The Eternal Cry.

Western Star, 13 October 1908, Page 2

The Eternal Cry.

When the estimates dealing with expenditure on additions to open rail, way lines were under discussion, member alter member rose and clamoured for all sorts of odds and odds, innaliy the Hon. T. V. Duncan rose in protest against the reckless constant claims fJr extravagance in connection with public works, and particularly witli railway expenditure. Mr J 0 Thomson also objected to the ' extravagant demands for luxuries. “The railways are paving a prolit oi £BOO,OOO a year “hut that will not p» interest on a capital cost of £Z>,WU, npn The sooner the country underbids that the better. The country did not want luxuries, but they wanted such as lines through good coautry itm , ‘ ■ „ v, -frothing one. Every member kerned to be demanding expenditure but the responsible Minister had to control tWe expenditure and keep J within the country 3 m a ' to 050 for a verandah might not seem o be large but such items mounted up. The object oi the was to serve the parts of the country tha most needed development. „ The Napier Daily Telegraph, ■ mg the debate editorially ’ “Three* members of the House f sending southern we l a st night virtuously apprehensive on the subject of railways. They represen Timaru, Oamaru, and Wallace. One o th n, m is an ex-Minister, another is minister for Public Works, the third represents a district, or part of a , district, intersected by a perfect network c ,f radways. He cajmot wish for more 1-aihvays unless on the assumption that they, should bolbuilt for ornamental purposes. The discussion was opened by the ex-Minister who represents Oam ai-u Tie views with much concern demands for railways from different portions of the Dominion. The South Island. as we have shown time after time ha’s on any basis in which we may c *>m pare population 1 , productiveness, and contribution to the revenue, from sis to seven hundred miles more of railways than it should have contrasted with the North Island. The South Island has irrespective of any proportional view at all, nearly six hundred miles more than the North Island, and m ad dition expensive works in progress, ox which the Arthur’s Pass tunnel is one '! be South Island has, in a word, ad. the railways it can hope to have, either constructed or in process of conctruction, for many years to come. Ine North Island has some seyen , hundred miles of leeway to make up. And ot course the South Island is now apprehensive in the matter of railway construction demands. It is better to put the matter bluntly. The South Island, recognising the injustice already imposed upon the North Island and knowing full well that to make things only tolerably even several hundred miles of railway ought to be construct cd in the North Island, is yet, it seems determined to prevent justice being done. The kind of ‘ “virtuous horror interlude reported in our Parliamentary news is at once sample and foretaste of what the North Island must expect to meet in 'its fight for f airplay Because the South Island has more than its share of railways the North Island is bidden to _ sit down patiently under a grave injustice.”’-