PUBLIC PROTEST

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 11406, 6 January 1931, Page 5

PUBLIC PROTEST

STOPPAGE OF EAST COAST LINE. HISTORIC MEETING IN GISBORNE. UNANIMOUS ‘CONDEMNATION ; OF CABINET’S DECISION. TOAVN AND COUNTRY UNITED IN DISAPPROVAL.

Never'before, so far as is known, hag such . unanimity been expressed by the public as was the case last . evening when a meeting was held at the City,. Hall to protest against the decision of Cabinet in • stopping work on the GisborncWaikokppu section of the G-isborno Napietr Jline. The City [Hall was Crowded) to capacity, and ) scores stood round the room. Afany scores stood outside unable to gain admission, and all the windows which were opened on account of the hot /weather, were drowdod thfi'ce 'and four deep outside by those anxious to hear the speakers. Addresses qf condemnation were delivered by the leaders of all classes and prominent run-holders all being -unanim.ous on the - point that a grave ; (injustice had been done to the whole of the district- by the stcyipage of the work. - The- Alayor (Air. D. AY. Coleman) presided and also on the platform were Messrs. AV. D. Lysnar AI.P., C. H. AVilliams (representing __ the SheepoWiiers-’ Federation), Oqas. Matthews '(chairman of the Go ok County Council), ,F. R. Ball (chairman of the Poverty Bay. Electric Power Board), C- E. Bickford (rc- • .presenting the Gisborne branch of the Labor Party), C. G. Bloorc (Gishorno Chamber of Commerce), • and W-'.Lissant Clayton. - During tlie meeting the following resolution, moved by Air. G-. Smith, and seconded hv Mr. C. E. Bickford,- was carried unanimously, and amidst . Enthusiastic (applause sujch as never before had been heard in the City Hall: — “That this meeting of citizens of Gisborne and residents of Poverty Bay protests against the stoppage of the railway to _ Gisborne, as it- is against the interests of not only this district but of the Dominion as a. whole, and this meeting accords fits- wholehearted support to the delegation iii their representations to Cabinet.” AIA YOB’S OPENING - ADDRESS. Tire Alayor said that- he was gratified to see such a large gathering, The question was one that should demand every, attention, but those who took part in public affairs knew how apathetic -the public often were, even . though smarting under a sense of injustice. The public would often say things at street comers, but .would not attend ,a (public meeting. The (attendance that evening indicated that it was recognised that a grave injustice was being placed upon this important- portion of New Zealand. Those present were no doubt- well aware of the reasons ter the inerting that evening, continued Air. Coleman. For many years Gisborne had been suffering under the handicap of isolation. Wherever one went in New Zealand and mentioned Gisborne for a conference, its isolation was /always brought (forward. Of late, they had been led to believe that this isolation would soon he a thing of the past and that- after forty years agitation Gisborne was to b£ linked up -until tue railway system of New Zealand. CABINET'S NALYS BOX TO GISBORNE. But Cabinet gave a Xmas box to Gisborne, said the Alayor, by st.atino- that the line was- to be immediately stopped. No -action taken hv • any Government had ever brought forth such, unanimous condemnation; When the speaker realised the position -was serious, -and that stoppage was threatened, lie -had 'called |a conference •of local bodies: and a committee had been sot up,' and tips -committee- had been working since then. No time or energy had been spared m efforts to'have the railway brought to ICHisborno. Promises had been made that nothing would be clone in the -matter until this committee had been given the cfpportuiiity to place evidence before the Parliamentary committee and Cabinet, but in face of all those promises Cabinet had decided that work should he stopped on the line. GROUNDS OF -PROTEST. On the following day a deputation would go to Wellington, interview Cabinet and see if they , could get Ministers to reverse then-de-cision; In response to requests hv the public the present meeting had been called, and a resolution would be put and he felt sure would ho unanimously supported. The reasons for the resolution, said Aliy Coleman, are. (1) That of a total length of about 133 miles botween Napier and Gishorno there remains less .than 20 miles at the Gisborne end to be constructed to give access to Gisborne and to connect the whole of the rich district' of 1 overtv Bav with- the railway system of the North 151and.,.