The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1888.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2451, 27 March 1888, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1888.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever statu or persuasion, religious or political.

Since the return of Mr J. P. Maxwell, General Manager of Now Zealand Railways, from his brief tour in Europe, England, and the Unitfid .States, rumours have been current throughout the colony that t he Government have it in serious consideration to appoint him one of the Commissioners on the Railway Board which issliortly to be created. It is impossible to say what amount of truth is contained in these reports, or on what foundation they are based. They may have originated in the fertile brain of some political gossiper, or newspaper correspondent in Wellington, in search of the sensational. On tilt? other hand, the Ministry, finding itself in a dilemma in disposing of so high a functionary as Mr Maxwell, may have set the rumour aflwt, as a decoy balloon, to discover the real tide of public feelin" iu the matter before assuming any responsibility in respect of proposing such an appointment for the General Manager of Hail ways. Before Mr Maxwell left the colony to attend the conference at Milan, it was then thought ho would occupy some prominent place iu the proposed I tail way Board when its const iiiiiion wns being carried out, liuMiii , iih'.i was scouted ninl g"iieral!y ciHideiiineil by the press, at the time. From one end of New Zealand to the other where the railway system lias been introduced, the people have raised their

voice iigMinst both the existing policy and maiingi'iueuf. nt' tho lines, find strongly protested that tho regime of Mr J. P. Maxwell must bo determined with tho least possible delay. That was the temper of the p«ople. then, and i'.. is tho temper of the people still. Tho railways have never fulfilled the object for which they were initiated, namely, that of a primary element in promoting the settlement of the. country. On the contrary they have notonly strangled permanent occupation in the rural districts by oppressive freights, but, as a corollary, the revenue which the country should b« enjoying in return for its enormous expenditure on their construction, has been falling lower and lower, whilst the traffic has become, at least on the Wnikato lines, almost extinguished. The whole railway policy of the past has been a veritable blight on the success of the agricultural population, and at no time has it been so severely felt as at the present, when in addition to the general depression, the misfortunes of the farmers are. accentuated by the twin evils of low prices for their grain and high transit rates on the railways On the lines in this district trains are running two and fro, hauling carriages and trucks full of emptiness ; for people will not travel except under compnlsion, and cattle are driven overland to long-distance markets. Successive Governments have, to all appearances, entrusted the executive control of their railway policy unreservedly to Mr Maxwell ; he has been allowed unbounded discretionary power in the exercise of his largo powers. Therefore, though the country has never ceased to condemn the policy, its condemnation has, at the same time, borne with it the management of the entire system under Mr Maxwell, upon whose head has fallen the popular odium.

Mr J. P. Maxwell has submitted to the Government a lengthy report of his observations abroad, and the information he has gained on the various railway systems he came in contact with. He deals particularly with the American railway system, in regard to which he, we freely admit, supplies us with much valuable information. We shall find an early opportunity of reviewing the report in its main features; but, at the present moment we are struck with one of the conclusions arrived at by Mr Maxwell, which we are by no means prepared to accept. He says, " Our regulations and instructions for working cannot be materially improved ; they are very complete and ample. We have carried on our business under them with reasonable safety of life and property, and with reasonable immunity from fraud and loss." The completeness and amplitude of our regulations cannot be denied ; neither will itbe objected to that they have been free from fraud and loss, or thatthe safety of travellers has not been endangered by them. But the extraordinary, self-satisfied, assertion of the General Manager that they cannot be improved upon is, decidedly a surprise to a Jong-suffering people. A system of regulations that has carried in its train a succession of failures, that has weighed like a night-mare on the energies of agriculturists, that has destroyed passenger and goods traffic, and is persistently followed by decreasing receipts, cinnot be upheld as faultless. It is, judged by its own results, a miserable bungle, and requires improving from top to bottom. We are not to be guided and influenced by the opinions of Mr Maxwell, the framer of these regulations, who naturally finds them a delight and a joy to his own heart, but we are guided by the opinions and wishes of the people who are the sufferers by the consequences of their obnoxious operations. Whatever Mr Maxwell may have learned in his travels, he has not apparently discovered that the conditions and circumstances of this colony, which are very peculiar in themselves, will not admit of a comparison with those older and vastly more thickly populated countries he duals with, and, therefore, that a system which may suit them will not suit a colony so young and so sparingly settled as this one is. The Government must not mistake the feeling of the country on the question of railway reform. Next in order of national importance to Retrenchment is a radical revision of their railway policy, that will bring it into sympathetic accord with the original principle it was supposed to contain, as an auxiliary to the opening up of the country to permanent occupation by a contented class of settlers. To place Mr Maxwell on the Board of Commissioners would pre-suppose that the people accept the system and favour its perpetuation ; whereas it is to give emphasis to their disapproval of it that the people view with ill-favour such an appointment. Should the Chief Commissioner be a thorough railway expert of large experience and liberal ideas, which it is naturally expected he will be ; if he is a man of quick perceptions who will readily grasp the situation and circumstances of the colony, the probability is he will introduce a reform completely in the contrary direction to that de,si«n Mr Maxwell has been familiar with.

