THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT YOUR FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1875.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2148, 22 November 1875, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT YOUR FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1875.

Not content with propounding to the electors of Franklin certain broad yiews ■which, might serve, to distinguish the supporter of the Government from the sworn ally of Sir George Grey, Mr F. H. Troup went into additional particulars of what he would like to see done, it means ] and other circumstances allowed of it. It is at least as well to know in what direction the views of any probable, or possible member of the Assembly lie, even though the time of their being carried out, should that time ever arrive, is so remote as to matce it almost, superfluous to speak of them. Mr Troup certainly has not erred on the side of vagueness, or contented himself with general statements, leaving others to add thereto. or take therefrom, as opportunity may serve, after the manner of some of the supporters of the Opposition, but clearly and explicitly deflnes what he considers is for the best, and then leaves it to the electors to say whether, if the -man be eligible, they will choose his measures. We spoke on Saturday of Mr Troup's general views ; we would now say a few words of those comparatively special measures which he deem 3 expedient. First among these we have Mr Troup's advocacy of the Government scheme —Utopian, we fear, a3 far as the present is concerned—-of having one grand line or trunk railway to completely open up the two islands from north to south. This no doubt on almost every ground is advisable. The question is, can it be completed ? We fear not unless the credit of the Colony should be much improved. In England, as is well known, all the lines ofrailways, even the line which from King's Cross to Inverness bears the strongest resemblance to the proposed "main trunk line "of Mr Troup, are in the hands of private^companies, which private companies are still further broken up into smaller companies to allow of the necessary funds being forthcoming. Thus, for instance, the Great Northern Line which we have just alluded to is, in reality, only the property of the Great Northern Railway Company as far as York, after which it becomes the property of the North Eastern as far as Berwick, and then passes on to the North British, Edinburgh and Caledonian. The time will, we think, undoubtedly arrive when somo financier—abler than. Sir Stafford Northcote of the present,: able as Mr Gladstone in the past—will devise means whereby the whole network of English railways will become the property of. the' State, after the manner in which the State took over the Telegraphs, and the benefits to the public, when this is brought about, will, we venture to

say, be as great or greater in the one case than they have been in the other. But at present the English Government, often as the scheme has been mooted, do not see their way to have the railways State property. The Government of New Zealand have attempted this, but success is, at present, problematical. Taken as a whole railways are not a very paying conconcern ; at least, the amount of interest they yield would not be considered very paying out here, and t»o Government can expect a very large return , for borrowed money so invested. It is true that the benefits derived from the expenditure of money in this way would be great, and* would do much towards the opening up of the colony, For the present, however, at any rate, we are forced reluctantly to come to the conclusion that Mr Troup's scheme for the completion of the main trunk line is not feasible as far as the Government is concerned, neither do we think that any private companies will or can be formed which could successfully carry out so largo an undertaking. In the first place we, much question whether the large amount of necessary capital could-be raised, taking into consideration present liabilities, and even if raised whether the undertaking would be satisfactory to the undertakers. It is true that many instances can be pointed out in which good, not to say large dividends, are realised by a judicious investment in railway shares, but at the same time the reverse can be pointed out as just as frequently the case. As for instance, if it be pointed out that the Great Northern Company frequently pay 10 per cent, and that people buy their shares at £160, it can also be said that the London, Chatham, and Dover line for some time past have paid little or nothing at all, and that few will have their shares at £26. And more than this, it must be remembered also that as regards the Great Northern Railway, besides being the most paying: railway in England, it has also the shares, which we have quoted at £160, marked A, which means that no dividend is paid on any of the scrip until 5 per cent has been paid to A, and this consequently has a depreciating effect on the other shares.* So that looking at it whether as the result of public or private enterprise, the scheme of having a main trunk line of railway through the two islands does not seem to be at present attainable, though most desirable. The construction of the Thames Valley Railway, which Mr Troup tells us " will still be kept in view," has not the same ©bjections, or rather obstacles, and presents greater advantages. In the first place the cost of its formation would be incomparably smaller, and besides when made it would have no rival company in the way of steamers to bid against it for public support, and traffic, and so force it to ply its trade at unremunerative rates. More than this, the gain to the colony in j general, and the North Island in particular, would be very large. On all hands we have people anxious to settle, grumbling that they cannot obtain suitable land on which to do so; and this Thames Valley Eailway j- if made, wouldopen up one of the finest agricultural districts in the country. This, we once more repeat, the Government might reasonably be asked to take in hand. Even if money were lost the first year or two, as the land became occupied and its resources developed the line would be sure to pay itself in the end; the advantages 'to the centres of population, and through them to the surrounding districts would be great indeed, and the whole of the North Island by its means largely benefited. That which can be done should be done before that which" is impracticable is attempted; and there is no reason because we are unable to take up a large national work wJiy we should shrink from performing one of only ordinary colonial enterprise. Mr Troup in his statement of views makes the formation of one main trunk line necessary, the Thames Valley line only that which " will still be kept in view." It would on every ground be better if he had reversed the order, and first insisted on that which may be done, and then spoken of that which might be, as advisable when opportunity occurred.