The Waikato Times. AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men. Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. TUESDAY, AUG. 9, 1892.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIX, Issue 3131, 9 August 1892, Page 2

The Waikato Times. AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men. Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. TUESDAY, AUG. 9, 1892.

"The battle of the Routes" which is being fought out in Wellington is the contrary of edifying. Never since the inauguration of the Public Works scheme has the fact been more clearly demonstrated that Parliament unchecked by a non-political and independent tribunal, is quite, unfitted to deal patriotically with the money which the scheme has placed at its disposal. One coniniittpe of the House, composed of members for South Island constituencies, has already given its decision in favour of what is termed the Central route. Those whose interests are in the other direction are urging on the. Government the appointment of a commission or another committee, on the grounds that they are now in possession of facts which were not available to the committee which decided against them. These commissions are very expensive affairs and it is fair to ask before entering upon the expenditure what guarantee there is that the decision of th?. proposed oora mission or committee would be more loyally abided by than was the last. To our mind there is no question but that if the original decision were reversed, the Central party would make the discovery that there were facts in their favour which had not received due consideration, and would agitate for a third enquiry. Each party would be on equal terms and there would be apparent justice on one side if they claimed that there should be a third heat added and that the winner of two events should scoop the pool. This would cause delay, and, aside from the and the somewhat disgraceful display of want of faith, would be matter for congratulation. It is manifest that the amount in hand for the prosecution of this work, whichever route may be chosen, is quite inadequate to "construct the line to a point sufficiently far to make any appreciable addition to its earning capacity. To do this, further borrowing wouid be necessary, which would be a greater evil than allowing the outlay already incurred to remain comparatively unproductive till such time as the progress of settlement in one or other direction decided the dispute as to route. In writing thus we fully appreciate the importance of having the cities of Auckland and Wellington connected by rail, and were the country in a :

position to stand the- expenditure of completing the lino we should with all the power of our pan ur«e th« speedy pushing on of the work. It cannot, however, afford to contract another loan for some years to come, and until that time it is better to wait than expend the sum in hand with little prospect of adding to the earning capacity of die existing lines or of promoting settlement to an appreciable extent beyond that which may be. anticipated under existing conditions. The grazier must precede the agriculturist, and to him a railway is not of supreme importance, provided he has a passable road by which to get his stores to the homestead and along which to drive his stock to market, or to the nearest railway station. These are matters which are not likely to be very earnestly considered by either party to the route dispute, both feel that if they can only carry their point now, victory is secured to them, as the expenditure of the money in hand would afford an almost unanswerable argument to complete the line on the route selected. Events have proved pretty conclusively that the railway should never have been pushed beyond Te Awamutu prior to the native title being extinguished, each mile of railway added has a tendency to increase the difficulty in this regard. We hope that the Government will resist the pressure being brought to bear upon them to set up either another committee or commision and in the meantime refrain from prosecuting the railway on the route decided upon. The difference of opinion between the Auckland and Wellington people should enable them to do this without much fear of losing political support. To go on means the antagonism of one party and to re-open the question that of another. As we have pointed out the latter course is not likely to lead to finality, unless the decision of the former committee is confirmed.