Saturday's Meeting.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2004, 12 May 1885, Page 2

Saturday's Meeting.

The w cither on Saturday night turned out wet mid eoaise, and veiy few people mivdo tlioir appearance at the hall t<> hear the continii'incß of the discussion on railway management. Tho'-o who did attend, to tho number probably of foity, weie chiefly residents of Hamilton West. His Woivhip the Mayor again occupied tin' chair. The Chairman m opening the proceeding*, i »aid ho hoped something pi nctiu.il would result fi"in th.it night's proceedings. On all Hidt)^ the nece-sity for reform was conceded. They «. mted a Hysteni wliich I would opuii up tins country and holp settlement along. When the i ail ways weio tiiHt pioposed no one drnanu'd that they were to beacointiuici.il speculation. In the past they had abolished toll-bais ; no one expected the loads to letuin uie\etuio, and it was noce-».iry for th« .ul».mwm<»nfc <>( the country that tho railways should coaso to bo taxing machine*. HetuMed the .speeches would be siioit and t<> the point. .Mr V.nle s.nd they would remember that on the preMous evtning ho had stated th.it the whole (|iiestion of whether tho scheme would be a success w.is wrapped up in tlio answeis to be gi\on to three other questnins :—(1).: — (1). How in my would be carried under the proposed system ? ; («?)• What would tlie .ivuiagu f.iie umoiiiit to? ; (H). Wliat would be the amount of tho increased rost, if any, of cm Tying three passengers instead of one. .' He h.id already dealt only with tho fiist on tho previous night, bujt Mr Swurbrick had dealt with all three. Througliout the whole of his long-winded speech he had not adduced ono iota of argument.. His cry w.ih ••imply that lie (Mr Vaile) know nothing. Mr Swai brick claimed tli.it the question ciuld only bo dealt with by a man from England, but that simply meant a continuance of the present »y»tom in different hands. Thin was not a remedy, nnd if it satisfied the pcojile they would bo natisfied with very little. But Mr Swarbrick had reserved what ho considered bin best shot for tho last. He rediculed tho idea of carrying people between Pukekohe and Hamilton lor (id and 4d. Ho appeared to tlnuk that this was all that tho lino would cam, whereas that portion wan a most important one. At Mercer it touched the river, and tapped a number of out-districts ; it included the important station at Huntly, while at Ngaruawahia it caught up the traffic of the two rivers. There were fourteen ntationtt on this section, and yet Mr Swarbrick would h.ivo them think that the whole of tho revenue would bo deitvcd from the through traffic. )h> felt greatly annoyed at the manner in which MrSwaibrick had do»lt with the professional gentlemen who had up so much of their I time to the consideration of tho scheme. There won not ono of them but had more knowledge in bin little finger than Mr Swavbvick hud in his whole c.uca^o. Mr Swarbrick's claim to pose as a railway authority retted on the fact that ho was tho (ton of hi* father, and he might inform the meeting that that- father had been tho manager of the worst-managed line in all hngland. Mr Swnrbrick's position in connection with the Great Eastern Railway | on the Continent was similar to that occupied by Joo Craig in Auckland. He received the goods and dititiibuted them to the different consignees. The Mayor hero interrupted and requested Mr Vailo to confine himself to the subject under consideration. Ho deprecated a resort to personalties. Mr Vailo then piocoedrd to explain his system of reduced fai es in detail, showing that the benefits were not confined to any particular locality, but extended over the whole country. Under the now system the number of first-class tickets sold would approximate much more nearly to the number of second class than it did at present. In England the ktago system could not well bo adopted because tho linos wore %at iously owned, but horo tlioy belonged to ono narty. Concerning the question of tho cont of carrying 1 the extra number of passongcrs, they had tho authority of eight railwny men for Haying that the difference would not bo appreciable. Mr Vailo then briefly reforied to the system of differential ratincr, which he showed operated greatly to tho advantage of Canterbury and Otngo at the expense of the rest of the colony. He said that no long as tho people of this district Hubmittod to this system they need not wonder that they were unnblo to compete with tho southerners in many articles of produce which camo to the Auckland market. He referred to the frauds which wore effected by means of the system in America, and naid there was ft desiro on the part of tho department hero (an shown by tho (ionor.il Manager* report, which ho quoted to go in more oxtonsively for it than wan the case nt present. Air Vailo concluded with tho romnrk that tho railway oflico™ in Now Zealand woro on tho wholo a good class <jf men, against whom pemoually ho had nothing to say. They had treated him with unvarying kindness and courtesy. Mr Swarbrick «nid it wan not his intention to follow the example of Mr Vntlp. It mattered not to anybody present what portion hu had occupied in tho railway service, Ho appeared there and had spokon as a Wwkato sottlor, and it wan a piece of grosi impertinence on Mr Vaile's part to refer to him in his professional GApAoity, He had been likened, to Mi* Joe

