Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBOBNE. WEDNESDAY, JULY 23 1902. THE RAILWAY WORKS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 9484, 23 July 1902, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBOBNE. WEDNESDAY, JULY 23 1902. THE RAILWAY WORKS.

It is about time that some public protest was raised against the dilatory methods of the Public Works DepartmentOver three weeks ago, the works wera practically suspended, through the' oldtime engine used by the Department "going bung." The engine which had seen many better days, was found to. be past repair, and had to be permanently laid up. We presume that no time was lost im requisitioning the. Department for a new engine, but it is remarkable that several weeks have been allowed to elapse without the derelict being replaced, and that the works have been brought practically to a standstill. The majority of the men have been dismissed, and they can obtain no satisfactory .answer' as to when they are likely to 'be re-engaged. They are men who can ill-afford to stand out of employment, and yet do not care to drift away to other occupation if there was any assurance of the works being resumed at an early date. The position is awkward for the men, unbusiness-like for the Department, and a drag on the progress- of the district.. Everybody is most anxious to see the railway continued to Karaka, at which point it will only really commence its development of the resources of the district, and people are becoming sadly wearied through the. lethargic ways of the Public Works Department. We venture to think that had the construction of the railway been placed in the hands of a contractor, not only would the work so far completed not have cost £59,000, the amount that is debited againct it by some extraordinary process of calcuation, but that contingencies such as that which has occurred in the break-down of an engine would have been met more readily than they have been in the present case, and the contractor would not have had the extensive stock of Government locomotives to draw upon for a replace engine. We imagine thatthe delay that has taken place has been due to minutes and memoranda, sealed with sealing-wax and tied with red tape, having to be passed from one Department to another, and possibly through the Departmental heads being busy with Parliamentary duties. Whatever the cause, the delay is not fair to the district, to the gentlemen who are in charge of the work, nor to the men who have been thrown out of employment, and we call upon the Hon. J. Carroll to stir up his colleagues on the matter, so that the work may go ,on, and the district may gain the advantage of railway extension. We understand that, there would be no difficulty in opening the railway to Kaiteratahi within three months' time, if ballasting were immediately proceeded with, but if there is further delay the.- prospects; are that the section will lose, the benefit of the summer traflic, including extensive wool freights, which extension to that point would be almost certain to secure.