TE AWAMUTU.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1825, 18 March 1884, Page 2

TE AWAMUTU.

As the Eastev holidays aye drawing nenr, lebidents in the country dibtricts frequently the question, Why are not the same facilities afforded country people for travelling by rail to Auckland as aie afforded the residents of the town and suburbs for visiting the country on special occasions ? The question is a pertinent one, and the lequest reasonable. If the matter were propeily represented to the Minister for Public Works it is very probable he would accede to the wishes of the public in this respect. If excursion tickets were issued the day pieceedinsr Good Friday, to remain in force till the following Tuesday, a great number of people would avail themselves of the opportunity of visiting Auckland for the holidays. The races are a great source of attraction to visitors from the country, and if means were offered for enabling them to ba present, it would gratify their desire in this re&peot, and mateiially increase the revenue of the department, for there can be no doubt that large numbers of persons along the line would gladly embrace the opportunity of visiting the city, a pleasure which many, at the ordinary tariff rates, find too expensive. On occasions when specials are run to Auckland, or return tickets issued extending over a period of four or five days, the trains are well filled, and I feel sure there would be no diminution in the number of passengers during the coming holidays. Whafea blessing ifc }s to Jive in a free country under a good Government. The people of New Zealand no doubt thoroughly appreciate that blessing. If the revenue falls short of the estimate the paternal Government provides a means of increasing it, as witness the alteration in the railway tariff, to come in force from this date. What a fund of wisdom the individual who originated the scheme possesses. What a grand stroke of policy to tax the unhappy farmer still more. He is already ground p the dust with the weight of taxation, and now the last strain has been put on. It will, however, have one good effect, it will rouse the settlers from the apathy, in political affairs which, unhappily is characteristic of the class, and result in their recording their votes for such men only as will do their utmost to effect a reform in the railway system of ■ management, a system which' has been bungled since the fipst trains were v\m, It looks as if the department thought the public were made for the railways in* stead qf fya wUwap for ti% 'pvUifr A

short time ago the fares were reduced, and we hugged oursolves in the belief the reduction would bo permanent. No sooner is there a question of finance involved than the Government solve it by clapping it on to the poor devil of a cockatoo fanner who seems to bo a sort of public pigeon for everyone to pluck. It is remarkable, however, that the rise in fares does not apply within a radius of ten miles from Auckland. Now, as the majority of persons residing within that radius are moneyed peoph, or at any rate batter off than the struggling settlers, it seems strange they should not be made to pay their share of the burden. This is class legislation w ith a vengeance. The Government say theie is but one law for the rich and poor in New Zealand, but this last stioke of policy, matchless in its stupidity and unfairness, gives the lie to the assertion, but it is not probable the Government ever imagined the public would believe such a statement, no one who knows them does. The cry is for retrenchment, a reduction of expenditure, but thore has been no cutting down of expenses in any of the departments with the exception of that of which Mr Bryce is the head, and that has not been reduced half enough yet. It would be a blessing to New Zealand if some political Hercules would arise and lop off most of the heads of tha 1 , " Hydra," the Civil Service, a department which is draining the life blood of the colony, and which is an incubus forcing us deeper and deeper into the mil eof debt. There is more of truth than jest in an at tide I baw in one of the papers, describing a scene between the head of the department and one of the senior officials. The former professes to be anxious to reduce the staff, and begins by naming those with whom he could dispense. As he names each the official replies, " We cannot do without him. His father or uncle ' — or some relative, as> the case may be — " possesses too much political influence. And so on down the list till he comes to a poor underpaid cleik at a salary of about £110 a year, and who is unfoitunate enough to have no influential relations. Said the chief, "We can dismiss him." " No," said the other, " we cannot do without him ; he does all the work." And so the matter was allowed to drop. The Radicals in England are raising an outcry against the cost of maintaining the Royal Family, but in propoition to the resouices and wealth of the two countries, it is but a drop in the bucket compared with the cost of finding lucrative appointments hi the civil service for lelatives of men of political in fluence. The Biitish taxpayer has a show of royalty in return for his money, but the New Zealand taxpayer sees nothing of his, unless he stands outside some Government building at closing time and watches the perfumed dandies, leaving their offices. Many of them would look upon the spectator, unless curled and arrayed like themselves, as an mfeiior sort of animal, totally oblivious of the fact that he is. one of the luckless taxpayeis who maintain them in their position of ease. I could go on indefinitely enumerating abuses which require rectifying, but will stop at those mentioned. On some future occasion I will have something to say about the Education Act. — (Own Correspondent).