General Government Mismanagement.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 86, 2 March 1876, Page 6

General Government Mismanagement.

Iti rafl y, be some consolation, to ourTuapeka fri.epds to know that the whole of the railway mismanagement Of the; General Government is not concentrated in the Round Hill Tunnel,, and that the ministers of works, engineers and, others have not yet arrived at a state of perfection in other localities, any more, then have those , responsible ■ for works in ; the. Tuapeka district. As .an evir depce. of .this we commend a perusal of the, folio wing: article from the -'Mercury/ Napier : — On more . than one occasion we have, referred to the maladministration of the :colonial public works, so, -far as regards' the railway in this province. We have referred 'to thei effect : that maladministration has, had on,; our revenue, by the stoppage .of the capitation allowance, and we have pointed out the.njusti.e of the treatment: we haye received from the hands of the General Government in this matter. We now purpose .to : show . why the Hawke's: Bay railway has not paid,; and, why it is •so unfair that the province .should have, been mulcted to , the amount of .£3OOO to make up any deficiency that may have .arisen. To do; this it is. hardly necessary to enter into figures, otherwise it would be easy to lajr before our readers the amount paid for each contract, and the approximate value of the material that has been imported, and the sums paid for sleepers, and work, performed. But without entering into these details, it is sufficient' for our purpose to point out that an enormous amount of borrowed money has been expended on • railway works between Napier and Takapau, in the Seventy-Mile Bush;, and that only nineteen miles are open for traffic. The^ delay that! has occurred in the completion of the remainder of the line., is simply the result of bungling, and no good excuse can be offered for ; the railway not being how opened to Takapau. The roadway between Waipukurau and, the Seventy- Mile Bush has been finished a year or more since ; the bridges over the Waipawa and T.uki-tuki were completed two months ago,; the. sleepers have been ready, and the rails and other imported material lying , waiting for use for a . long time past, yet . the. line probably will not >be open to Waipukurau till next Christmas., The principal cost of the railway has, been paid, the remaining work required to finish it is but a trifling amount compared to : the sums already- expended. Until the line is completed and open tor traffic the. sum spent on it is so much money lying unproductive, but ; on which the Colony has to pay interest,, to meet, which the province is made to suffer. Now the cause of the delay, was, we believe„in the first instance, due. to contracts for the roadway being* given out in sections in such' a ,way as to. leave, gaps in the line. For instance, theline was finished in places beyond Te A,ute," if we, recollect rightly, before, the section was actually surveyed ; between Paki-paki and Te Aute. Again- it was originally intended, that ; there should ,be a i tramway from Takapau to ■ Waipukurau, and with, the object of facilitating the carriage, of sleepers from ; the Seventy-Mile" Bush., the roadway was pushed on with the u tmost expedition. Wlieii the road was finished, it;was ; der terminednot to have- a tramway,, and ithe laying of the. permanent way was of course, then deferred till the 1 line : shouldbe; completed from! Napier. It w!ill, therefore, be seen'- that, oh the one hpnd, a! very , large amount of money has been spent long before .there was ', any necessity for such . expenditure, or. on the;other that there has be'en gross mismanagement and; bungling. tTrifqrtunately the maladministration . of the!sGeneral. Government falls on !this' province,, the interest on : the money spent comes but of : provincial revenue, and, there . does , hot-appear to ba any, redress. We have' no' hesitation in .saying that if our proyinbial .authorities J had had the construction of the railway, there would have' been no ! waste of money,! nbr bf 7 time* but ; the i Hawjce's : Bay share of the loan: wouldhaye been expended In. a. re^^^^ the face "of the 'glaring instances' of; incapacity •■"'that from .time; to- time pome before the public, ,!it: "is. :s^piri_ii.g| ( , the people i-;to.\the. extent ihey _.d, ; -supportedt the-movera^ hands of^the present "Ministry^ : *7- '">'■.