The Waikato Times. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1879.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1167, 18 December 1879, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 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, Unawedby influenceandunbribedby gam.

fr will be a matter of extreme regret it the settlers oi Cambridge shall find ifc necessary to fall baok apon the powerß afforded by the District Railway* Act for the construction of the railway to connect that township and district with the main line. There never was a juster claim made upon the public works expenditure, #6r one more warranted looked at %dm & business point of view,

than this matter of a nine or ten miles of •railway- i.to connect one of the uwat 'flourishing arid progressive districts m this -part of tho country with the capital »nd a market. ■'There have been ; plenty of political lines built ia New Zealand to secure votes rather than traffic. There have been lines coustrucfed as a matter of policy,, where traffic was only a secondary matter of consideration '■'* to make* sufe iho peace of the country, but the few miles asked for m this instance can lay claim to far greater reaspns for seeming the at. lention and consideration of tbe Government. It was clearly the interest of the colony and of th« railway scheme, as ft system, to have included it m the schedule of; public works. A large amount of money is already sunk, and more is being expended m the construction of the Kaipara-JPuniu line. To have completed this branch line, which would have been a most important feeder to it, would have considerably increasod the average returns of the main line. The Cambridge district is undoubtedly the largest producing agricultural district In the Waikato, Nor that alone; it is also the largest; cbQsutoing district of goods proluced out of Waikato. Ics carrying trade has been' estimated at two fifths the import and export freight of the whole Waikato' distvicb south of Mercer. If this be so, and we have no reason to doubt it, the loss which the want of this short line of railway, inflicts upon the railway management may be seen at a glance. The goods when they reaoh Mercer are transhipped to the Waikato Steam Navigation Company boats and conveyed by witer to Cambridge. From Mercer to, Rukuhia station is a distance of 47 miles,. and if we add the distance of the proposed branch to Cambridge, say another ten miles, we have at once in' the case of this connecting 1 link being supplied, an addition to the present railway freight of twofifths the entire Waikato traffic over 57 miles. Such an increased traffic for nine miles of easy railway construction would be just reversing the old adage and putting the gilt on to the gingerbread. Nor must the line be looked npon solely as a branch feeder and no more. It is bat the first section of the main trunk line of railway which sooner or later must be made to connect Auckland with the Hot Lake country — and even as it is, with a road opened up between Cambridge and Taupo, would enable tourists to reach. Cambridge direct by rail, and make even the same day a good start by coach for tho Lakes.

But if the government caunot see its way clear to make the line on to Cambridge a part of the Colonial railway scheme, as, we think, m all fairness and justice, and as a matter of interest to the profitable working of the main lino of railway — they ought to do— they certainty should not stand m the way of the Cambridge settlers who are desirous of helping themselves. Alluding to the determination qf the people of Cambridge to prosecute the work under the District Railways Act if tbe Government will not take up the line, the Herald of Friday says, " We do not believe the Government " would allow them to form a com- " pany, as the South have played oat " that trick." But why so % Tbe case are not parallel. The southernlinesto the extent of £612,000 proposed by the Government to be taken over by them under the 30th clause of the Public Works Act, if members are to be believed, are of a very different class to that proposed to be under, taken to connect Cambridge with the Waikato line. The 30fch clause of the Public Works Bill is exciting considerable discussion m Parliament at the present time, and we find Mr DeLatour, who, though a member of the Oppopition, is one whoa personal character is a guarantee that he would not misstate a case to strengthen his argument, is thus reported : — " The hon " member then went into details of >x the promoters of the various lines, " and showed that these promoters " wer9 the persons whose lands were " the most extensively benefited by " the construction of these lines, and (< the majority of their holdings were " wholly improved. Indeed, the "owners themselves were non-resi- " dents m the district. It was evident "that tbe promoters, of these lines " were solely actuated by a desire to " cut up the\r properties, and leave " the burdens entailed by the.makiog " of these lines upon the purchasers. " He didnotwish todetain the House, li but it was right that the House v should know these facts, m order " that iL might beonits guard. These '• companies were promoted by the " owners of the land, the land being "of such a character thafcit would not " pay them to turn it to t\ny use. All " they aim at is to get quit of the " land at snch an enchanced price as a " railway line would give them."

Such charges are inapplicable to the proposed Cambridge line. The object of the owners of the land and <>r.)>ers interested' is not to give enhanced value to property, but to enable them to save the loss and inconvenience which the present want of direct railway communication entails— to enable them to send produce to a market at a price which will allow them to compete with the South (for practically Cambridge is farther from the Auckland market than Timaru and Oamaru), and to import the goods they require at a more reasonable cost. The promoters of this line are

not holders of land waiting" to cub up and ro-soll, but hona fide occupiers and fanners, and to refuse their request because the District Railways Act has' been inside use of for purely; land speculating purposes elsewhere would be neither reasonable nor just. , *