The Press. THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1866.

Press, Volume IX, Issue 1081, 26 April 1866, Page 2

The Press. THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1866.

It is never too late to mend, and when we are considering how much money we want, and how that much is to be got to complete certain necessary works, it may be as well to consider at the same time whether the works themselves cannot be modified so as to be more consistent with the financial means of the province. In one of the first numbers of this journal, which appeared now four years ago, we called attention to the difference between constructing railways of the ordinary gauge, and with a corresponding magnitude and weight of engine, and making lines of railways with a narrow gauge, exceedingly light rails, and worked with horse-power, at all events where the traffic was still so light as to render a locomotive unnecessary. In finance, as in mechanics, there is no greater mistake than that of using more power than is wanted to do the work, for more power means more money. In 1862 it was of little use to preach prudence. Canterbury in those days was a place of unlimited wealth and resources ; and those who ventured to talk of economy or prudence were deemed to be old fogies, far behind the spirit of an advancing age. Thanks to the enormous wealth which the goldfields of Otago poured into our lap, the evil day did not come upon us so soon or so heavily as without that unexpected aid it assuredly would have done. But it did come at last; and lessons of economy which at that time fell unheeded on the public ear are now received with something like attention. The Lyttelton and Christchurch Bailway was started on a scale calculated to convey a very large traffic both of goods and passengers; and when it is considered that the whole oi the trade of the country will probably one day pass along that line, perhaps it is not constructed on a larger scale than will soon he required. There is not a doubt that the whole of the traffic at present on the line might be conveyed at a very much smaller expenditure of power than that employed. But is it at all likely that

anything approaching to the power of the engines employed on the present line vrillbe wanted to master the traffic upon any other line in the country for many years to come ? No one can believe that with ten times the population at present in the colony there will be a necessity for engines of the power at present in use. But this power in the engine involves a wider gauge, heavier rails, larger embankments and bridges, wider side-cuttings—in short, every feature in a railway which enhances the cost. If we had adopted a railway system on a smaller scale, a much narrower gauge, much lighter rails, much smaller engines, and in many places no engines at all but simply horse power, we should be able to spread our railway system over a very much larger space than we can at present. But the further we spread our lines, and the larger the tract of country tbey cover, the more likely they are to pay. Setting out of the question then for j the present the line to Lyttelton, is it ! too late to consider the whole question of railways over the rest of the province ? "We have had this question | lately forced upon our attention by an account of what the colony of Queensland has been doing in this matter. Queensland is making ten miles of railway to our one, and that through a far more difficult country ; but that colony adopted a very minute scale upon which to work. The engines are described as of most beautiful construction but ridiculously small, in fact in the expressive language which was used by one gentleman, they are like " diminutive thorough-bred ponies." The cost of construction, even through a hilly country, has been less by several thousand pounds a mile than we are paying for the line to the Rakaia. The working expenses are small in proportion, and the speed attained is twenty miles an hour with ease. It is then a very serious question whether we are not wasting the resources of the country by adopting machinery capable of carrying ten or twenty times as much goods and passengers as we shall have to carry for many a year to come. Which in short is best ?—to construct a small sized line the whole way to Timaru or a large one only to the Rakaia?—assuming of course that the small line is sufficient for all the traffic we Bhall have for the next twenty years. "We do not write this for the purpose of casting any blame on what has been done or on those who did it. The line now making to the Rakaia could be adjusted to a smaller gauge at a very small cost; and when the tunnel is opened we shall be able by an inspection of the accounts of the traffic on the present line during three years, to decide whether it would not be wise to reduce the gauge even on that part of the line to that adopted throughout the rest of the province. If the traffic proved the necessity of the broader gauge and larger power, the introduction of a third rail in the manner common all over England would enable the up country waggons and cars to go into Port when necessary. If we consider what would be the advantage to this place of connecting Christchurch with Hokitika by means of a railway, the importance of the suggestion here made becomes evident. And yet if we adhere to the present scheme as regards magnitude, such a design is utterly beyond our means. But we believe that it would be quite within our means to construct a railway on the scheme of the Queensland lines. Recent experience, moreover, has led engineers to adapt railways to much heavier gradients than were formerly thought either admissible or possible to be attempted. A late number of the Illustrated London News contains an account of a railway in the course of construction over Mount Cenis, from Savoy into Piedmont. The line is laid on the ordinary coach road, and the whole ascent and descent of the mountains is at a gradient of 1 in 13. A mile and a-half has been already laid, and the trains are found to work with perfect facility. This is a point which is intimately connected with cost of con- j struction, because the power of ascending such steep gradients enables the engineer to avoid expensive work into which he must have gone had he been compelled to keep a lower gradient. This is an observation which would in all probability specially apply to a line to the "West Coast. Lastly, the adoption of a cheaper description of railway would leave the province with means to bridge the great rivers. The bridges over the Rakaia and Rangitata are works which are amongst the very first which ought to be attempted, and they should be of a magnitude and permanence which would render their reconstruction unnecessary. These are we believe the only rivers in the province over which wooden bridges cannot be constructed with security. Now, when a new Superintendent and a new Provincial Council meet, this view should be fairly discussed. It is not a party or a political question

about which it is of any use to ask J candidates their opinions, for their j opinions are probably not worth much on a point which involves special study and an acquaintance with details, which men out of office rarely possess. It is a question to be argued on both sides in the Council, when the facts are collected and laid before it. The question must be put in this way : So many tons of goods and so many parcels must be carried on this railway per day for the next twenty years: —will a railway of such magnitude do the work ? If it will, is it better to make a larger railway over fifty miles, or a smaller one over 100 ? That is the way in which the question should be looked at, and members should have sufficient information as to facts to aid j their judgment.