THE WHARF. TO THE EDITOR.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 10625, 28 May 1896, Page 2

THE WHARF. TO THE EDITOR.

SIR,— May it be understood that these few remarks whioh I, by your compliance, am abtiilt td ttiuke are not made in any fastidiouß, faction^, nor partisan spirit, but that they are rather those oil a disinterested looker-on, who is not upofl gfly consideration debarred from uttering what actually is passing through his 'mind. The execrable drama which has for some time bow been played by the Havbour Boilrd and the GoTernment Bailway ,Depat tjttienfc in tegard to the wliarf, I dare arerj if cortftnehted iipofl by any intelli* ,gent otMdefy Would bring eupjCosslons not very flattering to 1 the last oi the leading rfi'le— discovering that • the latter totally ignores being at any expense whatever in keeping up repairs oi tear and wear ( to a convenience which it unfortunately happens, some way or other, to i have the exclusive use of t The Board,' it ia true, levies wharfage dues; still that, so fur, baa proved but an inadequate set off to the ontlay of construction, eto. a construction, by the way, which this much may be said of it, that it has given the initiative to Government in the way iolf a ba»4a to a short line of railway vrhieh, in proportion to cost, yielda a more satisfactory return than any other line throughout the colony. Why, had a similar embroglio occurred on a minor scale between two neighbours, the chances are that«it would have, without much bother either, been amicably adjusted at once. The figure to meet the exigency Is ngfc, t a very large one, not any more perhaps than would run a butter factory eight or nine months in the year. Positively iv ihia cose the action of the Railway Department is not dissimilar to a farmer insisting on the Cotinty Council keeping up a diverging road off the highway which, leads to and from his own private residence. Governments, as a rule,' cannot be too frequently reminded of these incontestable facts, viz., that to rub unjustifiably too hard against the grain is bad finessing, and that it is with them; as it is with any individual, any condemnatory procedure on their part ia sure in the long furl to ha*e fl Nemesis. There k a. proverb (1 think Italian) which Says, '" None so brave as those not imperilled." And not unlikely some sentimeqt of the kind has generated the following idea, held now by not a few, which is, had our member's seat been less secure, or had he indicated signs of wobbling, the wharf would long ere now have been repaired.- 1 am, &c, ,' ' A-. Hood.