THE Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY JULY 28, 1880. THE VALUE OF ROYAL COMMISSIONS.

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 59, 28 July 1880, Page 2

THE Manawatu Times.

WEDNESDAY JULY 28, 1880. THE VALUE OF ROYAL COMMISSIONS.

"Woildii'fcro^Wngi, aa^* drop^oMmk fnllijig like dew upon » thought, produce* that whicH »ake<! thou^dß, pprh&ps fliiihcgps think "

The present Ministry is said jto be Tb'~Jii'imst"ry*bf " Retrenclimefl't^ which *ne j crik<lou)e'of the various^ Roy f al <r Com missioTijf* which have beeif Vpp^rjfed by the Q-o^ern-ment. TUa-cost to the country of ftWiWSH , t ins^ifcutions b as, 4 p to •tpe ..present^ been somewhat iover rmve t'hbufikfid iSb'iitid'l^ald 'what has the colony obtained' m return. Take first the result' of the Commission. QQ the Natiye Piflwulties^ a A d

what have we gained ? Why the rethat an enormous"trabt of land which has been made valuable by roads, surveys,, aud an outlay of six hundred pounds* a day f or* officials, should be handed over to the Maoris. Have the Grovernment accepted the recommendation of Sirs William Fox and .Dillon Bell, and do they intend to act upon it ? We rather think not. "Next, wi J ;h regard 'to the~ Civil Service CominissU)n,.rits total .untrust--1 woi'tbmess was-so apparent.,.tl)at its verr strongest recommendations-^ re.^ommendaiions niergtng almost into commands — *- wei'e studiously ignored by the Ministry, and the gentlemen forming the Commission po'itely relieved of their responsibilities before half their work was done. Anyone who has read the Chairman's speech -or rather iiis defence — as reported m " Hansard," could not fail, even from his own ex pai-te statemenc, to be struck with the grossly unfair and prejudiced manner m which the investigations of the Commission wpre conducted. Wheu attempting to justify his oon^ Heiunatiou of the Nelson Railway Manager, Mr. Stone, he quoted a few pa<>es of the evidence, and from ib there was ample testimony to justify an impartial person m forming an opinion adverse to the Commissioners. Every question put to the witnesses were so flatly leading, j that during the whole of the examii | nation there was scarcely any other answer than "yes " or "no," which eertainiv loaves good grounds for tb,e supposition that the catechism was privately rehearsed prior to the official investigation. Uufair • assuch a supposition may appear, it may be stated m explanation that it was admitted that persons were invited to give private information to the Commissioners, quite independently of that obtaiued afc the official examination. The Commission?™ m their report candidly admitted that while there was a large portion of the Civil service upon which they did not enter at all, there were others that wee merely touched upon, and into none had they sjone exhaustively. The gentlemen fcirming the Inquisition hay« now yery unceromouiouNly received their conge, and what, may we ask, has the country to compensate it fop the tb <ju san d.s Je xpe ncWd .-;• ; • N oth ing; bn t a rocord of unfounded charges which 'have: beeiK p/qved, to. have been; the outcome" of 'animus, spleen, and jealousy. The evidence takeu is of such an extremely bulky and unreliable character that it would neither repay printing nor perusal. We come next to, the Com mission upon Public \Vorks, and we. l'«a«*a with hrtinri' nnrni'ina 'that il a "f"^ *•» AaaiL agiiiris't the; prosecution of tlis West Co ast ita* l way, W h il e t h e 1 i ti c to Woodville is recommended. Without saying a word, in depreciation of the latter route, we; may make a remark upon the reason given for the preference,- which is that the Masterton- Woodv.il i,e will opeu up so much mo ye lan dy Can s> >t\ c rabl eamu ac - ment was created noon the publication of Antho.vt TbcSllope's book ihoj- "the colonies: by those who were awane that the imaginative author; hnd gleaned his facts while almost straddled astride of a railway engine, nud consequently during such a flying visit his powers of observation were exercised under difficulties. Kis feat), however, -has been beaten by the Railway Commission, who hare the presumption,, to deal with "the nature of the cmiVitrv through which they rode for fifty miles iv a closed carriage. Let us just trace ! the progress of those gentlemen as far as this County is concerned. They arrived by coach from Wood.ville at dusk, and at ion o'clock next morning started a'ong the Rangitikoi Eoad to Bulls — a portion of the oouniry which had nothing whatever t,Q do with the West Coast Railway. Relumed to Palmers ton. at four iv the afternoon, aud p i% o-' ceedcsd by special tram to Pox-ton ; stopped overnight, and proceeded next morning before daylight by th,o ordinary road to We^ington. How m the name of all that's reasonable could they attempt to give an official opiuiou upon such experience. Js this the competent survey and examination which was promised by the Government as to the rival routes of Ifoxton and Fitzherbert? We very much question if the Plying Commission paid the slightest heed, or sought the least inh'ormaVion,as to the land to be opened up by the Foxton route ; and we knosr tbsy never went wi'-hin miles of Wit-'<-herbe/fc, even iE they were aware of the direction, m which it lay. We wiU wait with some eagerness and curiosity to see upon what data the sapient Coinmis-: sioners haee couie to the resolution that no land will be opened np by the West Coast Railway. If the report and recommencla !. n be based merely upon what the Commissioners saw during their almost aerial visit to Maoawatu, then we have no hesitation m saying that it is not worth, the paper tipon which it is written, and the money invested m their expenses might j list as well have been thrown into the sea.