ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2052, 1 September 1885, Page 4

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Thk Public Works btatoment has at length boon mnd«vuid, as h: s been pretty generally expected, it contunsti proposal to expend the m.» l»'*t Miin of t'l">0,00) on the con ttmcti'iu of «v **. fti"ii «»£ the KiHtnnd We-t Coast Kulwav- This is not so bad a* mih*idisiu e r Sir Julius Vngi-l's fiiond-, \leig s 's ."id Co., n the .i.iio.mt is not niiah njori 1 than Inlf .is much again .nyn <v vi-.u s sub-udy t.> 1 1. it di-tni'-tuii-ho 1 him, \uth tin 1 advautige, s hi a* it is th.it the eoli.nv will mvn fie i nlw ly wh n it i-t couiplet»d, and tint tin- tvcpayeM will h.i\e no no ldoi iif htiw much tliuy will h i\e tipiyfx the job, \|/ til • Hit MV<fc i>!l t'l • Cut df C> • xtmctioii and about ninety nine per cent <•! tho woikin.,' fxpens"-. Still the, propo^l is bid enough, ■!•<, if it i" accepted by thHouse, it practically commits the c »lony lo th" construction of so many ni"ie miles ot railway th.it will not p.iy, and [ aui quite sum th.it we have already get more than we want of that description of railway. At present, Mi Richardson's " Inuiible example," is the Picton Line, which shows a proht of only 3s 3d per cent on tho co.st of distinction, but this is a healthy and sitisf.ictmy result compared with what will be ihown by the Eist and West Coa-t Ruhvay, if it is constructed, for many, mmy years to conic However, it is tob; hoped that tho majority of the nieinb-n will tie it thin, propoiil in tho same way as they treated the motion to refer tho m.ittci to a committee, and thiow it out. In a certain good book, there is a ntory told of a cert un nobleman who entrusted money to his servautu to use during In- absence. On his return he found that i o of them had used the money to Mich adrnntige that they wore enabled to return their lord a larger sum than lie had given them. For tins they weie commended and rewarded. One of them, however, had not made pro|iei n-e of the money, so he was condemned and punished. I think that thu pai able might fairly be applied to tho Minister for Public Works. Ho should be told tli.it, miles* he can "how satisfactory nMiilts from the rid ways already constructed, he will not be permitted to in iko any new lines. It is generally admitted thit Mr lii< liar Ison Ins made an eminently s;nsil>le piopiisilwith regnd to thu extension of tl o Kupar.i Railway. That line is paying very « oil mi account of tho large rju.mtity of timbei earned by it, but the iat') of p.olit would -poeihly fall if the line wvie i ipidly lengthened, Idealising this fact, the .Minister for Public Wmks recommends th.it the i nlway should be extended from Jlfli'ii-viilii noithw.uds, a hlioit section ncli yeai, in oider to meet the lequueinent* of the timbei ti.ide, without opening up too mm.li timber l.md at one time, thus can-Mii.,' a glutted in uket, and, probibly : n UNJioit tiad-i at uiiieiiiiui'-iative lates. If thu >«y-t»'iii of gradually extending thixe railways which wer. 1 pa) ing, and no others, had been c lined on finui tin 1 date of the inauguration of oiu gieat Public WorkPolity to tin' piesi-iit time, we, .should cntainly not li.v*" ho m.my iiiiK's of rnlwav open, but on the other h md we should not ha\e so laige a publ c d 'bt nor no great an annual loss on our r <ilwa\s. # • Talking of iailw.iy*>iutterH, Mr V.ule is nitin.dly indignant that the consideiation of In* scheme should h.iw been lefeuvd to a committee, of which thu pie-ent and pT*t Milliters f-n Public Woiks .uc niem-bi-M. As he Hays >f his system of r.ulwly clnrgt 1 * is correct, theirs iniist be wioiig, and it is no' to bo expected that tin \ cm tonsid -i the matter furly and lmputtdly. No in 1 , e\o p- those in soni" way c unvoted u icli tho dopartmont, doub k ,s but that then *y*tom is wrong, and that it must bj speedily altered, but tho difficulty l- to peisuade thoio who are attempting to maujge our railway* that it is possible to effect mi improvement. However, a radical change must be made, and that light speedily, .is we cannot tolerate the heavy lo«>es that are being made by our railway*, a» well a* the constantly increasing charge for interest. We are already far too heavily tixed, and we cannot bc.ir any heauci bunions. Indeed, it is very difficult to see whe-ice the increased taxation, which i* ineutible, is to be denved. It is quite evident that a Houso elected mainly by winking men will not consent to any gii'at liiutMso in tho customH duties. The Property Tax is already .us much as the piop-'itv claiH can pay, and any addition tn it would probibly have the ettwet of killing the goose that laid the golden egg, a* it would dine people who have money out of the country, and prevent otheis (oniing licie. No, we must not have heiAii't taxe-«, but in order to make both cml-. nif't, we nnwt Iwvtiji reduction r>f our Cvli' udltuir*. 