SOUTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK

Evening Star, Issue 20686, 8 January 1931, Page 14

SOUTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK

BUSINESS MAN’S VIEWS GRIME TO STOP CONSTRUCTION “ Jfc would be a national crime if the work was stopped,” said Mr 8. B. Macdonald to a ‘ Star ’ reporter, referring to the South island Main Trunk railway. Mr Macdonald lias just 'returned to Dunedin after spending a holiday in the Marlborough and Nelson provinces, and during his journey between Christchurch and Blenheim he took particular note of the work that was being done and of the country the railway would serve. it was not his first visit, as it was his twelfth trip over that part of the country. “ 1 have never seen finer crops of wheat and outs in my life, and I have had a fairly large experience, than I saw in the, country through which the new railway is going to pass, that is, from Parnassus towards the ('onway,” said Mr Macdonald, who added that ho also saw a' vast number of lambs being carried .by motor lorry from Parnassus to Christchurch, and they were looking particularly < well. “ I. visited, the .railway site last March,” 'continued Mr Macdonald, “ and a start, had just been made. T was surprised and gratified to see the progress that had been made in the months intervening, and it shows that the men have been working well ami are under good supervision. The work is now going right down.the Gonway Valley towards the Conway bridge. • On the other side Iho formation is practically completed to Jvaherangu, , and there, too, a wonderful" job is being made. There are two places in particular whore it think the. engineers nave done exceptionally well. fTi my opinion there is no greater national work being undertaken by the Government to-day than the South Island Main Trunk railway, and the more you study the position' from the point of view of intercommunication between the northern and southern parts of the South Island the more ft appeals as being the correct thing to do to connect the two lines.

“Just recently,” went on the cxpresidont of the Otago Expansion League, “ a good deal of publicity was given by some Auckland man who damned the project hip and thigh, and I made inquiries as to whom bo was and I found that ho is intimately connected with tho Auckland Land Development League. He travelled through tho country by motor car. and then, gave a report on the railway without thoroughly investigating the position. It is analogous to tho caso of a well-known English newspaper man who visited Auckland and Rotorua, and then wrote a book on New Zealand. In my opinion opposition to the completion of the lino is 90 per cent, political and 10 per cent, pessimism. The general impression is that tho present lino is going through country which will not produce very much, and which will not pay for the grease on tho wheels, but the'position is entirely the reverse when you come to consider it. Tire country the railway, will traverse 'is practically all Crown land, and in the Clarence Valley alone there is a huge extent of Crown laud—good ;valley Hats—which at present is occupied by two tenants. It is wonderful dairying country which, in my opinion, could bouse 200 prosperous dairy farmers and their families. Then there is'a large extent of land in the ■ Conway ' Valley and around Kcheraiigu there is good dairying country. The Kaikoura Peninsula itself is well worth .opening ,up. “Anyone who makes the journey between Cheviot and " Blenheim cannot help being struck by the sparsely-popu-lated condition of the country,” said Mr Macdonald. “ You can go for miles without striking a homestead, through wonderful country, which is evidenced by the-great crops that are being produced there to-day, and the potentialities for settlement are- particularly great. When you think of the amount of Crown land in there which could bo opened up without cost to the public, it is a crime that the political opposition which is engendered should bo permitted to go unchallenged. The work that has been done is marvellous, and I consider that tho engineering management is to bo congratulated on the progress made, and it is evident that the workers there also have not spared themselves. . “ It would bo a national crime it the work was stopped,” said Mr Macdonald in conclusion. “In my opinion, once a Government has started on a job it is the. duty to finish it, no matter what the railway is. I presume that no Government starts a job without giving it full consideration, and there should he no excuse from a business man’s point of view for a Government changing its mind in tho middle of a job.” ROADS IN THE NORTH. Referring to the roads over which he hud travelled, Air Macdonald said that until quite recently the state of tho Otago roads was a by-word throughout New Zealand, bub the completion of the Ivilmog formation and the splendid condition of the road right Irom Dunedin to the Arundel bridge (about six miles north of Geraldine) made travelling over that distance quite a pleasure. With tho exception a small stretch just north of the Waitaki bridge the surface of the road to the Arundel bridge was excellent. After leaving the Arundel Jindgo lor seventy miles through the Ashburton County, the road was a reproach to the county. “It is seventy miles of the worst road in New Zealand,” said Air Macdonald, “ and when one thinks of the vast amount of money we are paying by way oi motor taxation, tbo Jluiliways Board, in my opinion, is not doing its duty in” permitting the road to remain as it is. /rom Rollestoii, just south of Christchurch, to Blenheim the surface is good, but there arc some tricky hills on tho road. The whole journey is spoiled by that seventy miles through the Ashburton County. “Marlborough and Nelson provinces are suffering badly from drought,” added Mr Macdonald, “ bub in spite of that the crops in Marlborough appear to ho quite good, and harvesting is general in both provinces.”