RAILWAY REQUIREMENTS.

Feilding Star, Volume II, Issue 532, 27 March 1908, Page 3

RAILWAY REQUIREMENTS.

THE PREMIER ON THIS ISLAND'S NEEDS. NO "POLITICAL" LINES. *"" [PEB PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Auckland^ March 26. , A deputation consisting of nearly one hnndred members of the Auckland Railway League waited upon the Premier to-day to urge the claims of the provincial railways.' Mr G. L. Peacock, touching on the Main Trunk line, said that they all '• recognised that the Government was doing all in its power to complete _, Wellington by the end of next year. " Efforts, however, should be made to hurry on the contractor for the Makatote viaduct. Sir Joseph Ward, in reply, said that in the first place he wanted to say that there could be no doubt that the North Island Main Trunk line would be carried through in the time stated by the Government, unless there was a very bad winter, " which would make it impossible tc •carry on, but even in this case th« delay would be a short one. »Th€ line should be connected with Auckland before Christmas next. There . waa £800,000 in the course of expenditure now, and another £170,000 would be spent oy the Government before the completion of the railway. An expenditure of £500,000 upon railway construction within this period was unprecedented in New Zea- * land. Sir Joseph pointed out that *" they had to make railway appropriations for a great many parts of New Zealand. There was one railway in the North which ehould be completed, and he had not heard its claims urged. That was the closing of tiie gap between Kawakawa and x Hukeranui. Here were tivo ends of a railway which were paying, but wbich would be doing far better when completed. One of the disabilities — nnder which the North had suffered as compared with the South in rail- . • way construction was that when Sir • Julius VogeVa public works policy f - was in progress vie lines in the North ; were delayed by the fact that they . could not be made through a portion of the native country, but the Govern. ment waa doing its best to overcome the disparity. Regarding a rumour • that the Stratford-Ongarue route was to be changed, he said that nothing -- definite had been decided. The line would reoeive the fullest consideration of the Government, which was doing all in its power to assist those in the North to obtain facilities which they recognised were required. They would try to treat the country as a whole fairly, and there would be no "political" lines.