The Wairarapa Daily. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1883. RAILWAY MANIAS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1484, 15 September 1883, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1883. RAILWAY MANIAS.

Goop government may be almost considered a lost art }n New Zealand. We have some recollection pf it in the days when Mr Stafford ai}d Mr Waterhouse filled the office of Premier, but since the Vogelian era few traces of it are to be found in our annals. Good government is not the sensational administration of affairs jj/hjch has marked the last decade, but a laborious attention to routine, and a fidelity to established principles, which is now-a-days discarded in fevpr of. speculative projects and ceaseless changes. The task of honest, sober government palls upon the vitiated palates of our modern statesmen, and they must resort to the stimulant of borrowed mdney, which has been their bane in the past, and which is still their worst enemy. The special madness of most' British colonies is the railway mania, To construct lengths of line not required, and which nmst be unproductive for years to come, is the ambition of colonial Premiers.: In Queensland now, for example, the mad fit is in full swing, The Ministry in power are prepared to give away tens of millions of acres of land to any syndicate which will extend existing lines which are unproductive into regions where they must necessarily be still more unprofitable. We can see the folly of Queensland, but wo cannot realize our own itliotcy in railway projects, We do not face t)io stern facts of our speculations. We do not realize that out of, say, ten millions spent on railways only about one million is paid for earthworks, the only only part of the outlay which can be regarded as a permanent investment; and th.it the vast bulk of the money has been laid out in bridges which will decay, on iron rails ■■ which are wearing away, and' on plant which year by year becomes' depreciated, We do not realise, either, that there, is no commercial management in our ' working railways, and that any private I person who conducted his business in ' .a Bimilar manner would be inevitably

ruined. If a coach proprietor were asked to carry one passenger in four . free of charge by his vehicles what would he say or think 1 and yet this is very much the same as what our railways are doing! If a wagoner were asked to convey the bulk of bis heavy freight at a loss what would he say 1 and yet this is what our railways are doing ! Ministers talk about the indirect, advantages of' railways but they say nothing about the indirect disadvantages of them. Ask Featherston or Greytown if there are no indirect disadvantages connected with railways and their answer will be emphatic enough. , Their experiences have only been the experiences of a hundred similar localities, Borrowing and expending millions for railways is pleasant enough, but paying back these millions with . heavy interest and charges on their backs is not equally agreeable. Now Zealand may have advanced for a time more rapidly by its borrowing policy, but now that it lias to. bear the burthen of interest and sinking fund its progress will be retarded for many years to come. The one ill-considered step forward has to be paid for by two steps taken backwards. England; .the;.' United States, and all the Australian;,cplonies have one after anotheVbcen the victims of railway manias. .New, Zealand is in •good company, but the time has almost 'arrived when ,iifc<slpld come forth from the atmosphere of railway mania a wiser, a sadder, and a poorer, colony.

The Masiertoh Volunteers have decided tu resiui) inVb'ody in consequence of Major Bunny's action oh Thursday last. We think that Major Bunsy may have dune a right thing in refusing tri allow the coi'i'B is it presented itself to form a guard of honor, but we doubt whether he did it in a tight manner. There are many «ood men in the corps who would be a credit to any' Volunter Company in the colony, but taking it as a whole it is perhaps not quite what it should he. Major Bunny is we think to blame in that lie did not see that propor arrangements were made for receiving Hiß Excellency. The fact that he was present in uniform indicaios that he was' responsible for the Volunteers on thia ocoasion. He knew the Btrength of the Masterton corps, and if he regarded it as inadequate he should have brought up additional men hum the Lower Valley. He has certainly killed the volunteer movement in North Wairarapa, and we question whether he would do the same in Wairarapa South.

The committee of the Waitarnpa Institute will meet on Monday evening at 7 30. •'• The quarterly inspection of the Carterton Volunteers took place at the Town Hall Carterton, on Wednesday evening when thore were thirty-five rank and file present.

