Marlborough Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1886.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1947, 31 August 1886, Page 2

Marlborough Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1886.

Whilst, as we stated yesterday, the railway? returns for the period ending 21 Jtfly, show an increase on the Picton section, the same cannot, unfortunately, be said for the rest of the Oolony. Although there are 165 more miles of railway open, the receipts for the past sixteen weeks of the financial year were only £311,143, as against £330,094 for the corresponding period last year, the deficiency thus being £18,951. Then again, the working expenses have increased, for the period named this year, by £9,788 ; the figures being—for 1885, £215,625, and for 1886, £225,413. Adding together the decrease in receipts and the increase in working expenses we have the sum of £28,739, by which amount the net profits have fallen off in the period named and representing a decrease of £86,217 a year, as compared with last year. The Treasurer’s estimate of railway revenue for the current year was £1,150,000. For one third of the year the amount received ceived was, as we have seen, only £311,143, whilst a third of the estimate is £383,333; the deficiency on the estimate for the first quarter is, therefore, £72,190. At the same rate the deficiency for the year would be £216,570. This will be a very serious matter if trie figures do not improve in the pre* sent and following quarters. We hope and expect, however, that they will so improve. The railways do better work in the summer and au-< tumn months, and it is not at at all improbable that, at the end of tho financial it will be found the Treasurer’s estimate was not far out.

The following remarks, from a Southern contemporary, bear out the views we expressed on the question, in Saturday's issue.—lt is intended to boldly fight the question of Town v. Country when the representation matter ia before the House next year. The country members are determined to leave no stone unturned to get concessions granted to them. ; Home of them think that the best solution of the difficulty would be proportionate representation in accordance with the nature of the district, and one proposal which ia sure to find a good deal of favor will be for town seats quota of population to be 6,000 per member; for country seats in settled districts, 5,0.00; for country seats insparselypopuiated districts, 4,pGO. It is quite certain that the House will not allow ary population basis o i hard and fast rules, and had the Premier’s Bill got into Committee there would have bean a pretty clear indication of opinion on that point." Another paper which always thinks clearly, the Grey River Argus, says:—“ln the same way, we think that to carry out representation according to population as rigidly as a strict adherance to theory requires would be a serious mistake and : fail to be with that benefit to the Colony that the slaves to theory would fondly hope for. The proponderan.ee of political power would be thrown entirely into the bands of the large cities, and the thinly populated parts of the Colony,no matter how important factors they!might be in contributing to its weaitji and progress, would be at the mercy of the cities and towns, on any question of which their interests might clash,”