The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1886.

Otago Witness, Issue 1805, 25 June 1886, Page 17

The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1886.

It was a very happy thought of Mr Mackerras to take the opp< rtunity of his quarterly address as President of the Chamber of Commerce to summarise the history of the Otago Central railway and make a plain statement of the advantages that may reasonably be expected from it. The most useful remark that Mr Ritchie made in the course of his speech in opposition to the railway was that though he cannot find sympathy in public, there are plenty of people who privately agree with his views. The reason lor the most part is that they have not taken the trouble to inquire into the subject. They have picked up at random opin-on-. of runh lders who do not wish to be disturbed — opinions often applying only to a small section cf the country ihrough which th- line passes, and they have formulated these into a creed applying to the whole line. Or again, like Mr Ritchie, they are so intent upon the stoppage of borrowing t! at they will not condescend to enter into the circumstances of any special case. We could wish that Mr Mackerras had made a less partial statement of the case fir the railway; but yet, when every deduction has been made, the general < ffect of his address cannot but be to awaken many who are indifferent to a recognition of the iaiportance of pushing the work forward and the effect that its progress must have i pon the prosperiiy of Dunedin.

In the course of his address Mr Mackerras made a very telling hit against Mr Ritchie by recalling his dismal prophecies some two years ago as to the success of the inner harbour works — prophecies « Inch were falsified almost directly after they were uttered. It is a great pity to see a man of Mr Ritchie's abilities ai d honesty playing the part of knight of the rueful connteua> cc, and tilting at the -retical windmills when he might be rendering practical service to the cause he has at heart. More is the pity, too, that his previous reputat on should give his opinions weight with those who have not the opportunity of inquiring into the facts, and enable him, with the best intentions in the world, to damage thfi credit of the Colony. We can only suppose that the depression has made him lose his head, and trust that he will recover his judgment when better tim s come. Of Mr Ei chic's speech on Wednesday night it is enough to say that it c tirely missed the practical points of the case. He d'd not attempt to show that there would be an increase in the taxation resulting from a continuation of the construction of the line, or to meet the arguments which we advanced to the contrary last week. Mr Ritchie is determined to walk with his head in' the air, and he refuses to see what is just before his feet. The resolution affirming the need for pushing fo wai'd the Ofcago Central r ilway more A'igorously, propos d by Mr G. Bell, was carried with ck ly one. dissentient, Mr .Ritchie, though ano hergentleman announced himself as neutral. Mr Bell, as usual, was moderate and practical in his line of advoacy, and members of the House for other provinciil districts cannot fail to notice that tbe subject was not only approached from a purely colonial standpoint, but that throughout the discussion there was not a sign of any underlying spirit of local greed to be detected. As business men, the speakers were content to rest the claims of the line upon a commercial basis, and spoke as men who had a share of responsibility for a financial undertaking. And that is the most powerful argument that can be used. It will pay the Colony to. push on the Otago Central railway vigorously, inasmuch as the annual outgo for interest will be decreased by further expenditure. We venture to say that without any land concessions, subsidy, or guarantee of any kind it would be easy to float a company to carry on the construction of the Otago Central railway to the foot of Rough Ridge merely for the consideration of a gift of the works already contracted for.

We fancy that not a few woolgrowers who do not visit Dunedin often would be fairly puzzled if they were asked what price their clip would fetch at now existing rates in London. We are not quite sure that even busi-

ness men, who it might be supposed Were .-better informed, are not in the same slate of darkness. The fault ' we think lies in the telegrams which are common to all the Australasian colonies, and we should be glad to ' learn whether in our readers, opinion the character of the information convey* d by them might not be rendered more explicit and satisfactory. Prom week to week we learn, for instance, that at the beginning of the sales buyers were active, and that at the close coarse wools were on' -halfpenny lower. A week la'er we le-ir.? thit so many babs wee withdrawn, and that, there hal been au tb?r fall or th»t prices were improving, uutil ihehorwst farmer gets absolu <ly mu<l»ls he tded and con'useel, »nd h-s only tie f iat st and mt st g neral do ion what price ho is likely to g< t for the a' tual commodity he pro lav es "We would sugge-t to the Chamber of Comm rce that it might propose a moie intelligible formula for the wojl telegrams, and- one likfly to convey a more exact ara-.i g to those who are piincipa'ly coucesn d For instance, a sample of a standard kind or kinds might; be placed i i the vaiiou* Chambers anJ actu 1 quotations given by wire of what that particular class of wool was fetching in London. If this were difficult or impossible, since Australasia and not only New Zealand has to be considered, would it not be possible to have so many, say four, different classes of wool arranged to be quoted from London at their sold price 1 What woolgrowers find so confusing — we speak of those whose only source of information is the paper — is that no positive price is given at all. When wool is said to have fallen one penny or risen a halfpenny, what kind of wool is precisely referred to? If on the top of this piece of information we learn shortly after that greasy merino has hardened one penny, we have no unit <of measurement at all, and the veriest sage in wool cannot say at what price greasy merino is now being sold. A price is put opposite wheat and oats, an aotual affirmative sum. JSTo doubt it is much more dilh'eult to quote wool than wheat, but this difficulty might be readily overcome by a prior arrangement. Our fanning readers will, we are sure, bear us out in saying that they are at their wits' ends as to the price of wool just now, and that almost any change would be for the better.