THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1914. EAST COAST AND OTIRA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15613, 20 May 1914, Page 8

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1914. EAST COAST AND OTIRA.

Those who arc interested ■ iin - ■ the progress of ''probably the most important line now under construction in the Dominion" will read with amazement the peculiar reason proffered by Mr. Fraser for the delay in commencing at Waihi 1 "some work to be carried out under • the co-oporative * system.'- According to Mr. Massey's telegram ■to the Auckland Railways League "this , delay, Mr. Fraser learns, ;is "owing to the fact that the foreman specially selected to take charge of the work has been in charge of the ballasting at the" Bealcy section, which is about completed. Owing to, unforeseen circumstances this foreman has - been detained at Bealcy longer than anticipated, but the Minister for Public Works has telegraphed to the district engineer to start the work at once and put on 30 men." As the Herald has so often '~ insisted, the province can expect no consideration from the Public .Works Department unless it absolutely refused to bo ignored. ■ As long as wo suffer in silence the portion of the East Coast is the crumbs that fall ! from Otira's : table, which Mr. Fraser so lavishly loads with good cheer.; The Waihi extension waits while a foreman watches the ballasting at the Bealcy end of the hopeless : tunnel " which must be pushed on v at top speed no matter though' tho East Coast construction is •paralysed.;' The? situation is too preposterous for words. Evidently, when the Minister for ;-■; Public Works is galvanised ; into activity— if the ; spending of £5000 upon "the eastward extension of a great line can be termed activity"—southern foremen can ■ bo dispensed with on northern work. It would seem oqually possible for southern ! Ministers for Public. Works '. to, be replacod by men * wljosc horizon is not ; limited by . theV Southern Alps and who have I some sense of proportion,in tho direction.;of national

enterprise. The supreme importance attached 1 by Mr. ; Frascr to the Otira Tunnel and tho supremo indifforoncc he displays to the need for, and to the value of, the systematic development of the ■ magnificent i ; East Coast, would be quite farcical and humorous had it not such' a deadly effect upon the prosperity of the Dominion. .There is no other railway under construction which will so tremendously increase the trade and wealth of New Zealand as will'the East Coast line,, deliberately suspended . by ■•_• Mr. Fraser at Waihi for - nearly two years; and there .is positively no railway under .construction which will- so little; advantage , the 'Dominion as will the tunnel connection between; the Midland and. the West. Coast upon which Mr, Fraior concentrates; his ..interest .and ex-., ponds; hugo sums of i public %oney. MSlk< r.:j. ,,/ 'diWmy

:~ ■ ■.:.;.■■•,. ..: , ..■■-. ■; :. .■ . We refuse to bplieyci that;this is the best Public .Works Administration of I which the Reform Government is capable. ■ i""'- ' '-^ The crying need of the Dominion, as Mr Massey; very rightly; and very persistently: declares,: is ,for development.' "The ; ; South Island is still capable of, very great development upon an. industrial plane which 'the'. dominion .may attain in a; generation or two, -but it cannot : be further 'doveloped to any appreciable extent while the North Island : remains largely . unoccupied and unsettled. v It is, of course, quite easy by diverting public ; money from legitimate and profitable uses to accumulate railways, tunnels/ and so forth in the South Island.;; It is quite' easy -to add 'hundreds : of miles; of -lino to the already over-railwayed districts. It is ;as easy to run three or four express trains daily; between Chri&tcJaurcH.anHDunedin. as to run two. 'In /fact, anybody ;can squander money:, ini the.' South • as long as the North is foolish enough to pay tho bills and ,to carry the loss. Nothing can make the; Southern • railways . pay for they have been largely built by politicians,for party and sectional reasons without the slightest;; regard to settlement and 'commercial requirements. (Tho Otira Tunnel is nothing better than a despairing: attempt to make the worthless. Midland system pay one or/two per cent, upon the cost'of its construction.. This is ' the Only plea advanced on its behalf. .Nobody claims that it will 'enablo; one acre of land to be brought under-culti-vation, that it will assist.in' the production of a ton 1 of coal or a log of timber or a bale of flax. Not an apple tree will be planted or,(; a cabbage grown for all this enthusiastic expenditure—an expenditure which has never been accurately estimated and will certainly*;,-;be twice the estimate made by 'the Continuous r .Government ■■■ (( when ■ if l commenced the undertaking.; ; The j only hopo is that it'may enable some share of the sea-borne trade j between Canterbury and Westland to be diverted to the j overland route and thus somewhat reduce. the inevitable annual loss oh, ; the; millions sunk by the Continuous.Government in carrying tho; Midland j into tho stony fastnesses of the Southern Alps. ; :.( The ; Herald does not agreo with • Mr., Massey in thinking that the prospect ,of obtaining six or seven per cent, on the, money now being expended "at Otira—a result arrived at by striking out all previous expenditure on j the: Midland as.;a balli; debt and crediting to the >, Otira-Bcaley~ ; section all future, earnings over the entire through line,'less < only actualworking ; expenses— the non-suspension ;of,( the tunnel work when money ,was not freely available for developmental .lines. ■i>'lt may bo admitted,.. however, that'the position taken up by Mr. Massey is defensible and that it. would have been wise to keep the tunnel going sufficiently to {preserve ; the plant, with the intention' of pushing it to completion when an easing of the money market enabled all required loans to ; be obtained on • reasonable terms. What js indefensible is the policy of driving on this consola-tion-work while the true 'developmental work of the Dominion—for example the East Coast line in general and the Waihi-TaUranga section of the East Coast line in particular—is starved.; If money can be : found . without stint' for : the Otira Tunnel why should it be so hard to wring(; from Mr. Eraser money to build the East Coast line in a systematic , manner? ; After a suspension of nearly two years— during which time well on: towards a-quarter of a ; million sterling has I been spent } at' Otira—the ; : Waihi-Athenree-Tauranga : section is being rocommohced with a paltry expenditure of about £5000. It is' quite useless- for partisans >: to; protend that this is satisfactory to Auckland province. It; is altogether unsatisfactory as Mr. Massey must know and as Mr. should bo made to understand.