1 # # # Vs the tune is appiimching for the mayoral election, a lrqiiwitiuu in being nunioiou-l> nigned, asking (Jouncillor Upton to allow himself to be nominated. Judging by present appearances thnre will bo .so many signatures that Mr Upton will not hesitate for a moment to comply with, tho re'iurst. It will be ivell if Uo is elected, as he i« n keen, shici.d busiiicm-man, well fitted to deal with the present financial muddle into which the city council ha» drifted. Mr Waddel, whoi<n>w iniyor, h»-< been smgu'arly unfortunate during his occupancy of the ofhen. lJiinug the hr-t jeni of lih mayoralty, tho city dii:ted to leeward about £15,000, and there seems to be a danger that tho deficiency will be £"20,000 this year, nnlo*i a policy of M/ouiiiH retrenchment i* carried out. What makes t)n« very barr) on bis Wm-bipis tbnt time aftrr time he has w.irned the councillors that they weie making the pice too hot to la-<t, that they were spending the ni'inry too quickly, hut lih protects were vii nailing, as one man cannot with-tind eighteen. A winted f-oinf woik done in hi* w.irfl, and insisted upon getting it, de<]nte thu condition of the li.mk account, and P> (J and I) were bound to -u iport him, kii that they might have his a«siitance foi the woiki they wi.shed to have peifoimed in then wards, and so the game went on until the councillors found themselven brought up with <i round turn. Tin* is, in one way, the wor*t spocins of log rolling, because tho ratepayer aie moie likely to commend tint to condemn the offenders. If a public man puts Ins hnnd into the public puri-o for the purpos? of enriching himself or his friend^ his career is ended the moment he is found out, but if he does it for the benefit of the distrtct Im repiesonts Ins constituents will .ippioicof hn.iction and le elect him. Hy the bye, m\ of the councillor*! retire by otHuxion of time, and time is to lie an election next month, but them i-.no present indic.tion of any opposition to them. A »ny short timo ago mmy of the loud liiontln d titi/ens were quite leidv to ( mdeniu the councillors for tho unK*tisf.ictor> in inner in winch they had fulfilled then duties, but those same loud mouthed citi/etir. do not nhotv much alacrity inolfeimg them Fehen to fill the place* of tho-ts vvhom thej aliusod. I xhould not bo at all surprised to icMiii that thoso who made the most noi^e are not latepayei s and, therefore, aro not eligible for tho ofhco of councillor. # * * A few weeks ago T referred to the case of the young man Casper, who is now awaiting his tn.il on v.v ions chaiges of embezzling money, the property of his o.nployer, Mi Carr. Bnuie one wrote an .mmiyuiouH litter to tho "Herald" on the subject (I d<> nut think much of ,i m in who is afiaid to ign Ins name to a letter), ex-pressing his opinion th ie it was not to bo wondered nt that f 'n«|K>r robbed his employer, becaiwe )n wan not p«id .« MilKcicntly Isiisre «*lary to ciiKUie his honcmty. Thin is an opinion woifhy of a wiiter of anonymous letters. Tin rt* might havp been a Homblance of re.tcoii übout it, if the youth had lned the .stolen monoy for obtaining ncocK-anu--, but he wasted it in gambling. Small n-< his Hillary was, it was cvi deutly moro than Uo was worth. At the name time, I am quite Mine that £'"> per mouth is sufficient to enable an honest youth to maintain himself till he is worth moie. I could name mon occupying portions in thw city who havo lived on le-^s than that stun. There are ph-nty of very respectable families m which a youth would get ii CDinfni table home, for fc.'J pei month. Tint would leave him £2 a month for clothes and other necessaries. Of couise, I do not -jay that thix woiilij le-ue much in.ugiu foi cigars, billiards and gambling, foi which Mr (Jasper rvi lently had a fincy, but youths starting life are not supposed to indulge in such hidiit* I nfortunately for themselves and then employe!*, then 1 are too many of these vnth- who do so indulge, the ic-idt being di-i 'i,i(c nnd ininiiKonment. ♦ * The "unemployed" havo ba<l a sevoie di-ippoiiitiiMMit. They representerl to the (ioveinmi nt th it they were inn H.'id st Uoof desiitution, and a-ked for woik. Tlmu ie(|iie-jt Ii ii 1 * been granted in a way that tin ydo not- like. They aie offeied employun nt at htonc breaking, for which they will leieivc :^ (Jd per yard. At a man would li.iMj to work \ery »teadily to break a yard

per dicni, tins means only 21s pel week. Of course, this will not suit many of the applicant* foi \vi>ik. It is not what they wint. They would like to jfet 10s per day (though they would not object to moro than that) for doing .1 nici! winy "Go\ern-m-nt stioke, ' .mil, if they cunnot get ill it. iimst of tin in would piefei to letiiiUii un uiipl'V"! LVitunly, Mi W. (J. (iair.ird willnoi •(■ ept the wot k, .nui the ilium r the ( !<n 1 1 n.i'. lit realise the f..tt the bcttoi. Si. Ml M.o.