Craig, of Auckland. Mr Craig was a *«ry respectable and successful nuiti, and lit* felt honoured by the compui-on llmvovei, tlioy were met thoie not to bandy [mm --'in tit tie I*,1 *, hut to endeavour to do something practical. H« uould therefoie move the follow mg icsolution - " That :i committee (consisting of geiitlon m to V>«> nairn d) he formed to draw up a petition to I'.iili.nnent for a Royal Commission to onqimo into the working of the i ail ways with a view to increasing the facilities and reducing the charges, and vesting the management in non-political boards : and that the varioui local bodies mm asked to co-opeiato. " Ho warnod the meeting to Jink only for that which there was a possibility of getting. They would douhtloss like Mr Vaile'« scheme, but would they get it ? They should go upon a broad platform, and tins he had laid down in the resolution. Mr \V. Maegrogor Hay seconded tho resolution. He said neither Mr Vaile nor Mr .Swarbrick demanded more than fairness, nnd he thought the subject could best be considered by a Royal Commission appointed by tho representatives of the people. Ho looked upon Mr Vaile's scheme favourably, but ho was not in a position to judge its merits or demerits*. It should be handed over to tho consideiation of competent men. Mr Vailo said ho had that afternoon drawn up a petition to Parliament, which he would like to read to tho mooting. It was as follows :—: — lo mr Honourahik nip Housk ot RhprksfnTATIVFS, IN I*AKI lAv*NT ASSFMIILKH The petition of the undersigned inhabitants of New Zealand humhly sheweth : 1 hat the present system of managing the r. n! wa)% of tho colony has proved must unsatulorv in every respect. I liat it entails a very severe financial loss, wliu h in< reases year by jcar. I hit the arrangement of the scale of fares, 'at<-; and charges, ciuscs great dissatisfaction I hit in the opinion of jour petitioners a complete i h mijc has become necessary. Hut a sjitcm of levying rates and charges which seems t" offer great advantages has been proposed by Mr Samuel Vaile, of Auckland. I hat this systnm has been examined and reported upon by several gentlemen of acknowledged position and 1 irge practical experience in the. actual vvoiking of railways. I hat y iur petitioners are of opinion that the adoption of the proposed system would od largely in the settlement of the country, and development of it-, resources. lh.it tour {if the gentlemen referred to : Messrs R \V Moody, I. I). Edwards, R. Stoddart, and \V <^onyers, have signed, for publication, •statements to the effect that the adoption of the proposed sjstom must result in a nett increase of the i-diluay revenue of at least £200,000 per annum Your petitioners, therefore, pray that a commission ma) be appointed 1 1 enquire into and report upon the proposed svMem and also any othrr si home that may be proposed. 1 hat a* the arrangement of the tariff is in i in I V' a commercial and fimnrial matter, yur petitioners pray that the commission may consist of the Minister for Public Works, the General Manage! of the New Zealand Railways, and other commissioners to be sel< cted one by <; u h of the chambers of commerce in New Zealand And your petitioners further pray that should the report of the commissioners prove favourable the proposed system may beat once brought into operation on the railways of the colony. And your petitioners as in duty bound, Btc. It was necessary to narrow tho enquiry down to Rome Hcheme, because if tho quo* tion wore loft an open one, an proposed in the resolution, some favoured individual might manage to slide in a schemo which would not meet their viowH at all. Ho would also point out that the resolution committed tho country to tho appointment of non-political boatds, the otfieacy of which had not yet been demonstrated. Ho would ask somo gentleman in the audience to move tho adoption of tho petition ho had drawn up. C.tpt. ttteelo lose to move tho adoption of the petition. Ho was strongly in favour of Mr Vjiilo's system. It had been said that it-> olfocts would bo contraliHing, but he did not bolieve that for a moment. Mr S war' nick had made a great point about a few Haws in tho nvMtetn, but no man wax perfect, and oven ttie Apostle Paul had his cntics and detractors. They should consider the genoial effect of tho wholo Hcheme and not trifling patte of it. He believed thutwcio the syatem