GOVERNMENT RAILWAY EXPENDITURE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 177, 26 July 1907, Page 4

GOVERNMENT RAILWAY EXPENDITURE.

THE MIDLAND o_N_"

iarthur's pass. Trjsripav;':^

CHAMBER OF C»M_pa^,_B_j^£ ( '

in the South, as compared ,n_r_ii:_ the North, was discussed _t-_::-_____| meeting of the yesterday afternoon. :;:_■> ;;.':.- Mr. H. Green opened by pointing out that report of •the Council, which had ja B t been read, l£ eT \r , was np ; refer___'K_ the Midland Railway. 1 . -He a contract had been let for _600,(XXf„i the tunnels at Arthur's P_ss. : ~:_,_ thought it was theduty.'of the (Mmhei to ask their members in the.House to find out whether;.'that, railway, when completed, would, return one-half or one per cent upon .the expenditure. The North Island was now-the predbndnant partner in New Zealahdi and: .wohld, therefore, have to ".'.' provide -. 'mre_ £ 300,000 of that expenditure .on ■>__. thur's Pass tunnel." They Were, '___»> fore, entitled to data.as to ;tlie : possible returns oh the expenditure .involved. . The, Cha&man '(Mr '■:? . _ft? "__$ fNat___J said it was within the province of "_aChamber to mquire as to' the fairness ol i i public expenditure; . No dou-tmany.. thought that so much money had beeexpended upon the Midkhd Baihyay,'it was advisable to carry the work to a paying point if possible. ; No do.ubt the Government deemed it wise; to. try" and earn some interest on the money alreadyexpended on that railway. ""'"•"■■'•■ ■■--«'■' Mr. Peacocke expressed that the money available for/raihjaj; construction should be cpncentrated-pn the line that would soonest pay the most interest upon the expen_t«e.lf that were done, no doubt the MMjini line would have to wait until more urgently needed completed. It would be better business to "ixmcentrate financial resources on lines, : . that could be made to pay most anie_lyj/i_stead of the present system of 'construe? ting lines as sops for certain.—.slricta, (Applause.) ' "■"":"'''.-™,;-'; '■" Mr. A. Dewar said that.if the system suggested by Mr. Peacocke were.adopted the tunnel at Arthur's Passi'would/not; be undertaken for the As a matter of actual"fact, 'population", was decreasing on the West Coast, having fallen from. JSOO to 140& All theyhad 1 to send from the West' Coast.was coal, and that could be carried mora! cheaply by boats. ' "--\ ■'."• '.'■•.'.'

Mr. S. Vaile referred to the large; amount of money that had been ex-' 1 pended on railways in (Sinter 1 ' bury, and Westland. He said; it wa_ time they insisted upon all/New: Ze_* land north of Canterbury 'receiving |w tice in the matter of public expenditure. Taking the Government's oWh-figure*, last year, the Hukurunui-Bluff line'l?aiii £2 17/3 per cent, while Wellington, Taranaki, Napier, and the Auckland potion paid over 4 per cent. The loss pa railways in the North' Island had h?en decreased from £200,000 in 19Q1 ,t<> £41,000 last year, while in the .'.South Island the loss" was £545,000." Still >#» Government persisted in pitting through that wretched Midland-linei while districts like Kawhia, ■ Gisborne, and the North could not get %c» pushed on at aIL Mr. Green handed in the following re* mit from the Chamber for the. consideration of the Council:— "That thri Chamber endeavours to obtain from the Public Works Department the estimates traffic to be carried on the Midland raiV way, the~ goods to be carried, rates of haulage, together with an estimate-, of the total cost of the Midland EailwaS when completed." / , J v Mr. Gunson moved: "That, this gen? eral meeting of members of the Auck? land Chamber of Commerce urgently requests the Auckland members ofParha 1 ment to take united action in securing a fair and just allocation to i the Auckland Province of monies for railways an* other public works- and further, that this Chamber vigorously protests againss the expenditure now sanctioned in con* nection with the work on" Arthur's Pasf tunnel." ,1 Mr. Gunson said Iris idea was JO strenghten the hands of the Aucklanol members, and also to draw attention W expenditure on the Midland I_dlwaj_ which was not justified. g$ « The motion was agreed to Withon» further discussion.