CURRENT TOPIC.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1263, 14 May 1896, Page 33

CURRENT TOPIC.

THE ELECTRIC TRAM PROPOSAL. It is very satisfactory to see that there is sufficient enterprise in tho city to come to the rescue of the system of tramways, which is of obsolete pattern, insufficient for the wants of the growing public, and in need of galvanising. The proposal to substitute electricity for horse, power, and to establish a fast service, must meet with general approval, as a matter of general principle. But the question of details is not equally simple by any means. That is a very important consideration, because details are the very essence of an electric tram system. While the committee of the City Council is considering tho term? of the offer made through Messrs Johnston and Co., the public ought to consider them also. We propose to go into it with them.

First as to the law of the subject. There are no local Tramway Acts, nor Wellington City Tramways Acts, as has been stated, nor any others. All tramways in New Zealand, including the Wellington tramways, wero established under the Act of 1872, from which all the tramway agreements in the CMony derive their validity. In IS9I a fresh Act was passed consolidating the law on the subject of tramways, as it stood in the Act of 1872, the Act of lsss, and various parts of " Public Works,'' "Municipal Corporations "and " Counties " Acts, repealing much of that cumbrous and scattered body of law. In this Act of 1891, which now governs everything pertaining to tramways, there is provision for the of electric power on tramways. On all new tramways it is necessary to get a permissive order for tho use of electricity, as well as for all the other conditions. On existing tramways the substitution of electricity may or may not require an order from tho Government. It is a question of what tho agreements with tramway proprietors covenant. If the use of electricity at any time is part of the agreement, or if its substitution is made liable to the permission of tho local body alone, no authorising order is necessary. Hence the terms of the Act of 1891 as to authorising orders aio optional, not mandatory. But the use of electric power is nevertheless not protected by the permit of the local authority. The Act established the Govcrnor-in-Councilas a Board of Control with absolute power of making regulations "for securing the safety of the public from personal injury, or from fire or otherwise," and with power to delegate its functions to the Commissioner of Telegraphs. It is pretty clear, therefore, that tho best course for the City Council, if it wishes to authorise tho use of electricity as a motive power, will bo to comply with whatever conditions the Government or the Commissioner may chooso to impose. For the consideration of the public there is only one question. Is the proposed electric .system up to date? If it is no better than the system in use in some of the principal cities of America two years ago, it can ou no account bo accepted, for it" will seriously deteriorate the telephone system, and destroy many gas and water pipes in tho vicinity by the electrolysis of the escaping return current. The latter would be the fruitful source of actions for damages against tho tramway proprietors, while the former would be the cause cf much impotent cursing on tho part of tho general public. The only safety for the telephone system would bo a complete metallic circuit. But as that could not be allowed to add to tho forest of overhead wires the department would require to spend £30,000 to save the system by putting it underground and insulating it completely. If if is found possible by better binding of tho tram rails to prevent escape of tho return current, that is a reply to these objections. But in that case tho objection of adding posts and wires to the already overcrowded overhead space would remain. Moreover, the overhead trolly system has not been perfected in this respect, There is another objection, viz., that the cars under this system cannot be stopped readily. In New York- tho overhead trolly system killed over one hundred people during its first year, ;md the system is not permitted except in country places and suburbs where the traffic is small.

On tho other hand, a very perfect sy:-;t< n. has been tried in the city of New York and found eminently successful. Wo publish elsewhere a short description of it. The main features are no overhead gear, a complete metallic circuit perfectly insulated, and simplicity and safety of working. Wo. do not undertake the work of experts in electricity. It is not for us to dogmatise as to which .system shall be preferred. Our simple duty is to point out tliat no system ought to obtain tho approval of the public unless it is up to date in every one of the many details in which an electric tram system is expected to bo freely and economically workable. We have mentioned two systems—one bad and inadmissible, tho other good and very desirable—to prove the point that the whole thing is a question of details. _ Wo can only conclude by asking tho public to suspend its judgment until it gets tho full details, and by reminding tho Council that they must bear in mind the regulating power of the Board of Control.

