THE WELLINGTON-MANAWATU RAILWAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1581, 4 March 1882, Page 15

THE WELLINGTON-MANAWATU RAILWAY.

(FROM OUR OWN OORIIESPONDENT.)

Wellington, February 28th.

The Post to-night attacks an article in the Daily Times relative to the Wellington-Mana- , watu and Otago ! Central railways. ( It con eludes as" follows:—" The Royal Commissioners t\tterly and absolutely condemned the Otago Central railway. Their adverse report on the Wellington-MElsterton line was merely j relative, its chief ground being that it would compete with another line which .they recom mended in preference. But we lay little stress on this point. Tho wild untrustworthiness of the Eailway Commissioners' report, the amazingcarelessness displayed in obtaining information, the grossly perfunctory way in which the Commissioners performed their work of; personal, inspection, have long been notorious; 'and. thenreport has always been regarded by sensible men as , mere .waste . paper; Only, when jit| us disinterred from its tomb of deserved oblivion, and sought tojbe used as a means, of discrediting." the Wellington-Jyianawatu railway project, it is high' time that our Otago friends should be reminded tljat on the same authority.-their beloved CentraX'line must be deemed a mad extravagance. . Therefore, perhaps the /less they appeal 'to .t|iat report, the. better for, themselves and, their, pct y project! L , The people ofi Wellington have shown forth '.by their works thoir faith in the Wellington-Manawatu Railway Company, embracing the'op'portunity offered by theßailways.Construction Act of last sessionfor constructing any line that has payable "'prosJ' pects. Why do not the Otago people ■do the same if they really believe in it ? Our Southern f riends,,would show much better judgment bytaking advantage of the facilities afforded >by theißailways Construction Act for- prosecuting their favourite scheme, and so showing that they really believe in it ' themselves, and arc-not merely on the look-out for a slice of the coming loan, to which they are not justly entitled. It is a curious hallucination on tlie part, of Canterbury and Otago that they ought always to have just the same share of loan expenditure, even although all their works on which the ex-, penditure would be legitimate have long ago been completed, and" although' the money is urgently needed for placing the remainder of the'jColony, on which the burden of debt rests,' in the same position as to means of internalcommunication. We doubt whether the new Parliament will- endorse this- view. As; a matter p£ friendly counsel we should advise our Dunedin contemporary to' exercise a> little mo^e. discretion in dealing with this question, andabove all;< things not; to attempt to furbish np old'iWQrniOut weapons "against the WelHngton^Manawatu railway/ Which may be turned much more, surely and fatally against the Otago Central scheme." ■ • "i \W i\ ' ' '