FIFTY YEARS AGO

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 111, 13 May 1939, Page 17

FIFTY YEARS AGO

ITEMS FROM THE "POST"

MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY

"It cannot be denied that the politicians of' Auckland and Taranaki have combined to have the Stratford line made the route of the Main Trunk line in order to promote purely local ends, and quite regardless of the larger colonial interests," remarks "The Post" of this date fifty years ago. "Had the Stratford line run through fertile lands and not been too costly there might have" been some justification for its adoption, but it has been proved that the land is almost worthless, that the route surveyed would be dotted over by an almost endless series of tunnels, and that the cost would greatly exceed any estimate yet made. The Murimoto,. or central route, on the other hand, will open up an immense quantity of really excellent land. The Wairuarino block alone is worth half a million, and is an endowment for the railway. This purchase contains the only great totara forest left in the colony—an area of 16,000 acres, of splendidly grown trees —estimated by competent authority to be worth not less than a quarter of a million. Other areas of valuable land would also be opened up for settlement, and if judicious purchases were made from the Natives, we believe the rent from disposed land, supposing it were upon perpetual lease, would actually meet the interest on the cost of the line. Out of the million loan there is still about one-half available for expenditure, and we would urge that the construction be proceeded with at an equal rate at both ends, as far as this amount will go. The. cost is estimated at £7000 a mile, so that 35 miles of railway could be made at each end. This would carry the line into the heart of the island and open up a vast extent of land for occupation. It is the plain duty of the Government to carry out the decision of Parliament regarding this line, and if this duty is neglected for political reasons, a direct appeal will have to be made to Parliament to force Ministers to take action." NO MAIL NOTICES. "One of the most important mail services between Wellington and Auckland is the bi-weeKiy overland mail via New Plymouth. Yet, strange to say, no notice is ever given of its departure in either the daily lists circulated by the Post Office authorities or the mail notices furnished by them to the newspapers. On account of this omission it is doubtful whether half the public outside regular business circles are even aware of the rapid and convenient means available for the dispatch of Northern letters. We would suggest to the Postmaster that he should allow a line to be inserted regularly in his mail notices notifying the time of closing the train-borne mail, and that, even though it be the practice not to advertise regular overland" services, an exception might be made in this instance on account of the ;mportance of the mail." TE ARO RAILWAY EXTENSION. "The City Council will not, we trust, allow the question of the extension of the railway to Te .Aro to be shuffled into oblivion between the Government and the Railway Commissioners. Upwards of two months ago the Premier informed the Council that he had referred the matter to the Commissioners. This is 'very little progress to have been made in two months. The Commissioners must be fully acquainted with the subject ir» all its bearings, and they could, no doubt, give their opinion at once if they understood that the Government wanted it. If, on the other hand, they are made to understand that, although the Government have, to save appearances, sought their advice, there exists no special desire to obtain it at the present moment, the Commissioners will probably not hurry themselves. We venture to say that if the Premier is in earnest in this matter he can get all the information the Commissi oners possess within a week from the' present time. As the date for the meeting of Parliament is now fixed, there is not a moment to lose in having the proposed extension put into shape for Parliamentary sanction which is necessary to permit of the work being carried out, and we trust that the Mayor will try to keep the Premier up to the mark. As an example of the probable value of the extension of the railway, we may say that the Hon. John Martin has offered to construct the extension at his own cost if the Commissioners or Government will give him the extra haulage earned upon the line within the next five years. Of course such an arrangement could not well be entered into, but that the offer has been made shows the estimate of the probable revenue-producing results of the extension, formed by a shrewd business man well acquainted With the. local circumstances and traffic." VENTILATING A GRIEVANCE. "Firing blank cartridges at a President, as was done in France a day or two ago, is certainly a new way of directing attention to a grievance, but we trust that the practice will not become general. It would be a terrible thing if all the people in this colony who have grievances, the noble army of martyrs beneath the weight of whose petitions the tables of Parliament groan every year, were to take to popping off blank cartridges at the Speaker or the Chairman of the Public Petitions Committee, or perhaps at the Governor. The air of Wellington during the session would then be. remarkably sulphurous, and there might be the danger that some of the petitioners might not confine themselves to blank cartridges. Even the Premier might perhaps be peppered with small shot."