No one doubts tho necessity for improvement, or denies tho possibility of improvement. Very few, at the same time, know tho conditions on which improvement can bo secured. It is not enough merely to ask the- City Council. In the matter of power that is enough in theory, but, as wo have already shown, in practice (luce is another power to bo consulted. But in tho matter of other variations, tho City Council has iiKst to obtain the consent ot tho ratepayers, and then to got an authorising Jrdor from the Governor. We boliovo that this is tho case for an oxtea-

tension of time, being a condition of the variation of power which may bo under the contract permitted by the Council, must likewise bo within tho discretion of the Council. But legal ingenuity, we fancy, will bo unequ :1 I > the task, in the absence of special provi iions to rest argument upon, iu the absence of agreement it is public policy that rules, and it is contrary to public policy that extension of the time for holding valuable concessions of public privileges should be indefinitely pr donged by private arrangement. " You may vary tho power," the contractsays iu effect, "but you can only do so for the term covered by your concession. That is what the original order gave you, and outside that you cannot go, without referring the matter again to the public whose property and rights you are dealing with." In our opinion t here is no doubt that application for an extension of time must; go before the ratepayers. lathe case of the extension of distance, there can be no doubt about the mattor whatever. The time is coming, perhaps has como already, for the tram sorvico to be extended to Island Bay. How tho population is extending in that direction, in spite of tho barbarisms of the vehicular traffic, the census figures have lately told. How the rate of this extension would increase with the establishment of :i civilised tram service, fad, roomy and frequent, it requires no ghost to tell us. Tho

extension will have to be dealt with by the Borough of Melrose. The promo', eis must apply to the Borough Council ; the Council must get the approval of the ratepayers;

and, that obtained, can ask the Governor for an authorising order. That the concession of tramway rights is one ot the most valuable which can Ijo made by a public body goes without saying. The time is coining when there will bo no such concessions, when, iu fact, municipalities will own the tramways. Glasgow and Birmingham have proved how much better it is for all necessaries of Id'", such as water,gas and tract ion,to bo in municipal hands, and New York has proved, tic same for tho docks in which tho shipping of tho world is accommodated. Bui until this lesson is universally appiie 1 there mu I bo

concessions to private, persons, or rather delegations ot rights, as the law calls them. In some countries the.-.o couee.' ions are paid for. In the Unit d Staves they are put up to auction, when n >l " Boodlerised" away, as Mr Stead showed limy can be in his book ou Chicago, in Sydney the other day the proposal (~ charge Iho Government a royalty for tho use of tho streets for tram purposes was opposed

ou tin.' ground that the royally would only keep the fares high. But. this is a subject to be entered upon later on. For the present the tramway promoters have to sal isfy tho public on two points—L,f, that their electric motor is safe as well as economical ,- 2nd, that they have the power to maintain a high-standard service. L'ronf under each head must bo given before tho matter eau go any further.

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN LOAN. The boom colony has certainly thrown every other into the shade by breaking the ',' per cent, record. An issue, at ;! per emit. at. a few shillings over par is a thing unique in Australasian history, marking the effects of the now departure so successfully initiated by Mr Ward last year. When be successfully, against all the advice of timid financiers, raised the lirst Australasian :i percent, loan, every journal iu Australia, and tho Government journals in New Zealand, said that he bad. inaugurated a new era of borrowing, and predicted speedy issues of " per cent. stock.

These predictions have been verified, but by none so substantially as by West Australia. That, colony certainly has tho advantage which a gold boom gives iu

tho money market. It is tine that by iho end of last year some 50 millions of foreign money had been invested in the W-..lta-lian mining market, and that tie not return from the goldfields, whicl ought to be before long at the rate of five millions

a year, has in the last three years totalled considerably less than one million. But Iho boom is comparatively young, now mines are being opened every day, and money and men are pouring into the country. Under these circumstances a population of !)3,(J00, with a volumeof tradeol £o,lU7,<)!>U, representing an average of £55 per head,

ought not to have any difficulty in raising money at 3 per cent, at par, especially when the rates of interest are everywhere falling.

