RAILWAYS

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 122, 24 May 1902, Page 6

RAILWAYS

NORTH ISLAND TRUNK LINE.

THE MANAWATU RAILWAY. SPEECH BY THE HON. HALLJONES. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Friday. . Reference to railway matters was made by the Minister for Public Works during his recent speech at Timaru. He spoke strongly of the need of giving facilities to settlers to make use oi their lands hy providing roads and railways, and of the North Island being given more attention than the South on the ground that it really should have more attention owing to the nature of the country. While the opening up of bush lands must be pro-' fitable both to settlers and railways, he stated that if there is only oneeighth of the timber estimated to exist along the line of the North Island Main Trunk railway a royalty of 7/ per 100 ft. would pay for the line, and when settlers could be established by the work, and the two chief towns brought into communication, it was plain that this line ought to be pushed on as fast as possible. Mr Hall-Jones is also reported to have advocated making a great effort for getting the main lines in hand completed. What the colony needed to do was to act as a prudent business man would act, and be careful of management expenses and cautious in two directions—not to borrow without seeing a sure return, and not to allow borrowed money expended to lie unproductive through a policy of slow progress when a bolder one wouM make it productive sooner. In reference to the proposed purchase of -the Manawatu railway, nothing practical had been done, because the directors gave no definite reply to the offers of the Government till the very last day the Act allowed. For his own part, though he helil that the Government should own all the railways, he would prefer to spend the amount required to purchase this line in pushing on the Main Trunk line, as the Manawatu line could be purchased at any future time at a fixed price, nothing being paid for good-will.