TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 793, 17 July 1877, Page 2

TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1877.

I The offer made by Mr Thomas Morrin, to find t&e necessary capital for the construction of a railway to connect Grahamstown with the Waikato, was, we learn from the Grahamstown " Star'" made known to the Thames County Council on behalf of Mr Morrin through the Chairman of that body. The details have not been made public, but the principal consideration is a guarantee of 4| per cent upon the cost of construction. The offer opens up a subject which it s would be well that the Assembly should take into its reconsideration — and that is the animendment of the Railway Companies Act of 1875. It is beyond a doubt that the Government cannot undertake the construction of branch railways, however much *they may be required m various parts, of the oolony, and it is equally cleai' that the whole scheme of Public Works will necessarily remain less productive to the government of the colony, and less useful to the people than they might be, so long as these minor works remain unentered upon. .. They are, m fact, the feeders which woujd bring trafic to the main lines and are the arteries which are needed to bring" large districts lying off the track of the main trunk lines into direct communication with the older settlements and centres of population, and thus render them suitable and practicable for settlement; Had the Assembly looked at the matter m a broad and business-like light, and m 1875 passed an Act which would have attracted private capital, instead of, as they then did, passing a l( Railway Companies Act," the provisions of which were calculated to deter private capitalists from embarking m such enterprises -we should have had the Waikato and Thames railway half . way constructed by this time. But the Oolony, dog m the manger like, is unable to undertake these works, and at the same time will not allow other people to do so — except on sach terms and under such resti'ictions and covenants as would render the speculation worthless while - there are so many superior outlets for the investment of money m the Colony. ' The Thames-Waikato Railway, howeveii is an exception even to this rule. It can scarcely be called a mere branch line which connects two such important districts as Grahamatown and Waikato, or which opens up to the former town, as large as some Southern cities, the country land" beyond it that for all practical purposes at the present moment is closed to settle-" ment. We cannot call such a mere branch line* and would fain hope that the Government which has just sanctioned a survey, will, when the Engineer reports to the House, as he cannot but help do, the absence of all engineering difficulties and the importance of the work, ask the House to include the ThamesWaikato Railway amongst the colonial lines and provide for its' construction. If this be not done then, we say let the Government stand aside altogether and allow those to undertake it who have both the means and the will to do 80. ' - The people at the Thames are certainly not going to let the matter, drop. At, a meeting of the Thames Valley Railway Committee held on the 9th inst, the following resolutions were carried : — " That our representative m the Assembly be requested to again call the attention of the Government to the necessity which exists for complying with the oft- expressed wish of the people of the Thames m regard to the formation of the Thames Valley Railway." " That this committee request the co-operation of the Borough and County Councils m matter of obtaining the Thames Valley Railway, and that the members of the two Councils and the Chairmen of the Highway Boards be elected members of this committee, and requested to act on same." "That the Chairmen of the Waitoa,^ Hamilton, and Cambridge Highway Boards be asked tv assist m the obtaining of this railway." " That the Chairman write to the residents of the Waikato for their assistance ; also to the proprietor of the Waikato Timsjs."