THE TYRANNY OF PROHIBITION OJIDI&llS.

A rjJouiniTiON order is a good thing when it is a necessary thing. But about the prohibition orders ionise in this Colony there does not appear to bo anything else that is not bad. Mot many months ago the Magistrate at Christchurch, if we remeiubei right, descended with great weight on one flagrant iniquity. He found out in a case before him that tho information had been laid on second-hand information, which the informer madia no attempt whatever to verify or test in any way. What he thought of such a practice that Magistrate said without any circumlocution. Tho prominent temperance gentleman who received that very welldeserved castigation found his eyes wero opened so that ho could see greater iniquities than there are in the drink traffic. What made tho point specially significant was the underlying- idea that prohibition orders can b'.i got on ■■ ..■ j-<rfe at liivcreargill the olio-;- ... ;:, i.j a caso in which a im >.\ '■ ■ -'-mo 1 that he had been made too t-h; , '. . i an order without any notice, a;.d • :' ■ :■■■■'■ without a li J'ivlag, or an oppxa i:\: : showing c tu'iO against. The e "... ■ ,i tho other side eoi.-itm led thai ::. ; ■ ' ■> custom to act Huts; too iiec, i:.g i ■ ••'< differing from tho common law wo.cn

That of course is the most infamous of all possible contentions. If it be correct, the licensing law is in this respect as tyrannical and unjust as the most fanatical Prohibitionist could desire. It gives power to bigotry; it hands innocence over to the branding iron of the fanatic; it sets up a pillory as easily reached as the pillories were reached from the Star Chamber; it revolts the human conscience and outrages public sentiment. Apparently tho luvercargill Magistrate did not think the prosecuting counsel's distinction between the common law and the licensing law was good, for he decided that the order was not good. Mr Poynten holds, then, that, whatever tho licensing law may provide, the common law must bo read with it; that the principles of justice are eternal, and must be obeyed by every law. In tho Invercargill district for the future, it is clear, no prohibition orders wdl bo valid if notice of tho application has not been given to the man most interested. That ought to be tho practice everywhere. Wo hope all Magistrates will take a leaf out of Mr Poynton's book.

THE BRITISH NAVAL EXPENDITURE. We have not forgotten the suddenness with which the Government's new programme of constructions was announced a few months ago. That suddenness the friends of Ministers have tried to explain away, and tho Liberals have helped them by declaring that their own programme of construction was just tho same when they were in office; that, in fact, what was taken for the sudden announcement of a new thing was only the usual notice of continuation of the existing plan. No doubt it is to the interest of all parties to let tho matter sleep in this light. But there can scarcely be any doubt that tho German Emperor once meant to disturb things with a very formidable European combination. A wellinformed letter in another column this week represents the Kaiser as having been at tho dato in question anxious to arrange a new Triple Alliance, with Germany, Russia and Franco as tho associated Powers, for the purpose of overthrowing the maritime strength of Great Britain. It is only such a combination which could hope to make any impression on the British Navy, for that grand force is moro than a match for the fleets of any two nations combined. With the three Powers named the balance would certainly be moro even. This fact may havo given riso to tho story which wo publish. There may be very little moro in it than tho surmises which, during Princo Bismarck's occupation of the German Chancellorship kept all Europe talking for years about, wars and rumours of wars. But that the Government should havo so suddenly announced a new naval programme whilst tho Kaiser was paying compliments to Paul Kiugor is at least a very curious coincidence It is also a very curious thing that after the despatch of that bold order to tho dockyards, Great Britain at once got what before had appeared absolutely hopeless, viz., a free hand in Egypt, the Soudan, and Equatorial Africa generally.

THE DISTRICT RAILWAYS PURCHASES JOB.

