UNIFORM RAILWAY FARES.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1642, 13 January 1883, Page 4

UNIFORM RAILWAY FARES.

to thi: lywrou. Sii',- Some tune ago Mr. Fiitli s'.^j.'U'sk'il the u<js.-.iljuitv of t!io time co"iuig w Ijum a i ail way i {U '° hkc a postage •>L>niii would Ijc of one uniform \ alue. for ,ivy distant within the colony. Tlioio ,i;c many )(>,i<-oiir why a railway passeniror cannot b; tie.itw'u ju^t like a lettet in tin; matt, r of li.uis.t, hut the .sv^em of omeviiiu' him might he made, to .•ppioich M-iy ilo-idy to tiio post.il sy-t' n. Tnei'e is little djnbt thnt our picsi nt plan of i nluay management is costly .md iuelHciont, and J would pwpn.se a r.ulioil and sweeping change, h'jth i.i the in inagomcnt and in the ( hai<;c for ji.iivr.^ois :i;id fi fight faies. [ find f'o-ii the p-iMie woiky statement of I°>SJ tint the total n.iml^i of pas.'.on^u'.s of bjth clashes earned on oui i.iilw.iV3 wji -J,!)l 1,477. Of theso only 0(33,319 pAid iii-t c-la-s f.wca. The amount protlucoil \vi\t> -CS r >l ,70."* 4.- 3d; thus Hio i!\c!,i;'o payment was a fi action undoi ?, Qd eael). Instead of the picsent system I "would ])iopo"-> to «.stab!ijli'"tici.cfcotatloiH,"' the in -at, 1.") miles fioin tlie capital town ; the second, DO miles; mid then atoseiy 100 miles along the \"wi. 1 would i\x unifoim iatc\. f i oin ticket station to ticket station, or for any intermediate station, of one bulling foi lhv>t class, and oightpoiioc for .sccond-clasjb ixissengci.s. Thus, a fii^t-class faie to Druiy would bo tv.o hlullingj, or to Te Awamutu tlireo shillings. Return and exunsion tickets should be entirely abolished, aud only the one shilling find the oightpenny ticket l&suod. Tlicse .should be .sold bye-. ciy licensed stamp vendor, and ougbo to be taken in payment for freight as well as foi' passenger fines. Fieiglit bliould be dealt with in a similar manner, the lates i educed consicleiably, aud the chaiccs m,\de luiifonnftoin ticket station to ticket station. I bhall, ot course, be met with the eiy, " Ah, it won't pay,"' &c In i culy, I .isk, What right had we to CNpcot oui iiiilwaya lodiiectly pay interest on the cost of their construction and mainti'Jirinee ? Did a»yl)ody at any time, ever expect a mnendamiHod load to pay in thih sense ? Why, the tiavcllinsj public will not even pay enough to keep it in repaii, and have insisted on the iemo\al ot the toll-bars. If, thuefoio, the one form of load does not pay, why -hould we e\pect it iiom the other. U T e Ji.w c grown up in the habit of expecting laihvays to pay, fiom the fact tli.it, in tlk 1 older countiies, they wcie and aic formed by piivate companies, who, of course, limsb have interest on their outlay, but here the mils, like the roads, belong to the people, and should bo used for the gcneial good. The ijuestion for us is not how much any paiticuhu- (Jovernment depaitmcnt pays, ay what ppys the wliole comninnity boat. But when it 13 lemeinbercd tli.it the a\eiaqc faie paid is only 2& 6d, it is not difiicult to imagine that, under the system I suggest, the railways would pay better than they do .it pie&ent. The impulse tli.it would be gnen to tiade and settlement would be enoi mons. Many of the dis.uh antages distant settlers labour under would be at once swept away, and the general piospeuty laigely increased. One effect of the ' ystom pioposed would be, to establish inland towns along the lines of iailw.iy. ICioii ticket station being, in a sense, a tei min.il station, theio would be sine to '■pi in« up aiouud them a considerable ti.ule and ])opulation, which would go on iiri easing. T think a veiy little lellettion v 111 com inee anyone that tlio onoi moii-, mciea s e of trade that would lollon would pay the community far .holler than the small intcicsfc wo now «ci on the cost of consli i" fcioM. 1, however, ha\e a very I'onddcnt beb"t that, in addition to the lnmie'ise ludircet gain, if the plan now piopo'-ed weie adopted, the l.iilways would pi\ betk-i lntcicst than they do .it piescnt. I liavc not the means Jiefoie me to foi m a, coucct estimate, but have no doubt that fully half the present revenue is deiived from fares under three shillings, and surely the laigo reduction proposed would moie than (jiuulruple the number oi pa«sengeib earned. Again, what an atti action it would be foi people to come to a country whore they could travel so cheaply. Jfad this system been adopted fioin the fii&t, what would our population ha\e been at the picsent time ? — I am, &c, iSawi:l Vaili . Tlie Avenue, Uee. 30, ISSS.

