CLAIMS OF THE NORTH ISLAND.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 799, 23 April 1910, Page 5

CLAIMS OF THE NORTH ISLAND.

BAIL WAYS AND NATIVE LANDS. VIEWS OF ME. J. P. LUKE. (By TelcirraDh.—Special OorresDondent.l ' ■; ■ Auckland, April 22. . The claims of the North Island to a more equitable' proportion of expenditure for railway 'development have a warm advocate in. Mr., J. P. Luke, M.P. for Wellington Suburbs. ' ; i•• "I am no paroehialist," he remarked to a "Herald" interviewer before his departure for Wellington.last night, "and when the question is brought before the House next session, as it will most surely be, I shall come right out op the carpet in supporting what I consider a just oauso." ' . • ■ ■ i He thought, however, that the promises made to Central Otago, for instance, would cause the South Island to . continue to score for tho time being. Mr. Luke emphasised his belief that if New; Zealand is to be developed on just and advantageous lines there is urgent need for tho question of railway construction , to receivo consideration from the point of view of what is best for the people of the Dominion as a whole. A question vitally affecting the issue was .the problem of how to attraut population to the enormous areas of undeveloped land in tho North Island -r hich were . only awaiting the advent of railways to prove thoir productiveness. ' . . "As I travelover the Main Trunk railway and over the lines in other districts," said Mr. Luke, "1 am more and more forcibly struck with the vast stretches of Native lands' whioh are being mastered by noxious elements instead of by thrifty development. The question is how long the people of Now Zealand will : tolerate these lands being tied up by the Native disabilities." Thero was nothing, Mr. Luke .thought, that would extend tho prosperity of the Dominion morn than the vigorous acquirement of Native lands upon sound and honest lines with tho object of expediting railway construction. Mr. Luke is of opinion tlint the completion of the iines between Napier and Gisborne and between Stratford and the Main Trunk, together with tho extension of the 'North of Auckland railways,, would be tho foundation for a progressive policy of railway construction quite Bound and calculated to serve the best interests of New Zealand as a whole. •