THE MIDLAND RAILWAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13482, 5 July 1907, Page 4

THE MIDLAND RAILWAY.

The costly and unprofitable drain upon the financial resources of the colony made by the Midland Railway undertaking threatens to become more marked than ever. Mr. McGowan informed a deputation which waited upon him in connection with Arthur's Pass tunnel that £139,500 was expended upon the line . last year, and that the total expenditure to date was £876,706. On top of this enormous outlay, for which the most meagre • returns can ever be expected,, it will take at least £534,00u to bore a hole through a single Midland mountain. This further outlay is- being demanded by the local members, the only argument they can advance being that so much money has now been sunk that it is imperative to spend the rest in order to recover anything. We do not deny that the Administration is in a very awkward position; but it would be in a very much more awkward position if it were not for the gallant manner in which the neglected North is bearing the financial burdens created by gross waste in the South. Half a million pounds would go a long way towards connecting Gisborne with the Auckland railway system, and every section opened, on that route would pay its way, whereas half a million pounds spent on the Midland is only another unremunerative expenditure. We most emphatically protest against this throwing of good money after bad at the expense of our .Northern development and to the checking of the prosperity of the whole colony. No well-managed Department would ever have committed itself to this Midland extravagance, which opens up no new country of any value for settlement, and can only compete disadvantageously against shipping for the carrying of coal. Even after committing itself no .well-administered

Department would pour hundreds of thousands' more in the same unprofitable direction while fertile lands were wanting the railway facilities without which the labours of industrious settlers are largely in vain.