The Southland Times PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, 4th JANUARY, 1886.

Southland Times, Issue 90106, 4 January 1886, Page 2

The Southland Times PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, 4th JANUARY, 1886.

''Major Atkinson included amongst the many sins of omission and- commission with which he charged the Government, their neglect to appoint non-political railway boards. Jbut in the Major's opinion this was not exactly the unpardonable sin. The ddtiy of sticking, to their promise in this matter, he seems to consider one of those which are more honoured in the breach than in the observance. The proposal, he said, was so absurd that he hoped it would never be 'I heard of again. ■• ''Upon, this Mr Stout remarked that the Major's memory must be failing; as the proposal came originally from his own Government, and presumably had his own approval. The Premier quoted a statement of Mr Johnstone's, the then Minister of Publio Works, to the following .effect :-r" So far as my short term of office allows me to form an opinion, I incline to the belief that it might be advantageous to have some such (i.c,, non-political) boards, not only because of the knowledge and experience with which they would deal with the questions engaging their attention, but also because they would be remov.ed from political pressure," At the present moment we cannot say of out own knowledge, whether Major Atkinson ever seriously advocated the appointment of the boards in question or not j but if he did, he must have changed his mind a good while ago, as we have a pretty distinct recollection of his stating that nonpolitical railway boards would be an impossibility in New Zealandj And we verily believe tbat this is the simple truth. Our community is a very Btnall one, so small indeed that almost every man of any position or personal influence is pledged in some more or )ess direct manner either to one or other of the political parties —or at any rate to this, that, or the other politician A man is either a justice of the peace, or an ex-M.H.R., or a nominated member, or ex-member of a land board, or harbour board, or he is a Stoutite, or a Vogelite, or a Macandrewite) or an Atkinsonian, or a Greyite— or, if he is none of all these things, he is, a hundred to one, bound in some other way to act in any given circumstances in a certain manner^ Politically, the country may be said to be Completely demoralised. Apart from the personal influences and considerations to which we have just referred ,the mere local jealousies of which \ye all hear so much, aad which are perhaps more numerous and intense in .New Zealand than in any other colony, partly owing to the physical configuration of the country and partly to the old Provincial governments, would of themselves in great measure preclude the probability of forming really non-political boards. But all this is no excuse for; the present Government's neglect to perform their promise. Mr Richardson was to initiate the intended reform as soon, he said, as : he got fairly settled to his work; but are 1 all pretty well aware that the said jMr Richardson is still Minister of Railjways, that Mr Maxwell is still ; General Mismanager. Wtiy-iis 1 this? Neither from the Government in general, -nor. from the Minister of Publio I Works in particular, have we ever ;heard that .any change in their in regard to this matter of nonpolitical boards Tias.jtaken place. Presumably they still hold that such boards, slhould be appoinled.||Why then, we repeat, haß the. propose^ alteration, if we ■must not call it reform^ in our railway management not been, accomplished ? Is i£ because, th^app^in^raent of boards wpuld^ reduce iAeVGwiwal Manager to insignificance t:/- We ; have an idea that something of this "^rad is at the root pf the ;f evident- disinclination to try Hbhe experiment. .We may^e .wrdng^tjuf we ; really suspect that 1 Mr Maxwell's ihfla•ehcef Whence derived we do not pretend to *ay, over the Minister is practically pnj^^flwt -'HdCir in B^ite

$t aljNhis narrow obstinacy arid pragmatieilness, is to all intents and purJposea puppet , in" hands of the , '^fcne.n|l Manager. Mr Maxwell was, as ] remarked before 'this, a gift bequeathed "to the present Government by their predecessors, and it may be that the present holders of office believe in - tno proverb that " one snotild nolleok [a> g?ft |iprße, in.; the mbutb.", -is * 4|niteibrtfe ttfat the management p£ our railways was. never so irritating, unsatis- ' *^c^or^^Sd"6bltrii6tive as it is w at "the present time ; but the real anthore;of! all this mischief, from which the ; (iolony suffers so ■ seyerely:- both in feeling \ atd in pocket, are not the present, .ba^>^e late Government. : i If the i^coml^eMa^ipnf of the B-oyal Gommisx 'sion had been^ ad6pted, ; >and; »s proper manager appointed, we 'ehould have been slaved all the woriy^ loss and degradation .qf the last _ few^yewtrsi:;.':: But instead of acting^ like^ationkl the Hall ; . GovernmieiSfr appear to hjaj^Jleft ,the tjbe matter in the hands of that incapable : 'keep-the-matter-st*adily4n-vie|w mini--lOliver, who settled :it to his own^ and the great 1 4etriment^of the colony^ by appointing a>. man who knew jas much about managing railways as he did about creatiDg.worldsl, J^.nd the only way, as far as we can see, • out of the difficulty in which Mr Oliver placed us, is to get another Royal Commission appointed, to send Mr Maxwell about hisff business. ..■■'■lt is I not likely': that we shall be troubled much longer, with our present antiquated '"Minister for Public Works ; but it seems as if nothing short of a Boyal Commission Would remove the clever, pertinacious, auderripifical General Manager.