RAILWAY STOPPAGE

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 11405, 5 January 1931, Page 5

RAILWAY STOPPAGE

MEN ALLOWED TO STAY ON IN huts./ ■; OYER THE HOLIDAYS. ' “THEREAFTERi POSITION TO BE / REVIEWED.” (Special to the Times.) • WELLINGTON, Jan. 3, ].t Dealing with' the suspension of the ■ work on the Gisborne-Waikokopu and other: lines, the New Zealand Worker. says inter alia: ~ ■ ■ , .. WIDESPREAD ANXIETY. The .alarm and indignation ‘among the wage-earners and their, families, who have, been so heartlessly treated', has found expression 'in shoals of telegrams to the New Zealand Workers’ Union head office. The following from Mr Alilroy, the Union’s local secretary at Waikokopu/is typical: “Much anxiety here concerning Government decision to suspend work. "Would appreciate information as to proposal for employment of men after-January 7th. Local storekeeper stopped credit owing to uncertainty of position. Many families will be in serious plight unless some alternative . is found to. immediate cessation of work.” URGED TO OCCUPY ACCOMMODATION. Up to the time of writing the N.Z. Workers’ Union secretary, Mr. A. Cook, has not been able to communicate! anything definite' as. to alternative .employment, owing, to; .his inability , to get information- from the Minister;.To all the branch secretaries on the - suspended works he has, however, sent advice, urging the workers .. to occupy their accommodation throughout the holidays. - A later message published in the “Worker” says—■ “The Minister by wire has agreed to the occupation of accommodation on suspended works till' after the holidays, but ‘thereafter (he Says) the position will require to be reviewed, particularly if de-cision-is made to-transfer the huts to other works.’ ” HARDSHIP WILL BE EXTENSIVE OVER 1500 IN ALL WILL LOSE MEANS OF SUSTENANCE. WILL GOVERNMENT FORCE FAMILIES OUT OF HUTS? (Special to the Times.) WELLINGTON Jan. 3. According to the Minister’s own figures, some 724 workers are affected by the unjust decision to cease work on the Gisborne-Wa ikokopu line. It is authoritatively stated, however, that other dismissals, trans fers or removals will bring the figure up to about 7GO. As many as between 300. and 400 of the men are, it is-understood, married.. Their children number close on 400. Thus it. is estimated that the total numher of persons affected by the Government’s change of policy is over 1500. More than one; storekeeper. it . is. understood has stopped giving credit and at least one boarding-house has. already closed down owing to the uncertainty in regard to the position. Practically the whole of the workers occupy single or family huts and there are two schools—one at either end of the work—with an attendance of about- 120 »♦ each institution. Very few of the »arric<r men liavc gone far from the works over the holidays,-blit a considerable number of the single men are at present in the large - towns in the districts adjacent to the works. It is known that many of the married workers could not- afford to move to any other district- unless their . fares and ( those of their dependants were. paid. In the circumstances, the Government may find itself confronted with ; a very serious problem in the matter of securing ; re-possession of the huts. . ....... THE PRIME MINISTER’S LINE. DRASTIC CRITICISM. WHAT EX-CHAIRMAN OF RAILWAYS BOARD SAID. With reference to the South Island . M.T. extension, Mr F. J. Jones, chairman of the board of management until he retired from the Railway Department in 1928 ( said in a report issued, on. May 28, 1929, that the South . Island, Main y Trunk railr way, eo-uld- not possibly pay unless it earned as much as a few- American railways serving exceptionally intensive traffic, and it would be cheaper to subsidise motor transport to carry goods at railways rates than to pay the . losses on these lines. . If. the Wharanui-Parnassus gap in the South Island Main Trunk line was completed, said Mr Jones, it must, if it- was to pay its way, ■ earn from three to four times as much per mile as the Lyttelton-Bluff section. Actually, instead of earning about £BOOO a mile to . pay its : \ way, it would earn about' £450 a jmile, a. figure: based on careful investigations made .regarding the pro- ; foable revenue.. , v From Wharangi to Parnassus was approximately 80 miles and, taking into account the, nature of , the country, it was safe, to place the cost of construction at ah. average of £32,000 a mile, said Mr Jones; The interest charges,, would be £I6OO a mile . and the working 4 expenses' at least £6OO a mile, . while the revenue • would be £4SQ; ; a mile. In other words, the cost per mile per annum , to earn £450 be £2200, repre- ’ seating an . annual, loss to pthe Dominion of , £1750/; a mile, -f; Over the . whole .80 milps.;between. Wharanui ’ 1 -b-nd Parnassus, “vtiie revenue I would " total £36,000. and the- expenditure / (working costs, plus -interest) £176;- < <660 SO that tile, l<js> jto the State on " This 80. miles of line would be £l4O,- . POO. . ' ’ • • ‘ ' ‘ ‘‘ * <

