THE OTAGO CENTRAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2412, 24 May 1900, Page 22

THE OTAGO CENTRAL.

TEE BLOCK OF DREDGING MATERIAL

From the iiiformation which is now available with respect to the expenditure last year upon the Otago Central j railway v/e should judge that the Government is not yet alive to the importance of the construction of this line. It is impossible to I'econcile the continued lapsing of large proportions of the parliamentary votes for the construction of the work with any other conclusion than that the Government is distinctly halfhearted about the matter. Last year we were led to expect that the line would receive fairer treatment. The Minister of Public Works intimated in his annual Statement to Parliament, delivered on the 12th September, that it was '■' intended to make x\p for the unavoidable delay of last year " — when, although the vote for the work was £40,000, the net expenditure was only £17,609 — " and to proceed vigorously with the .sections already in hand." The sum oi £00.000 was placed by Parliament at the Minister's disposal to enable him to push on with the work, and, by its energetic prosecution, to make atonement for the injustice cf the Government's treatment of the line in 1898-9. The information received by Mr J. A. Millar last week from the Minister shows, however, that Otago and the Central railway have again reason to complain of the neglect of their interesbs by the Government. The expenditure and liabilities to the 81st March last, it is stated, were £43,940, of which sum liabilities represent about £10,000. In other words, of the amount of £60,000 which was, voted for the prosecution of the work, nearly one-half has been -allowed to lapse, tho net expenditure being about £34,000. We venture to think that, even though the Minister of Public Works may regard an expenditure for the year of 56 per cent, of the amount of the appropriation as an indication of '"' vigorous action on the part of his department, and as sufficient compensation for his neglect of the claims of the line in the previous year, the people of Otago, and especially of the interior of the provincial district, will look at tne matter differ-

ently and He anything but satisfied. The Minister of Mines spoke somewhat disparagingly of tile Otago Central lino during his recent visit to the goldfields. His remarks conveyed the impression that he considered that line tabe of less importance than the North Island Main. Trunk line and the Midland railway. It is unfortunate that there should be any, suggestion of an antagonism between the three lines. As to, at any rate, the North Island Trunk railway, it is generally recognised that its construction will be of immense benefit to the colony, because it will open up large areas of valuable land and render them available for settlement. The Government is not asked to prosecute the Otago Central line at the expense of any other railway in the colony. What is desired — and what the electors have a right to demand that their representatives in Parliament should insist upon — is that the Otago Central line should not be invidiously singled out by the Government for unfair treatment. What happened, however, in 1898-9? The vote for the North Island Main Trunk line was £50,000 and the expenditure was £42.814, and while the appropriation for the Midland railway was £50,000 the expenditure was in excess of this, beine; ; £54,4PJ. As we have already said, the ! expenditure on the Otago Central line ■ in that year was only £17,609, although | the amount authorised* was £40,000. ! And in the past financial year; in which the Minister for Piihlie'Woi'ks promised to make -up to the lino for his shabby treatment of it in the preceding year, we find that the expenditure was barely more than one-half oi' the authorisation. It is most disappointing that, year after , year, tho Government should take ] authority for tho expenditure of a certain sum upon the railway and then ' underspend that amount by a very large sum. All the while, moreover, the 1 necessity for the construction of the | railway is becoming more pressing. Tho 1 roads from the present terminus of the '■ line at Ranfurly ara choked with, wag- , gons hill of machinery, and the dredging ! industry 'is being hampered by annoying i delays in the delivery of 'material. The j line, v opened to Alexandra to-morrow, ! would at once roramaud a traffic that, i there is reason to believe, would be rei miiheralive. We hope fchat the Otago i Central Railway League wiJl continue to f urge upon the Government the desirability of pushing forward the construe- , tion of the line, not only in the interests of the mining industry, but also in ', the interests of the settlers who were i years ago induced to take up land in I Central Otago on the understanding that • the State would provide them with a ' railway that would place them within 1 reach of a market for their produce. *