THE RAILWAY OUTLET.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 68, 20 March 1915, Page 9

THE RAILWAY OUTLET.

; COMMEBCIAI. INTERESTS. ■-. TWO MILLION POUNDS." - CHAMBER'S ATTITUDE. -''•*-At_a meeting , of the Council' of thtT '"i&nckland Chamber of Gcmimerce- jester- - ■■■ ,aa-jr afternoon; attended by - seven-mem J i)ers," the question "of- the ;ae# -wafer- ' i,ironi railway -was discussed! sad.' a. reso-= .■i Jution"- carried supporting the: - scheme' of " tie Railway Department, Th e mem V/i£rs/-'4?re«ent were- Messrs. R. -BurnsE. Anderson. L. J. BagnalV ;>. Kidd, J. H. Upton, A. B. Rbherton,: .'\."*nd G. L. '".y- - ■ - <:.- The subject was introduced at the'".'clpsV <& the ordinary -business by. the ; president, wit> stated .thaVhe ha>&,;paid I attention to the scheme, the alternative -proposal put hy Mr. 3i?tcalle. very '~_; jjuchto-'be legretted. that- any of the 71'Scanty , ,-spots of Aucklandhad. to be ■- interfered with, 4>ut if it was going- -to - interfere "■'; not-aitow tha±4»4>e -aftected , i by .any. consideration.,-of Judge's Bay -or y-jany. other beanty spot. He- itad. gone '--- carefully into therplans Tvith. Mr; Hflev o'snd-others, and. that 'if the alternative scheme were -adopted -,? there would be- no- Tnore- ,space left in: v the goods yard than in one, j-.Tsrhich was so-congested as to be almost .-.useless. A second : objection wag that 7 thKnortheraveuburban ttaffic-wtxoldihave :to 'Start from a> grade of one in 48, -._,.' iduch' was against aJl_ known raflway p= ptactke. Moreover, it had always been the object bt Auckland, people- to.get "a roadway-to Orakei, and that -would he ; Impossible if"the'alternatave scheme-were .earned ont.^' .. . . ' -" ■ ** :\ COST OF A TUJfKEL. I Mr. Burns proceeded to urge that arguments set forward by 'i the snpportersof ihe-tnnnel-schenie" werfe founded on wronjr - - Mr. 1 ' HUey had told him that, the -tunnel "■"would, at any iate, have to have' four "v.iracfcs, and that it would "cost no less than £1-tO,OOO. The Railway Departmeiit estimated that it -would cost at " least £180,000. The difference between '£30,000 and £ISO,OOO spoke for itself. - Judge's Bay .-wouldnot be big-enough if a- ehnnting station were to be placed there. If a shunting station were Tβ- . quired, they wouH have to go to Hobson's -Bay-for it. - Mr. E. Anderson saia he had gone as carefully into the matter is a layman. could, and i e was perfectly satisfied,: -after hearing ihe evidence, that any business man wonld gar that the scheme most go aheadV .Auckland people should. not be led aw-ay" 'by issues that were perhaps valnatle from a- Press point of./new, but which were not to the inater r"/jijfl interests of. the city. He did not ~ir_see the value of-having a committee -."which knew nothing' about the details the. [scheme. ' 1 l' v * "RUSHING OUT BOUNDARIES. 'Mr. :G. I*. Peacocke said he "looked -.-with natural regret air the "obliteration , of the scenic features-of the grtbwiij but a* a ■practical bnsmesß.*man it absolutely childish .to"consider these • things:under the circumstances, when it , -would be in opposition ..to the.general interests o£a-.. city,-? which 3 S: -prasrlikely-to- grew; -into -the chief .-coin , -' ~-. mereial centre of the whole - DominioiC. •. For years we had wanted a railway; outlet, but owing to topographical reasons, the deep-gully'and the surrounding hills, i .the" question had "been how to get out, a? -Kith.a decent grade, and. without _expen-~>:--fiive .tunnelling. He thought that; Mrl i -'Hiley's report was absolutely convincing; that if was the best that could be ; adopted under the circumstances.; With ■■•._ regard to jhe argiimenT of "the. spoliation .- ''; of the waterfront; it must be remembered : that-the city must : grow.. as a_city : , and x. , it would be.jnst as «enable to. s^y ; . that r- iQueen Street should have its puriri ~6.trees., We fcad got. to develop the/busi- : j;ness land, »Bd push -otifc the picturesque I "hnsinesg" to the boundaries xjf the" city. .-One ol the great advantages of tie .;r scheme was that it would enable the ¥j people to get further to other foays," and . .Wfluld help-in pushing out tlie residential ri.areas to-the places they should occupy. 2fo doubt the scheme had been thoroughly ■thrashed out by the expert advisers of tiie Eailwaj- bepartment, irho must have foreseen the objection now raised, bnt every other scheme had been turned down. - -The scheme w ould entail an. expenditure of £2,0M,d0Q, and yet we were '•quarrelling like little, children as to 'whefrfief they "should give'us it or not. ."The rest of TKew Zealand, must be laugTiing at us." averred the speaker. -;-. Mr. J. H. .TJpton- took the view that ; .;_ -ire could not hope to keep all the beauty "/"spots of the -n»rbour. * 'As . far as W- * -."could -see, th e -opponents, of the echeme; not tronbled to examine -the" facts, |r-«nd-had-foraied a'-theorr without those. -\facjs. It was traditional ""that Auck~ ~?4id was always dmded on' matters of. ■Vthi kind, ._ RESOLUTION CARRIED. The chairman then moved a resolution endorsing Mr. ■Hfley's echeme, and urgBig the Government to push it forward •s speedily as possible. -'Mr. L..J. Bagnall seconded, observing Ciat he thought people would be foolish tcf.follow' the' agitation.' v'-Th.e resolution, tras carried "without dissent, and with an addendum deprecat-:-i&g the present agitation as adverse to _;: "ihe. interests of the city. t.. "-Replying to Mr. Peacocke..'thel,presi:rdent declared th*t when, he-was. asked - if he would call a public meeting he expressly .stipulated 1 that it would only be f •\3rith thp consent of the Chamber of : *>Comnierce. In view of th fi resolution, ne • could not call a meeting.