The Wairarapa Daily WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 1889. Barren Railway Lines.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3246, 3 July 1889, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 1889. Barren Railway Lines.

The curse of New Zealand in. the past has been the construction oi unprofitable railway lines, and even : now, when our rulers and statesmen ; are supposed to have abandoned non--1 remunerative public works, the evil spell still works to our disadvantage. : We have got so far as to declare that such works shall not be made put of loan, but it is quite understood that where a group of members persist in requiring a barren, line to be constructed,, the ingenuity of Ministers and tbe Legislature is to be strained to discover an indirect way of doing that which cannot be done on a straightforward basis, Any length of railway that will not pay working expenses and interest on its cost must be a loss to some one, and experience in the past points to the conclusion that the scmo one is the colony, The political pressure which leads to the construction of a barren line is sooner or later powerful enough to compel the colony to take it over, When a fibmnojy or a syndicate makes such a line fury ljtjil.e lpss falls to the lot of local capitalists! They have very littlo money available for suchinvestments, and they are usually too wide awake to take any considerble risk in the ventures. Substantially the deficiency must be made good either by the English money lender, at the cost pf jfb.B credit of the colony, pr the polony m\stMe over the unproductive undertaking. It would matter little if another twenty millions of money we borrowed for public works that were certain to be reproductive, but every pound borrowed; either by the colony or by a syndicate, for a barren line, is a drawback' to the" and prosperity of New Zealand! 'Dnfjjjg £he present session tbe Otago Central is to hp the pet scheme, and it is understood thai it he extended through some .clever jiesejopeht of the land grant system.' LasTy.eav the jSuryeyor General reported y'ery decidedly against .this .extension, and las a rule responsible. PsgjW JP. fairly honest in their .criticisms ,pn our political railways) but it is the custom of legislators to overrider considerations of tto character, | (

When Auckland, CanteVbury, or Otago persists in a demand for a railway, Ministers are weak as water, and a persistent agitation is invariably crowned with success. If theextension of the Otago Central would prove a reproductive work, the most economical and straightforward method of providing ways and means would be to obtain them from loan. It is simply because it is likely to turn out unprofitable that it has to be financed by syndicates and land grants, We do not suppose for a moment that the Railway Commissioners, who now control our railway traffic, would favor its construction. Ministers, who are favoring the work, would scarcely trie the risk of referring it to them ior an opinion. The Otago Central is, wo fear, destined to. become a political railway and as such to be a serious loss to the colony.

The Evening Post advises Mr George Boetham's friends to send in his resignation without delay. Our Wellington contemporary has been a consistent political opponent of the Wairarapa members, Messraßeetham and Buchanan, for many years, and a warm supporter at every election of Mr Henry Bunny. Advice from such a quarter requires to be taken with considerable caution.