Win \ the steam pipes wcie laid under tlic stieets of oS'ew Yoik they had to be put down 111 close pio\imity to the water pi pis, and they so heated the water in the Litter as to prc-cnt consumeis with duiiKiiig watei almost hot enough to "di.iw tea." Thus is the almanac season. A perfect av.ilanclio of almanacs, of all soits and sizes — a few good, a fe\y bad n-ud a good many niiliflcrenl— has boon hurled upon us, and if we do not, like- Oliver Twist, ask lor moic, we may teel pretty sure that moio aic coining. To the New Zealand (Jc\ eminent Life Assurance Dep.utmont belong-* the lionour of having issued the best 1 ha\o.seen, and my only legict is that they had to send the money \\ Inch it cost out of the colony. The dehicjn is o\eellent, and the woikinauship is as nuu ly peilect as possible, while the coloui.s i'uc \eiy well blended. The only defect is that Biirannia, who is represented as standing on an inverted globe Holding a spear to which i-> attached a banner bearing the legend, '" Lowest Piemiums, Mutual Tnsuianee, (lovpinnient .Security," looks as if she hat! been '' on the spree" and had made a libeial use of the rouge-pot to hide the traces of her very impioper conduel. lam very pinch afraid that, judging bv hei appearance, slio would not be permitted to cniol herself in the teetotal branch. However, T may have misjudged her, and, if so, I tender her a most humble apology. — "St. Muncro."' The " Illustiatod London News " ot *21st October, gives an interesting papci by Mr E. A. L'roctoi 1 on the comet, with diagram illustrating its orbit, which closely approximates to that of the comet of IS 13. From observations made at Vienna, he concludes that the comet is retreating on a path which it will circuit in less than a year, whether it be the out of 1 790, 1543, and 1880 come back or not. But his opinion of its final destination is accompanied by a declaration that its absorbtion by tho sun will not do us any harm. He says, — " It seems certain, then (if we can depend on the Vienna observation of the 24th"), knowing, as we certainly do, that the comet was at its nearest to the sun on Se-ptember 14th, that before many months are over we shall sec it back again, to return in ever narrowing circuits and ever shortening pei iods, until finally, it will circle round the sun in a few hours, to be constantly retarded by fiictional resistance, but accoler.ited in greater degree ,by resulting inrush towards the sun, until finally each portion of its substance roaches the sun's surface with a velocity of ab""out 260 miles per second. That surface is itself moving in an almost exactly contrary direction, with a velocity of a little more than a mile per second. There will then, in all probability, be considerable disturbance, but, although the idea is now .utterly exploded that comets are mere films of vapour, the total mass of the comet thus destroyed is, I, conceive,, too small for any such increase of heat to be produced as will seriously trouble the inhabitants of the earth. , ' , )iV/ t TYhere sh«ill I buy my furniture ancl.-^ carpets? You cannot do better ; than from Garlick and Car'nwell, who ' haW. no'iy a' very larpe assortment 'of iron » be'dstcdsj j varvhig in prirc from 16s 6d to to ten po t undj?,'f and kecj) in stock bedding ot all si/cs and kipds< 'Their large factory is comf>)cted, and machinery in full swinir, enabliiifif • them' to 1 'tui'n otit^furniture ,quick?r and^cheapor' tbanjhithwJo, G,, &; Q,, always Lave ready a large variety of drawin and > dining-room suites. Special attention' ft ' paid to bedrooni t furniture, suitable ''to all, classes. Great, ivuiotyi^qfa > ;carpe£s, • Kiddenpnnter, Brussels, andi, tf peltry ifromj.^.fld per yard. Linoulera and oil cloth for- nails '6f Manchester (roods. Sheetings, fi'dV^Gts,, hpllands/tqw^Hinfr. flannels, blankets,; .Gjycaliis/ifcrp.tohiiCSi damask, &c.,' &c. Book catalogues sent post k frae.^Xia'dies