MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1876. THE OAMARU-MOERAKI LINE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 146, 9 October 1876, Page 2

MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1876. THE OAMARU-MOERAKI LINE.

There 13 a very old saying that a fault admitted b half atonctl for, and though in the present instance' we have no particular fault to admit, there are a few modifications we feet in duty hound to publish in connection with our remarks on the Oaniarn-Moerafci tin©, which appeared in last Friday's issue-. The statements we made were framed on certain information which had been supplied to \u from a very reliable swim?, and in point of fact, so- far a* the actual detail* were concerned. cannot be taken exception to; but of course there are two sides to every question, and we were informed on only the one side. It appears that the n.al cause of all the dtlay in the opening of the Moeraki Une ca-n t>e traced to a ntisttnderstanding between the contractors and the Government the ••tt.-stion of maintenance. Th-ory ani. e.-rtacn t.inga to be don«j oft the tin»j at t'-.v pry**nt thw.- which the Government consider the c--ntraces are called ttpi >n todo, while and Sotw, on t e either hand, contend titat these works cottld W done during the maintenance. Of course the matter is one pttrely between the parties themselves, and cannot bo of any interest to the public; but, at the same time, we look forward anxiously io see the matter promptly settled. With reference to our remarks regarding ttie testing of posts alongside the Ua« t we are given to understand that this has been done owing to the numerous complaints which have been received by the: Engineer from fanners and others detailing the losses they have suffered by these insecure fences. We are pleased to make thes? few remarks, in order to set matters right, for we should be sorry to think that any comments we have made on this subject could be attributed as applying personally to the Engineer in charge of this district. Our only wish was to hasten the opening of the line, and when we could not obtain direct information from the Government, we necessarily had to accept what we deemed to be facts regarding the matter. If we have been misted, we certainly express our regret, and assure those persons who may have felt pained by our remarks, that they were penned, not hi a vindictive spirit, bat purely in the public interest.