THE TAUPO RAILWAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 49, 26 February 1913, Page 4

THE TAUPO RAILWAY.

Mr J. Payne, iM.P., his favoured us with another letter on ihies Kiibject, t>ut it ie cot from our point of view any .in])rovement, logically speaking, on lie lirst communication. In tin; fi.ot plao.e, Mr Payne reiterates hio rid.cnioua ttji<--ment that a guarantee is '"cash." The i)bjwt of this uhsurJ cunfuc-iun of ttrn.h ,e>, of course, to buggwst to the general j.'.bi'c: limt (.lOverntoent ie being as.-.c.d to HjitnJ money on the Tuura T.mbcr Company's line, TVn is, of tviin-.0, very far from the truth. We repeat that all (.hat the Parliamentary Goiiirri.Ltci.- itcommended Government to do was to guarantee the Companj-'e u;> lo JCoO.OOO for the extension of the l.r.v, the security being the whole railway, which will have ooet at least Julßo,oou. If, on the face of these facts, Mr Payne repeats his childish quibble and aeeuree at- that there ie no difference bc-twecn a cash advance and a guarantee as collateral security for a loan upon such

ample asseU as this company olTers, then any business man who has ever signed a ■ iiLiiue or kept a b-ink account will be .ibio to u',..e Mr Payne's commercia' and financial experience at its proper valuation. In thie instance the difference between the guarantee and the cash is that the country ie not called upon to pay a single penny for work that will, ,n our opinion, as&ifit immensely in opening up the centre of the North lei.md. .t.nd pramoiing its rapid and profitable oottlument.

liul Mr Payne objects to the construction of tii.ii line ior tbe reason that it will rjute the value of the land which it opene, and thue, according to him, play,into. the.handjj of speculators. Th;e beems to v≤ the most original aud diverting reason for opposing a railway line ih.it has yet been invented.. For, surely the natupil and necessary effect of every piece of railway construction ever undertaken in this country, or any other, has been to raise the value of land. Mr Payne's argument pTovce a great deal too much; for if carried to its logical conclusion it would effectually prevent the construction of any railway whatever, unlnss the State were prepared to buy up the whole country in advance. We have nothing to do with Mr Payne's views on the State ownership of land just now. But it is obvious that Government can, if it pleases, buy up as much of the Taupo land ac it thiiike necessary, and make a handsome profit on the r.ee when the railway goes through. Aβ a mattpr of fact, the Crown already holds more tlvan 200.000 acres in this district, nnd that in iteelf might be accepted ac an adequate argument in favour of the course that thp Committee recommended. Tf the extension of this line is go-ing to *cml up land from 7/6 to £3 an acTe, as Mr Payne's letter tells us. in any caee the State will make oveT half a million profit on the value of its present holdings, and this is surely not a bnd re-turn icrr a well-secured guarantee that will never cost a penny. But to speak of this inevitable rise in land valiiee which necessarily follows on all railway const-ruction as if it were a cunning device invented by the greedy sneeulatoTTS to enable them to plunder the country, is enrely thp climax of rmerility. arid this alrme is snfficieTit to condemn Mr Pavne-s effueion as illogical and unreasonable.

We must devote some little attention to Mt. Payee's grotesque distortion of the expert evidence laid before the com mittee as to the working value of the Putaruru-Mokai line- He tells us that "the ercgiaeer has reported that the company's line ie utterly unfit for passenger traffic." What are the facts? In answer we need only quote the evidence that we have already extracted from the committee's report upon the whole project. "Although not con-structed up to the standard now established with regard to Government railways, the line is perfectly safe for trains driven at an average speed of fifteen miles an hour. In the course of his evidence before the Parliamentary Committee, Mr. R. W. Holmes, Engineer-in-Chief Public Works, stated that, apart from the question of curves, the construction of the company's line is betteT than that of the Government district railways when he first joined the Department. With regard to the curves, Mr. T. Ronayne, General Manager of Railways, said: 'There are railways in India and Tasmania with worse curves than those on the company's line. It is merely a question of speed and special rolling stock. A railway such as the company's line can be worked safely both for goods and passengers.' Mr. H. J. H. Blow, Under Secretary Public Worke, also expressed the opinion that light railways, with sharp curves, are quite practicable with special equipment. He t.hougbt that the company's line is sufficient to provide for all the goods traffic of the Taupo district, and that it would be a great help to the district to Tiave the railway extended to Taupo." We have already admitted that Mr. Holmes and other experts gave it as their opinion that in time to come it would be nwn?=air tn reconstruct the line so as to bring it up to the standard of our other rail ..ays m regard to the requirements of fast" passenger traffic. But to do this now or to lay a railway to Taupo on the same scale a3 the Main Trunk would mean an outlay of at least £300,000; and here we are offered all the necessary facilities for transport and transit into the heart of the North Island for practically nothing —a well secured guarantee of a small sum that the country cannot possibly be called upon to £&p

We are glad to observe that Mr. Payne does not throw any doubt upon the quality and value of the land to be opened up in the Taupo district. On the contrary, he seems so impressed with its value that he is afraid that anybody will get the benefit of it, unless the State will take over the whole district at once. But his curious notions about "landsh.arks" and "jobbery" we observe do not prevent him from advocating the construction of a railwayline into the Taupo country from Waiouru. It i? not for us to ask why >Ir. Payne should be prepared to let land speculators and other "robbers" make profit out of the country south of Taupo while he is so distressed at the thought of anybody profiting by the rise in Land values on the other side of the lake. However, Mr. Payne's logic is less interesting to us than the possibility of seeing Auckland deprived of its natural heritage of profit from the development of its own lands: and we may point out that if the connection between the Taupo district and our main railway system were made to the southward, "the advantages to be received by opening up this of Auckland district would necessarily fall into the hands of our Southern rivals. Qr.itP apart from every other consideration, it is a matter of immense importance to Auckland that whatever benefit is to he secured by openine the Taupo country should uo't be diverted to Wellington; and this would certainly be the etiect ot the scheme that Mr. Payne suggests. However. Parliament is do men' likely to take Mr. Pnyne seriously as a railway expi-vl than u.fl a Humeri advHer; and our chief object in n= t finff hi- >tte.rs has hr-cn jitminH by Aγ < ■m" Urit his as«erf.on» an- hopeU—ly i.!'.li-:0.. rr.A "hit they nrc 1,.v y b,-, I ..pon his ;,,i Si ,ppr,i,<-n-ioti of the lading facts ol Lbe case.