THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1885.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7416, 26 August 1885, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1885.

As was announced the Hon. the Minister for Public Works submitted his Statement to the House last night. ! Owing to its great length and the i lateness of the hour at which it was sent through, it is not possible to criticise it minutely. But, as a pretty full report of it is published in our columns our readers will have an opportunity of making themselves acquainted with the principal points it j deals with. It will be seen that the Government mean to propose the raising of another million loan, to be negotiated' after March next. The prospect of obtaining this sum, in addition to the one and a-half million loan recently floated, emboldens the Government to ask, among other things, a vote of '£150,000 towards commencing the East and Wost Coast and Nelson Railway. How these two proposals will be received by the House remains to be seen. But if the members are true to the professions they made in the early part of the session, of a desire to oppose further borrowing and the committing of the colony to speculative works which can only add to its embarrassment, they will offer to them the most unbending resistance. Within the last eight months the Government have raised two and a-half millions of money, '' and this ought to be l sufficient to meet all legitimate demands until next session of Parliament. The raising of an additional million loan is proposed, mainly with the view of securing a commencement of that much-talked-of railway, which the Canterbury, Nelson, and 'Westland members wish to have constructed at the colony's expense, and which would cripple the colony for a century or longer. On this ground alone the power to float another million ( loan should be most sternly opposed. The-.East and West Coast Railway is simply, so far as can at present be seen, an absolutely useless work. At the .rate of £150,000 expended annually on its construction, it will take a quarter of a century to finish, by which time it will, with interest and compound interestadded, have cost the colony eight millions of money, and even then will not earn enough to cover working expenses. If, in view of these facts, the House should give j its sanction either to the vote for commencing this railway or to the raising of the million loan for the purpose of enabling such a vote to be proposed, it will be a very convincing proof that its members have for the most part taken leave of their senses. Should they desire not to lay themselves open to this imputation, and be possessed of even a spark of ambition to do their duty by the colony, they will do their utmost to defeat both of these proposals. ■' It seems very strange that while further borrowing is recommended by the Government, a habitual unwillingness is manifested by them to negotiate the loan of one million for the North Island Main Trunk Railway, which Parliament authorised three years ago. The reason assigned for this last session by Sir Julius Vogel was that, as only a small sum would be required for surveying that line in the course of the year, it would be judicious to postpone the floating of the loan, especially as there might be a danger of it being partly appropriated for other works. This wat - very plausible, and, apparently, very kind. But, like the Greeks, Sir Julius is most to be dreaded when apparently conferring gifts. That reason was more plausible than honest, as is shown by the fact that now, when the loan is needed for this really Colonial work, not a whisper is said about the raising of it. la this further postponement of it still due to kindness 1 Or is Sir Julius still haunted with the fear of j the money being misappropriated ? Not a bit of it. He never had such a fear. But it was convenient for him last session, as he still finds it convenient to keep that loan back lest the construction of the North Island Trunk Railway should be rapidly proceeded with and cause activity all over the North, while the South, which has already devoured its plum of public expenditure, might remain in a languishing condition. Hence his plan is to dole out of general loans grants from year to year for this Northern work about equal in amount to those he endeavours to secure for favoured places in the South. Thus, while the Government propose setting apart this year £187,000 for the North Island Trunk Railway, they recommend a vote of £150,000 for the East and Weat Coast Middle Island Railway, and a like amount for the Otago

Central, although the trunk lines of both these provinces have been completed long ago. It is sirapiy a renewal of the dodge so skilfully practiced last year, of playing one thing olf against another. It is time this crafty and' nonmoral game was put a stop to. It is time for the Northern members to take high ground and insist that . the loan for the North Island Trunk line shall.be raised forthwith, that the work shall be rapidly proceeded with, and that the extensive country through which it will pass should be occupied with industrious settlers without delay. We cannot afford to have progress in the North prevented any longer merely to suit the convenience of Southern politicians who are desirous of retaining the power to control the colony*