The Daily Telegraph. TUESDAY. JULY 24, 1883.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3751, 24 July 1883, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. TUESDAY. JULY 24, 1883.

The Hon. Mr Holmes, in seconding a motion for a return of loan expenditure within the boundaries of the several counties, said that in travelling , through the Hawke's Bay district his distinct impression was, without questioning tho expondituro in other districts, that the Hawke's Bay district had not had its fair share of public money. There was no great public work in the district except the railway towards Wellington, while Hawko'a Bay undoubtedly contributed largely to the pro-perty-tax and to the other branches of the public reveuuo. It was one of the most productive districts in New Zealand—he believed thcro was no district more valuable, considering its extent; therefore he thought it had been overlooked, and everything the Hon. Sir George Whitmore had said was home out by the facts, which could bo verified by any traveller passing through the district. There Avas a strong contrast between the state of matters there and in some districts in the South—for instance, Canterbury, Otago, or Southland—where, in the neighbourhood of the towns, there was a network of railways, while in Hawke's Bay there was only the one line. Then, he held that the special legislation in favour of Taranaki was unjust to the rest of the colony. Tho 25 per cent, of the Land Fund was altogether beyond what should have been given, and if justice were to be done that should be revoked, and Taranaki should be permitted to borrow money on the same terms as other parts of tho colony. It was never contemplated that Taranaki was in all time coming to get 25 per cont. from the stilo of the confiscated land, which amounted to a very considerable sum. He believed that Taranaki had got very large sums recently from the Land Fund. That was wholly unfair treatment to the rest of tho colony, and no other district was treated in tho same way. Looking at the state of matters iix Hawke's Bay, and comparing that district with tho rest of tho colony, he said that Hawke's Bay had a perfect right to demand that it should receive a share of the public works expenditure more equal to what was given to other districts. It was well known that the harbour of Napier was not a good one ; and what then could be a more desirable work than to extend the railway through tho district to "Wellington, co as to give access to a good port ? Then, again, tho railway system along tho West Coast would soon bo completed; and why was not an _ effort made to get that lino connected with the main line from Napier to Wellington, thereby giving access from the West Coast to Wellington over a Government line, without waiting till a private lino was completed to take it ? He should not be at all surprised to see that question of the connection of the main line with the western line ignored altogether by tho Government. There wero strong interests to prevent tho making of the junction between Fahnerston and Woodville. It would not surprise him to see that junction neglected altogether, and when this private lino was completed it would get the wholo advantage of the railway traffic of the western line from Waitara to Foxton. That was the result he anticipated from the commencement. He was always opposed to that private line, feeling assured it would be a most excellent speculation to the company, but that the Government should never have allowed it to be made by a private company. The only thing the Government could now do was to make the junction between the two systems —the main lino and tho western line—and thus insure the traffic passing over the Government railways, instead of allowing it to go over a. private railway.