Daily Circulation, 1640. The Oamaru Mail. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1894.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XIX, Issue 6047, 12 September 1894, Page 2

Daily Circulation, 1640. The Oamaru Mail. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1894.

There can be no question now that the Railway Commission system, so far as this colony is concerned, is doomed. In the abolition of this pernicious innovation New Zealand will again lead the van. The other colonies will only be too glad to follow now that, like us, they have proved that it is only in theory that purely official management of the railways is worth anything. However, the Opposition do not take" kindly to the discarding of this old patch of Conservatism in the Democratic coat;. Official rule is the only hope they have. It is always on the Tory side. With officials, as with nominee managers of public institutions, the only thing that can ensure their rational regard for the general welfare is the sweetening influence of public vigilance and control. Captain Russell does not, of course, see the question in this light. No one expects him to, seeing that he is leader of the Opposition. But, though he ridicules the idea of Ministerial management of the railways, if he had held a portfolio in the present administration he would have pointed to the palpable failure of the Commission system as a reason why Ministerial and political management should be resumed without delay. As it is, Captain Russell has had to do his duty to the Tory party, and he, therefore, asserts that the Minister for Public Works has no right to glean information regarding the management of our railways, though it might enable him to prevent extravagance and inefficiency ; for, "it shews," says Capt. Russell, "that he is unduly interfering with the management, and that the Commissioners had become tools in his hands." To this Sir Robert Scout ejaculated "Hear, hear." It has come to something when a Minister—the Premier and Minister for Public Works of the colony—cannot acquire information regarding the working and position of a State department which has involved such an enormous expenditure, which is so intimately interwoven with the colony's progress, and of which he is the political head, without being charged with undue interference. Could there be anything more condemnatory of the Commission system than this? What infatuation, and what exaggeration to say, too, that the Commissioners have become tools of the Minister. It is the Minister and the colony which have become tools in the hands of the Commissioners. The best course for the Government to take is to resume State control, in compliance with the wish of the great majority of the House, Sir Robert Stout included. The Government Bill reinvests the Ministers with power, but it also professes to endow the Commissioners with power which would be a nullity. After all, it would be better to make a clean sweep, and appoint an advising manager for each island, who would have no independent power, but who would work with the Minister responsible to the people of the colony for the proper management of the Department.