The Press. FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1909. LAIN SPEAKING BY SIR JOSEPH WARD.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13410, 30 April 1909, Page 6

The Press. FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1909. LAIN SPEAKING BY SIR JOSEPH WARD.

Wβ can heartily congratulate the Prime Minister on the sound! sense and plain speaking of his reply to the Otago deputation -which -waited 1 upon him in regard to the Lawrence-Roxburgh railway. It is time thai/ the ordinary canons of business prudence -were brought to bear upon the problem of railway construction in this country. Hitherto it has been treated: solely as a branch of politics, the securing of votes for the Government being the main consideration, and the prospects of the railway proving a profitable investment for the country being treated as quite a secondary issue. Those prospecte, as a rule, were not mad© the subject of careful calculation, but were treated* in the' spirit of buoyant optimism with which a company promoter approaches the drawing up of a prospectus. The arid and rarefied! atmosphere of Central Otago seems to be peculiarly adapted; to the production of mirages, -usually of a very pleasing character. For many years, when the Otago Central railway was under discussion, we were told! of the magnificent country it was to open up—the vast mineral reserves to be tapped l , the marvellous quantities of fruit to he brought to market. Year by year as the railway progressed, the visitor saw little but a succession of forbidding gorges, calling forth a remarkable exhibition of engineering skill, and the expected traffic failed to materialise. But "hope springe eternal in the" Otago "breast," especially in regard to railways, and objectors were told that all that was necessary was to continue the railway some distance further into the highlands, when it would reach the long-expected "paying point." But the further the railway wae carried, the further the "paying point" seemed to recede, until now, Sir Joseph told the deputation, when £1.280,000 has been spent on the line, it only returns Gs per cent, on the cost of construction.

Sir Joseph Ward evidently believes that the Lawrence-Roxburgh railway is as much of an " ignis " fatuus," as the Otago Central railway has proved. Hβ plainly told the deputation that th© country not only would not stand attofher job of the same description, but would not long tolerate the spectacle of an annual loss of £34,000 or £35.000 on the Otago Central, to be made up by other sections of railway. Of course, that is what it means. If ifae Government intend, in future, to manage the railways bo as to return the fulj interest on the cost of construction, it is evident!thatother railways must be penalised either by higher rates, or diminished facilities in order to make up th© loss on th© Otago Central. Sir Joseph Ward dispelled tho roseate visions of the advocates of the Lawrence-Roxburgh line with a cold douoho of official facts and figures. They spoke of £1634 alleged to have been paid last year for the conveyance of fruit from Roxburgh, on the Edievale line; the Prime Minister, on the authority of the Railway Depart*

ment, showed that the actual amount was £420. They conjured up visions of vast areas of Crown lands to be opened up by the line; Sir Joseph. Ward stated, on the authority of the Crown Lands Department, that if all the Crown lands ■wore disposed of the extreme amount of revenue would be £2000 a year. The Otago optimists., have long cherished dreams of a vast scheme of irrigation, making the Central Otago desert blossom as the rose. Sir Joseph "Ward told them, as the result of careful calculation, that the cost of such a scheme would burden each aero of land with a tax of 30s per annum. In regard* to another section of railway for which the Otago insatiables are clamouring—that from Clyde to Hawea —ho quietly mentioned that it would cost £300,000 to £400,000 to construct, and the value of the whole area of land to be served only amounted to £100,000. In conclusion he made a perfectly fair offer. The Government would give facilities for the construction of the railway if the district to be benefited would make itself responsible for tlie interest. Of course this offer will not taken up. Tho Otago spendthrifts are ready to call the tune, but they wish the rest of the Dominion to pay the piper. It is a thousand pities the Government, of wliich Sir Joseph "VTard is now the lioad, did not adopt, many years ago, the policy with regard to railway, construction for which Sir Joseph Ward declares to-day.