THE POST ON THE BLENHEIM-TOPHOUSE RAILWAY.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1875, 9 June 1886, Page 2

THE POST ON THE BLEN-HEIM-TOPHOUSE RAILWAY.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESI’ONDENT). By Telegraph. Wellington, June S. The Post this evening has an article on the Blenheitn-Tophonse line. After giving the opinions ex*, pressed by members why the line is neither necessary or desirable, at present at any rate, as I gave them to you last week, the Post goes on to say “It will be time enough a couple of years hence to provide for this Bleuheim-Tophouse lin- j , assuming that it is finally decided that this is the best route by which the Trunk Railway can be carried through. We do not think this point by any means satisfactorily established as yet, but that on the contrary the balance of the evidence, professional and otherwise, is de--cidedly against such a conclusion. We do not intend on the present occasion to enter into a consideration of the engineering and economical objections to the Tophouse route for the Trunk Line, but we may briefly say that no ‘ feeding ’ traffic would be obtainable along the line for which the Government proposes to allocate this LIOO,OOO as a first instalment of a much larger sum. The greater part of the countrythrough which the line will pass is less capable of being made productive than is the countr between Kiatoke and Cross Creek on the Rimutaka line. If the Tophouse line is made it will have to depend solely on the through traffic derived from i s junction with the Midland Railway. For many reasons we do not think this would pay working expenses over the line. The extension of the Middle Island Main Trunk Railway to Picton or Port Underwood is a matter of very great importance, especially to Wellington, We want to see the best line adopted, however; the one which will most encourage traffic, yield greatest profit, afford easiest means of transit, and do the most to promote settlement of the country, and we believe that carrying the Trunk Line by the East Coast so as to open Ihe Cheviot and Kaikoura country would be the best means of promoting all these ends, and therefore most profitable to the country. It is of course argued that this line would pass mainly, if not entirely, through private property, the owners of which and not the State would therefore benefit by its construction. This is a very shortsighted objection. It can be met at once by the reply—Would it not be better to open land fit for settlement even though private owners will benefit, than to make a line which will open no fit land belonging to the State or to anyone else ? If the Tophouse line will open to settlement lands owned by the State it might be a good argument for preferring it to one which would open up private property. In this case, however, there is no rivalry in this respect between the two routes, and to object to a line simply because while benefiting the State it would also benefit some individuals, is simply an argument of the “ dog in the manger” class.”