The Waikato Times. THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 1879.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1048, 13 March 1879, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 1879.

Equal and exaot justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political. » » * * * Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by influenoe and tmbribed by gain.

A. the meeting held in the Council Chambers, Hamilton, on Tuesday night, to protest against the proposed alterations in the traffic on the Auckland - Waikato Railway, the only new matter introduced by any of the speakers was a reference made by Mr Gwynne to a case which occurred only a few days since, which showed how little the railway authorities care to study their own interests or those of the public. Mr F.mtham, of Cambridge, was taking up to Auckland a few head of valuable stock to meet the Hawea, which lefb port on Monday afternoon, but because bhe railway officials refused to pub a truck on to the Monday's -passenger train, in which case Mr Fantham and his cattle might have gone up to Auckland together, and the cattle have beeen shipped immediately on arrival, he had, instead, to send ihe in away by the cattle train on the previous Saturday evening, necessitating their detention at Auckland, and entailing a considerable amount of loss of time and trouble, [f two passenger trains will nob pay — and, by the bye, we have heard it distincbly stated that the afternoon train is more often well filled than not, and that on one night last week there was positively not sufficient room for the comfort of those who travelled by it—let the railway ' manager do away with a special goods train and make the afternoon a combined passenger and goods train. It is all very well to Bay the delay caused by the delivery of bhe ■joods at the several stations on the line would entail so much loss of time that a combiued train would offer no advantage or inducement bo passen gers. This need nob necssarily be so. Of course, if bhe goods for the various stations are stowed here there and everywhere through the several trucks there will be con. siderabie delay, but the use of proper system and forethought would obviabe this difficulby and render the . leaving of bhe goods for each sbacion a matter of very little delay, sometimes the mere detabchiug of a bruok pi waggon. Whab is wanted is a businesslike traffi. manager on the line, and unbil such men — men who would be considered competent to manage a commercial business— are appointed to the several lines we shall never have the railways of the colony worked at a minimum of cosb and returning the largest possible profib and securing the greatest possible amount of convenience to the nttblic. Admitting, however, for argument's Bake, that the afternoon train is not paying as well as could be wished, is it wise we ask, as we asked in our last issue, in bhe face of bhe line being extended to Te Awamubu, to make this change ? One _f the richest disbricts along bhe whole course of the line will then be opened ap, >«nd much additional traffic may be looked for. Butic were i no reason because this special train, which has not been running long, did not pay at firsb that it should be discontinued. As well cease bo work every railway in bhe colon} | that is nob now worked ab a profit. A settler might as w^U refuse to keep on investing money on his land because it did not give immediate returns. The management of a railway is a purely business speculation, and, like every other business speculation, must be pushed at first for small returns, in order to create the traffic which will produce future revenue. There i3 another matter deserving notice, and that is the very J

short period for which return tickets are issue J. Iu issuing return tickets a railway manager has two objects to serve, the one to increase the railway returns tlie other to afford convenience to the travelling publicNow the more he studies the latter the more likely he is to increase the former j and even when he can give increased convenience to the public without decreasing the returns ifc is his duty to do so. In this case, however, both objects would be effected. The present system is to j issue return tickets allowing a day lor every fifty miles or fraction of fifty mileo. Now, this is neb sufficient to induce the full amount of travelling that would otherwise be undertaken. A visitor to the Auckland district taking a return ticket for Waikato has nob sufficient time to " do " the district, and invariably has to leave for Auckland again, before lie has seen half wtiat he wished to see. • Now, why should nob the time that these return tickets can ba used be extended ? Within a reasonable limit, whab loss can it be to the rail- | Way whether ib brings back the passenger one day or another ? It would cosb no more to convey him back again on the Wednesday than it did to take him back on the previous Saturday. But it would make this difference, that two would travel where now only one does, and thus the travelling public, the railway receipts, and the district would be all gainers. When will the railway managers see these matters in their plain, business-like light? — not, we fear, until the system of putting square men into round holes is abandoned.

Mr Hicks has again brought forward the alleged caoe of scab at Hamiton, and in reviewing the history'tof this now cause celebre of Waikato has spoken not one bit too harshly of those whose duty it was to have persisted in obtaining redress for one of the most grievous wrongs which has beeu inflicted by a mis-car riage of justice on an innocent individual. But Mr Hicks, we think, had no need to have pleaded guilby to any charge of not having drawn attention to Fergusson's evidence. The point was nob whebher Fergusson's evidence a* stating he had seen scab carried any weight with it, bub whether Fergusson gave any" such evidence ab all. Inserb bhe word u nob " in Fergusson's evidence, and ib would read more consistent with the whole bearings of the case. Ib was nob until the printed evidence appeared that this stabement of Fergusson, that "he had seen the living insecb moving," was imported into bhe case. Ib does not appear in bhe newspaper reports— the defendant had no knowledge of it, nor had obhers who were present iu Courb, and the solicitor for the defendant was equally astonished when he read it. Could all these be mistaken, and on so material a point ? Is it likely if such a sbabemenb had been made by one of the prosecubors principal wibnesses bhab ib would have escaped bhe notice of defendants council and nob have led to a keen cross examination, wibh bhe object of upsetting evidence that could not be other than damnabory bo bhe defence ? And if it should be thab the presence of this would " not" be a clerical error in the first instance, or a prinbers error in the Parliamenbary Paper, the case would bear a very different aspect. Mr Jolly has, himself, endeavored to interview fergusson, bub unsuccessfully. Yet, this is no reason why bhe matter should no* be thoroughly sifted. It is monstrous that our settlers should be liable to suffer so monstrous a wrong as that which has been inflicted on Mr Jolly, who, in addition to personal inconvenience, deterioration in the value of his flock and obher loss, has been mulcted in the round sum of £G7, for Court fees and legal expenses. No wonder that Mr Hicks feels warm upon it. What was Mr Jolly' case yesterday, may, to-morrow, be that of any other Waikato settler.