(2) That , for nearly forty years this rail access has been promised. It was noil oi years since the .first sod was 'turned- by Sir Joseph Ward who then expressed the. hope . that Gishorno s isolation would soon be over, {o) That after -most careful ..investigation by the New Zealand Government officials the coastal route was chosen as the one. that would pay best, and give quickest access to Gisborne, and the late Prime Mm istei- as head of the United Government decided to finish -this hue with no further delay. (4) That the figures upon which the Government reiied to Justify the. stoppage -were hopelessly [inaccurate and misleading, being ' apparently based wpon the earnings of the .-Paoppa-Tau--vranga line, a most unjust and untan comparison. (5). That tlie estates of revenue supplied from Gisborne are fair figures for the present day, hut will, almost certainly fie vastly exceeded in the years to come, even as the traffic ( through the Otira , tunnel, has- increased- far beyond ..expectations. ... ; . - Concluding, the - Alayor said he felt sure the meeting would enter • an emphatie protest • against - the action of the Government. . AIR. LYSNAR LAUNCHES. OUT. Air. Lysnar dealt with, the subject from the Dominion aspect. He was at a total loss i-to know any genuine ground, for the stoppage ot the line. , It ; was • a wicked wrong on,the distinct and the -Dominion ixs .a whole ,a very grave mistake. Ibis district was the largest, most-popu-lated and contained more stock.thaii any other district ’without "rail ’connection. Gisborne was. entitled t c .a- .railway! and . lie.,- believed; that, when the • Government attempted stop this <line,- the remainder or;tlie.: Dominion would "be fair-niincle 1 enough. to - support the .continuation. The. proposed . .stoppage was for either financial or political reasons.. Tlie actiug-Pi'emieiVA hoAvevey,[..had

promised to find other work, hence ,ib was apparently not the termer . He greatly regretted. that such an important subject as railway construction had been made a political question, a position of affairs lie had strongly opposed in tbe House. Tlie evidence produced by the Government officials shows cleariy that they had made no examination and their figures were based on the results of the Tauranga tine.. Lie was in the committee-room of the House when the accountant told the Yomm'itteo that too- much importance should not he attached to the ■estimates regarding the G/isborno line since they were based on the earnings of . tbe Tauranga line. “That is manifestly.. an unreasonable basis of comparison,” proceeded Mr. Lysnar, .“for. tlie Ta.uranga line goes through a district * carrying only lab'out 100,000 sheep whereas the Gisborne line -would traverse country carrying • 3,000,000 or 4.000,000, besides a vastly greater population. That is tlie kernel of the position to my mind. Those figures were compiled by the preceding Government and 1 am not aware that the present (Government- has taken any stc-ns to ascertain the earning icapaioity ofthis line. 1 have made strong efforts to have evidence taken in support of our line, hub the reply, has always been that no evidence could he heard hut that,’ before any definite stop was taken, in tbe matter,, an opportunity for tendering same would he afforded. No such opportunity has been granted the district, though it has been in a uosition to submit convincing proof of the- earning capacity of the line. “A CHILDISH CONTENTION.” Another aspect of the matter, continued the speaker, was the issue of road a - , rail transport. Official figures reveal that the actual c-ost of haulage by rail is 3d pel* ten per mile, whereas the cost by road is from 1/- to 1/6. If district figures are studied, it would he- found those with rail connection have lower rates than such as this which has such a great expenditure in road maintenance. The speaker quoted official figures regarding the two classes of transport (as already ■published in the Times) showing the enormous cost of road as against rail. AVould it not be better for all to focus their - attention on the extra cost of road transport—it is impossible to carry on as we are. for all county councils are loaded to the hilt with taxation. While the expenditure increases as _ it- is doing, there can be no possibility of decreasing rates. In the old days, settlers considered themselves fortunate when their road received a course of metalling once in every two or three -.years. Now metalling is required two. three, four or five times each year —a tremendous increase in costs. *,.