THE TERRIBLE TRAIN.

Free Lance, Volume XIII, Issue 671, 10 May 1913, Page 8

THE TERRIBLE TRAIN.

Woe, Words, Weariness, and the Second Express. T HE commercial' .public continues to • plead so earnestly foil 1 -the restitution of the second Main Trunk express that Mr. Massey, who still declares that the train can only be run at a loss has virtually promised to run it three "times weekly during- the 1 winter months. On this it would, seem that Mr. Massey's position is a" trifle curious. It the train can oiily be run at a. loss, why run "it at all? .- If there is a real public demand for the ti'&.n, why should it run •at a "loss? Very, astonishing, too, is a statement attributed to Mr. Herries, Minister of Railways. Urged to restore, the second express, on the ground that there' was- a permanent second express from Christchurch soutlOhe argued thao the second express from Christctmrcn was an established thing.. ' * *. * * Quite so; but *is the Reform Government's sole end and aim to uphold established things?—things established (oh "dear, oh dear!) by, the Mr. Seddon who is dead or the Sir Joseph - Ward who . does so obstinately keep alive! If Mr. /Herries commits himself recklessly to ! that doctrine, the effects will be humorous, but scarcely palatable to upholders of Reform. If .a thing is bad and indefensible, it should go; no matter now. long it has been established, no matter who established it. As a matter of notorious common knowledge, the second express from Christchurch does not pay, never has paid, and cannot pay for- a j. long time to come.