Evening Post. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1906.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 46, 23 February 1906, Page 4

Evening Post. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1906.

A PLACE FOR WORKMEN'S HOMES. — — *. —^_ In the interesting letter from Mr. G. Cftrwell Cooko on tho question of an " Onslow-Ohariu-Johnsonvillo Train nii(| Trflin Service," to which 'wo dovotod n. loading article on Tuesday last, ho urged " that the Government, Onslow Borough, and City 'Council oombino to construct a tunnel through the Tinnkori Range with a tramline to a point at or near Crofton." So far as tho Borough of Onslow is concerned, tho proposal would seem to bo one quite beyond its present moans, and not sufficiently convenient for the present distribution of its population to attract sufficient local support to overcome the financial difficulties. Tho natural tram route for tho South Ward would bo a good deal nearer to tho prosnnt main road to Wadostown, making tho oxlrcmt northern limit of the city tramwny on tho Thorndon Esplanade as the starting point, and thence, after following tho Jtutt road for a few chains, taking a short out through, or a, detour round, the Highland Park Estato, according to tho various alternatives skotchod in the reports recontly obtained by tho Borough Council. But tho carrying out of any of those schomos is an absoluto impossibility except through a combination of tho local ratepayers and tho Highland Park Trustees, whose intorests m the matter, with so large an undeveloped estate on their hnnds at tho very ga'tos of the city, is not much less than that of all the other ratepayers put together; and in tho presont condition of local politics such a. common-sense co-operation seems to be out of the question, The Borough Council contents Itself with procuring surveys and ostimates, which are duly pigeon«holod without even being submitted to the ratepayers, and tho South Ward, despito the immenso advhntolgo of contiguity with tho city, continues to stagnate whilo almost evory other suburb is on tho move to got its share in oho rapid progress which the city is making. If tho ratepayers of this ivard aro not prepared to raise a hand or spend a ponny in order to provide tv tramway to thofr front door, they are liot likely to be any more enthusiastic in favour of an approach from tho back— which is what the route through tho Tinnkori tunnel would amount to; and the schemo must appeal to wider 'ntcrests and more active intelligences than thoso of tho local burgossos if it is to havo any chnnce of success Sooner or later, it seems obvious to us that the destination of tho South Ward/ of the Onslow Borough, and possibly of the other wards also, is to be tnergod in the city, and oven now the city might be looking forward to th© time when ncilhor the Tinakori Range nor that behind it, which connects Karori and Khamiallah, will interpose an insuperable barrier to the spread of n dense population all over the Crofton basin*and the Ohariu Valley. But with the existing apportionment of resources and legislative machlnsry the Government is tho body which cap most easily move in the twitter and is most con. corned to do so, It is impossible tor tho acquisition by tho State of tho Maiiawfttu Railway to do muoh longer postponed, and whether In private or in public hands, it can never servo tho purposes of a suburban service until tho spread ot population to tho westward ot this end of it is encouraged, and the provision of a branch or feeder by the easy grttdc of tho route suggested would obviously supply a, great stimulus to both objects. As we hinted in our previous article, an essential condi. tion of tho whole scheme would bo that tho public should get the benefit of the expenditure of its otfn money instead of allowing it to be monopolisoa by private owners, For the Stato to pierce the Tina« kori and the Crofton Hills and to bring th© Ohariu Valley within haif nn hour of town, and then to set about buying land at £300 or £400 an aero would be just tho kind of folly of which wo have scon too much in the past j but if the Stato first secured all the lund it needed or, for mutter of that, nil the convenient land available, at a, price averaging perhups a tenth of the sums named, the return which it would get for the money spent on tunnels and tramline would pay evory ponny of that amount and leave it a. magnificent asset in hand besides. Withou^ Becking any fresh legislation tho Government has already power undor tho Land for Settlements Aot to acquire land compulsory for workers' homes within a radius of fifteen miles from any borough containing not less than 16,000 inhabitants, If this power wero exercised ay, once, n. bold act of provident statesmanship would secure land enough to glvo tho policy of the Workers' Dwelling Act a trial on tho only scale that will over onablo it to nffeot the normal level of rents, and would glvo it besides a splondid landed endowinont for other purposos after every penny spent in bringing tho land within easy reach of tho oitj had been repaid. There Is surely an oxcellent opening for some usoful work on tho part of tho city and subur. ban members,