r ri-GlElnstoad of building the line the service bet weed Wharanui and Parnassus was operated by motor vehicles and if the passenger-carrying oarf nings of -the £450 a mile were put down at £l5O, a fair estimate, it Would leave £3OO a mile for goods. If these were, .carried bv motor-lorry at a - cost of .6d per ton mile the j charge would be. £720, making a total of £B7O. a mile, as the cost of do- '■ ing the work by motor services. WAIKOKOPU-GISBORNE RAIL- > WAY. I ' : (To the Editor). ’ ‘ ' Sir. —I. was* much surprised to read the opinion of Mr. R, J. Kerridge in Wednesday’s issue, when he stated: “I am of the opinion that Cabinet’s decision is.the wisest thing that -can* • happen to the district.” This is in reference to the ’stopping of the above railway, which is to connect- us • up with the main trunk line. I / might- just as well say that I am of the opinion, that all the picture •shows and freak golf courses should be stopped, as thev scoop up all the • surplus cash that is knocking about. . I. -would like Mr. Kerridge. to explain how a flat road could he made from here to Wairoa. without numerous tunnels. The idea is ridiculous, why compare a little one-horse village such- as* Taneatua with Gisborne, which has 20 times the population? His opinion, that, in 50 1 years, 50 per cent, of the population will he travelling h.v air is all bosh. Anyhow we don’t want to wait 50 years for that. We want the railway to Gisborne right here and now. I hope • the Chamber of Commerce will express its opinion on such an interview as Mr. Iverridge’s just when the deputation is going down to Wel- , lington to interview the acting-Pre-mier, on the subject. I am, yours etc.. OLD RESIDENT. (To the Editor). Sir.—Re the burning question of to-dnv. “Our Railway.”" I notice that the Wnihi-Taneatua section is used as a lever against us. I would like to draw attention to the fact that the Waihi-Taneatua line; ends in a village, whereas Gisborne ranks as about the twelfth largest town in New Zealand, and is hacked by 1 60 odd miles of existing railways. To my mind, this is hardly a fair comparison. Also, no word is said about the potential value of Round the Island -excursion tickets. Auckland to Wellington, via New Plymouth and hack via Gisborne and Bay of Plenty. Motor transport- is only needed from Matawai to Taneatua, via the new Waioeka Road —an easy and pleasant- i trip. I am, Yours etc., ■ 1 .. FAIRFAX. A WAIROA OPINION. LINE STRONGLY SUPPORTED. j Writing to the Gisborne Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Eustace Lane, of Wairoa, expresses _ some interesting > views on the question of the completion of the railway construction between Gisborne and Napier. He says:— “Although a member of the Napier Chamber of Commerce, I wish to disassociate myself completely from that chamber’s inactivity regarding completion of the Nnpier-Gisborne railway connection of about .20 miles. On page 953, Hansard No. 16, will bo found a specimen of the kind of evidence fabricated by a party politician to pull your trade over the Mot-u watershed: to Auckland. It reads thus. Mr. Macmillan, M.P., for Tauranga, speaking: ‘Let us consider these 35-J miles of railway connecting two seaports fullv equipped‘with harbor facilities.’ That, gross misstatement of facts went unchallenged in the House and has.been pounced upon by the press and circulated from end to end of New Zealand. “Coupled with this we suffer at < Napier from a surfeited indolence, a childish ignorance and - a j greedy. selfish, narrow, insidious and treacherous influence calculated -to conserve trade in the same rotten old channels of disagreements. My'c-on- -i ceptioii of a main trunk railway is as of a river of commerce. Your ‘Gis- | borne and Beyond’ district, the very ; power source of the East Coast rail- i way; the fountain head, the gushing springs of trade, has been mucked - up and dammed and the whole ;j stream stultified by ignorant and false witnesses, which .multitudinous , and pandemonic press criticism has ( broadcast up and down the land until , the representatives of'the democratic : Government do not know whether j they are on their head -or their heels; < whether they are ins or outs. It is ( a climax to party chaos and wasteful ( expenditure. “Mr. -Howard, Labor ALP. for Christchurch South, put the case for ‘ railway construction very well in. the same Hansard copy. M-y advice to you is to demand the right to issue bonds Tor completion of the line — such bonds to entitle holders to concessions on the section to he constructed, over which you would then control the traffic. If J. am successful as independent Labor candidate at the next Napier Parliamentary election (for I-mean to oppose Mr. Barnard tooth, and nail) you can depend on mv faithful support- of your cause —as you can in any case —for I have already been to Wellington, and interceded for you with the acting- T Premier. I gather it is a matter of j money, and I have shown you the ( way out of the difficulty.” j - - | INDIGNATION MEETING i ' £ TO BE HELD IN CITY HALL TO- t . v NIGHT J To-night, one of the mo rt import- j ant meetings in the history of Gi-s- s borne is to be held, when the xesid- 1 ents will assemble to express their I indignation at Cabinet’s decision to ® stop. .wo'rk on. the Gisbome-Waikoko- t pu lTne. The proposal will be analy- c sed by various speakers, and import- 1 ant resolutions will,, it is expected, ; a bet submitte.d. All residents in, this, j town-, whether ratepayers oh not, e must be deeply interested in the continuation of the -line, for .it will mean progress and prosperity to £ the. district, when.: communication I by rail is established with Welling- i: ton. It is to be hoped,. therefore, ; j/ that the meeting this evening will be e the most representative ever-held in I Gisborne, and above all, a very b large attendance is desirable. The m meeting will commence at .8 o'clock. : —(. WORK TO CEASE BEFORE DE- ( ROTATION IS HEARD LITTLE SATISFACTION FROM 1 MINISTER , ' ’ . N In view of the fact '' that, it was reported in the Gisborne Times is a special message from Wellington, that , instructions had been issued to , the Public Works Department to de-, (finitely cfosq down .work on thief. Gisborne-Waikokopu railway on Jan-, nary., 7, and to collect all equipment, that being .the date the Acting- 1 . tPrime, Minister agreed to receive a deputation from Gisborne, the Mayor .forwarded a telegram to Mr Bja.n- ; - scmil on Friday/ asking if he would t ! ..■. v " -.- , • : f/.: ‘j a • j: £

cancel the instructions given to cancel work. , . ■ ■ On Saturday Mr Coleman received the following telegram from the Acting-Prime Minister, which, to - say the least, is nob promising I have received your telegram having further reference to tfte Gisborne-Waikokopu railway. I ' shall be pleased to -deal with, the, matter , when the deputation 'ap- ’ proaches me . op, the 7th. ; I have, arranged for ,th'e Ministers of t - Public Works and ,pf Railways to, ,be present.