The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1909. THE RAILWAY.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 270, 16 November 1909, Page 4

The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1909. THE RAILWAY.

The Marlborough Land and Railway League, at its meeting yesterday, decided to enter a strong protest against the proposal of the Government to establish a State ferry service between Wellington and Lyttelton, on the grounds that it would be a breach of faith with the East Coast settlers, that it would indefinitely postpone the completion of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, and that the present up-to-date service conducted .by the Union Company renders such a service unnecessary. Another resolution was passed urging the immediate extension of the line»to the Ure River. It is a pity, wo think, tliat the President of the League should have raised the question of a railway via Tophouse to connect with the Midland Railway; as we consider that the whole of the League's efforts for the present should be devoted io securing the early completion, of the Trunk Line, in order that the large area of country along the: East Coast which is now practically undeveloped may be brought into close cultivation, and thus be enabled to produce a full measure of its fertility. The people of the district, and especially the Land and Railway League, require to be unanimous in urging the completion .of the national'line in order that their representations may receive adequate consideration, and no one will doubt that the East Coast line is the more imp6rtant, both to Marlborough and to the Dominion as a whole. We are pleased to notice, from a telegram sent by Mr G. W. Forbes, the Member for Hurunui, to Mr George Gibson, of Cheviot, that the statement reeentljT made by, the Minister for Public Works, to the effect . that no Authorisation Bill would be introduced this session, was intended to apply only to new lines of railway, and not to lines already in progress. An Act passed in 1899 authorised the construction of the Trunk Line as far as Mackenzie, and it is stated that provision for its continuation beyond Mackenzie will be made, and that the rails should be laid as far as the Waiau River by the time that the bridge over that river is ready for traffic. Legislation ■will, of Course, be required' for this purpose, but there: should be no difficulty in getting Parliament to sanction it. We hope that1 in the same Bill provision will be made for the extension of the line southwards beyond Ward, so that the settlers south ol Flaxbourne may be able to rail their produce to Picton instead of, as at present, having to load it by means of boats on to small steamers for shipment to Wellington •or Lyttelton. Some of the most fertile country in the Dominion lies along the route of the South Island Trunk Line, a noteworthy example being the Cheviot Estate.: From figures quoted by the Lyttelton1 Times it is seen that about sixteen years ago the estate was purchased by the Government for £260,220, and the sums expended" on roads and surveys brought the total cost up to £324,142. The net receipts from the estate have been sufficient to reduce the capital cost to £205,987, and it will not be many years before the settlers have paid off the whole of this 'amount, and will still be contributing something like £20,000 a year to the revenue of the country. These figures should be sufficient proof of what the land is capable when properly cultivated, and there should be no hesitation on the part of those entrusted with the management of the affairs of the Litate in finishing the railway and thus bringing other lar^e areas of land to the fame condition of productiveness. ,The Government have acknowledged on previous occasions that ,the South Island Trunk Line was second in importance only to the Northern Trunk, and we look to them to ensure its speedy completion.