AUCKLAND V. WELLINGTON. TO THE EDITOR.

Evening Post, Volume XLIII, Issue 61, 12 March 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

AUCKLAND V. WELLINGTON. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir— The wordy warfare goingonbetween the two cities about the route of the railway that is to be formed to connect them, is caloulated to provoke cynics to swear at the follies of their brethren, and to feel amused at the success for the which self-confident, and short-sighted orators, can make their hearers blind to their real and most obvious interests. Envy is the bane of democracies, aud has often prompted persons to oppose useful works lest their neighbours should derive more benefit from tboir accomplishment than they are likely to do themselves. The route of the proposed railway was settled finally, as was supposed, by a Commission composed of members of Parliament bolonging to the South Island, •who it is believed fixnd upon the Cential route after weighing impartially the evidence given by an informed body of engineers and surveyors. Tho Wellingtonians accopted that decision as tho final result of enquiries made by a body of intaUigont, impartial men, and they are now, apparently, inclined to attribute the attempt that is being made to upset that decision to the envy of certain would-be leaders of opinions in Auckland, who imagine that Wellington would derive more advantago from the railway carried through by the Central Route than their city. But though this idea may appear at first sight somewhat plausible it can really have no foundation, since it would attribute to tho mass of the inhabitants of Auckland a stupidly low estimate of the greatness, the extending beauty, and attractiveness of their city. The inhabitants of Auckland need envyno other place in the colony. Their city is facile princepB, and may be f airly expected not only to maintain but to augment her pre-eminence. " Me terramm mibi prretcr omnrs Angulus ridct ; uri nou Hymetto Mella decedunt, viridique certat liacca Venafro ; Ver übi lontfiim, tepidasque prtebit Jupiter brumas.'"— Horace Ode VH., book, H. That corner of the land is in my esteem preferable to all others, the spaces are ample, the land ombosomed in the numerous bays is beautifully adorned with trees, tho hills impart variety to the scene, the climate ia delightful— a little warmer than that of "Wellington, but simply' requiring you, for perfoot enjoyment, to lay aside a portion of your clothing, which becomes superfluous. Facilities for boating, and for making delightful excursions, both by hou and land, to numerous places of beauty and interest, abound. A great deal of tho soil about the city, though not fertile in grass and com, is yot very productive in trees and fruit. Sources of wealth in gold, gum, timber, and fish abound in the neighbourhood. In means and sources of wealth, the Northern city is surpassed by no place in the colony, in natural beauty and general attractiveness sho has no rival. .The Northern capital of New Zealand haa only to be known, for her pro-eminence in most of those things that can contribute to the material comfort and well-being of mankind to be recognised. One who can intelligently appreciate tho amazing influence, which Auckland's advantage must exert in attracting population, especially of the wealthier clas-*, must observe with the greatest astonishment the dispute that is proceeding in regard to the route Of the proposed railway. When we are advised almost every morning as to the sayings, projects, and doings of the great Northern League, we are provoked to inquire if the gentlemen who constitute the League, and orate at its meetings, aro really in their right Bensea. Aro they blind to the enormous advantages that would accrue to their city from an easy and rapid means of communication with Hawke's Bay and Wellington, and through Wellington with the South Island F Such would not enable Auckland to become the place of export for the harvest of Canterbury, or the mutton and wool of Hawke's Bay ; but it would tend to open the eyes of the producers of those commodities to tho attractiveness of the Northern city as a place of residence. No place in New Zealand could reap the advantages that Auckland ■\vonld do from easy and rapid communication by railway with the rest of the colony. She is far ahead of the other cities in population and general attractiveness, ana given access to her without tho discomfortsanduncertaintiesof a sea voyage, and she will attract to her increasing numbers of comfortablo, ' independent, and wealthy people. The Northern League wishes the connection to be carried out through Stratford, but that goes to upset the unanimous decision of an impartial Commission, and cannot but create an opposition to the whole project of a Northern Trunk Railway, which must retard for many years its realisation. Then really, what would the cows and butter of the slopes of Mount Egmont do for Auckland ? The butter would not go to Auckland for export, nor would her milkmaids and cowboys be attracted by the amenities of the city to take up their abodes within ita lovely precincts. Are tho thinking people of the northern capital so blinded by talk as not t6 perceive that their interests lie in securing early communications by the shortest routs with Hawkes Bay and Wellington? Wellington is a distributing centre, its position, Its splendid harbour, ■with its magnificent appliances for the loading and discharging of vessels, guarauteo to it a great commercial future, but it can never become to a lnrge extent a residential city ; its spaces are too confined, its hills aro too sterile, its environs are too unattractive, not to speak of its winds, the fury and constancy of which aro groasly exaggerated. Auckland is the chief city of tho colony, and the destined residential capital, and the sooner it gets connected with Wellington by railway the sooner will its destiny be accomplished. The aspirations of the League for a union with the ■cowboys of Taranaki will, however, postpone the vigorous construction of the Central Railway, unless the good senso of the thinking portion of the Auckland people interfere. A conflict of opinion between tho two cities will atop the construction of the railway, or postpone it indefinitely ; united action would aeoure it within a reasonable time. Aucklanders ! I would say, leave the cowboys ; stretnh out your hands to us ; the railway, by the route fixed by the Commissioners, would be : more advantageous to you than to us. C. S. 000. *That corner of the world is in my esteem preferable to all others: there tho honey does not yield to that of Hymettus, and tho olive disputes for goodness that of green Venafrum, where the spring is long and Jupiter gives mild winters.