SECOND EDITION Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1894. A MUCH-NEEDED REFORM.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4812, 30 August 1894, Page 2

SECOND EDITION Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1894. A MUCH-NEEDED REFORM.

Tub timo Ims arrived when, in the interests of our district railway, as well as for the advantage of Wai-ram-pa residents, an improved passenger service should be conceded The present arrangements give a rough journey and a long one. Wi arc promised new carriages whicli will smooth the passage s little, but we are not led to expect any shortening of it. It takes more than foui hours and a half to get from Masterton to Wellington, a distance of onlj seventy-two miles, and although th< return trip makes hotter time, it ii evident that we ought to get r quicker service. First, we require r speedier trip for the relief of a tirec humanity and for the encouragemen; of travelling; also, from a businesi point of view, to save time and t< give visitors to the Wairarapa f longer interval for the despatch o: their business. Without altering the timo of departure and arrival a the Wellington end, the train migli reach Masterton lialf-an-hour earlie: and depart lialf-an-hour later, an< thus givo visitors to Featherston Greytown, Carterton, Mastertoii Mauriceville and Bketahuna, anhou less in tlie train, and an liour mor for despatching their business, Iti not our placo to show how or wliei the half-hour 011 each trip could b saved, but every traveller must hav formed an impression that such saving can be readily mado. Even i it were necessary to pass one or tw little stations between the Uppe Hutt and Wellington to effect tli object, it would pay to do so. Thei is a, local train service betwee Wellington and the Upper Huf which' is ample for serving sue small places as Hay ward's, and it i absurd;to handicap the heavy throug traffic by stopping it at them. I would, of course, be the business c the department to say howtim should be saved if the public aro c opinion that time ought to be savec The railway service of to-day i much the same as when it com menced more than a dozen years age The traffic lias increased and multi plied, but the accommodation, wher it has hot receded,' has been station ary. At thp Wellington end peopl ask for what they want and get ii but the Wairarapa,which contribute perhaps the larger moiety of $ revenue, has got into the way of no asking and not having. Ofcours the district manager may bo justi fied iu working the line cheapl; and roughly in the interests 0 revenue, but in other parte of thi colony other considerations thai these prevail, The comfort and con venience of the travelling public i studied and also the .business inter ests ofthe 1 people : is considered This is just what we need in th Wairarapa and it is time that w mpressed our requirements on - th iuthorlties in a proper wtwmer..

We hear that the promoters of the • proposed Theatre Royal Company are. yery wisely looking about for another site. The Town Lapds Trust has two excellent sections available and wo do not Bee why a satisfactory arrangement could not be made for a lease under this body for a long term, a right of compensation being conceded. There would be no impropriety, as far as we can see, in the Trust investing a portion of its funds in sucli au enterprise, more especially if the building were called a Town Hall instead of a theatre. The change of name would mean a very substantial reduction in insurance charges, and we believe that at Wanganui atheatrowasonce re-christened as a hall merely to effect 6uch a saving.

The appointment of a new custodian to the Institute has excited a good deal of interest, but the real question mainly affecting its welfare is whether a miserably equipped reading room,' with a wretchedly stocked library is not an injustice to tho ratepayers who are taxed to support them. It is simply scandalous that out of an income of £275 only a sum of £24 3s 2d was spent last year on new books, periodicals, and newspapers. What is'needed in Maslerton is'either tho efficient conduct of the public library, or that it shoald be superseded by the opening of a suitable private Library.