MAIL NOTICES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLI, Issue 269, 14 November 1907, Page 4

MAIL NOTICES.

Wellington, Northern and Southern Offices: Per Blenheim, at 7.15 p.m.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15. Wellington, Northern and Southern Offices: Per Wailii, at 10 a.m. Nelson, West port, Grey mouth and Hokitika : Per Penguin, at 3.30 p.m.

SATURDAY NOV. 16. Wellington, Northern and Southern offices : Per Penguin, at 10 a.m. Nelson, West-port, Greyraouth, and Hokitika : Per Arahura, at 3.30 p.m. NOTE. —Late fee letters may be posted 10 minutes after the advertised time of closing, and at the guard's van ■up to the hour of departure.

pressing, it would doubtless be ad- > vautageous to take action in the mat- ■ ter of developing one or more of the n'ost promising of the schemes outlined" What is being done in other countries in this respect is in marked oontrast to the Festma lente attitude j

of the New Zealand Government. Much- has been written of the profitable use to which America has put the waters of Niagara, hitherto running to waste, but the latest account of enterprise in this direction relates to Sweden, and is narrated by Mr P. C. Freeth in a recent issue of the New Zealand Times, and reprinted in this •journal. Mr Freeth says Sweden is full oi: lakes and water ways, which in many cases provide the motive power by which numerous great industries are carried on. It is, he says, fortunate for Sweden that this source ol power is available, because the country produces very little coal and that <ii a poor quality, and has to rely noon England for the bulk of ller supplies. • For this reason the Government is tackling in earnest the problem of electrical development, and when he was in Stockholm he was shown an eight mile track which had been specially laid down by the railway department for the purpose of making exhaustive trials preparatory to installing electricity over the whole railway system. Instead of leaving to private enterprise the duty of first demonstrating the value of the new power, the Government of Sweden is, it seems, doing what our Government shrinks from doing. To ombavk on these undertakings, says the Minister "would amount almost to a fresh public works policy." The expression is not well chosen. It is merely indicative of the fear with which the timorous mind, approaches anything new. The experience of other countries is distinctly favourable, and the reports or our own engineers show that there is not much doubt of some of the New Zealand proposals being payable from the start. Why then should there be any hesitation about initiating a new pubnc works policy when the opportunity occurs to do so with profit to the country? It would be as great a mistake to permit our water power to be exploited by private enterprise, as it would be to allow private companies to construct railways in this Dominion. Two illustrations of the folly of permitting either course are at hand. One is in regard to the Manawatu railway, which the Government is about to purchase at considerable cost to the country, and the other is the recent costly purchase by the Dunedin City Council of the Waipori Water and Electric Power Company's property. Private enterprise is not a, desirable ..element in these large undertakings. The otate alone should retain, and work to the best interests of the community at large the water power with which ■ Nature has so abundantly blessed the Dominion.