Marlborough Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 1886.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1876, 10 June 1886, Page 2

Marlborough Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 1886.

I Jn a previous article wo referred to tho danger to the small districts of the Colony in the compact entered into by members of the larger provincial districts to secure a larger expenditure of public money in their particular disiricts than is provided for in the Loan Schedule of the Financial Statement. Our fears were not of an imaginary danger, it appears, for te'egram from our Wellington correspondent the other day conveyed the in'ormation that Marlborough, as one of the smaller districts, and having only limited voting power in the House, is marked for slaughter. It is understood that among the lines to which objection is taken by the Otago, Wellington, and Hawke’s Bay members are the Blenheiin-Tophousc, for which LIOO,OOO are set apart in the Loan Schedule of the Financial Statement, and tho WestportJnangahua line, for which L 70,000 are set aside. So far as our own line, Blenheim to Tophouse, is concerned, it is contended that the expenditure of the amount set apart out cf the proposed new loan for the work is not immediately necessary, on the ground that the line itself is not require 1 until the Midland Railway Linn shall have reached Tophouse, about four years hence. It may be true that for the purposes of connection with the Midland liailway the expenditure of the money is not immedia ely necessary. But are we to wait four years, until the Mid and line shall have reached Tophouse, before we turn a sod 1 ? The proposition is ridiculous and unjust, and might as fairly he used with regard to almost any other line mentioned in the Loan Schedule. We understand that, in any case, it is not proposed to make a c ;m----mencement with the Blenheim-Top house line for about a year. That is, perhaps, a reasonable time to wait, but we protest that it. is not fair to the district and its labour supply to ask us to wait another three years, or four years altogether, before a sixpence is spent on the work. With just as much reason we might urge that tho extension of the railway system north of Auckland (L 70,000) is not necessary until the trunk system is completed, yet we find the Auckland members clamouring for more money. Similarly we nrght urge that the sum of L 33,000, set apart for doubling the railway line out of Auck'and southwards need not be expended for rorae years to come. Again, tho Mauricevillo-Woodville iine, (LI25,000) is a comparatively useless line in any case, and quite unnecessary until the Gorge line is completed. The Westport-luan-gahua line (L 75,000) is exactly ia

the Bxme position as the BleuheitnTophouse line. The GreyraouthHofcitika line (L 100,000) runs twenty-five miles along the coast and merely supplements the water wav which has been found to me<d all necessary demands for years pa«t. That line, therefore, could well stand over for a year or two, especially as it opens up no country whatever to sett’ement. The Seaward Bush (L 20,000) is a political line running parallel with an existing line t hrough a swamp and is a useless line for all purpose-. The Kdendale line (L 40,000) is unnecessary if the Seaward Bush line goes on. The RiversdaleSwitzers line (L4O 000) is only nee- ssarv in the event of the Waimea Plains District Railway being purchased by the Government. The Moun" Somers-Alfnrd Forest line (^• 14,000) Dads into space and is not. therefote, an urgent m ces ity. If. therefore, 'he conten'ion that the Bienheim-Tophouse line shall not be commenced for another four years is a reasonable contention, it would be just as reasonable to say that all the above lines are unnecessary at present, for, in some cases, similar reasons and, in other cases, far stronger reasons. But, a combination of provincial parties, possessing huge voting power, have declared otherwise, and have determined to make a “get” at Marlborough The policy of ihe Atkinson-Bryce Montgomery party, judging from their speeches, is that no new lines shall be constructed ; at any rate, whether th it is their real policy or not, it is the view they and their supporters urge. In other word , these generous, highminded statesmen, having managed to get their own districts opened up by roads and railways would now close the rest of 'he Co'ony. And these ate the men our members are found persistently voting with. Under our present system of representative government the only chance far the saf ty of the B!en» heinrTophouse line is for our members to combine with the W st Coast, members, who would no doubt be supported by Canterbury and Nelson members, in a determined fi.»ht for the Bienheim-Tophouse and Westport Tnangahua branches as necessary portions of the Midland line. Unless some compact of that kind is made we fear that there is danger of our interests being sacrificed to the greed of the rare powerful provincial districts. But our members are gener lly opposed to tile friends of the district, because they are “ party ” men, forsoo h ! Party government may be all very well in the abstract, but we, in a voung district, must fi-stl *ok r oour requir- me its, and. if “ party ” considerations clash with local then so much the worse should it be for thoso considerations If our members by their antagonism to our friends fail to make their pos tion sufficiently Btrong to secure justice for the districts 'hey represent it, is tunc the electorates were rightly informed ,in the matter. If the Bienheim-Tophouse lino is hung up for four years, what may no" be the ul'imate result should a change of Government ensue 1 The position is one which will call up all the energy and astuteness of our m mbers. It is a humiliating position for our representative institutions, as we pointed out the other day, but it is a portion we do n)t hope to see much improvement in un"il there shall be a complete reform in our sist-m “f representation,

■ Quit evening contemporary on Tuesi day treated his readers to an article , in beautiful English and in exceedingly good taste, headed “ A Modern ’ Balaam.” He appears to have been very much upset on reading an article which appeared in this place, and has made awfully hideous faces at us, for, of course, we are the “ Modern Balaam”—there is no shirking that. When you have been singled out for attack by the, Express, and have been designated by such a name as that, you can’t hide it any more than you could hide the knowledge that you bad been committed to prison or pub'icly horse-whipped in Market Square. Everybody chuckles over it, and looks at you with an expression of pity on his face. Your friends condole wirh yon. Your enemies laugh loudly in their glee. It is great fun for everybody but you, and to you it is an awful thing to be abused by this literary Jove Gracious! How he does fling his fearful thunderbolts about! That eh gant description of the editor of this paper as “ the party hack who writes for our contemporary,” must have been hurled from heaven or—well, we do not exactly know the haunts of gods like these. A “party hack !” What a pleasant badinage the gentleman has ! What :t charming wit! But, why a “party hack?” We do not quarrel with you. We do not question your learning, your modesty, or your good taste; but, why a “ party hack V' Great Jove ! Why a “ party hack 1” Then, there is that allusion to Balaam. Now Balaam is a name that occurs to us in connection with our Sunday school days. TFe are Bala-m, you have decreed it so, and Balaam we are to the end of the chap .er. Now history, or tradition, or something, instructed us, when we were quite a little lad, that Balaam had an historical adjunct, namely, an ass ; and i that on a notable occasion the ass spoke. Now, if we are Balaam, who is the ass that spoke? Hands up; who shall we say is Balaam’s , ass?

I <EG *rding certa n remarks contained in the leading article in our* cintemporary’s issue of Tuesday last, we desire to point out that gross abuse of ourse'ves cannot affect, the arguments we put forth Our cont‘mpo>-ary has forgo'ten in his anxiety to call us names—that never failing resort of very young children and very old women —and to impute motives to us, he has failed to shake our arguments against Mr Shannon’s election to the Government Insurance Association Board. We deny that we have mMe any misstatemen's, or witten one. woH that is not fair commei t of a public man seeking a responsible public position. Our contemporary may be an able journalist, he is not a party hack — but he throws mud ascluru ily a 3 we ’nave seen it thrown. But he may wabow in it it it suits his tas'e; it d >es n > sui ors L"t him attack our arguments and disprove our statements. Mere ssertion that we are wrong and he is >ight may satisfy him. it wdl n > us