In introducing tho Premier at Otaki on Thursday night, tho chairman said that " Mr Seddon was probably tho most loved, tho most trusted, and tho most hated man in the Colony " : that ho is hated by a select and selfish few there can be no doubt. " To tho puro fill tilings are pure." For some time past Sir Robert Stout haa been stumping the country and alleging that tho administration of tho present Government is impure. A well-recognised Roman hand showod itself in tho columns of our contemporary tho other night under the head of " The Premier at Otaki," proving that Mr Seddon's allusion to the questionable district railways purchases by the Stout Government had gone well homo. Tho Premier was justified in drawing comparisons and asking tho people, from comparisons, to judge as to whether or not they were prepared to again ontrust the administration of tho affairs of the Colony tc tho hands of one during whoso term of office tho inexplicable transactions referred to took place. An attempt is made to draw a red herring across the scent and to divest Sir Robert Stout of the responsibility. Tho name of tho late Mr Ballance has been dragged in to shield Sir Robert Stout and Sir Julius Vogel, who wore tho prime movers in this legislation. Mr Ballance wa3 not tho Premier; it is true he was one of tho Ministry, but ho took no part in tho debate. A reference to the Hansard of tho past will show that Sir George Grey accused Sir Robert Stout of being a director of the Agricultural Company, and through this company's lands one of tho railways purchased under tho Act in question was constructed, giving an immensely enhanced value to tho lands. The financial position of the railways under review stands thus:—Tho interest paid on tho capital expended in the purchase of these railways to Jauuary, 1895, was.£lßl,Bls; the total purchase money to January, 189 G, was .£011,302 ; and the net rovenuo derived from tho traffic over tho whole of the lines (which together with interest have cost .£011,302) was •£27,500. The total excess of interest, on the capital expended, over revenue is therefore •£ls-1,315, which the taxpayers of this unfortunate Colony have been called upon to make. good. In round numbers there is a loss of X 15,000 a year on this transaction alone. I'liis £15,000 a year, dragged from the overburdened taxpayers, fattens the wealthy landowners. No wonder they can appreciate Sir Robert Stout ; they can well afford to tolerate his higher aims and high falutin' bunkum, particularly when their pockets are lined with gold, owing to the relief of their lands from rates, and they laugh at the Colony buying their railways and' working them at a loss ~c oigflflfl aauumiia Thia £ISJML2 BfiflxJ

would find employment for 150 of our toilers, aud bring happiness to them and their wives and families. But, alas, they were never considered by tho only true and titled Liberal in New Zealand —with whom it has ever been " to those who have shall much bo given." Our contemporary, admitting that the Atkinson and Stout-Vogel Governments were corrupt (mark that), asks is this Colony going to maintain the present Ministry in office because othor Ministries had malaclininislered the affairs of tho Colony. Tho fact is that, so far as the present Government is concerned, no charges of corruption or maladministration have been proved, which is more than can be said of the Governments referred to, and what happened with the same men wdien in power is very likely to liappon again. The Premier is fully justified in asking the electors to judge tho men who seek to replace him by their past conduct as Ministers of tho Crown. The attempt to shield Sir Robert Stout because tho late Mr Ballance was his colleague is simply despicable. The Premier was responsible, and more particularly was he responsible for the district railways purchases alluded to. Mr Leonard Harper voted with Sir Robert Stout for the District Railways Purchasing Bill, and the Hon Mr Kolleston and Mr Seddon against it. It is needless for us to say more. Then there wore the purchases under tho Government Life Insurance Department Board. Those insured have every reason to remember with Rormw tho unbusinesslike (to uso a mild tc.-.m) transactions which took placo transactions which would not stand the tost of public enquiry. Sir Robert Stout passed the Act establishing that board, and is responsible for the transactions and the losses entailed thereby. And yet tho Prime Minister, who was responsible for these, has now tho audacity to ask " is tho administration of