There were two serious aooidents at Carterton yesterday. A child four yearn of age named Anderson fell into a ditch and broke his leg, George Roberts who is' ; employed drawing logs to Wakelin's sawmills, when ascending from the main road to the saw platform, was thrown off the fore carriage sustaining severe injury which will unfit him for work for a week or two. Dt Smith is attending both sufferers.

The soiree held at Greytown on Thursday 'evening under the auspices of the Loyal Greytown Lodge of Oddfellows was a must decided success, there were be t ween sixty and seventy couples present as many u6 sixty-four couples boing on tho floor at one time. The large attendance is principally due to the large number of visitors from Carter Icm and elsewhere, the Oddfellows of the Heart of Oak lodge being very numerous, The different regalia, Oddfellows, Foresters, Druids, &c, mingled together, made a good effect. The G.M. aud D.G.M. of the district were also present, tho 1 - ter, Mr Pearce, cornjng all the way (mm Pahautunui fur tjj'e occasion, The hull was prettily decorated wfth pvprgrpans and.jjags, th.o emblems of tp order uluu gracing the wal)a. Two flags' with .the name and number pf the lodge weye put up over the stage and (entrancp'door. The floor was in good order, and the band was supplied by Mr Jjundqvist, which is sufficient in itself to sppak for ihe quality of the music. The refreshment room was liberally supplied by the 'ihembors of the lodge, and was done ample justice to. Bros Allen and Loasby acted as M.O.'s, The committee are to be congratulated that their untiring efforts have resulted in such a great success.

A porrespondent sendß us the follow ingh-' ( WIIBB f>ffl Governor viaited Masterton the other day, j( pleaaing to i hose who were near to the little girl who presented Sir William with a bouquet to observe what a pleasant smile passed .over his face, when he took it from her apd.'aoked ' What is your name my little dear' ?"—We can quite credit what our correspondent snys. We saw the same smilu. uiiraelves when he : sat down tu' lunch after a five hours', fast, The smile is unique,, and a cast of it would be a valuable acquisition tp the proposed local museum.

If Iho past week cannot be called a wet week, we will dub it with a milder term and call it a damp one. Rain fell on eaoh (In)', and with it coldness, making it quite the reverse to, pleasantness. Yet.not a Inrgef'quiuitityof : lain' fell. The total rainfall' b'tn'ng*B9s parts of an inch, The barorfleter gradually rose from 29'03 to 29,99 inchespn fhuroday, yet no signs of the weather claaripg up. Qn 3?rjday it began to fall, and with it signs of a pfignge. Hence comes the question, how are we to understand the reading of this instrument in New Nealaud ? After ten years study of it in New Zealand I cannot answer this question. The thermometers mean reading for tho week is 46 # fl fah. Tho wind has been in the S.W. the whole of the week up to Friday, it then ohanged towards the E, It was strong in the early part of tjje week. Nor.' that the excitement attending the reception of the Governor has somewhat I subsided, it will not be out of place to dole out the mode of praise due to those goiitlamen who worked so hard to make tho ploughing match it nuocess. The match committee must first of all be congratulated on its success, and especial praise must be given to Mr E. Brown (secretary) and Mr Gapper (timekeeper), to the former gentleman for the methodical manner in which the whole arrangements were conducted, and to the latter fur his unremitting attention during the whole day tp the duties connected with his office; also the ground committee, Messrs Harding, AYatsup, and Gapper, for tho efficient manner in which they laid the ground out, and contributed in a. great measure to the Buccess oi the day's work ; and Mr Donald Donald, for placing the contesting ground at the disposal of the committee,, deaervei ospecial 'thanks for his liberal concession, Nor must Mr Thompson, whplwas entrus. tod with the, refreshment department, be forgotten. He was most courteous and obliging, and whon the lunoh flag fell provided the " inner man" with every desired requisite to battle against' the .." outward element,"

The Greytown. Private Brass Band intend to give a selection in.the open air this evening, comtneiicing at 8 p. m. By an error of the intelligent compositor the Maiterton Fire Brigade ww not placed in the liat giving the order c-f procession at the Governor's reception in our I report. * .;■

Corporal Kibblewhite's acore of forty-, three was the highest at Lieut Williams' trophy competition on Wednesday, consequently Corporal Ankelell. remains the winner, making five who have got a leg in for the priee. The Volunteer Band will not play out this evening, We understand they are ];raotising some new music for next Saturday's open air discourse. Messrs Holliday &Co., the well-known Fancy Goods and Stationery importer* unnuunoe their sixth annual monster clearing sale to coniinenoe to-d«y. Their advertisement appears in another column. The Rev. W. T. Western is gazetted honorary chaplain of the Greytown Rifles.