-•■ “No. man can possibly be -sincere.” declared Air. Lysnar, “when lie says that the railways should he scrapped in 'favor -of motor traction. Such a suggestion is childish, (foolish and • cannot- he (borne out by a grain of reason. Anyone wuo make such a statement does so against his real conviction and against- tlie lessons of the past. Railway construction i.s a Dominion question and must be made so. To replace rail by road transport leads to ‘ruination- Jaud is quite, impossible. • WASTE ON UNPRODUCTIVE AVORKS. “Auckland has just- opened a new railway station which ' cost £2,000.000 and will not produce a shilling more revenue and yet they cavil at- the expenditure of £1,000.000 on our line, a work which will produce substantial revenue. It is not playing the game. I opposed tlie Auckland station in the House and also, the Tawa Flat deviation which 4wii]) pio;t iiiijcreaso the present traffic by one iota. AVithin the past three or four wears*. Parliament has granted authority for the expenditure of £7,500,000 on -unproductive works in connection with the Auckland and AVellington railway stations and deviations, also the railway works at Pctone. To complete all tlie linos now under construction in _thc Dominion would take some £7,200,000 odd, including our local line. In the House I was the only member who opposed 'fcliis expenditure .on unproductive lines, for I considered that the potentially productive works would suffer, but the Alinistcr assured me that this would not he so. that both classes of work would lie continued. The results of this policy have been, unfortunately, exactly as I anticipated and wc have the stoppage of the line to Gisborne foreshadowed to-day. I confess again that I am wholly at a loss tp define any genuine grounds on which - the Government could have been influenced to take this step whiicli, means such a serious blow, not only to this district hut also to the Dominion as a whole.” “A GROSS INJUSTICE.” Air. George Smith, chairman of the local branch of the United Patty, ,thcri moved the resolution given above. “If the Government .carries oq't its aVniounteed intention” lie stated, . “it will be a gross injustice to this fair district. The line was started 31 years ago bv } the late Sir .Joseph AVard and had he been- alive to-dav there would be no question of stopping the line, -for Sir Joseph was a far-seeing man- who could raise finance where cithers /couldn’t. . If the line was only to carry-stock, the revenue would bo sufficient to pay , the charges. With' comfortable. railway carriages to travel in, tourist traffic wohld increase - immensely, fcss- , pecially in . tlie ■ way of Gisbornites going outside,'- vWliy shouldn’t we have a railway-? - Other. •( places far less important havo them and, if finance is the trouble, why are not other- less , important., lines stopped instead of ours? The Government appears ;to. ,ho ■ playing' something like a game of draughts -with the lines, pushing tliat one on hero and stopping ,anoYolier - there. The', (difference- to-, transport of stock was a tremendously important aspect of the, matter,, for thousands of pounds were lost annually by the necessity to walk -stpek many miles to markets elsewhere.’ “POLITICAL TRICKERY.” ;: Air Uickfoaxi,;-. in. 'f, seconding the .motion., contended that it did not gq fay enough; ,Hq ; diad latterly been studying Hansard •,and,- from what lie had read, it yWas apparent that • the stopping of- the line was tlie greatest piece of political trickeyy that had yet oeeui’red in the Dominion and that Air Ransom had broken faith with the people and with the House as well. AH Ransom had been shedding, .-crocodile tears over ' the unemployed, but had he real sympathy with them? Quoting from Hansard, the speaker showed that Air. Ransom had stated | that railway issues should be decided • by the House and not solely by the Government. The special committee e had. been appointed to go iq£o- the ’ railway construction poliev and_ yepi)Vfc hack ,tp? tlid • Houso* fqn“ decision 1 thereon. '.Tfi'e stage' had been .reach- ( ,ed when the .'policy' should ho con- ‘ sidored by/the House; for ‘tlie report ! had been prepared' by the commit 1 tee, hiit had-.members ever discussed tliat.-report? . : / ■ . Air Lysnar: “Nob/ ‘ ’

