THAT RAILWAY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 31 October 1928, Page 6

THAT RAILWAY.

ROTORUA-TAUPO PROJECT. HON. MR. HAWIvEN’S STATEMENT. “The line would tap enough timber alone to provide a trainload every day for 25 years.” This practical and interesting illustration was employed in a- campaign address at Oakura by the Hon. Air. Hawken, Government candidate for Egmont, to give point to his reply to the criticism which- has been, levelled by his opponent at the Government's proposaL to put in hand the construction of a railway from Rotorua to Taupo. Air. Hawben, in his dual capacity of Alinister' of Agriculture and Commissioner of State Forests, and with the additional advantage of personal knowledge of the district-, was able to present an interesting case for the Government’s attitude in the matter. The Alinister prefaced his remarks by a reference to the Government’s land settlement policy, and went on to point out that- the land which would be affected by the line constituted the largest unused are?.- of country now left in the Dominion. If, he contended, there was any land in the country that should he developed, it was that. It was all light pumice land; most of which could be brought’ into production if the set-tiers l could be assured of cheap transport -for fertilisers', for manures were absolutely necessary to develoo this type of land. “I have, had official estimates made of the timber resources in, the locality,” he said, “and know quite definitely that there are at least 500.000,000 feet of native timber. In addition there are on the eastern side of the proposed' route the artificial forests, being planted at the rate of 30,000 acres a year.” “It is futile,” continued Mr. Hawken, “for the Government’s opponents to complain of lack of land settlement, and in the next breath to protest against the construction of this railway; it is the only large tract of at all suitable land that is left. Communication must precede- settlement ; the principal traffic over whatever transport system provided would be fertilisers inwards and timber outwards. Both these commodities require large scale transport at cheap rates which could not be given by road transport; a railway is therefore the only sound and economic transport system that could be adopted.” Air. Hawken refuted the statement of Air. Wilkinson that the land was unusable. “Alost of it could he used,” he said, “although it would naturally require different methods and more capital to. develop than the better lands' which were settled’ earlier.” Reverting to the necessity of providing adequate' means of transport communication ahead of settlement, he declared that the Reform Government '< had done away with - its Liberal predecessor’s habit of putting isettlers on holdings in isolated places, with' usually nothing better than a track to’ the, outer world. Many of the present Government’s difficulties in regard to “reverted” lands -had been due to the failure of earlier administration in that respect. •