The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, JULY 6, 1888. The Truth about our Railways.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2943, 6 July 1888, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, JULY 6, 1888. The Truth about our Railways.

After an interval of soine ten years, the truth about our railways has been once mora spoken. It is something to get at the truth, even once in ten years, and we may thank the bad times for revealing certain unpleasant facts which public men as a rule (aud wo fear journalists must be included in the indictment) agree to hide. The truth was spoken about our railways some ten years ago by a commission which included several hard-headed independent men, such as Mr J. McGosh Clark of Auckland, Mr Charles Pharazyn of Featherston, and Mr Saunders of Canterbury. They were so outspoken, that the Government of the day had not the courage to back up the excellent advice they then gave. Had the advice been then taken, all the new taxation with which wo aro now deluged, would have beenumiecessavy. Well, the truth has once more been spoken, this time by a committee of the Legislative Council which was appointedto report upon the railways down on tho schedule to ; the Loan Act, a committee consisting of Messrs Stevens, Waterhou.se, Miller, Holmes, Eichmond, Swanson, and E. Pharazyn, The Committee have re. ported—lst, That not one of the railways'set down in the Loan Act schedule ought to be proceeded with, excepting the link from Palraerston to Woodville. 2nd—That in all cases of lines already open, on which the traffic did not pay working expensas, the train services should be discontinued, unless a guarantee of the amount of the working expenses should bo obtained from the inhabitants of the district served by such railways, who might express a desire for the continuance of the train services." It is even questionable if in the interests of the Colony the Palmerston-Wood-ville link ought to be proceeded with. The real link that requires to bo made is the Eketahuna-Woodville one. As far as working railways are concerned there caunot be a shadow of a doubt that where, as in some instances the traffic does not amount to a fourth of tho maintenance of the rolling stock, the lines should be converted from unprofitable railways into profitable tramways. In many instances, where several trains per diem run, only one should be started, and in some sparsely populated districts, where money has been foolishly squandered in constructing a railway, where only a horse and cart ought to go, a train once a week or once a fortnight ought to suffice, The delay in appointing an indepen. daut Board of Management .is discreditable to the Government, and justifies the apprehension that thoy arc not in earnest in a desire to surrender tho control of the railway department. If tho House of Representatives will only speak out as plainly as the Committee of the Legislative Council we may soon expect to see the big leak stopped which keeps the Colony in debt and difficulty. Successive Ministers have declared that our railways are well managed, but is there hot a fear on the part of the Government and of many public men that the appointment of an independent board would show whata hollow fraud their past railway management has been 1