The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1893. THE NORTH ISLAND TRUNK RAILWAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 225, 23 September 1898, Page 4

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1893. THE NORTH ISLAND TRUNK RAILWAY.

For tha cauflo that lacks assistance, For the ■wrong that noodn resistance, Tor the future in the distanot, AM the ssod that tto can it.

In our issue of yesterday eveniug'we published a telegram, which the Secretary of the Auckland-Taranaki Railway League had received from tire Minister of Eailways. In that message Mr Cadmuu very plainly set forth his views on the respective merits of the. Stratford and the Central routes. Today the Secretary of the League received a telegram from another Minister, Mr T. Thompson, on the same subject, which will be found in another column. A comparison of the text of. the two messages would suggest that while our Auckland Ministers have not taken part in the discussion that has been and is raging over the question of route, they have at the same tinie been bestowing1 close attention to the matter, and have clearly formula-ted their opinions thereon. Further, it is gratifying to note that however oiir Northern members may shilly-shally or be divided, our two Ministers are.as one in adopting the view which we most honestly and conscientiously believe is the right view.

Mr Caclman declares emphatically that he holds, and has always held, that in the interests of Auckland and of the colony alike the Stratford route is infinitely to be preferred to the road through the centre of the island; and Mr Thompson endorses that view. The opinion of the Minister of Railways is particularly valuable. Mr Cadman's first duty in this matter is to the colony which he serves as Minister; his next is to the constituency and district whose interests he has pledged himself to advance. From what we know of him we feel very certain that he is fully conscious of Ms dual responsibility. While anxious to do the best for the North he is not the man to sacrifice the interests of the colony as a whole to gain an advantage for the province he represents. If he had thought that the Central route was the best for the colony, we do not for a moment believe that, he would have advocated the continuance of the line through Taranaki, however convinced he was that the latter route would be of most benefit to Auckland. But it is natural that his advocacy of

that route should be all the more pronounced when it commends itself alike to his judgment as Minister of Railways and to his '. regard for the part of the colony with which he has been so long and closely identified.

The arguments which Mr Cadman adduces in favour of the railway by Stratford are precisely those which we urged at the outset, and which must have inevitably occurred to every man who took a broad unprejudiced view of the question. But as these arguments must naturally carry more weight when coming from one who is daily in close contact with the subject, we will do well to reiterate them. 'My experience as Minister of Railways,' says he, 'confirms my previous opinion .that the question of setltement which will create traffic and provide interest on the cost of the outlay is of far more importance to the colony than the question of shortening the distance between Auckland and Wellington by a few hours.' And again, 'Until it can be clearly proved that the Central line will provide most settlement 1 shall adhere to my present opinion in favour of the Stratford route.' Here we have the position stated from the broad colonial point of view; the view from which every Minister is bound to regard public works involving a large expenditure of money; the view which we as citizens of New Zealand and the people who have' ultimately to pay for these works should learn as quickly as we can to regard them. But as a fact we know that in Wellington and by a small party in Auckland that view has been persistently ignored. The action of the Wellingtonians, narrow and provincial as it is, can be understood. On the other hand the attitude of the Aucklanders who are favourable to the Central route is quite inexplicable on any reasonable grounds. They, the very people who have clamoured most loudly against waste of public money on unremunerative works in the past, and the increase of our public debt, are willing, according to their own admission, to run a line of railway through a desert, so that they may got to Wellington two hours sooner than by the other route. Deprived of all the specious arguments with which the champions of the Central route have endeavoured to bolster up their case, that is practically the only one point they can advance in favour in support of their contentkm. Vet they continue to adhere to it, and urge it in spite of the evidence which is daily accumulating on the other side.

That evidence so entirely confirms the wisdom of Mr Cadxnan's contention in every particular that it is amazing- to us how any sane, honest man could fail to be convinced by it. Yet the 'Herald,' which has been injudicious enoug-h to take up the wretchedly weak ca.se for the Central route continues in one. part of its pages to search 'ineffectually for reasons to justify its course, while in another it cannot help publishing statements which reveal the utter hol-low-ness of its position. For example, that journal's Stratford correspondent writes thus in this morning's paper:

'We are totally at a loss to understand the conduct of the Auckland members who are opposing the Stratford route. When we realise that the whole of the land for 52 miles on both sides of the Ohura Road, with very few exceptions, is settled on, when we realise the number of settlements adjoining this, the main road to *he .North, then we are amazed that any sane person can think of rejecting a route passing through such land in favour of one through an arid and worthless and desolate waste. The former route would be the 'means of benefiting some hundreds of struggling and deserving settlers, besides bringing Auckland into close contact with the centre of the dairying industry, whilst the latter route would scarcely ■ benefit, a soul for many years to come. Be the present issue what it may, there can be little doubt that Stratford must eventually-be con.neeted with Auckland by railway.'

The 'Herald' makes no attempt to contradict the remarks of this correspondent, or to minimise the detrimental bearing they have on the side of the question it has unfortunately espoused. But of course contradiction would be useless. The progressive nature of the. country through which the Stratford line would pass is borne witness to in the official statistics. If we turn to the report of the ValuerGenera] on the recent valuation of the land of the colony, we find that there are no districts that have gone ahead so rapidly in the last few years us those the . proposed, railway would traverse, or tap. In the county of Clifton, for instance, the value of the land has increased in the last seven years from £441,325 to £624,295. In Taranaki the figures for IS9I and IS9B are £969,579 and £1,5:34,634; in Stratford, £560,345 and £992,931; in Hawera, £1,247,436 and £1,888,624. These represent the Government valuations, and the ValuerGeneral states that the sales which have taken place recently show that they have been the reverse of excessive. Compare with these figures the valuations of most of the country through which the Central route passes, and it will be found that the value of the laud instead of going up in the last seven years has rather declined; and for this reason, that it has been found that the desert is even more utterly worthless than it was thought to be. Indeed, to talk of settlement along that route sounds like a joke to those who have traversed the weary miles of uninhabited wilderness which may carry a sheep to every ten acres.

Knowing1 the relative merits of the two routes as lie does, who can wonder that the Minister of Railways should take up the position he does. How could he do otherwise in the face of the facts? If he could advocate the

Central route he would be unworthy the trust now reposed in him. But let us be thankful that in Mr Cadonan we have a man who sees the matter quite clearly, and, .as he plainly hints himself, is not likely to give his sanction to a railway through a desert i merely for the sake of a few longI journey passengers when the official ■figures show that the contributions of all that class to the re- | venue of our railways do j not amount to six per cent, of the toi tal passenger receipts. As for the ■ quickening by a couple of hours of the 1 carriage of the mails from this to Wellington, a point which our morning contemporary gladly seizes on to better its miserable case for the Central line, does anyone suppose that stich a slight gain.would in any other part of the world be enough to justify a railway such as that proposed? The idea is preposterous. With regard to the remark of Mr Cadman and Mr Thompson that Auckland is somewhat prertature in agitating at this time, and that the matter should be left in abeyance till next election, we cannot altogether agree with their view. Circumstances have proved before this that we cannot be too quick to guard against the selfish projects of the South. If we do not, Wellington is as likely as not to steal a march, on us. We must agitate if only to show that we are in earnest. And besides, there is no doubt that agitation such as is now going on has a good effect, quickening the public mind and making it much readier to deal with a question of this kind when it reaches the critical stage.