"FILL THIS GAP!"

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIV, 14 December 1921, Page 4

"FILL THIS GAP!"

(fI.KNIIOrKTOINANGAHI.-A COMMENT BvTriTELTON TIMES (By Telegraph—Special to Mail) CHftIS'rCHURCII.. Doc. 13. Tho Lvttclton Times this mommy lias the following editorial note: "Now that the Otira-Bealey section of tho Midland Railway is within mensurable distance ot completion, the good people i of .Nelson are reminding the Government j Unit there is another gap to be filled ; before railway communication between north and south of this island is J achieved. The Nelson Chamber of Com-i ■fierce- is circulating a map showing that j onlv sixty miles of country has now to| be'covered to complete u main trunk j line running 700 miles, from Inverairgdl in the south to Nelson in the North. When the matter was brought before the Minister of Public Works by _ a. joint deputation of Canterbury, West Coast and Nelson members last week, Mr Coates admitted that the completion of tho through line would improve returns, and said lie intended to ask the Government to carry out a. policy of| concentration. It is now quite a long time since Mr Coates first gave publicity to his very sound views'on this subject but he seems to be unable to impress Cabinet with the need for reform of tho present system. This is unfortunate, for an early application of the policy of concentration might have saved the railways from their present disastrous financial condition, or at least have made tho failure of the railway administration less obvious and abject. However, it is never too late to mend while life continues, and now that the results or piece meal railway construction and generally haphazard methods are being garnered in the form of a rapidly increasing deficit it is to be hoped* attention will be paid to the fact that the South Island has not yet a main trunk line from north to south. The cost of connecting Inangahua and Glcnhopc and linking up Westport with Inangahua' is estimated at £2,300,000. That is a, substantial expenditure, but tho line will tap extensive coal fields and should help to redeem the South Island railway system from its present unsatisfactory earning capacity."