The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1880.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 1889, 11 October 1880, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1880.

It is particularly interesting to find, the Wellington papers commenting m lugubrious terms upon the unprofitableness of the "political railways "m Canterbury and Otago, and solemnly recom-' mending that those lines which do not pay their working expenses should be closed. We have always been led to suppose that the home of political railways was rather Wellington than Canterbury or Otago. What is to be said, for instance, about the Wellington and Foxton line, that costly project which the House most properly put their foot upon last session P Was not that a political railway, a railway which could | not possibly pay its working expenses ? Theßailway Commissioners condemned it m the most emphatic language, although one of the most influential of them was a prominent citizen of Wellington, who would surely have Btood up for it if he could conscientiously have done so. Numerous Members of Parliament visited the line, as far as it had been laid out, and" were familiar with the route ; and the more that was known about it the stronger was the feeling that it ought never to have been begun and that at all costs it must be stopped immediately. A vast sum of money had been thrown away upon it ; absolutely wasted; worse than wasted, m fact, because the cuttings and railway works have ruined the natural beauties of the most picturesque locality near Wellington. Yet the Ministry unhesitatingly resolved not to spend another shilling on it, and the House almost unanimously .approved their resolution. An attempt has since been made to get the line constructed for a short distance as a sort of suburban railway, under the District Railways Act ; but, though that movement has not yet quite died out, we do not believe that even those most interested m it have the smallest hope of its succeeding. Everybody who understands the subject at all, indeed, and who is capable of considering it candidly, must know that the construction of that line would involve a ruinous loss, whether undertaken by the Government or by a private company.

Tet the Wellington papers hare unceasingly and with the most passionate earnestness, advocated the construction of that line. They bitterly reproached the Ministry for bringing the works npon it to a standstill, and the House for not voting any more money for it. They treated that question, and they still treat it, as if it were the one great public question of the day, m comparison with which all others are insignificant. It is almost the' only question npon which they all agree. To this day, they persist m representing the Wellington and Foxton railway aa a work of paramount national importance, and m declaring that come ■what may, money or no money, the Government will be compelled to complete that line at an early date. Aa for the line to the Wairarapa, over the Rimmtaka — the construction of -which to ah impartial observer appears an act of sheer madness and a criminal waste of public money — we suppose that nobody m Wellington regards it as other than a noble work, and an eminent success m all respects. Yet that line does not pay at all. We see by the last returns that the expenses of working amounted to 95.53 of the receipts, which, allowing for renewal, repairs and so forth, means that the line is worked at a dead loss. But those returns are calculated upon tne whole Wellington section, which includes the short passenger line from Wellington to the Hutt, one of the most profitable sections, probably, m the colony. The returns, to be worth anything, ought to be separated bo as to show the receipts and expenses of the Hutt line, apart from the line beyond the Hutt to the Wairarapa. If that I were done, we venture to. say that the : Wairarapa line would be seen to b« carried on at a terrible expense to the I taxpayers. It is, moreover, a big business. The interest on the cost of construction cannot be less than £25,000 a year, and the loss on working may be safely set down at £5000.

Now the only lines m 'Canterbury which do not pay their working expenses are the Eyreton branch and the Waimate branch, two short and very cheaply constructed lineß, the whole charge upon which for interest and deficit on working, only amounts to a few hundreds ol pounds a yew, a sum which could easily be made up by more economical management and the imposition of special rates. The thing is a bagatelle, while the main Canterbury line, of which these branches are feeders, returns a profit on working of 53 per | cent, and is the mainstay of the railway revenue. The lines m Otago which do not pay their working expenses are five m number, but are all small affairs. They are mostly coal lines, very cheaply constructed, and still more cheaply worked, and maintained chiefly for the purpose of developing a valuable local industry- — from which the Government, as the largest consumers of colonial coal, benefit more than anybody else. Taking all the non-paying lines m Canterbury and Otago together, the loss upon them is a mere trifle compared to the loss on the Wellington section.

Now, we are not by any means inclined to oppose the principle laid down by our Wellington friends, that nonpaying lines ought to be closed. On the contrary, we folly agree with that principle. It is one which we have ourselves advocated with some warmth on many occasions. We think that if a line does not pay its working expenses either directly or indireotly, and cannot be made to pay them by improved management or by increasing the rates for carriage upon it, then it ought certainly to be closed. We are convinced, moreover, that that is what we shall come to before very long ; and the sooner, m our opinion, the better. But we protest against that principle being applied only or specially to Canterbury and Otago, or only to little failures that are not worth talking about. Let it be applied to the whole fallacious railway system of the colony, and to the biggest failures first. Let the Wellington. and Greytown railway be stopped at the Lower Hutt, and never let the Wellington and Foxton line be mentioned again.

