(published dailt.) MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1887. THE STRATFORD ROUTE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume IX, Issue 1756, 17 October 1887, Page 2

(published dailt.) MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1887. THE STRATFORD ROUTE.

The general grouudsupon which it is both right and reasonable to demand that the question of the Stratford v. the Central- Route shall ! be reconsidered have been well stated by the Auckland Star in the article which we reprinted iv full on Saturday. The main contention which has been raised is that, via ,Marton there are 70 miles more of new line to construct than via Stratford. Those 70 additional miles will cost from .£400,000 to £500,000, a sum which the colony now, when retrenchment is. so loudly demanded, cannot afford, and ought not to expend. < That argument can be backed up by fresh facts and figures in support of tho Stratford, and to the detriment of thd Central route, which have only been ascertained since the memorable mistaken decision of the select committee of South Island members, whose report was brought up in October, ' 1884. In the first place, it is: now' known that 1 Mr. Rochfdrf's estimates were absolutely unreliable The cost* which Jib put down at £1,293,000, despite the fall in

"cost^^'^bor^aiid of materials notpwouiiljr insufficient. His prpfes-. siqnaj reli|hilit^niay% ganged from th^;fact ihat "in* 5 his evidence before the" committee he said': "By lengthening the line a grade of 1 in 70 might be continued throughout." He was asked— ."That is,. 1 in 70 would .be tbe^steepest'?.' V" Yes," he said, "I feel confident of that, and can prove it "t>y the plans that 1 possess." That is the statement. The facts may be learnt by turning to page 35 of the "annual """reports of the engineer in chief, 1887. Which sets forth that during the past year on the central roate two parties have been started to run trial gradients from the Waimarino plateau to the Upper Wanganui where there is a. fall of 2000 feet in one drop, and it is difficult to find suitable ground on which to run out the in.cline, so that it may become necessary to increase the grade to lin 50 ; but by confining the steeper gradient to one locality the carrying capacity of the railway will be hut little impaired. This is Mr. Blackett's report. Beyond question it was his evidence backing up Mr. Rochfort's, that carried the central against the Stratford route ; so that he was bound in his report to the Minister for Public Works, to mimimise to the utmost, even the difficulty of a 2000 feet drop. It may be mentioned in passing that, we believe Mr. Blackett is responsible for a rather dishonest diagram attached to the Central Railway's committee's report in 1884. It professes to show the three routes ; but the scale is incorrect. The Central l'oute is shown as an absolutely straight line to its junction with the Stratford route, a length of 193 miles, the distance from Marton via Stratford to the sime point being 227 miles. If a scale is applied, it will be found that the Marton route is drawn to a scale of about 40 miles to the inch, the Stratford route under 38 miles to the inch, to the manifest disadvantage of the latter. The foot-note below the diagram, as to the rises and falls, including in the one case only the ne»v line to be made, in the other both the constructed and the unconstructed parts of the line, in our opinion also batrays unmistakeable bias. We have ever contended that the merits of the Stratford route were never fully ascertained, and that it was condemned on insufficient evidence. Mr. Mitchelson, when examined, admitted this, as he said that " with ample time and more extended explorations it is possible a somewhat better line could ue got through this T'angarakau broken country." Mr. Holmes said much the same. He considered ifc li advisable to explore the country to find whether a line could be run from 42 miles iv an easterly direction to the Eao and up that river until the line already explored is reached. This would avoid the rough and valueless country in the Tangarakau and open up more effectively the good country said to exist in the lower part of the Eao valley. This line was not examined because time was short." It would have been unnecessary to allude to this, but that Mr. Skeet, in his report, dated March,lßß7, on the two most f easi ble roads to connect Tarauaki with the Central railway line, appears to show a suggested road line up the Eao and Okura which may prove to be the very route suggested by Mr. Holmes and implied by Mr. Mitehelson. The road actually recommended by Mr. Skeet strikes the Central route at Taumaranui, about 150 miles from Marton and if fairly suitable for a railway as it probably is, the length of a branch railway required from there to connect with Taranaki would only be from seventy to eighty miles instead of 123 as suggested in 1884. It is contended that the South Island members decided in favor of the central route because they desired to settle the native difficulty. It is curious that the only serious native

difficulty during the exploration, was that encountered by Mr. Mitchelson on the Stratford loute, and which induced him to turn back ; the obstructionists being, as he said, the same who had previously robbed the Public Works Department and the trig survey party. This upper Tuhua country would be effectually opened up by the Stratford line. This year's reports show that the Poro-o-tarao tunnel, which was to have been finished next August, was only just started on March 31st, 1887. A gentleman who last summer explored the Central line and canoed and walked from Wanganui through to Mokau, assured us on his way through this district, that the diflculties to be surmounted round the shoulders of Ruapehu were simply enormous. High trestlework viaducts would have to be constructed, also very deep cuttings on treacherous papa, rock sidings, which must slip, as those cuttings near the tunnel had already slipped. These and similar difficulties must, he said, inevitably delay the work for years. The chief engineer's repoit, dated March last, on works in progress on the Central Railway to the Minister for Public Works fully bears out our informant. We therefore feel justified in citing his evidence. We have also b°en assured that one high authority in Wellington, who gave evidence in 1884 in, favor of the central route, now admits that he then underestimated the physical difficulties to be encountered. They. are enhanced by constant rain, involving frequent slips. There being in part of the route an exceptionally wet climate ; though by the way Mr. .Rochfort, when asked, distinctly denied that it was so. The experience of the past three years, has we contend shown that the cost of the Central Railway and the time required to complete it have been greatly underestimated : that a branch lino to connect with Ngaire might be only 70 to 80 instead of 123 miles long: that the grades on the Central will be no better than those on tho Stratford line : that the colony is now certainly not in a position to incur the extra cost and the extra delay involved by ,the construction of the Central railway : that the native difficulty is no longer serious, and that the only part of the Island where it can be said still 'to exist, would be opened up equally well via Stratford as via Marton. Mr. Mitchelson is a practical man, he was the onlj one of all the witnesses examined before the committee, who

admitted that there was no agricultural; land on either of the' routes, except 'a ,|mall quantity :at Turangarere. K. /the evidence givetf in 1884 a^to cost,' difficulties of construction relative length &c, proves, (as we maintain it has proved) to be unreliable, Mr. Mitchelson will be the first to admit that tfie sooner the'' position is reconsidered the better.