The Press.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12851, 9 July 1907, Page 6

The Press.

TUESDAY, JULY 9, 1907

THE MIDLAND RAILWAY

The "Otago Daily Times" which, if we mistake not, has subscribed in the past to the sound doctrine "that when the Stat© has determined to construct a railway tho sooner it is completed, so as to become fully reproductive the better, makes an exception in th© case of the Midland Railway, which it wishes to be delayed. There is a far stronger claim it thinks for tho rapid completion of th© Otago Central railway to Lake Hawea. It is a curious example of the manner in which local prejudice may blind an intellect which, under ordinary conditions, is aoute and penetrating, and a judgment that may as a rule be relied upon for breadth of view and impartiality. There, is, of course, no comparison between the claims of the two lines. The Otago Central railway haa for years been creeping through a mountainous desert ever aspiring to reach a paying -point, but never arriving at anything approaching such a happy consummation. If it is carried to Lako Hawea it will havo added a further unprofitable length to its long trail of unpayableness, and tliere is little reason to suppose that its financial position will be substantially improved Tlie Midland Railway, on the contrary, is a trunk line with a- real "raison d'etre." We admit that it is like the Otago Central Railway in ono respect, inasmuch as it opens up very little cultivable land en route, but it differ* from tho Southern undertaking in the fact that it will link up a large muss of population and a great extent ot fertile agricultural country on the eastern side with a large tract of country on tho western side, rich in timber and minerals, and already bearing a oonsiderable population. It is estimated that tho completion of the Midland Railway will bring an existing population of 25,000 on the West Coast into Oonnection with Canterbury. We doubi if the completion of the Otago Railway to Lake Hawea would bring a thousand more settlers into connection with Dunedin. Our contemporary contends that

when the Hon. C. C. Bowen, as one cf tbe deputation who waited on the Prime Minister, implied that West Coast coai could be moro cheaply conveyed to Canterbury by rail tban by sea, he must havo "spoken without sufficient "consideration." We, ourselves, have no doubt that Mr Bowen is perfectly right in his contention, and with every respect to the "Otago Daily Times" we fancy that it is our contemporary that has spoken on this question without sufficiently considering it. It is quite true that sea carriage is cheaper than land carriage all over the world. The point which our contemporary has failed to grasp is that we have not in this case a comparison between land carriage and sea carriage, but between the cost of one railway journey, if the lino is completed, on the one hand, and on the other-one sea trip and two railway journeys while it is uncompleted. Mr Quane, ex-President of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, who lias gone very carefully into the question, shows that at present it costs los BJ<l per ton to bring coal from Brunner to Christchurch by rail and sea, whereas tho railway freight, if the line were completed, would be only lis Gd per ton, computed on the present tarilr rates. Moreover the coal would arrivo in much better condition, having only the one handling instead of three. Tho advantage would be even greater in the case of inland Canterbury, inasmuch as tho coal waggons woulu branch off at Darfield or Rolleston, instead of all the coal having to pass through Lyttelton and Christchurch as at present. Similarly in regard to timber, Mr Quane points out that the railage would only bo 3s 8d per lOOtt, instead of 5s Id paid at present for bringing it round by sea. Thero is not the slightest doubt that a very handsome revenue would bo derived from the carriage of coal and timber trom west to east, and of produce and merchandise from east to west. Needless to say the line will be utterly useless for these purposes until it ts completed. With a gap in the middle it can only bo used as a passenger routo by tourists and tho ordinary travellers whose business takes them to and from, tho West Coast. This means that tho £800,000 already sunk in the line must remain comparatively unproductive. Surely, then, only a very little common-sense is needed to prove the desirableness of completing the line as early as possible, so as to cut short tho loss at present going on, and turn it into a profit without unnecessary delay.