THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, JULY 6, 1909. ORARI TRAIN.

Temuka Leader, Issue 5839, 6 July 1909, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, JULY 6,1909. ORARI TRAIN.

Thu urbanity and courtesy with which the Hon. J. A. Millar treated the deputation which wailed ou him on .Saturday to alter the time-table of the express train eo as to stop it at Orari, seems to have ended in smoke. If the train is to stop at Orari it cannot stop at Tomnka. One, of the two towns must be passed over. This and u little soft snap was all I he satisfaction the deputation trot from Mr Millar. That is just about what we exjHjeted. Mr Millar is a man with a verv stiff backbone, who cannot I>C easilv shifted from any position In' may take up. He is what is called in politics a strontr man. As (his is one of the most desirable <pialitics in a Minister of the Crown, we eannot find much fitult with Mr Millar. hut after closely examining bis time -table we cannot help savitur that he could unbend a little in favour of Orari. without inierferiii'j much with the nmnintr of the train. line*’ minute;- would do it. One. minute, (o slow down, tmo minute «lop, and one min-

ute to get up speed again. Mr Millar gave as an excuse for stopping the express at certain places that it had to cross other trains or take in ■water. He might have added with greatr truth that the engine has to be , lied occasionally. That, we believe, is one of the greatest causes of delav. but even then we think Mr Millar could strain a point, and give some consideration to Orari. The only places along the line, so far as we can see, where the express stops to pass' another train are Oamaru and Hampden. The express at all other places passes at full, speed other trains drawn up at a siding. The express from the north stops at Rak'aia for a moment ; it stops 7 minutes at Ashburton, 6 minutes at Timaru, 3 minutes at Studholme, 7 minutes at Oaraaru. (i minutes at Palmerston. Besides this it"stops at Temuka, Hampden, and SeaclifT. only just for a moment. There are, therefore, only four offices along the line at which the express takes in water. At two of these 7 minutes are allowed, and at the other two,six minutes. If therefore, the four places are placed on equal terms, and only six minutes allowed at Ashburton and Oamaru, the same as at Timaru and Palmerston, there are the two minutes for Orari saved. Thou there are three minutes allowed at .Studholme which could he reduced to two minutes, and the whole thing is done. Mr Millar can, if ho likes, stop the tyain at Orari, am) wo would strongly advise him to do so, for much as we admire backbone in .Minister, we cannot but condemn pigheaded obstinacy. Ignoring Orari - has been fre quently put down to political considerations. It is said that Orari has been ignored because the district has returned an Opposition member. That is all nonsense. Mr Millar would not allow that to influence him. The train stops at ilakaia and Ashburton, ami in both places the political inllwence | is the same as at Orari. The tram stops at Rakata because it is the junction of the branch line leading to Methven, and it stops at Studholme for the same reason in respect of Maimate. The real truth is that when the time-table was drawn up the fact that the town of Geraldine was behind Orari was not seen. IE the town of Geraldine had been on the hue trio Temuka, it would not have been overlooked, and now as the Minister has s.en the place for himself, we would sur est to him the advisability °f reconsidering his decision. Let him I°° '■ all along the line, and see where so largo a town and so populous a distrirt has been so ignommously ignored. If Geraldine and Orari are put together, as they ought to be for rai - wav purposes, we get a population ot 1200 or 1-100, independent of the tact that the surrounding districts are the most thickly populated in New Zealand. Now let Mr Millar tear this m m i„d. and look at his time-table, and ask himself has a mistake been made V Wo certainly think a mistake has been made. The distance between Orari and Temuka is short certainly, but the population is there, and the traffic is there, and this is what pays. So far wo have hesitated to say much on tliis subject, for the reason that we have looked upon this fast express as the most monstrous waste of public money that any one could inuvojino. Fancy this poor unfortunate country, with its sparse scattered population, running two expresses south and two expresses north every day in the week within three or four hours of each other, and ask is it right. We do not blame Mr Millar ; he inherited it from. Sir J. G. Ward, the previous Minister of Hallways, and nossiblv is obliged to carry it on. There are people ill-natured enough to sav that Sir J. G. Ward did this in the interest of Invercargill, but we prefer to put it down to the recklessness which has characterised his expenditure of public money all along. Look at the public buildings in his department ; look at the scandalous extravagance of the tourist department, mid of every department that has been under the control of Sir J. G. Ward. The same reckless scattercash extravagance characterises all. We are sometimes blamed for being so hard on Sir <T. G. Ward, but has 'anything so hard teen said about him ns (he Hon. J. A. Millar said about him last Saturday. Mr Millar said that during the nine months he (Mr Millar) has had charge of 'the railwayt, he has reduced expenditure by over 12 per cent. What did Sir ■). Ward do during the previous prosperous nine years. He increased expenditure by about 10 per cent. Gould anything spank in condemnation of Sir •I. G. Ward's extravagance more strongly than this ? Me do not think so, and though Mr Millar may not do everything we want, we cannot refuse to credit lii-KB with Lein'’ - honestly endeavouring to restore a fair (it'llibrium between the revenue and expenditure of niir railways. SIR J. G. WARD.

