The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1882.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1187, 2 October 1882, Page 2

The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1882.

The fact of Ministers having scattered, INorth, Soutli, East, and West, after prorogation of Parliament, without Slaving appointed the Royal Commission, who will investigate and report on the route of the Southern Main 'I runk Line northward from Hurinai, is in the highest degree unsatisfactory, and may mean, far more than would appear on the surface. All know the Government itself, to a man we believe, are favorable to the Marlborough route, and though they conceded the Commission, they can make it practically useless, through appointing ita

members at too late a period during the recess, when to thoroughly travel such a large extent of country, and to take evidence needed in order to come to a just conclusion would be impossible. As the matter is to be reported , on, the sooner the Commission commences its labors the better, and there j? was not the slightest need for delay, unless it takes time to find pliable instruments to recommend in accordance with Ministerial inclinations. • We will not do the Government the injustice for a moment to suppose that • the constitution of the Commission has • been postponed on these grounds, but 1 to leave Wellington, and spread over the • colony with the time of a full Cabinet meeting indefinitely uncertain, is certainly not the manner in which a question of this moment to such a large proportion of population should be put off. There was no trouble in the matter before leaving Wellington, and j it is grossly negligent to have omitted their duty. We reprint from the \'ew . Zealand Times, which is notoriously " one of the most thick and thin supporters of the Ministry in the colony, token from that paper's issue of the 18th ult, in order to show that too I bright a look out cannot be kept, in D connection with these appointments. Our contemporary, after referring to the early flight of Ministers from '" Wellington, has the following remarks, which we cannot commend too earnestly to the consideration of the Railway Committee: — "One thing, however, is, to our minds, quite clear, that the Ministry ought to lose no time in appointing the Commission to investigate and decide upon the ques- . tion of the route of the South Island 1 Main Trunk Railway from Hurunui northward. If the members of the Cabinet should go their several ways without first of all attending to this important item of business, they will manifest a neglect of public interests with which, as a rule, they cannot be said to be justly chargeable. We make no doubt of their having already in j view for this office some intelligent and j impartial gentlemen, whose judgment B would command the confidence of the country, so that the formality of appointing them could not seriously interfere with any projected arrangements of individual Ministers. It is the more necessary that this matter should be attended to without delay that, should time be now allowed to ? lapse and the appointment be delayed 3 till towards the close of the year, the I recess of Parliament would nearly, if j " not wholly, have expired before the " Commission would V>e in a position to furnish their report. In this, asm many " other questions, expeditiousness will ■ be interpreted as signifying a virtue." It must be borne in mind that this ap--1 pears in a special ministerial organ, and was published before the gentlemen in question had started on their well earned holiday, and it more than probable was somowha^ inspired by one or other members of the Government, but the suggestion through some unknown reason was not adopted. It must be in mind that Parliament will ft^et again, possibly in April, certainly nbff later than the middle of May. Including holidays there is only an interval of seven months, whilst the work the Commission will be called on to perform must be heavy, a cloud of witnesses will be examined, and the evidence must of necessity be voluminous. There is evidently danger ahead, but j itisvery odd the warning note should have been sounded in the quarter to i which we have referred. It is supposed | t by many, with or without reason, we cannot say, that members of the present Government are largely interested in the •' New Zealand Times " property, : and should this be, the strangeness of protesting against neglect that has actually occurred becomes more . marked. It is to be hoped that in communicating with Christchurch, the local Committee will urge on those taking an j active part in the agitation the neces- j sity for using all the influence they can j bring, by any means, to hasten the \ choice of Commissioners. The remarks j that we have quoted prove conclusively that there is a probabilty of some other reason than accident in waiting to make the appointments, and the people, bothhereand on the other side of the country, will be far more assured when the names are known and duly gazetted, and when some idea of the time of the sittings being held is afforded for general information.