NORTH AUCKLAND MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY.

Northern Advocate, 12 April 1911, Page 5

NORTH AUCKLAND MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY.

THE ROYAL COMMISSION,

FURTHER EVIDENCE TAKEN,

When the North Auckland Railway ■■Commission restfmed in the Court, yesterday afternoon, Mr J. D. McKenzie was the first to give evidence. In his •opinion the most suitable line would be < ihe main western route, with a branch \ ..line connecting with Whangarei. He V touched on the importance of the main \4\line, with , branches, as a valuable as- ■"'''■ set in war time for the quick transportation of troops to any place where they might be required. Nearly all the country between McCarroll's Gap and Kawakawa was coal-bearing, and consequently should be well defended irom encroachment by any possible hostile forces. It had been, generally urged, continued Mr McKenzie, that the land on the western route was lyoor, but such was net the case, as it was of first-class grade and carried •a great extent of marketable mixed iush, one hundred million feet of .''could be got out if the western line were adopted. In answer to Mr Coom, witness said that it.v/as not very many miles short€j* by the western route than the proposed eastern. In' his opinion, people living anywhere north of the Gap would send their stuff to Auckland via the Whangarei Harbor. Replying to Mr StallworthyvMr Mackenzie said he had no hesitation whatever in saying that the land to the west of the Tangihuas was good, and would be better if it was cut up into ' . email?!' areas. Mr James Neil McCarroll was the next witness, and stated that he had a good knowledge of the whole of the North and had lived at the Gap for a number of years. In the best interests of the country as a whole witness was positive that the main line should be continued to Whangarei. He advanced, in addition to points already made known, by former speakers, many arguments , in favor of his contention, chief of which were that the ground was good easy country for construction purposes and that the line would immediately be supported by a popula- . tion of 37,000 people—3ooo in Whar.garei borough, 10,000 in the Whangarei County, and, as Mr Reed had stated, 24,000 in his electorate. Looking at it from its present state and calculating The rate at,which the construction liad progressed, the speaker thought that it would be years before the central line would be pushed forward. For the last twelve months an average of about 700 head of cattle per month . had been driven from Whangarei and the surrounding district to the railhead to be trucked on to the Waikato. If the link was constructed all the stock from the Whangarei district could be trucked straight away, as all farmers recognised that it was •cheaper to train the cattle through in a few hours than to have them on the road for two or three weeks. Certainly, at present, there wero a good number shipped to Auckland. Mr Ronayne said that railway experience had shown that cattle dealers did not use the trucks as much as might be thought, but the railway was certainly more used by them in the Waikato than in the South Island. Mr McCarroll supposed that that • was probably because the Southerners Were not yet educated up to it. bit Mr Stearlman thought the good roads of the fully-developed South probably hart more to do with it. Mr Coom asked how Mr McCarroll , had obtained his estimate of 700 head of cattle per month, as last year's railway returns only showed an average of something over 300. It was explained that an auctioneer had vouchsafed the information, and the explanation of the increase was the present boom in the dealing business, which Mr McCarroll thought •would not decrease in spite of the great strides heing made in the dairy industry. His chief objections to tho central line were the sparse population of the districts through which it Avould pass and the years it would • itake to construct. As far as defence "was concerned, Mr McCarroll, who Tield a commission as captain, thought that the Whangarei-Kawakawa lme was quite far enough inland to be * safe, and that it would readily answer the purpose of getting forces quickly - to any scene of hostilities, such as the Bay of Islands might prove to be, as a landing could easily be effected there. He calculated the difference in the population of the eastern and western as far as the railway was concerned, at 30,000, giving 5,000 in favor of the eastern route., , Mr J. M. Killen endorsed almost ■every remark made by the previous V speaker, all Mr Carruth's statements 1 -with the exception of three, and disagreed with practically all that Mr McKenzie had said. The amount of . the 7 freight from Whangarei to Auckland supplied by Mr Carruth was s incorrect, as there was wharfage; and, in the case of cargo from the . Ngapuhi, railway freight to add, which brought the charge to 12s 6d, not 7s 6d per ton. He produced a number of statistics, chiefly with a view to showing the amount of trade on the east as compared with the west. Whanga- * rei's inward freight was 143,534 tons, rorapafed. with 139,658 tons on the Kaipara, which left a good margin over in favor of Whangarei. According to his .statistics the outward ton- * riage for Whangarei- was 86,053, to only 8598 for the Kaipara, but that could not include the timber. His '&econd disagreement with Mr Carruth •was that he did not think that the tnattev of railway routes was ever under any circumstances, "just a matter for engineers to decide." Thirdly, he could not see that a main trunk rail-

γ-ay should be the shortest possible, but that it should rather be guided by population, arid he quoted places in support of his contentions. Continuing, Mr Killen said: "Mr MaKenzie suggests that a line be constructed to Pakotai. What is Pakotai? '"I suppose there is a boardinghouse there; but there is not sufficient population to deserve a special line, and I look on the west as thoroughly v/ell provided for by a magnificent watsrway, which would always be used in preference to a railway." He would not oppose a small branch line to the west from the Gap, but even that to a certain extent would bs b'ocked by the fact that big landholders held the country in large tracts. The speaker contended that the link line would be well supported by the present line, especially in the butter and fruit trade, and he adduced an abundance of statistics showing the relative fertility and productiveness of the land traversed by the two proposed routes. He rejected the western route in toto, as fully £1,000,000 could be saved in the construction if the eastern line, which was already completed, was utilised; but he was not opposed to the extension of the Kaihu line towards Rawene. in answer to Mr Ronanyne, Mr Killen said he did r:ot think that there would be a big population on the western route, as it was so wet and swampy. ' Mr Stallworthy: "You talk a lot about English railways. Do you not know that English railways are made to make dividends?" Mr Killen: "1 know they often don't make dividends." Mr Steadman received an affirmative answer to a question as to whether it was the country between the G-ap and the Tangihuas which. was owned by large holders. In the meantime Mr Killen was satisfied that the Central line need not be constructed; not; at least, for some time to come. As for the timber in the Mangakahia, the railway could not compete with the water in that respect. Mr J. Harrison said that he would confine his statement to the eastern route, which he knew, while saying nothing to the detriment of the western side. To his mind the commercial aspect should be taken into account pnd the link joined immediately. He was also of opinion that population played a large part in the question. As to the Mangakahia at a later period it would be well served by an electric tram. However, he did not wish to say more than that it would be extremely business like to have the connecting line made. In answer to Mr Stallworthy: Freight from Auckland to Whangarei was 7s 6d, with Is wharfage. Mr D. W. Jack endorsed all previous statements in favor of the link, and expressed an opinion that it would be very bad. policy to join two lines at a place so far from Auckland as Kaikohe. Another point was that if the connection was made, a great part of the goods from Auckland would be distributed north and south of Whangarei harbor. In response to Mr Steadman, Mr Jack affirmed that from , a business standpoint the construction of the central or western route, without touching at Whangarei, would mean practically selling the settlers to the Auckland firms. Mr Becroft congratulated Mr Jack en his evidence from the commercial standpoint, and the Commission adjourned until 10 a.m. to-day.