the present Government puro ?" and to say " there was not now a pure administration." Our contemporary advises Mr Seddon to keep to his absentee syndicate. Wo say that the Agrieultuial Company, tho East Coast Land Company, and fie Attorneyship of tho Round Hill Company will stick for all time to the senior member for Wellington. THE CRUX OP THE TIMBER INDUSTRY, The crux of the industry which exports timber from this Colony to England is in the London docks. It is found readily by shippers who depend on making a profit out of the London selling price. Tho othor day red pine was quoted at 17s Gd to 18s (id the hundred feet. Such timber was sold the other day in Southland at IS.; (Id tho hundred. But as this timber cannot be put on board ship profitably at much under 5s Gd, wo will take that figure as a basis. The freight being Gj, there ought to bo a large margin of profit somewhere between lis Gd and 17s Gd. Tho dock charges, we are informed, sweep away the difference an.l still ask for more. Tho dock charges, ill plain words, are strangling tho trade. It is fortunate, however, that they can bo evaded by a .simple expedient—the expedient of discharging into a lighter instead of on to the dock wharf. I u the one case the expenses of discharging, storing, &c, are very heavy, in tho other they are nil. You make your arrangements with a lighterman ; he takes half a dozen lighters in with a puffing little tug; places them alongside your ship; loads them up with your cargo of timber; and puffs away with them to any place you choose to order for a few pence the hundred. That is tho simple expedient for getting away from , the dock charges. To avail yourself of the oA-nodient vou must have a wharf of your I

own. One can bo rented at about £9OO a year in any of the canals, big enough to accommodate three or four cargoes of timber. Now, the rent for a year, we understand, is not more than the dock charges debited against a single cargo. If these things are as they havo boon represented to us, we beg to suggest that tho Government make immediate arrangements for the rental of a wharf or wharves.

THE PREMIER AT OTAKI

Once more the Premier has gone out into a strange district, and found a full house aud a vote of confidence in his Government. Tims we have the contrast to the fate of tho Opposition champions maintaining itself. They never get any votes of confidence; the Government never gets anything else. Tho contrast is a leading featuro of the political situation which the country is not likely to forget, unless frequent repetition of facts be tho road to forgetf ulne.ss. The contrast, wo must bear in mind, is not tho outcome of chance. The Opposition goes about making charges against tho Government, and the Government replies to them. Tho' former get thanks wherever they go, tho Government confidence. We see excited paragraphs in Opposition newspapers about the " coming victory" of their party, some of them even going so far as to predict a Ministerial defeat in Parliament before the end of the sessim. These predictions the contrast in tho public receptions of the respective party champions does not corroborate in a manner absolutely overwhelming. The Premier, who is warming to his work, took a now lino at Otaki, with his banter of Sir Robert as tho saint of political purists, Sir Robert has, in that character, brought vague charges against tho Government of the worst corruption over seen. Examined closely, tho only foundation for that colossal structure, of our political Jeremiah turns out to be a small squad of

) I extra clerks, tho source of whoso appoint- • merit is in many cases not Ministerial at • ! all, to say nothing of a number of allega- . ; tions which are either untrue or irrelevant. , ! Mr Seddon pertinently asked what is all this ! ■ in comparison with the Distiict Railways ' | business and the purchase of buildings for j the Insurance Department. These were I very large transactions, involving huge j sums of money, and giving great benefits ' to a small number of individuals. j Time was when these things wore alli j absorbing subjects of discussion, public . j and private. Tho party that followed the ! Stout-Vogel alliance was severely shaken ' I by them ; shaken to its base. Honest men 1 j denounced them in good set terms, and j increased the rift, until the strength of the party was lost, and defeat came after j one of tho most tottery careers of our : political history. There was something | to be said for the District Railways Act, and it was said in every form of declamation, vehement and othorwi.se. But the | fact mnainsthattheboncfit was exclusively of the large landed propriotors.at the public [ expense, ft would havo been better, by 1 far, if the Colony had left these railways to their fate. The Colony suffered by (hem, | and for whom ? Let Sir Robert enquire : into that point, before he rails at hi;; oppo- ■ iients, whose friend lie ought to be, on j account ot alleged corruption which is as j nebulous as the denunciation of it is intern- j perato. As for the, insurance purchases, there was nothing to be said for them, and the Government said it in every form of ingenuity. But the fact remains that these buildings were not suitable, and some of them havo never I been used. Who got the benefit? Again,! we suggest that it would be better for Sir \ i Robert to reflect on the past than to ask j i people to believe his denunciations of tho j I present, and the future. Whatever wo may I

think about these matters, as to their corruptness or otherwise, 1 one thing is tolerably certain, viz., the men who did them were as unworthy to hold office then as they are to be political censors now.

