The Hastings Standard Published Daily TUESDAY, DEC. 7, 1897. THE RAILWAY TIME-TABLE.

Hastings Standard, Issue 495, 7 December 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily

TUESDAY, DEC. 7, 1897. THE RAILWAY TIME-TABLE.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For tho future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

The uew time-table for the WellingtonNapier section of railways is published in this issue. To the layman it will present many extraordinary features. The service to Napier, which in the past has been disgracefully inadequate, will be made simply unbearable. The convenience of the travelling public does not appear to have been considered in the least in the preparation of the table. Indeed, the whole consideration of the Department has been an ulterior one. It is absurd to say that an express train could not be run between Napier and Wellington, via the Wairarapa—a distance of about 215 miles—i• i kss than twelve hours. And yet tl. : is the Mroe proposed for the journey. If this is the express rate, what tho ordinary rate be? Then again s the arrangements for connecting Hawke's Bay with Manawatu are simply atrocious. Travellers from this district; who desire to visit Palmerston North, wi'l be required to remain in Woodville for over an hour, and rice verm. The whole thing is a travesty a ludicrous commentary upon the management o; our railways. But one has not to go far to discover the cause of this extraordinary piece of humbug. The thing is rn a naishell. The Government, instead of doing its duty and taking over the Manawatu railway as a going concern, intends making a vigorous effort to reduce the value of that line. Conteyuently it so arranges its time-table that passengers from Hawke's Bay to Uliogton and from Wellington to Hawke's Bay will prefer to face the dn ?:mutaka to making a stop of an b -•* more in a place like Woodviik. '/he public has not been considered. I s cooyifenenee is a secondary nr.Mier. It is even stated that to sr-cure its purpose, i.e., to crush the private company, the Government intend* cnarg'ug the same fares as the Manawatu < ompany. That is to sav, although the distance to Wellingtou Wakarafa is tea

tniies further than it is via Palmerstou, the mileage will be charged the same. Surely this is unfair competition. The country has to pay the piper, anil probably for no useful purpose. The Manawatu line should certainly belong to the Government, but let it be taken over in a fair way, without recourse to coercion or boycott.