'and"slow uhpunetua'l trains,.' and that we do.. Gf course it may be said that there .id ufore -tvafficon the' southern lines, and that a greater ex-

pense can be incurred in perfecting the arrangements in connection with them, but allowing for this ire cannot admit that slovenly management even with a limited traffic can be profitable. The journey between Masterton and Wellington is now a sort of penance. Few people care to undergo it without business compels them to suffer the discomforts of a,journey made up of unnecessary jolting, shunting, smoke, dirt, and dust. Wo feel confident that improved management would increase, if not double, the passenger traffic, and that an active man of business who had some discretionary power to regulate the goods traffic, could materially augment the receipts from this source. It is time that the Government became aware that they are smothering the traffic on this line. Of course when ut Cabinet Minister like the Hon, W. Johnston travels up the line to visit his Castlepoint station he has a special clean carriage placed at his disposal, and the shunting with his train is reduced to a minimum, and lie no doubt forms a favorable view of the general arrangements. If Ministers travelled like ordinary mortals, they would find out for themselves that their lines are wretched failures as far as the North Island is concerned and would at once take steps to put matters on a better footing.