AUCKLAND RAILWAYS,

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 199, 22 August 1919, Page 5

AUCKLAND RAILWAYS,

PROGRESS IN THE NORTH. MINISTERIAL STATEMENTS. The monthly .meeting of the Auckland Railways League was held at the Chamber of Commerce yesterday afternoon. There were present:—Messrs. P. E. Cheal (dhairnran). Graves Aickin, E. S. Wight, H. T. Goldic, F. E. Powell, S. J. Amburv, H. J. Daries, F. H. Mueller, and R. R. Hunt.

A letter was received from Sir James Allen (then Acting-Prime Minister) stating that he had noted the representations made by tbe league as to the resumption of the work of construction on the North Auckland .Main Trunk line from Ivirikopuni southwards to Waiotira. .He had brought the matter before his colleague, the Minister of Public Works.

The Minister of Public Works, Sir William Eraser, wrote: —"I am pleased to know that your league recognises the amount of work that has been done between Mangapai and Waiotira since I •have been able to secure sufficient men. I am pushing on the work from Waiotira northward to the Wairoa. also southward toward the Golden Stairs and Huarau tunnels. A desire has been expressed that I sihould work from the Wairoa southward toward Waiotira. This would necessitate not only a special staff of men. but a resident engineer and his staff. My engineers arc not yet all back from the war, and therefore I cannot spare anyono at present for that separate section, but by pushing the work on from Waiotira northward, -the resident engineer can do the work. There are two tunnels on that line, one at Waiotira and one not very far from the Wairoa. The 'Waiotira tunnel has lieen started, and will be pushed on. When I have an engineer to spare, I will probably start the. tunnel near the Wairoa end. Meanwhile, however, the course I am adopting is the only one possible in the circumstances." The letter was received.

A wholesale propagandist campaign was reported, including a distribution of the annual reports among the schools for scholars to take to their .parents.

Various donations and inquiries have also been received.

In the course of Ihis remarks, the chairman said:—"Unless we in the NotUi Island stir ourselves we will be left out in the when the coming loans are allocated. We do not take the same interest in pustiing forward our claims to the railways as the peo]>le in the South do. .Marlborough even is asking for somel £10,000,000 for a trunk railway south-| wards that would go through very poon country. Canterbury has a very stremgj league, including local bodies of all kinds. This league is well organised, and whenj necessary a strong deputation can be sent to add weight to any demands. It is very clear tliat Auckland, Tarana.ki,) and Hawke's (Bay must unite if the best results are to be secured." -'Personally.", Mt. Cheal went on, "1 want to see an un-l broken railway line stretching from Wellington to the North Cape. If we were properly organised, we could smother Canterbury. In 1879 Wellington got £522,000 of a million earmarked for a railway from Te Awamutu to Taranaki. We must see that this does not occur again." .

Mr. Cheal touched briefly upon immigration, stating that if a progressive public works scheme were introduced it would be wise to import some trained English labourers, with an ultimate chance of their going on the land. He also gave the following .precis of statistics: —The total taxation received by the general Government, as per monthly abstract of statistics on June last, for a period of twelve months was £13,801,04.'), of £12 7/3 per head of population. On this basis, the North Island was paying practically two and a half million more towards the consolidated revenue than the South Island. The Auckland Provincial Dktriet. with a population at last census of 305,766. this portion of the country paid £3,454,319 towards the revenue. This was 2S per cent, of the whole Dominion, CS per cent, of the whole South Island, and 50 per cent, of Una wiiole North Island. Under the head of railway construction the expenditure for the past four years (1915 to 101S) totalled _3.127.537* or about .-•'? per head of the population in four years, or 15/ per head per annum. This .put into the shape of mileage, opened for traffic, meant 9.5 miles per year from 1915 to 1919—a great drop 'from tihe averages of the previous years.