RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 27, 1 February 1912, Page 6

RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

"It was a 6ort of triumphal march, attended with popular acclaim," remarked i/he Hawkes Bay Herald, an Opposition journal, describing the rally near Napier on Monday when Sir Joseph Ward did a little ceremonial navyying to etarfc the construction of the Napier-Gwborne railway. It was a day of .decoration and ovation, with the "political situation" quite forgotten .during the jubijation. The people of all parties had good -warrant for the merrymaking, for they Baw the beginning of a work to* stimulate settlement of desolate areas, long hungering for man and his domestic animals. The Premier began his long speech playfully. "He had come iiom Rotorua," he eaid, "where he had caught 108 trout, all of th© right colour. He had' enjoyed his holiday there clear of those cormorants who want to know the latest about the political situation. In Taupo the wicked ceased from troubling, and the weary were at rest." Then he spoke much on railway matters, local and general, but did not give any clear outline of the Government's railway policy. "The policy of the Government," he de- • clared diplomatically, "has been to prosecute railway construction with considerable vigour, giving due legard to the amount of money that can he set aside." It is true that during recent years tho extension, of trunk lines has not been overlooked, but the piecemeal policy, wasteful to the country but valuable to politicians, has been simultaneously pursued in many districts, Avith all tho old zeal. Even Government members have complained of the waste of public money involved in such unbusinesslike procedure. Last session Mr. J. C. Thomson made a spirited protest *gM tucb t&ciid* iie Admitted M

he, in common with other members, had been guilty of pressing claims for little pieces of railway, but he expressed regret that the "system" had compelled him to do as others had done, and he pleaded for a more benoficial line of policy, from tho national viewpoint. Happily, at the Napier gathering, the importance of properly fitting new ruilwaya in with schemes of closer settlement was vigorously emphasised by several epeakerb. This matter was brought up prominently in Parliament last year by Mr. G. Witty, and several other members. On Monday the Hon. J. D. Ormond spiritedly commended the proposed timely, purchase of lands through which public railway lines were • to be taken. Ho said he looked upon that policy as quite as important as the construction of the lines. That is a common-sense method to safeguard prospective settlers from being loaded with values inflated by tho expenditure of public money. It ie satisfactory to have- the assurance of Napier's member, Mr. J. V. Brown, that the Government has been buying land all along the route ot the new railway. Another matter of policy, the Beloction of routes, was introduced by Hawkes Bay's new Opposition member, Mr. Campbell. He contended that tho question of route had not received proi per consideration. The Minister of Public Works had promised to hold enquiries on this matter, and Mr. Campbell held that it would have been better if the Minister had kept those promisee— "ho could then have said that he had done his duty." Mr. Oampbejl can turn for some support to Sir Joseph Ward's Budget of last year. More than once we have drawn our readers' attention to the following-pass-age:—"lt would, in my opinion, bo a good plan to have the question ol what are necessary railways in each Island once and for all determined by a commission of members and experts, and that only 6uch works should be completed with, borrowed moneys. Any further sums required in excess of a certain amount per annum should bo fouad out of revenue. This method would give a finality to our scheme of railway construction, and it is desirable from many points of view. By such a course the country would know what was necessary over a period of years, and an amount could then be devoted annually to this purpose." This language is distinctly "loose." We should like to see the Premier's mind more clearly revealed. In the meantime we tire satisfied that the Government has no net revenue from the working railways tp allocate for construction work. Our belief is that the railways were costing, in the ' aggregate, more than they earned before the Ministry decided recently to increase to '9s a day the minimum wage payable to "day-wages men/ generally described, not fairly/ as "unskilled hands."