ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11,1919. RAILWAY PROJECTS.

Marlborough Express, Volume LIII, Issue 167, 11 June 1919, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11,1919. RAILWAY PROJECTS.

It is quite evident that the new Parliament is to be the battle-ground of several contending parties interested in the completion of various railway lines throughout the Dominion. Auckland : has for some time past been- organising a combination of interests for future "log-rolling." A Railway League has been formed, and its: president has been as far afield as Gisborno, pointing out to the people of Poverty Bay the advantages to be gained by political co-operation with the northern city. "Help us,'' is his plea, "to get the North Auckland trunk line completed, the Stratford line extended to connect with the Main Trunk, and the East, Coast line carried through to Rotorua, and we will be . with . you in your advocacy of. the completion of the Gisborne-Napier connection." Further south in the North Island we have an agitation, now very' strongly backed -up by the Wellington press, for : the deviation of the Wairarapa. ...line .. to avoid the Rimutaka Incline, and a scheme is now being put forward for a similar deviation of the. Wellington-Palmerston line to avoid the heavy grades of the Paekakfiriki Hill. No doubt some of the works roughly outlined above are perfectly sound propositions from a! business point of view, but others ; fail to come within such a category. The ' Stratford-Main Trunk connection is being pressed for by the Aucklanders with the sole object of enabling the Auckland merchants to compete with Wellington interests in, Taranaki and along tho line -further south. As to' the East; Coast line, it is a very open question whether, for many years, to come, the country through which the, line would !■ run would hot be far better served by good main roads, especially as the ■'• great improvements in motor traction point to useful ; transport facilities' being available before long at a lower rate than that to b© obtained by railway traction. When, however, the little game of railway "logrolling" once begins, those" engaged in this time-honored Parliamentary pastime are apt to lose sight of __ many economical considerations which should be taken into account, and give themselves ' cheerfully up to the joy of indulging in a game of "grab" at the expense of the community in general. So far as ' Marlborough is concerned, we are too small and politically weak a province to hope to secure justice ;in the way of public works - expenditure without outside assistance. We have the strongest possibleVrfcase1 for ' the completion of the South Island Main Trunk Line.< It is a line which would be possessed- of most valuable strategic advantages in case of foreign attack. For mail purposes it would be invaluable, especially if, as must some day bo the case, it is accompanied by the establishment of it; mail ferry service between Wellington and Picton. Apart from these considerations there is the sound and economically valuable' advantage to be gained by through and uninterrupted railway communication between the two ends of this island. Everything which used to be said in favor of the completion of the North Island Trunk line could and should be said, and insisted upon, in favor of the South Island work. But as we have said, all that Marlborough can, and its representative in Parliament may; urge is' not likely to be of much avail. We must ha'vo. tho assistance of the great southern provinces of Canterbury, Otago, and Southland. Westland, also, which sees ; in tho now comparatively near future the completion of its linking up with Ghristcburoh, should also lend a helping hand. With a united South Island support for the completion of the,' line we could rest confident that the work would be considered by any Ministry with, quite as ranch favor as the Gisborne-Napier line or the North Auckland line. A few heads more on the one side or the other do not- matter. No Government could withstand the pressure which could be brought t'° bear l\y a united nnd really enthusiastic advocacy of the project on the part of tho South Lslnnd Members. We appeal to our Christchurch and Dunedm contemporaries ■to commence an educative campaign in behalf of the line. The southern Chambers of Commerce should move in the matter. The . funeral election is sinpronc-hing, and it is of the highest importance that the electors of all South Tsland constituencies should have this ouestion of the completion of the Main Trunk lino brought prominently before them, so that they may get suitable nledges from the Parliamentary candidates. We trust that now the loc^l agitation has been revived it will not bo allowed to die oixt, but that efforts will be. made to oxtend it to those other provinces without whose . support nil thnh Marlborough itself can do will ho as nothing.