OUR RAILWAYS WHAT WE MAY EXPECT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2530, 27 September 1888, Page 2

OUR RAILWAYS WHAT WE MAY EXPECT.

TO THK EDITOR. _ Sin, —Under tlio above heading a letter appears in the Herald of September 24th., over tlie signature »f S. Vaile, in which a statement of the tariff charges from Auckland to Te Arolia and to Hnntly is set out, and the announcement made in italic* that "'4s 9JJ per ton more for 51 miles less distance/' is charged by the Railway Department. Mr Vaile concludes his letter wondering " when will the public wake up to a sense of the impoitance of this transit question." My impression is that the public are awake to its importance now, but the public, in this as in other matters of national importance, lias a difficulty in making its voice heard ; unless led by some one it is impossible to follow without turning sumersaults. In common with a majority of Waikatosettlors I have, since Mr Vaile first propounded a scheme of railway reform, striven to follow his arguments and believe his various schemes feasible, fully recognising how nice it would be to travel for nominal sums in fares. He has given us his disciples many cruelly hard pills to swallow, but we have gulped them all down and persisted in our faith and trust in him, but this last letter sticks, or will not go down ! In the infancy of railway reform we were taught, in fact tho founaation of our belief was, that the further we went away from home the less we should have to pay, if mir rights were not maliciously withheld from us and the settlement of'the country was to be promoted. Now thw last light upon the subject shows us that the department is trampling on our best interests by doing exactly what we then contended for, that is to say, it charges by Mr Vaile's showing, actually more for a short distance from the metropolis than a long one. Mr Vaile is probably able to explain this inconsistency in his teachings; he is certainly able to reassert that he has shown none. I hope he will do so, and if possible without accusing me of being abusive. —I am, Sir, Settler. Hamilton, 24th February, 18S8.