THE PATEA MAIL. Published Wednesdays and Saturdays WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1875.

Patea Mail, Volume 1, Issue 35, 11 August 1875, Page 2

THE PATEA MAIL. Published Wednesdays and Saturdays WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1875.

Tin; i’ubllWorks liAt-iiivi'il <!:.il'.'er,'-i ji. lew evenings dime by th .• Ton. AW •liemirds-.m is. sm fur as Co.; thriviiiyf disci Pt is comrei-ued, any wing bat a .-■atisi’iuAary mm, as during da debwry lii*.* IT; ulster tor Public Works rotau {hut ilia e; .iniuieneement of tho Wainuu-Wanganui railway la this district wiii nut be nu;Uc for ai, lead another year. Why the delay hi openlay up so iVrtiio a tract of country like inis hus been .uiov.nl to go on unquestioned by those to whom we naturally look, wmm file beet interest;? of tide part (if t he coast are at stake, we know nut, without it be that they aro content to rvi on the even loner of (iivir wav, drawing then - cmoluim-.uts and doing as little as possible ior tnc constituent;; they profess to servo. We should have thought, the lion, member fur Egmoim would have insisted oa a sum of money befib'.' Taeoi! on this years estimates ior the commencement of the railway here, but he has not done y>, and does nor seem at ail maimed to move in the mutter, a fuel we hope tile electors here will remember when Major .Atkinson s„cks re-eleadoa hi a le-v month;! tiny. Tho member fur the sontlioru part of did district is as supine on trie matt t as iiis friend iho Colonial Treasurw, and has not the courage to get up and ask v.hv the matter is being thus so neglocled. lie coaid malt.,; a great fines over the .tv:i! iwi ami Ckelm bridges, when he helped to put the if ox Government out of office, bat that seems tu have been ms expiring cllort at s;mv.isg up tier way ins cuilnet was being left oat in tho culffiawi a not over slid ■ iu>! at TaA. as a gum A at iiausanl viil prove. Tr Jitve;; not one of the pushing sort ; lie inn s to lake ihings eiinv, and tie 's not care (n get up mid light fur hi- v.usdi imiAs' interests, which, mi far as he n- cone 'rued, are geiiorffiiy allowed to take their chance. However, the electors well shortly have an opportunity C'f giving praelica; effect to their opinion of tie; way their representatives have neglected, the wants of this district, ami wo trust will do so most umnistakeably. Borne time back we pointed out that in order to keep the cost of construction within tiie parliamentary estimate, lines were being laid out iu such a manner as to cost far more than there was any real need for. The Minister of Public Works admits this, as he says the lino between Manawatn and Wanganui is live miles longer Hum was anticipated, and will cost £3t),OUO more than it was expected to. Wo quite believe it will and a great deal more; in fact, what with the Foxlon-Palmorstou tramway conversion (£27,000); extra length of Wanganui lino (£30,000); and the cost of bringing a branch from it into the town of Wanganui (£50,000), we think there will have been as much money wasted as would Lave sufficed to have made a good many miles of railway iu this district. The absurdity of taking the line past Wanganui at so groat a distance from the town, necessitating a costly branch lino, is so glaring as to need no comments on our part. Mr Richardson has the temerity to contrast the cost of our railways with that of the Victorian ; tho former of which are costing £O,OOO a mile, and the latter £20,207 ; but he is not ingenuous enough to also point out that the Victorian lines are a.-; much superior to our trumpery toy railways as a lour horse waggon is to a wheelbarrow ! It is like a costermonger congratulating himself because his turn out only cost him a live pound note, while one of Piekford’s large vans and horse.? must have cost ten times as much. The Victorian lines are monuments of suibiiity and arc capable of earn ing a traffic fur

cWil ill ’piOporUOll lO orinin.;! cost tiiiiii 1 !ioLl* N"W Zwdaud mom types. Tiny ware built when labour wus at his highest in \ letona. but own at that have turned out a meat remunerative investment. Yve are ?nrprised at Mr iMahnivlson, who it a nraa--,i.a;;! railway contractor. venturing to draw comparisons favourable to our system of railways, between the two in qncMion, as bo ’must have- known suck comparisons would only cover him with ridicule. Wc think, 100, lie might have done Mr Passmore a greater kindness by passing him over iminoutioncd, than ie, r according hir.i a mewl of praise he is in no wise entitled to. Mr Passmore and hi", ■management have been synonymous for a ruinous economy, and a prohibitive ovate, n of changes and restrictions. There has not been a journal Irom one end of the Colony to the other which iiiva not witlilu the last twelve months i\ end il in ce-sary to express an opinion on Mr P.neiun.v’s manogewient of exhums railways tpiiio opposed to I nut contained in the statement now under eonsi>h ration. To return to the subject our ivndei's an; most in is "rested in, wc think the people of tins district should ai once holt I indignation meetings and give free expression to their disuaiisiacrion at rhe way ov.r best inicreds are being over-looked, ir is no use u;-e our silU'.v;; down qui-dly, and allowing i.ue wauls of (he di.drier to go nnr,vii;:d ; ',7 a nin/t bend ourselves closely U-geiber. and by invited r.ud pereielen; ei;hr!s ;eeure for our ikusrisbir.g district. the attention ii is fairly cniii ied to receive at the bunds of the General ‘doveaunont.