Bobopoh ConiroiJi. — An ordinary general meeting of the Borough Counoil will be held m the Council Chambers this evening, at seven o'clock. '

SprBmTAMSH. — Mr J. J. Croffc lectures this evening, m the Oddfellows' Hall, Barnard street, on the above subject. TiuAßtr Sohool ComiiTTßß. — A special meeting of this Committee is to be held m the Public School this evening, for the purpose uf taking into consideration tho advisability of asking the Board of Education to dismiss Miss Forbes. '

Judicial Chaxsbs. -Up to last night we had no confirmation of the rumora respecting changes amongst the Resident Magistrates. We sincerely hope that, at all events, the rumor concerning the removal of Mr Beetham j to Wellington will prove a canard, as he is : altogether too good a magistrate to lose. Co»Bpmatiok. — Tickots m Mr P. Bell's Consultation on the 0.J.0. Handicap are being bought up very rapidly, and considering the short time which has now to elapse before the event is run, sporting men should lose no time m applying for the remaining shares. RRSIDBKT MAOIBTBATB's OotFBT, TIHABU. —At this Court on Saturday before BBeetham, Esq., 8.M., Michael Crowley, who had been arrested at Duntroon on Friday last for disobeying a summons to appear at the Resident Magistrate's, Geraldine, to answer a charge of assault, was remanded to Geraldine. A man suffering from drink was remanded for medical examination.

Pbo BoNd Pdblico.— Dr Wilkins, we may say — bo far as we are aware — the only reliable specialist m New Zealand for diseases of the eye and ear, will only be a feir days longer at the GrosTenor Hotel, Timaru, where ho may be consulted for the above affections, and likewise m throat diseases. .We wish to make this circumstance known to our constituents both m town and country, as the doctor's stay amongst us is so short that many who would probably like to consult him would only hear of his having been m Timaru sometime after he had returned again to Christchurch, where we understand he intends to permanently establish himself ; the latter city being about the most central position for him to practice his profession as a specialist m New Zealand. From the great success which has attended Dr Wilkini' treatment, both -m Christohurch and Wellington, we hope he will visit our town periodically, that the folks suffering from those diseases which he so ably treate may.: m future be saved from ouch pilfering and ignorant quacks known as the Palistinian Aurist and Wallonberg kind. We have heard already of several cases where Dr Wilkins has restored sight, &0., m unusually difficult case* m New Zealand, and near our own homes we may mention Mrs Allan's, Woitohi Flat, near Temuka. She was quite blind from cataracts, and had to be led about. Dr Wilkins' treatment has enabled her to see splendidly ; so well, indeed, that •he can now read the smallest print easily. Mr Thomas Jefcoate, Upper Pareora, also, who hitherto from weakness of his sight experienced the greatest difficulty m making up his books, reading, Sas. The change seems a new existence, from the comfort he has obtained to his eyes under the Doctor's hands. Numerous other cases wo know of, which have been equally successfully treated by Dr Wilkins.

Gold Discovbey m Nobth Kusbia.— Great excitement hat been caused throughout the government of Archangel by tho discovery of extensive new goldfields within a short distance of the town of Shenkoorsk. Measures have been taken I>jr the imperial authorities of the far northern province for working tbe auriferous district this Spring, and already applications have reached the powers that be at St. Petersburg from natives of Shenkoorsk for concessions and allotments,' the land upon I which gold has been discovered being almost exclusively an appanage of certain members of the imperial family. It is stated that the presence of gold m these regions, which are of a peculiarly sandy and storile character, was first detected some years ago by a prisoner who had contrived to escape from Siberia, and who kept this a secret until last' year, when he communicated it upon his death-bed to his brother, giving the latter an exact description of the locality m which rich treasures of gold-dust would be found.

Pbofosid Rail-wax across the Sahaba. — Anjage which has witnessed the completion of th» Mont Ceais Tunnel, the Atlantic Pacific Hallway, the Suez Canal, and the Vesuvisn " tram," and which contemplates m all earnestness, a Channel Tunnel, would naturally (says the JBrituh Mail) not be daunted by the i 'ra of * lino across the Sahara. The French Commission appointed to inquire into the possibilities of this project have made a guarded report, advocating, m the first instance the establishment of ti-legraphio communication over tbe hitherto insurmountable wilderness ; and M. de Lesseps, whom experience has mode cautious, is 'fully m favor of the scheme. The points of interest m connection with it are,, of course, two-fold. : whether the work c»n bo done ' within anj reasonable computation of ooit, and whether, supposing it complete, the result would justify the expenditure. The Sahara, commencing from the foot of the Atlas range, and stretching thence for a distance of a thousand miles and more, and extending m one direction three times that distance, between the Atlantio and the Nile. Valley, appears to offer little, if anything, m the way of temptation to ordinary commerce. It is true that the whole surface is not absolutely sterile. The district of F«zzan, with the territory, intervening between it and the historical Egyptian river, may be regarded as comparatively productive ; but what of that m connection with so gigantic a commercial and engineering enterprise P From the Great Oaßis southward to the provinqe of- Dafur, a distance of seven hundred miles, not a human habitation ii to, be met -with ; yet this is the wilderness which separates the northern from the central regions of the Afrioan j continent, and it is quite within the range of possibility that modern enterprise may connect the two by a day's journey with result* beyond even the dreams of to-day's speculators. It has been finally ascertained that the local climate presents no insuperable difficulties to European enterprise, being milder than that along the Asiatic borders of the Bed Sea, and more healthy even than that prevailing on the Porsian Gulf. The worst characteristic of this wilderness, m fact, appears to be its general unproductiveness of anything except salt; but the spaces to be traversed are, after all, not so very formidable, m the fact of nineteenth century 'science — and capital— while the work, if once "done, would establish the greatest mission that ever sought to dissipate the darkness of Central Africa. '