The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2205, 26 August 1886, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Equ.il and exact justice to all men, Ot whatsoever state 01 persuasion, religious or political.

THURSDAY, AUG. 26, 1886.

Again, before leaving Mr Vaile's evidence, as far as it refers t<o the general question, wo canndt conclude with any sentence wjiioh shotjjd be more thoroughly considered by reading the following:—* In. England the railway companies virtually control the commerce of, the country, imd they habitually defy the Government. Tho same «ystem i8 now actively at work here, and it will bo well for us to at once deal with the question 'and master our railways before they master ns. In a country where the railroads belong to the people it is an open question whether every citizen has not a light to he taken to his home nt tin* same price. For my part, I believe to bring about such a state of things suddenly would also bring about many and great evils ; but I believe that' if such an end can be obtained by working up, to it gradually it would be the greatest blessing that could be conferred Upon any country. The report framed by the committee has been already published. On all hands it has been admitted that apart even from the direct fiuancial benefits expected to be derived from Mr Vaile's system, the chief one to be looked for is the settlement of the country lands, and in this matter the committee fairly planks its opinion when it makes the guarantee clause, saying that "it would, however, be unfair that one part of the colony should enjoy the advantage of cheap transit, thereby enhancing the value of property therein, at the expence of the general colonial revenue." This is an admission o£ the effect of the working- of the scheme, but it seems that a stronger feeling was entertained in this direction by some portion of the committee, for we rind that on the 11th August Mr Macandrew proposed the following as an amendment to the report : — Having heard Mr Vaile and Mr Maxwell at considerable length, and taken the evidence of officers of the Railway Department and others on the question, the committee is of opiuion — 1. That, although the principle upon which Mr Vaile bases his proposals, viz., that " by cheapening supply demand will increase,' 1 is sound ; yet the results of this principle in the present case must needs be very much a matter of conjeeture until tested by actual experiment. 2. That the proposed rudnction of railway rates would undoubtedly be a great public benefit, per *<•, affording encouragement to settlement and manufacturing industries. 3. Assuming that the proposed reduced scale of fares were to result in a direct loss to the revenue, which is by no means certain, the indirect advantages to the colony would fully compensate for 3uch loss ; while there is the possibility that the revenue would be increased. 4. That the application of the proposal, in the first instance, to passengertraffic only does not appear, from the returns furnished to the committee, to involve much, if any, loss to the revonno, while its success or otherwise would afford data upon which to judge of its probable results as applied to goods traffic. That, while the question is one, from its nature, on which it would be unwise to express any dogmatic opinion, yet, under all the circumstances of the case, the committee is disposed to recommend that the experiment be fairly tried ; and that, as the estimated receipt? are based upon a general average, such experiment should be applied to every Government railway in the colony. This motion was lost, but the printed evidence does not give us any report of the division, or by what majority it was lost.

-The Hamilton Borough Council notify that Bradley 'a bridge is unsafe {or traffic.