THE FOXTON-NEW PLYMOUTH RAILWAY.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume I, Issue 90, 23 February 1881, Page 2

THE FOXTON-NEW PLYMOUTH RAILWAY.

Wellington merchants have long been accustomed to regard the west coast of this island as one of the chief feeders of their port, and it is therefore not surprising that they should view with alarm the active efforts now being made by gentlemen from Auckland to divert a large portion of the traffic northwards. Given a fair field and do favor, and the Wellington men have sufficient faith in the Wanga-nui-WelliDgton route, versus that via Wai-tara-Manukau, to believe that they can compete upon level terms. Of course, this is a matter for the parties themselves to settle. A little competition between the advocates of rival routes is all to the advantage of producers, and acts as a healthy stimulus to the grower, the carrier, and the merchant to do their best. But the complaint made by the Empire City appears to be well founded. They say: " The railway we advocated, which our members fought and voted for, and which has been long regarded by us as a main feeder to support our British trade, is being used to our destruction. It has been cut in half at Waverley, and in consequence produce from the fertile district north of that place, which has hitherto found its way to our port, will henceforth go north to Auckland. We voted for a Foxton-New Plymouth railway, but had we understood that it was likely to be changed into a Hawera-New Plymouth line and a Waverley-Foxton line, our consent would never have been giv n." Those who have studied the flow of commerce, have formulated a maxim that commerce adheres to old channels in preference to new, even though the new may be somewhat better than the old. It has been found, that it is as difficult to divert a stream of commerce, as it is to change the course of a river, and that irremediable damage may be done to a port by temporarily closing the channels which feed it. With a knowledge of these facts before them, the complaint of our Wellington friends seems well founded. The railway ought, in justice to those settlers, to be proceeded with, and the stream of commerce of the district will then seek its natural outfall either north or south, according to the advantages offered.

With a prospect of a fair Budget, and with every sign of an increasing revenue, the duty of insisting upon strict, if not parsimonious, economy in public expenditure becomes less urgent. Those in favor of progress may be allowed to make themselves heard, aud any injustice caused by the recent sudden curtailment of expenditure may well be remedied. There is a prospect of a large export trade being opened up from this coast in refrigerated beef, before many years are past. It is impossible to say which port may take the lead in the matter, and it is therefore essential that every possible channel of communication should be open to the producers. The margin of profit left to growers of beef, shipped at the port of departure for 2d. per lb., is not large. But this is about the price at which Queensland and N. S. Wales runholders are prepared to do business. We cannot compete without an easy and rapid means of transport.