The question of railway reform has always occupied the attention of the people of Waikato in a very pronounced manner. A Railway Reform League was formed a few years ago to agitate for a remodellingof ourrailway system: the League still exists, and in view of this report anent Mr Maxwell's suggested commissionorship it is, wo believe, contemplated by that body to take steps to obtain an expression of opinion on the subject from the electorates.

The weather has been very cold for seven 1 rl.i3"s pint. Rouraanii is seeking a defensive alliance with Austria against Russia. A meeting of the Railway Reform Leigiie will be Iwlil .it Hiimiltnn to-morrow afternoon. The Hamilton Light Infantry pnrade this evening at 8 o'clock at the Volunteer Hall. Captain Steele was in the township on S.ilurday fur tliu first time since his accident occurred. Capt- Morpefch, "of the Ponsonby Naval Volunteers, died on Sunday afternoon fit hi t an attack »f typhoid fever. The publicans are stoutly opposing the lu-ensing clauses in tlie L'>cal Government Bill introduced by the English Government. H.M-8. Nelson with the Admiral and Mrs Fairfax, left for Sydney on Saturday afternoon, deeply regretted by the Aucklanders. Mr Norwood, clerk in the office of Inspector of Police, Hamilton, left yesterday for Napier, where he has been removed with Inspector Kieley. Holt, the convict bank manager, i.s repoi.ted to be breaking down in health, and will be released forthwith. He has served only half his sentence. Through the carelessness of persons passing through the Lake farm and leaving the pates open, Col, Forbes has lost 200 sheep and a valuable ram. A notice tt> trespassers appears elsewhere. A weather board house at Hukanui, belonging to a native named Honi, was burned to the ground on Thursday night, together with about £2fi in money. The building was insured in the Standard Office for £120. The Birmingham Leader says •— It is leap year, aud it has just been 1000 years since there were as many B's in the year as we have just now. ft is a gool tirna for bachelors to cogit-8, the pirls to reciproc-S, and not hesit-8. A grand concert in aid of the Hamilton Trinity Wesleyan Church will take place tomorrow night in the Public Hall. An excellent piogramme has been prepared, which appears elsewhere, and will no doubt prove very v.trastive. At the meeting of the Education Board on Friday, the question of the Cainbridge Hi nil School was again brought up. The Cambridge couiinitte wrote asking the Board to reconsider their decision to close the High School. Itwas dicided to refuse the application, owing to lack of funds. Arrangements have now been made for re-establishing daily postal communication between To Aroha and Auckland, via Waikalo. Mr E. Gallagher has signed articles for the conveyance of the mails between here and Morrinsville on the off-train days, and the new service will commence on the 2nd prox. We have been requested to invite florists to remember the Easter decoration of S. Peter's Church and to send all the flowers they can on Saturday. A decoration bee will be held at the parsonage on Friday afternoon commencing at 2 o'clock to which all who are willing to assist are invited. Mr Cannell's lime industry on Waipa-Ragian road is gradually gaining in importance. The quality of the lime is so high and the price so reasonable that he is able to keep the foreign article out of Waikato. Mr Cannell is now busy getting away an order of five tons to Cambridge. The drawing for the tournament for the racket given by Mr W. N. von Stunner resulted as follows :—W. Mulgan and T. Forbes, and H. Hume and R. F. Sandus play even. K. Brookfield and S. McLernon give R. (iwynne and K. Forbes respectively 1") every game, and J. Edgeciiinbe gives P. E. Stevens 30 in every game. The lirat games will be played this afternoon. The annual meeting of the Cambridge Football Club was held at Bjcli's Hotel on Saturday evening last. Upwards of 20 persons were present, with Mr Hunt in the chair. A satisfactory report of last season's operations were presented by the comu,itt«e, and was unanimously adopted, several members expressing their regret at tho loss sustained by the retirement of Messrs Snuter and Hunt. Tha following were the officers elected for the ensuing year :—President, the Mayor. Vice-Presi-dents, Messrs E. Waddington, W. M. Donglaa, J. McNicol, K. Fisher and E. Cussen. Committee of Management and Selectors, Messrs N\ I. Hunt, I), l<). Porter, T. H. Wilson, (i. McCann and A. L. Soutor. Captain, Mr I). K. Porter. Hon. sec. and treasurer, Mr S. C. Richardson. Tho subscription was fixed at 2s (Jd, the same as last year. In replying to the usual vote of thanks to the chairman. Mr Hunt said, although they had retired from active service, both Mr Souter and himself would always do their utmost to forward the interests of the club. The meeting then closed.