“Tlie acting-Pieinier”, continued Air Bicklord. “ljas acted as a traitor to the House in not placing the comniittee’s report before membqrs.’ Tlie speaker addled that ft was not possible to estimate the value qi the railway to tho distriot simply by the eonsidertion of figures. They > must ehtei' a protest against the stopping of the ivork on tlie. lino and v must continue to enter furtheiy protests. This, district had been too apathetic iir’the past, and this tailing was largely responsible, for the- position in which they were to-day. Had half the energy -expended in pushing on the making of, tho. ‘.‘ditch on Kaiti” been put'into tbe railway'they would luyv.e the work completed to-day. Tlie uosition was .tremendously serious ~ and hundreds . would be thrown, out of work by the stoppage, more than half of them in this district. BEST SHEEP COUNTRY IN DOMINION Stating that lie had no wish to criticise any political party or any particular. member of Parliament Air Frauis Stafford entered -an emphatic protest against the stoppage of. tho work* -Ho had Ijjeen info lulled this district carried one-quarter more sheep per aorq than any other sliQep-district in this Dominion, but wo bad no -market and the stock had to isb sunt many miles, naturally suffering damage. Our district had paid -for lines In other districts, and it was Up to the delegation to demand that the line be continued. If it v was a question of money, why should not the Government send along a numbar of men to carry out tlie big works-meantime.? SIR JOSEPH WARD’S PROAIISE Tho speaker recalled the interview he and -others had with Sir Joseph Ward on the-occasion of his Inst visit here. Sir Joseph AVard said that when. Jig lvad decided, on the route of the lino he would place it -soi that no succeeding Government of Ministry shoold over step it. Air Coates, on tbo occasion of one visit, said ho never knew there was such- fertilo country as ;n Poverty Bay. lAIPOR-TANCE OF LINE TO FARMERS Air AV. Lissant Clayton said it was not the time to talk figures and statistics. -A railway could not be measured by mere figures. It was a matter of importance to the development of the district. There was the •improvement in the country to consider, by the carriage of fertilisers, for instance, and prosperity in the country must be reflected in the town. He would like them to have the vision of tlie late Joseph AVard and keep their, eyes fixed on the horizon. He was pleased indeed to see such a unity of spirit on the subject, and urged 'them to pull together on this matter, so that Alinisters could see that the whole district was united in its protest. POPULATION OF 3-3,000 CONCERNED Air T. Corson said lie entered his protest against tlie action of the .Government in threatening to stop the railway. He regretted to think that the Government had ’-spent so much' money and now at tbe eleventh hour wished to_ stop it. He did not know whether it- was due to shortage of money, hut if sq . all lines should have been stopped and then one could understand the Government’s action. In stopping the railway they would all agree that from a fertility point of view the Government was cutting out the best laud i/n the Dominion bar none. Tins district was onlv in its infancy stage at present-, lie cause it- had no railway. There was a population of 15,000 in town and over 20,000 outside the town. If the country was not successful, then the. town would not be successful. A r isitors to this district- wore astounded and more than surprised at the fetrility of the- soil in Poverty'- Bay. It- was a shame to think'that the line should be threatened. ‘He wished the deputation every success. His advice was to get at the Alinisters’. straight, and lie thought they, would be successful. WOOL SALES AUGHT BE HELD HERETliere was one matter tliat had not been mentioned, continued Air Corson. If they had a railway here they -would have wool sales, and the surplus -money now being spent In Napier would be expended in Gisborne. To think that the railway had gone 133 miles, and there was only 20 miles to go. and then work was to he stopped, was not understandable.