The sensation of the present time is the fact that Sir d. G. Ward is under the protection of a detective duringhis visit to England. I here can be no doubt that this is true. Ihe storv originated in an Auckland newspaper. It was void Taxi by the Wellington Dominion, and now we find that the person who threatened to take Sir d. G. Ward s life is well-known to a lUmedin man, who gives a brief sketch of him. lie was a literary man of some ability, and consulted Sir •). G. Ward when lie was in London as to (ho advisability of coming to New Zealand. Whatever Sir -1. G. Ward said to him lie came, and did not succeed, and he worked his passage back home as a stoker on one of the steamers. On reaching homo lie found that his wife had died of starvation, and he then; and then registered a now to be avenged on Sir .1. G. Ward. Kor several months every vessel has bum carefully watched, as it was regarded as possible he might return to New Zealand. He was in London about two months ago, so it is ipiltc possible lie may be there y.-t, 1 he Dunedin man says that he is a desperate character, and one very likely to execute Ids threat, so that tin; thing is not ‘at all a t rilling matter. He also says that he is addicted to drink, and eonseonenlly tin* more dangerous. ’This is the third man who has 'threatened the life of Sir -1. G. Ward, without any reasonable provocation. '\ he •list was a Mr Moore, who had to stand his trial for it in Wellington ; was convicted and discharged on condition (hat In* would lease the country. He left, and retnrmxl again almost immediately, and is, we believe, livine In Wellington now. Tho next (o threaten Sir .T. G. Ward was a Mr Aitken, land mid commission agent in Auckland, but we foreet the details of his ease. The fuel, however, is (hat to Hie best of Ollf knowledge and belief (hen- was no hist ideation w hatsoe'er for the (hreatenings in either of llie.su cases. Sh - J. 0. Ward is ocr-

tainlv very "oily.” and is given to make promises when he has not the slightest intention of fulfilling them. Anv one who knows him well will not place much reliance on his promises or his word. He may have made some promises to the persons referred to, which as usual he did not fulfil, but that would not justify threatening him wth violence, and everyone must regret that he has been subjected to so | much annoyance. However, threatened men live longest, ami as a general rule men who issue threats do not carry them into execution. There is always more to be feared from The man who holds his tongue, than the man wdio vain-gloriously boasts of what lie is going to do. Me do not, therefore, anticipate that there is much dancer of Sir J. G. Ward falling a victim to an assassin’s bullet, and however we may despise him politlcdlv. we should very much regret that he should come to such an end. It is indeed very unpleasant for him to be so threatened, but it is one of the penalties greatness exacts. The crowned heads of Europe have to be protected, so Sir J. G. M'ard can lay claim to be raised up to their level in That respect. It is indeed not pleasant to find that in an enlightened country like ours, where the liberty of the individual is without the slightest restriction, there are men whose minds arc so unhinged ns to resort to threats to adjust their imaginary wrongs.