The Waikato Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST, 12, 1879.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1113, 12 August 1879, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

TUESDAY, AUGUST, 12, 1879.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political. Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain.

But a small portion of the Publio Wcrks Statement, made to the I Eouse on Friday, by Mr Macandrew, will be of interest to the general reader, but that contains, condensed iu few figures, a large amount of matter for serious reflection. The Statement refers, not to the future intentions of the Government, but to the proceedings of the- department, during the past year, and generally to the railway works and expenditure of the past. In tbe Middle Island, up to the 30th of June last, there have been constructed, altogether, 809 miles of railway, at a cost of .£5,757,1 SB. In the North Island, up to the same period, 336 miles, at a cost of £2,360,000. The question willnaturally be asked, on what basis is this proportion of expenditure allocated. Certainly not on that of population, for taking the last, census, that of 1878, when the discrepancy between the respective populations of the North Island ' and the Middle Island would be-greatest — for immigration to the Middle Island has been fostered in just tbe same unfair proportion — we find that the population (exclusive of the natives, who certainly should count forsoraething) i» as three in the North Island to five in the Middle Island, whereas the proportion of money expended in the North Island, on railways, is only as three in the North to seven and onethird expended in the Middle Island. If we take, as a basis, the contribution afforded to the revenue by either Island, the injustice will appear still greater, siace, head for head, the people of the North Island con tributo a larger sum, from ths simple fact that the South is the larger producing district and North imports more in proportion than the South. The same disproportion is continued in" the last year as in preceding ones, 59 additional miles of railway were opened .for traffic in the Middle Istand, only 27 in the North. Yet, fragmentary in character as the lines are in the North, in the matter of returns they .have increased in greater ratio than those of the Middle Island during the past year. In 1877-78, the North Island lines gave only a profit of 15s, or |- per cent, on outlay. During the last year this has been move than doubled, renchinrr 1£ per cent, for the year ; while the number of passengers lias increased from 313,728 in 1877-78, to 703,869 in 1878-79, In the Middle Island, the railways in the first mentioned year paid a profit of 2. 65 per emir, on the outlay, an si cairied 1,159,147 passengers in the year just ended. The increase of. profits has been small, reaching only 3 per cent., while the number of passengers carried was 2,018,871, As a whole, the railway returns are satisfactory, but there is no disguising the fact that the interests of the North have been unfairly sacrificed to those of the South. No clearer illustration of the manner in which this injustice is accomplished could be found than in the proposed railway expenditure for the future of the present Government brought down to the House in the Pablic Works Statement of las>t year where against a proposed outlay of £4,652,000 for the Middle Island was a sum of £2,775,000 for the North Island — bu,t of this latter sum £1,115,000 was for that very problematical work, the Te Awamutu Taranaki line.