The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 1891.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3722, 29 January 1891, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 1891.

Mr A. W. Hogg acted rightly by calling the attention of the Government to the necessity of completing the Eketahuna-Pahiatua Jink of our trunk line of railway. The construction of the Gorge line at the expense of this link by the late Government was undoubtedly a piece of political jobbery, which even Sir Harry Atkinson could not defend. Had the Public Works Pepartment been under the independent control of Commissioners the EketahunaPahiatua link mould now have been completed. In public works the experience of New Zealand has ever been that no Ministry is to be trusted.

But with reference to the West Coast railway, the cat is let out of the bag by the N.Z. Times, which recoup mends the purchase of the line. From the first the Colony has been bled for the benefit of this enterprise and now pressure will no doubt be put upon the Government to complete the sacrifice already made. Sooner or later the Colony will no doubt have to take over this line, but let the thug be done in an honest and above board manner. Our Wellington contemporary says it is a profitable line of railway and would be a good bargain. 15iow it is indisputable that it is an unprofitable h'»o lias always been a losing concern, and if it were sold to the Colony its shareholders would be jubilant. It may be expedient some day to take it over, but there ought to be no illusions as to its financial position.

The Governor's Speech is not altogether creditable to the new Premier, for,read between the lines,.it snubs the late Ministry for caljing Parliament together at such an early date, and I sneers at Sir Harry Atkinson as a Colonial Treasurer by suggesting the necessity of an exhaustive enquiry into tho financial condition of the colony. This is petty, because Mr ■ Ballance must know that the strong point of bis predecessor was his finance. It is perhaps his " Roland for an Oliver," but a Statesman with any breadth of yie» would abstain from introducing into a Governor's Speech amenities pf this kind. On questions of finance, too, Mr Ballance should be modest, for did he not when last in office lay himself open to severe censure by a gigantic unauthorised expenditure in the particular department under his control ? He has now his opportunity of establishing his reputation as a financier, and should he fail, he is, in the Governor's Speech, making a rod for his own back. s7e quite approve of the idea of a department of agriculture, but if it is to be anything more than a sham it; must entail additional departmental J expenditure. The idta that ani

efficient department of sach a character can be run without expense is absurd, but it is in the interests of the Colony that such a department should be established, and the money necessary to make it effective should be ungrudgingly voted. The belief of the Government that they can work j such a department free of coat is the weak poini in the proposal.

The Ministry propose to spend money in developing the mineral resources of the Colony and this follows as a matter of course from the Hon \V. Seddon being " one of them." They dont want money tor developing' agriculture, but they do want it for developing mines. Farmers will appreciate this distinction and probably those who represent them will tell the representatives of the mining districts that it is of equal importance that the agricultural interests of the Colony should be subsidised. 'Virtually the Government is in earnest for a mining boom and the agricultural project is a make-believe.