In the course of his address to his con stituents on Friday evening, the mem ber for Lyttelton made a few remarks oa the subject of the Government Railways Act which demand some no tice. He described the measure as a " foolish and absurd" Act, and pro ceeded to give his reasons. We confess we have perused that part of Mr. Joyce's speech dealing with the rail way question with some astonishment. The member for Lyttelton was perfectly justified in opposing the measure when it was before the House, and his con stituents had a right to hear from him the reasons which had Jed him to take the course which he did. There were, no doubt, members of the House of Representatives who regarded the handing over of the railways to the control of a non-political Board as a blunder, and their reasons for so thinking were probably various. Their number, however, was not great, for the second reading of the Bill wad carried by 51 votes to 6, and there were nine pairs. It will thus be seen that the principle of the Bill was car ried by an overwhelming majority of the House of Representatives. We do not propose at this* time of day to dis cuss over again the numerous powerful reasons which led the Legislature to take the step which it did. We are convinced that no better piece of work was ever done than when Parliament decided to abandon the management of the railways and place that control in the hands ot independent Commis sioners.
