The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1886. THE WELLINGTON-MANAWATU RAILWAY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2445, 5 November 1886, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1886. THE WELLINGTON-MANA-WATU RAILWAY.

On Thursday last when the "last spike" was driven in the permanent way of the Wellington-Manawatu Railway, Mr J. B, Nathan, the chairman of the Company, must have enjoyed his hour of triumph, Mr Nathan has been the genius of the big enterprise and the result proves what great things a really capable and energetic business man can accomplish, We have never favored the construction of this largo work because we have always been of the opinion that it would not prove a remunerative undertaking, We atill adhere to this conviction though our estimate of its chances is modified by the consideration that the. commercial genius of Mr Nathan has enabled him to construct the line more economically than the Public Works office could make it, and will no doubt enable him to work it at a less expenditure than that at which our public railways are carried on, Still with these patent and palpable advantages we question whether the Company can earn dividends. If it does, the right thing to do will be to establish a railway board for the colony, and make Mr J. E, Nathan its chairman on his own terms. Though we may doubt the capacity of the WellingtonManawatu line to yield a profit, handicapped as it is by cheap water carriage, it will indirectly pay the business men of Wellington who subscribed to promote its construction. If they never get a farthing of dividend on the money which they have invested they will reap a harvest from the concentration of trade in Wellington which their enterprise will bring about, The West Coast line will kill the petty trade in the small towns on the West Coast by transferring their business to tho Empire City. Such a railway means the aggrandizement of the big town at the expense of all the little ones. The agricultural and pastoral communities on the West Coast will, however, be benefitted as through

ita aid thoy will obtain their snpplies more cheaply, and Secure a lower rate of freight, in some instances, for their produce, ' A development of 'the resources of the West Coast districts, as well of the Empire City, must necessarily follow the opening of the new railway, and in the Wairarapa We may welcome the prosperity of our neigh bors, more especially as we are certain to participate more or less in it, The only drawback is the consideration that new lines, like old ones, have eventually to be paid for out oi the pockets of these settlers of the Colony who are producers and the pressure of taxation follows inevitably on every new venture, Ultimately the Colony wil have to pay over for the Wellington 1 Manawatu Railway, and the hand o the tax-gatherer which is weighty enough at present will then be somewhat heavier.