THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1881. BOYCOTTING IN CHRISTCHURCH SOUTH.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2398, 9 December 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1881. BOYCOTTING IN CHRISTCHURCH SOUTH.

The law takes the most grave precautions that all electors shall be able to give their votes just as they please. And yet what has just happened ? A deputation o£ Licensed Victuallers has waited on a leading firm in this city, and has asked it to “ give the sack ” to a valued employee, because that gentleman, in ordinary conversation, advised a friend to vote for Mr. John Anderson! Is such conduct to be borne ? Is boycotting to be permitted in Christchurch ? Are Mr. Holmes’ friends to terrorize the independent electors of Christchurch ? A GREEDY PROVINCE. The log rolling proclivities of the Dunedin people are notorious. They never miss an opportunity of pressing their hundred and one wants upon the attention of the Government, and consequently the Premier on his recent visit to the South was besieged with deputations. First came the Harbor Board people, who wanted to know what was going to be done about the removal of the lino and the erection of the now railway station. The Chairman of the Board drew a distressing picture of the inconvenience to which the public was put by the non-completion of the work and the loss sustained by the Board through their endowments not being available. Then there was the little matter of telephonic communication between Capo Saunders and the Heads, That would not cost much, and would be of great service to the shipping community, and the Board would be glad if the Government would take the matter into favorable consideration. Besides, the Lyttelton Harbor Board had a telephone

to the Heads, and, therefore, Otago ought to have one. The Chairman of the Board having delivered himself, the Vice- r ® Bl * dent of the Chamber of Commerce had a turn. He wanted to bring under Mr. Hall’s notice the Otago Central Railway, which, of course, was of very great importance. He said that some time ago it was thought injudicious to prosecute this line, but within the last year or two the country had been more opened np, and the land was found much more productive than it was formerly thought to be. Another speaker urged that the line was a colonial work, as it would establish communication with the West Coast, and would open up a large amount of land available for settlement. After this bad been patiently listened to, the Mayor introduced his little grievance. He bad a sewer which smelt, and it wanted extending to the waterside. Perhaps the Government would not mind finding the money. Then there was the Domain Board. That was all but defunct from want of funds, and a share of last year’s vote was needed to keep it from expiring altogether. Another greivance was the closing of one of the streets. Something must he done to avoid that, or the city would he half ruined. Finally, the members of the new Dock Trust presented themselves, and urged that the Government should place them in a position to enable them to proceed with the construction of the dock. With such a formidable array of demands we should imagine that the Premier felt his position to be anything hut a happy one. He was expected to promise to carry out the railway station works right off, or at any rate, to state when they would he completed. As this alone would involve an expenditure of at least £IOO,OOO, the difficulty of giving an answer may be well imagined, and the deputation had to rest content with an assurance that no time would bo lost. Then as to the Central Railway. All the hopes of the Otago peeple seem centred in that. When completed it will produce an era of unexampled prosperity in Dunedin and the colony at large. Indeed, some people appear to think that the millennium will have come when the iron horse is seen rushing along through the interior of Otago. It matters not to them that the Railway Commission reported against the line as unsuitable for construction on the ground of the heavy cost. A million of money to be spent in the neighborhood of Dunedin would be a very good thing for that town, especially when the colony pays the piper, and it is no wonder that the merchants confidently predict a revival of trade if the line is gone on with. "Viewed with a pair of Otagan spectacles, the barren and rocky portions of the route are transformed into grassy slopes and fertile plains, and the delay in making the line becomes an injustice to be resented at the ballot-box. Nearly all the Dunedin candidates swear by the “ Central,” and it is evident that the Southerners intend to make a strong effort at the next sitting of Parliament to carry their point. Instead, however, of seeking to involve the colony in the prosecution of a work, the benefits from which would he purely local, it would he much better if the agitators turned their attention to the practical means placed at their disposal by the Railway Construction Act of last session. Facilities are offered by that Act which, if the Otago people had the courage to grasp, would soon remove the difficulties in the way of their darling project. Let them take a lesson from the Wellington people, and set about forming a company to carry out the enterprise. By that means the line would stand a much better chance of becoming an accomplished fact than by relying on the House of Representatives to pass a vote for the the work. The day for that sort of thing has gone by, for the people of the colony are now fully alive to the fact that they cannot afford to throw away immense sums of money upon works, the success of which is in the slightest degree problematical. Then as regards the dock which it is proposed to build at Port Chalmers. We question very much the wisdom of that step, especially when it is remembered that the entrance to the harbour is so shallow. The deepening of the bar has not yet been proved to he possible, and it would be far better to delay taking any steps towards building a costly dock until it has been ascertained beyond doubt that vessels sufficiently large to warrant the outlay can he got in to it. Former dock experiences at Port Chalmers have not been satisfactory by any means, the Government having had to take over the existing one. However, we can rest easy upon this score, as the Trust will have to convince the Governor that they can raise the funds to prosecute the work before bis consent will be given. Even if it is ever made it will add an additional burden to the shipping of the port which is tolerably expensive already. But what we wanted to point out was the had taste of the Dunedin people in selecting a time when the general elections are pending to urge upon the Government demands for money in half a dozen different forms. Otago has always been greedy in the matter of public money, and it is to be hoped that the other constituencies will not be caught napping when the annual division of the spoils takes place.