THE MATABELE RISING. We confess we have no sympathy with those wdio denounced the conquest of the Matabele last year. No doubt it was a dreadful thing to mow down tho Matabele warriors with Maxim guns. But it would have boon a much worse thing to have allowed these warriors to go on indefinitely with tho murdering, plundering and devastation which wis their daily life. The war was forced on tho Chartered Company by the savage raids of tiie Matabele from the Buluwayo country on the Mashonas and Maicalakas un lor the Company's protection. Tho cruelties and murders had to bo stopped, aud they were stopped by wdiat for the Matebelo has proved a wholesome blood-letting process. Originally part of the warlike Zulus, they hive doff under the famous Mosilikatse, who had to fly from the Zulu country in cousequenco of some military crime. This was some (50 years ago; and wherever they went they left behind a trail of blood and ruin. When they settled in their present locality, after much fighting aud wandering, they nearly exterminated tho Mashona and Makalaka inhabitants. Going on in tho same fashion they came into contact with the Chartered Company. How they wero beaten, and how Lobengula, tho chief who had such work to control them, died, are matters of history. What these Matabele were in 1836 is told by tho French traveller Arbousset, who relates that while going through Bechuanaland he one day came across an array of deserted kraals, with the ground everywhere covered with human bones and skulls, broken pots and remains of all kinds. Asking for an explanation, ho

j got it from one of his men. " Look," , I said ho, " at the work of the Mataj bele. They kill the Bochuanas as wo i would kill dogs. It is well that you men I of peace havo arrived in the country. But ! for you we had all been dead men ; this is 1 what wa.s being done with the black j nation." As the Matabelo were in 1830 they were in JS!)t, and they are now. Had j they got into Buluwayo tho other day the mas,-aere would have been awful. Happily Earl Grey has wired that Buluwayo is as ! safe as London. The news i.s welcome and ' pleasant. Presently the Matabele will .settle down to useful life, and it will be found indue course of time that the .Maxim I gun was really their best friend Nothing else, in tho world would have reduced them to order. It made civilisation : possible in their part of Africa. | HIGH LEVELS WATER. j If tho Council passes Councillor Higginbottom's motion to postpone the high- : water settlement till after the winter, the question will never be settled at all. It is a time-honoured expedient to adjourn sine die a matter which has been carried past the first stages by a largo majority. The expedient appeals to the forget I'll IneSS of mankind; relies on the average lack of perseverance and want of enterprise; : trades on the popular delusion that when you have passed a resolution you havo done everything. Now the people who ' dwell on the upper levels of the city havo suffered too much and too long. Numbers of them pay for water which they get i at long intervals, and in miserably in- ! adequate dribbles, suffering nameless dis- ! comforts?, while their more fortunate fellovvi' citizens revel in a delightful abundance, i which, besides refreshing their houses with 1 plenty—eyer prompt—waters their gardens

and keeps silver fountains playing in the golden air. The sight of this contrast has not made them envious, or moved them to ill-naturo. It has simply spurred their strong desire, caused by their most unwarrantable drought, to demand their just rights, due for moneys paid. We protest strongly against the proposed hanging up of tins matter. Tho Council has formally promised to do justice, and has, after consultation with the best expert advico obtainable, determined upon tho manner in which justice shall be done. If the Council turns asido on any pretext, no matter how specious, it will be a public scandal, a grievous injury to a large body of tho ratepayers, aud a breach of promiso as dishonest as it would be flagrant.