“The Press” In 1864

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30470, 18 June 1964, Page 12

“The Press” In 1864

The province is waiting anxiously for the action of the Government in the matter of the Railway. The fact cannot be dis* guised, that at ne time has money been more scarce than at this moment Never did stocks hang so heavily on band amongst merchants, except where clearing sales are resorted to and unremunerative prices ac* cepted; and never did the smaller dealers find it more difficult to meet their engagements Notwithstanding the drafts made on our populations by the Pelorus gold fields, there are a great many persons out of work here; indeed a number quite inconsistent with the present rate of wages, and only accounted for by the tenacity with which the labouring class clings to the maintenance of a high rate of wages, and the sacrifices to which it will submit rather than consent to a fall Every thing in the shape of undue speculation has died out,

and we are lying in that state of commercial lassitude which always follows over trading. We long ago predicted that this must come, and it has fallen much tighter than might have been expected. A very few months will see the colony again on the full tide' of advancing prosperity, but whether that period shall come sooner or later depends a good deal on the Government It is very far from our wish to embarrass the Government but we are satisfied from our acquaintance with the condition both of the money and labor market that we are speaking a feting universally shared by the public, in urging the Government to allow no lesser matters to stand in the way of this great undertaking, and to endeavour to set some large bodies of men to work with the least possible delay. There was some talk in the Council about putting the works up to public tender. That is a matter of very little im-

portance. Railways are not as a general rule put up to public tender in England. Nor is the system . of public tender at all applicable, when the first element to be considered is the character of the work done. Railways are most frequently let by private tender to contractors in whom engineers have full .confidence, because many more thousands may be lost to the shareholders by having the work scamped by an untrustworthy contractor, than can be saved on the price by competition. The engineer ought to be able to say what is a fair price for the work, leaving a moderate profit for the contractor: and If he can find a good and trustworthy contractor willing to take the work at that rate, to look about' for others by public tender or in any other manner is nothing but a waste of time. At all events we hope that plan will be adopted which will be most consistent with expedition.