COST OF RAILWAYS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20564, 15 May 1930, Page 12

COST OF RAILWAYS.

SOUTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK. MR. POLSON'S ATTITUDE. EXPLANATION AT BLENHEIM. [DY TELEGRAPH. —I'HESS ASSOCIATION'.] BLENHEIM. Wednesday. Unusual public interest was displayed in (he address given this evening by Mr. W. J. Poison, president of tho Farmers' Union, in view of his reported statements at Invercargill and other centres in reference to the completion of the South Island Main Trunk railway. Mr. Poison was reported as stating that tho line would cost. £15,000,000 to complete, and that as the Dominion's annual railway loss was £2,000,000, and the line could never pay, it should bo stopped. As tho estimate for the cost of the railway is not £15,000,000, but £2,500,000, Marlborough people, headed by tho local Farmers' Union, demanded an explanation which Mr. Poison gave this evening. A big crowd was present, and Mr. W. T. Churchward had been appointed by the Progress League, with the sanction of the Farmers' Union, to address certain questions to Mr. Poison. Mr. Poison claimed that he had been misreported in the South, and that what he said was that £15,000,000 was being spent, not on the South Main Trunk or in the South Island, but on the whole of the New Zealand railways. lie added that if it could bo shown that the line would not result in a serious loss he would be the first to help secure it. However, this did not appjy to the Nelson line. The position there was different. That lino could never pay, ho was afraid, and in any case, the country had been so shattered by earthquake that thorough investigation was essential. The meeting ended very curiously. A motion of thanks to Mr. Poison was carried, and Mr. Poison moved the customary vote to the chairman. Tho chairman thereupon declared the meeting closed, but Mr. Churchward rose and asked leave to address certain questions to Mr. Poison. The Mayor, who presided, said Mr. Poison had informed him that his visit was purely and simply on Farmers' Union matters, and ho would answer no questions on political subjects. Mr. Churchward: But you havo not heard the questions. Tho Mayor: Anyway, I rule there will bo ho questions, and the meeting is closed.

Mr. Churchward: Very good, sir. What had promised to be a very lively meeting then terminated without a single ono of the many questions Marlborough wants to ask Mr. Poison being put.