The Wairarapa Daily TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1891.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3949, 27 October 1891, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1891.

The flon. Mr Balance's own particular organ, the Wangamd Ihrcld, declares that : " Few people will disagree with tbe Premier that the handing over of the management of the State railways to the present irresponsible Commissioners was a mistake that must be speedily rectified, as the management of the lines under the triumvirate has. been anything but satisfactory "in any one ivspect. The action of the Commissioners towards the employes alone would warrant a change, as it has been arbitrary and harsh in the extreme, and highly calculated to bring about a disastrous strike. Indeed, it is an open secret that the Commissioners did their best to goad the men into a strike, which was only averted by the good sense and forbearance of the men themselves." We fancy a good many people will disagree with the Premier that the management of the railways by Commissioners is a mistake. We doubt whether a single business man, through ihe length and breadth of the Colony, would advocate placing the railways under the direct control of a Ministry like the one in power, which has already converted the Public Works Department into a gigantic outdoorreliefestablishment.and which possibly yearns to mauage the railways, so that the unemployed, who are increasing nnd multiplying under their rule, may find fields fresh and pastures new. The idea of holding ibe Commissioner responsible, for the threatened strike ip simply monstrous. The Commissioners, when first approached by the men, made several valuable concessions at the cost of many thousands of pounds to the taxpayers of New Zealand. When the men, exulting in the success which thej achieved, madelurther demands, bacKed up by threats, the Commissioners put their foot down, and their firmness averted a strike. Eighteen mouths ago, men. ail over the Colony, misled by political adventurers and demagogues, were ready to do all sorts of unwise things, and thousands of them now look back to that period with bitter regret. It would be well for public men to leave ibis old dispute between employers and employes alone! It is a mean and contemptible thing for the Premier to stir up strife between the Commissioners and the men under them. It is still worse for him to grossly misrepresent the actual facts of the old dispute. It was the Commissioners who displayed good sense and forbearance on that occasion, and we believe that even the men themselves would be manly enough to admit thi3.