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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7404, 12 August 1885, Page 4

Among other matters brought under the notice of the Harbour Board yesterday was the correspondence that had taken place between the Board and the Minister of Public Works on the question of access to the Wynyard Pier. It appears that, after the customary official fashion, the Government are striving to evade the duty which m this affair they owe to the public. When their object is to shelve auy business which promises to be troublesome, or requires them to expend a small sum of money, red-tapeism is their invariable resort. It was, therefore, to > much, perhaps, to expect that in dealing with this matter the Public Works Minister would rise above this inveterate habit. At all events he didn't. His reply to the Board was that, as it was a railway matter, it had been referred to Mr. Maxwell. In our simplicity we had always imagined that of all the matters which the Minister of Public Works was supposed to take charge of those connected with railways were the principal. And when it suits his purpose this, we doubt not, is the view which that august official takes of his office. There are times, however, when it is not convenient to adhere to this rule, and especially when there is a scarcity of cash. And thi3 accordingly seems to have been the reason why on this occasion the matter wu3 referred to a subordinate official. So at any rate it would appear from the account which His Worship the Mayor gave of the interview he had with the Public Works Minister regarding it. Interested as he always is in anything that concerns the privileges or convenience of the citizens, our worthy Mayor, during his recent visit to Wellington, waited on the great chief of the Works Department, and also the grave Minister of Justice, and represented the right of the public to the access in question, hoping no doubt that from two such responsible personages satisfaction would without fail be obtained. But all that he could extort from them was the answer that they had no money for an overhead bridge. This from tho members of a Ministry who think nothing of the borrowing of millions for the construction of a speculative railway, or of committing the colony to the paying of X" 100,000 a-year to cover the deficit of working it! Why, the wages which they now pay a man to watch the opening to the pier would more than moet the interest on the cost of erecting a bridge at the place. Or, should this small undertaking really entail too heavy an outlay for a Government that loves to revel in vast loans, why not establish a level crossing, and direct the man, who is now paid for doing nothing, to employ himself in preventing people from passing when trains are approaching? This is what ordinary business men would decide on doing ; but, of course, members of the Cabinet are extraordinary business men, and cannot bo expected to look at things in a common-sense way. Perhaps they might bo brought to a reasonable state of mind by the citizens resolving to assert their right in this matter in the way that seems to them best.