'A meeting of mombers ol the Maiterton and Opaki Jockey Club takes place at the Club Hotel this evening.

The Masterton Fire Brigade has asked Messrs J. Payton, A. Bish, G. Dixon, W. Sellar, F. Gray, J. Muir,' W. Beetham, W. Perry, and J. E. Evans to act as a Finance Committee far the ensuing year.

Mr G. F. Mauhsell. hcJB taken the central premises in Queen ijfrrtt' recently occupied by Mr T.G, Ma'sonj and intetids opening them as a dealer in tobacco, fancy goods, and stationery, A hair dressing suloon will form part of the premises, Mr George Bowles, batcher, ton, was to the forecast evening with a splendid Bhow' of :• beef, pork,, .mutton, veal, and three exceptionally fine lambi; for this early part of the season, ■ v An entertainment is to be giveu at Ciitterton.ou. Monday evening in aid of a poor fellow named John "Crawley who has been laid up for sis months through'an accident on the railway line. We trußt that the citizens of Carterton will respond heartily to the appeal now made to them on his behalf and that those 'unable to.attend the concert will purchase a ticket for charity's sake. Charles Gawler, who has been employed bush falling at Bartlett's mill, Gladstone, was brought into Carterton yesterday afternoon with a broken leg and severely bruised, through a troe falling upon him. His brother was killed at the same occupation two or three years since. Pr Bey attended the sufferer who is progressing as favorably as could be txpected. : Messrß Lowes & lorns add to their stock sale un Wednesday next, 8 3-year-old steers (forward condition), 9 cows and heifers (springing to calve): and •11 yearling, steers,

Messrs Lowea & lorns beld a tale of Puhiatua land to-day for Mr W. Boole and Mr W. W. McCardle. Seferal bbo tiiina were dispoaed of at fair prices, but competition was not so keen as was expected. The Hall of Commerce surplus clearing sale will continue uniil Saturday next, during which time settlers will have an opportunity of purchasing every description of drapery, at English cost prices. G. W, Schroder will offer to day and tlie following week P imrnense assortment of remnapis of new goods, ca)ipoea, sheetings, winceys, flannels, #c., at very low prices Boy'a, youths' and men's overcoats uro being sold rapidjy -greatly t'oduoed prices.—Advt. '■■''•■'•■'■ The extraordinary sale of Surpluß Winter Stock at Te Aio Houso, Wellingtonshould be ;i matter of some interest to all readers".of the Waibarapa Dailv for these special rpasonf, Ist, because of the largeness of the stock, 2nd, because of the short duratiou of; the sile, 15 days only, 3rd, becauso of the unprece. d"utedly low prices. Our price lißt, issued with this paper, should, we think, astonish everybody,'.and .very certain it is 'that a trip to the sale would be money in'pbcltei to every Wairarapi resident that should try it, If not able to como, their orders, accompanied with cash, would be as well exec j ted as though selected personally. It simply means 20s for 10a, ur even lets in many oasos, therefore try it, 0 ye residents, .and that right early. Bear in miad that. we l)»ye no country businesses whatever, bo benches in any tqwpshjp, aud no one is authorfsed tpjell for u|, either regularly or irregularly.' ')}k faiie'q§!J' pije ■plate, of bpxnfii k tht pfojikce, aucf the public would d.9 well to t'eep this fact in mind when sending thejr orders,'or visiting Weijngtpn,%t our sqle .establishment in the colony is'|;ha£ known a? Jap.", Smith's To Ai" Übiifvs. Wellinetgn.-^pyT.