THE DEVIATION.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 178, 28 June 1938, Page 8

THE DEVIATION.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —After weighing the evidence of your correspondents for and against the deviation, an unbiassed mind is forced to conclude that those opposed to its continuation have advanced some very weak arguments, and have in some cases, I venture to suggest, something personal to lose. The crossing menace is to be eliminated for all time, which, in itself, is worthy of the cost, and a little inconvenience to a few counts for nothing when compared with human life. Should the city extend towards Feildiug the vicious, ear-splitting whistle will he a thing of the past and disposes of the argument that patients in the Public Hospital will suffer. A number of progressive cities abroad have decreed it an offence to sound a car horn between certain horn's of darkness; a car horn is merely a whisper compared with a train fiendishly screaming its way through the city in the small hours, oi’ any other time for that matter. One opponent advanced the theory that visitors by train have some conception of the beauty of the city. It is hard to imagine by what line of reasoning he arrives at that conclusion, especially if they arrive from Wellington. Apart from the Square gardens, and perhaps in time the metal pit at Terrace End the outlook tends to drabness. One lias to leave the train to appreciate the beauty spots and the city in general. Travellers, moreover, do not judge a strange city from what they see through a train window. The plea that costs of transport will vise may be dismissed as trivial.. The present station is not the centre of the business area, and it is safe to assume that it will cost no more to deliver from Boundary Road than at present. .The Government lias decided that previous legislators adopted a short-sighted policy iu preventing a very necessary project being completed. Perhaps at this late hour, Mr Editor, I have wasted my time and yours—one point at least on which the non-progressives will agree.— I am, etc., ONWARD.