The Dominion WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1903. THE MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 2631, 5 August 1908, Page 6

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1903. THE MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY.

The completion of the Main , Trunk Railway ends one of the longest, slowest, and most unsatisfactory of railway construction enterprises in the history of New Zealand. Twenty-five • years have elapsed since the first sod was turned in the work of linking, up Te Awamutu and Marton. It is unnecessary to review again the old story of apathy, sluggishness, delay, and miscalculation, that makes up the history of the work. Until a very few years ago there prevailed almost a feeling of despair in Auckland and Wellington. Year succeeded year, and . the end of the work seemed never any nearer. Promise after promise was made respecting an early completion of the work; date after date was fixed for the meeting of the rail-heads, until Ministers grew weary of .making prophecies that never were fulfilled.; 1 The line is at last completed, but the public, which has grown almost to regard " the completion of the Main Trunk " as synonymous with the Greek Kalands, will hardly feel satisfied that the miracle has come to pass until a train runs from Wellington to Auckland. Years must elapse, we should think, before the public will grow accustomed to the new; order of -things.

For the long delay there have been two causes. For many years the Government of the day failed to realise the necessity for energy in completing a work that was considered to be in advance of the country's needs. Moreover, the introduction by Mr. Seddon" of the still-existing system of framing public works policies according to the political necessities of the Government, rather than to' the interests of ; the country, led to the systematic starving of a work- which, great as it was, yet seemed to have smaller vote-catching merits than various petty lines in other parts of the country. In 1885, when a beginning was made with the Te Awa-mutu-Marton section of the line, there were ,1477 miles of railway open for traffic, the capital cost of which was £11,810,191 On March 31 last 2471 miles were .open for traffic, and the capital expenditure stood at £26,735,140. While, that'is to say, the 210 miles of the central section of the routo were being built, almost £15,000,000 had been added to the railways debt, and 1000 miles of new lino were opened. It is only within the last live or six- years, and only through the ceaseless persistence with which Auckland and Wellington have urged the Government to concentrate its energies on the Main Trunk line, that any satisfactory progress has been made. For years the Government has poured out money in additions to the Hurunui-Bluff section, which, as recently published figures have made clear, is the great money-losing section in the system—the section which apparently cannot bo increased without further loss. The finances of the railways arc bad enough: they would be appalling were it not for the good results obtained on the two main sections in this island..

Had tho Main Trunk line been vigorously pushed on in the past—had the Government not mado " political " lines its first concern, and the first recipients of the public expenditure—the work of construction would not only have been cheaper, but tho railways system would not to-day bo running at an annual loss of something like half a million sterling.

Tho completion of the line will give a sensible and increasing stimulus to settlement and progress, since the overland connection is clearly demanded by the natural disposition of the country. The Government has before it a great opportunity. Scientifically administered, this great trunk-line will not only assist the progress of the country, but may, without any penal burdens upon its customers, go far towards cheeking the alarming drift of railways finance. Our chief hope is in the fact'that the line is wanted: it is not ahead of tho country's necessities. With the absorption of the AVelling-ton-Manawatu line into the railways system, there should be an early improvement in tho balance-sheet of the Department. The junction of the rail-heads in this prodigy of procrastination and delay will turn people's eyes towards the Midland Railway. For some years the advocates of this wild-cat project have been able to obtain the assistance of, the North Island members in return for their backing of tho Main Trunk agitation. Now that .the Trunk is finished, it is to be hoped that Northern members will see more clearly the folly of ceaselessly pouring loan money into a costly scheme for enabling an exchange of commodities between the two sides of an island in which railways can apparently be run only at a heavy loss. Much of the satisfaction which must be felt at the completion of a necessary national project will disappear with thoughtful people when they look down tho vista of years and see money being sunk in a line that cannot pay its way fqr two generations.