adopted the population of Waikato would hooii be trebled. It h.id been said that cheap f.ires would enable people to go to Auckland and make their puicna-es in (jueen-Htreet. Well, if such would bo the ca.sn, tho Htorekeepei s hero would have only themselves to blamo for it. (Hear, hear). He knew of many instances of capitalist* dosirom of investing in the district, but who were deterred by the high rnilway charges. Talking about freights, he thought immense reductiorm could be made. For instance, suppose the freight on potatoes was i educed from 10*, or whatever it was, to, nay, .Is, ton tons would bo sent whern one was sent now. It h.td been objected tlmt would cauwe a glut in thu tuaikct and bi ing down tho price, but what of that? Tho people would at any rato get lid of their produce, and that wan what w.b wanted. His notion about the passenger ti affic w.is that if a man hadn't got 10s they xhould take hix half-crown and send him along. Ho cited tho ponny prwtago and the uniform telegraphic ratcw in suppoit, and claimed that the railways munt be utiliHed for tbn purposo of opening up the countiy. He thought Mr Vailo wa« on tho light track. (Applause.) Mi Prunrot-o Mjconded the amondment. Mi W. M. Hay pointed out that the chambers of cominerco rt'prti.sented tho city interests. They Hhoiild bo cautious about puttingthemsol yes in tho hand* of thone bodies. Mr Vaile'n propiwal if carried out, would not give the country di-strictn a voice in the matter. Mr Put i Haid he understood the ch.imborn of commerce wero all in favour of Mi Vailn's scheme. Mr V.nle : That is so. Mr.T. 15. Whyte, M.H.R., «nggo«ted that both tho resolution and the petition n.ight bo .tltoied. The one committed them to non-political bo.irdx, and the other to an examination of Mr Vailf's nchemo alone. Mr Swarbiickand Mr Vnile agreed t<» this suggestion, the latter remarking, in answer to Mr Hay, that the clumbers of commerce repreKcnted the commeicu of the whole country. Tho alteration in tho petition is embodied m thn document ax given above. Tho words rofciring to nrm-poli-tical boards in Mr Swarbrick 'h motion were struck out. Mr Gelling said it was a pity that two men mi eminently well qualitied to deal with the question as Mr Vailo and Mi Swat brick could not ngice. Ho suggested that some arrangement bhould be como to between thorn. Nothing in the direction indicated by Mr (Jelling was effected. The Chairman then put tho amendment, when thero voted for it 21, against it 13. Tho amendment was thcrefote declared to be earned. The meeting terminated with votes of thanks to Mr Vailo and tho chaiunan.

An Ihi~.ii Hnx — Tlio grand jury in the county of Tipperary, in Ireland, passed the following resolutions : Ritufvtrf — That the pieaent gaol is insulheieiit, and that .another ought to be built Risolvtd — Thut tlie materials of the old Hoal be employed in conHtrui.ting tlie new one llcxotri.il— Thit the old uliould not he taken down until the new one is finished. Li->t of viaitois to Te Atoha IJnth during tho week: -.Mi li.m.ud, Mr J. K. McDonald, Mr Ti'imont, Mr StarToid, Mr Vonton, Mr DoVeuu\, Mr Dajrell, Mr Cluike, Mr Taylor, Mr and Mrs Kdnon, Mr Winter, Mr and Mrs T. W. and Mist Leys, AUhi O\ley, Captain Lindfers, Mr Wykea, Mr Hulloek, Mr Munay, Mr Smith, Mr Hansley, Mr Long, Mr RobcrtH, Mr Petkcthley, Mim O'Dowd, Auckland ; Mr Khronfried, Mr Jackrtoti, Mm Smith, Mr Oarrett. Thnmeu ; Rev. 13. Callman, Sydney ; Kor. W. H. Mahoney, PueroA ; Mr A. F. de Veanx, Chrintchurch ; Mr John Badloy, Mrs Joseph Badley, Otahuhu ; Mr, Mrs nnd Mjhh Tliaxter, Waihou ; Mr Sanded, Hamilton ; Mr John Ferguson, Mr Hugh l''er KtiHon, Mr E. HutchingH, Mr E. A. HutclnngH, Cambridge ; I'rofoHior Ktce, Mr Voice- Hivwkina, Mr Macgregor Hay, Waikato ; Mr Rout. A. Wothempoon, (ilaHgow ; Miss Law, Dunodin ; Mr Holloway, Hamilton ; Mr H. Crutchfiold, Briabane; etc., etc. An Aiaiiasikh Ro\ — Yuunp girls finding their complexion growing sallow, and their 'kin becoming rough or fret My, retort to perfiimi-d ointments for a restoration of thoir bloom. All such should me American Ca'a Hop Hittrr 1 ., whirh will rostorc bloom to cheek*, whiteness and bnauty to their complexion, making rich blood, Rood health, and happy smiles. Read. Yes 1 It is certainly true. Ask any of your friends who h ive purchased thero. Oarlick and Cranwell h.ive nunx-rons unaskc-d for and very favourable commendation* from country cuitomcrs on their excellent p u kuip; of I'urmturi', Crockery, and Glass, &x. Ltdus any gentlemen about to furnish should remember that Onrlick and Cranwcll's is 1H« Cheap Furnishini; Warehouse of Auckland. Furniture to suit all classes ; also Carpets, Floor Cloths and all House Ncccjfanc*. If your now house is nearly finished, or, you nre tfoiiiß to get married, visit Garlick and Cranwell, Quicn-strcct and Lornc-street, Auckland. Intending purchasers can have a catalog u» i«o fret.