The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and excat Justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. THURSDAY, JAN. 22, 1891.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2890, 22 January 1891, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and excat Justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. THURSDAY, JAN. 22, 1891.

Painfcl monetary oxpprienco lias | ' taught every settlor on the line of , ouiM'iiihvay that reform is necessary ill the general management and a j radical change in the, tarifh On Friday afternoon last a meeting of those who talce an interest in the i question was held in Auckland, at which two of the members for the city were present. The following resolution was adopted: "This meeting desires that the members of the House of Representatives be requested to support a resolution to be submitted to the House to the following cti'ect: That the House of Representatives desires that the Chief Commissioner should be directed, assisted by Mr S. Vaile, to apply as early as possible the adoption of the stage system, known as Mr Vnile's system, to the Auckland railways.' 11 is to be regretted that the meeting appears to have been supremely ignorant as to the position which the Commissioners hold, and the almost absolute powei which has been delegated to them. Such a resolution by the House as the above would be valueless. The object for which the Commissioners were appointed was to prevent the railways from being any longer used as party political levers. Parliament of course lias the power to send the Commissioners about their business by rescinding the commission, but so long as that commission is current, it is powerless to interfere with the functions of the 'members constituting it. Who is to direct the Commissioners ? Nobody possesses the power. No doubt if a resolution were passed by the House in the direction usked it would receivo the greatest consideration from the Commissioners, and this is all the power the House possesses, except, as we pointed out, of abolishing the Comin'ssioiK.rs altogether—a step which it ia to be sincerely lnped will not be adopted. That the management of these gentlemen is far from being perfect, is beyond dispute, but it is equally so, that it is better than of old when popular agitation, which means political pressure, was brought at short intervals to bear upon the Government of the day. An adverse vote on a possible close division was on mure than one occasion proved to be of greater importance in their eyes than the squandering of some hundreds of pounds to shut the mouths of a few noisy interested agitators. The mixture of party politics and railway construction and management has proved a curse to the country, and for goodness sake don t let us retuiu to a system from which we have escaped. Mr Shera's responsibilities rest lightly upon his shoulders, as is natural to a newly fledged politician before his first session, otherwise he would not have suggested that the Auckland railways should be removed from the control of the

'ommissioners. Ts it likely that In.' House would consent to one action ot railways being .subjected r> political intrigue and the others ,ot ? If there were to be a political truggle entered upon for special ailway facilities, the members for ach of ohe districts would doubtess insist upon a fair start. We honld like to see Mr Vailo's system lave a fair trial; we are not prewired to enter into a dilatation on ill the technicalities involved. From ill the information at our disposal vi> believe that a somewhat similar lysteni has proved successful in Hungary; but wo cannot overlook lie fact that no intelligence has •i.ached u. u that tlie managers of my other rail way system with much letter facilities for judging of its merits have contemplated adopting it. The means of transit are so intimately connected with the progress of individuals, districts and the whole colony that too much thought cannot be given to the question. >Ve are unfortunately in the position of not being able to forego present revenue for prospective advantages, and this is the difficulty which our railway managers mainly labour under. They can, of course, see that the prosperity of the colony depends upon the ability of its settlers to compete in the outside markets with other countries, and that one of the principal agents to secure that end is cheap railway carriage from the farm to the port. It must be equally manifest to them that population is a principal clement of prosperity, and that this can only be attracted by the existence of cheap transport. On the other hand, the Colonial Treasurer tells them that so far from being able to forego any profit for a time, the railways must, if possible, be made to yield -1 per cent, on their cost of construction. The effect of extracting this 1 per cent from a sparse population is tc retard settlement, starve out set tiers, and hold the colony back from attaining to the pre-eminent position which its soil, climate mineral resources and splendic ports would, under happier condi tions, place it. iSow Zealand has only one natural disadvantage, ant that is its extreme distance fron: the great markets of the world ; ; fact which emphasises the necessity for cheap internal communication.