The Taranaki Herald.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 2451, 4 October 1876, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald.

PUBLISHED* drt WEOHtfcDAVS A^^ATURDAYS. WEDNESDAY; OCTOBER i, 1876.

—■ f I • • • I -r , PRdBAiBLY no point dwelt upon at the meetiqg of Thursday last was Teceiyed with so much interest as that relating to the singular delay on the part of the Government in the construction of the railway to Inglewood. First of all tliere was an advertisement issued by the Commissioner of Crown Lands, and issued no doubt with full authority, that tho tands to be sold iv the Moa Block woujd be traversed by good roads, and that the railway, to Inglewood would be completed "in about eighteen months." This advertisement is stiH tg -be seen' in *v various papers. It is "only the "other day "that wo" saw it in a Greyjnonth.paperV.andiiG still finds a placo in the columns of our contemporary at Carlyle. Upon this adver-tisement,-tb.effirst,- sale. T Dlaqe in Februaryj 18/5^ that 'is'~fo s'ay,"so"mething like a pledge was given that by July, 1876, the railway- would be completed to Inglewood. We are far from attributing the least blame to the Commissioner of Crown Lands. We are witnesses to the 'fact that he has never pressed sales .unduly, and has ever been careful in his statements rrlp purchasers; ,bnt; this. ;r©» mains ~ that acting; upon information that be thougni; accurate, he made 'statements regafdingthe.railway which th,e Government has not. carried out. But let us pursue the histor.y of railway^ delay. Last year, when Parliament meti nothing bad been done. Mr. Kolly called the attention of the Minis'teV of Public Works to the drcpmqtances, a,nd was told that in , about six weeks tendons ,wonld be called for. Still* nothing was done, when, on the 19th Octobei*, Mr. Kelly again pqt a question to tbe^ih}iter. r He^as informed: that in. "tbe first week in November" tonders would be called for. Vose, and no action was taken till January, thoqgheyerytbiogi iieeclfnl in tbe shape df plans, See., bad been lying in tbe Minister's department frdtn August previous. Tenders were called for io J.amiary^ bnt tbie tenderer were' allowed eigM^en montiis, for. the, cpn?ploiion of the mere earthworks; thus that first instalment of' the work to be 'finished 1 a whole year after, the time wtieti the' railway ought to liavo been completed ; that is to. fiay,tipon the suppositibn that faith was to bo kept with the land purchasers. To representations made i»y the ißjbabitan'ts'^f Inglew^ood, t the M'inistqr^'ja^tec^os^ provoking delays^ during which hip .-memory bad to bestirred up ! frequently,^ at last replied 1 that ofting" ' i&'6(Her ehga^tebrr^'jof the contraotors in'e'y could not'dd' the* work K^tihWr. D6ubtless, some underIjpg made such, a representation, tp him; but wo have good reason to believe that tho contractors were quite willing to complete their contract by the end of ' this' y'dar, notwithstanding thtJ reply' given/ Theij da'ttadj 1 ttiej* contract ,for. sleepers. ' Mr. Beaton had undertaken to ereqt'ai BaMr tnill'atilrtglewood, and got an" order for ten thousand sleepers," to be delivered before ) January next, but the first delivery to be made in August. -The price iwas to be tvvo sbillihgs and fonrpence each. On reference td the report on Public Works ? ' it w,ill be found tbat this price is very much, under what has been invariably paid elsewhere. Mr. Bedton failed to erect a paw mill, and his interest at Iqglewood was sold to Messrs. Broadmore and Co. These gentlemen set manfully to work, and in an incredibly short time got their mill in order, which! they accomplished in' ' July/. They asked Government, as was not ready for the sleepers, to allow, them a short time extra to make the first delivery, but undertaking to haye 1 all delivored by Christmas. But, no; the order was cancelled. The fact is, whilst the roads remain in their prcnent state, the cost of carriage would have been as much as the value of the sleorjers. They could have been deli, vered only by pack Horses. Now the Government calls for tenders for the

very same things ; bat inste^of asJK-.j ing for delivery in Decernboiy-"^ offered, eleven months are g»y§» tbe contrnctors. Thi3 is a plain narrative, in every respect within the boefnds of "truth ; and we would like to know what answer the Minister of Pubfic VVorks can give' to it. So tnncb for the original line to Tnglowood. As to the next section, the Minister gave our representatives id Parliament to nnderstand, towards tho end of the session 0f 1875, that in the following January this section would probably be proceeded with. ■ This id a mild way to pot his promise. We are now approaching the end of the year, and what is done ? ' A. few then havo lately been employed in logging up, ani^'tlieir work .will be completed in a few clays ; but what substantial progress has been made in tlie matter ? Tbe session is nearly ended, and we are no better off than we were a year ago. In all friendliness wo would urgo our representatives to bestir themselves, for the time is short. Never were the people of Taranaki more in earnest upon any matter than upon this ; their disappointment under the injustice being done to them is very deep ; and it will be rather painful to meet them if nothing substantial be done. We have faithfully supported the Government in its Public Works and Immigration policy, aud we hope therefore that our friendly warning will bo' listened to. We will not bo the advocates of wild schemes, or of any waste of the public money on merely local objects ; but the people of Taranaki "are asking for what is only' just, and what is at the same time for the interest of the , whole Colony. There is no advance possible in the present state of. affairs; nay, there is not even' safety. We know what intestine war means, and we know that peace and security from the Patea to the Waik ato means peace and security for the whole Colony. We fully endorse the action taken at the meetings held in favor of public works, and from the temper shewed at them we have no doubt of early snecess.