The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JANUARY. 2, 1931. THE CRUX OF THE RAILWAY PROBLEM.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 11403, 2 January 1931, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JANUARY. 2, 1931. THE CRUX OF THE RAILWAY PROBLEM.

It. is pleasing to learn that the government has agreed to hear V. deputation. from, this district next, week, in opposition to its decision to .cease work on the. (jisborne-Waikokopu line. What a pity, it is, however, that, the Prime Minister will not be hack in the Dominion in time glso to assist, in receiving the delegation! There can, of course,. He no. question blit that the representatives from this district will have no, difficulty in presenting tv very strong case in support of, the line. It is now patent' that the sole argument oh wliieh. the decision to cease work was based was doubt as to whether or not the line would be worth finishing. Under this heading. ‘the only figures which Cabinet took into consideration in relation to the matter wore. those of. a State official. .who could riot honestly claim to be acquainted either with this district’s resources or with its potentialities. His .paltry estimate of the probable extent of revenue which would have to be credited to the section was not only grotesque, hut-it betrayed a sad. jack of vision. In accepting the figure in. question members of Cabinet could not have realised it meant a charge against the Government of having committed gross folly in ever having gone on with the section at all. To put. the matter in another form: if the .estimate could not be shaken, no other proof would he needed to show that the present government is hopelessly unfit to have anything to do with the control of the country's affairs. That is a point which would seem to have entirely escaped the notice of Mr. Ransom and..his colleagues. And one wonders how a government could face parliament and the country with the extraordinary charge levelled against it by one or more of its officials of having wasted over £500,000 of the taxpayers’ money in a project which would allegedly, be nothing short of a. “white elfephant”! What, apparently also requires in be impressed on members of Cabinet, is that the Parliamentary Select Committee which heard the official evidence in question was not, hs a whole, prepared to act upon it. In short, apart from tho Reform minority, which was, plainly, staging a reprisal against the government, the committee of enquiry seems to have been flabbergasted affter listening to the evidence in question. To their credit, a majority on the committee decided that .it would be only fair to hear the other side of the story f but they had no opportunity of doing so. Cabinet, indeed. now requires to retrace its steps to the time when it.was strongly ad-: vised by its main: experts to adopt the coastal route on. account, among other reasons, of the benefits that would accrue from the incorporation of the already built Wriikokopii branch line in the Gisborne-Wniroa section. Nobody can credit that- Mr. Ransom will now turn round and say to the deputation that the government never troubled to . make full and proper detailed enquiries at all as to the financial prospects in connection with the undertaking. What is more, he cannot possibly suggest that the position in that regard is not as favorable as it was when the work was commenced! In replying to. the deputation, Mr. Ransom cannot sidestep the financial aspect of the matter, for the government’s case must stand or fall on the figures it has acted upon.