SOUTH ISLAND RAILWAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20990, 29 September 1931, Page 8

SOUTH ISLAND RAILWAY.

The report of the Railways Board on lines under construction and suspended will be submitted to Parliament soon after it resumes, according to the Prime Minister's outline of the probable programme. Mr. Forbes has indicated that a lively debate is to be expected over the recommendations, especially that affecting the South Island Main frunk line. There are signs about the lobbies suggesting that lie is right. It is quite likely that strong opinions will be expressed against the board's view that the work should cease at once. "What was proclaimed so insistently as a work of national importance has also been a question of deep local interest. The districts directly affected by the completion or abandonment of the line have been intense in their advocacy of its claims. Such views are bound to be reflected in Parliament by the representatives from these areas. Members so concerned will wish to record their complete disagreement with what the board recommends, and with the arguments it has used against the line. They are entitled to do so. They will also wish to cast their votes against the resolution that must be moved, asking Parliament to endorse or accept the recommendations. They are entitled to do that too. 13ut that Parliament as a whole should fail to carry the resolution which will implement the verdict of the hoard is simply not conceivable. Viewed dispassionately, without the colour of local desires and ambitions, the report leaves Parliament no other course. The case the board makes against the lines condemned is unanswerable. It consists, in large measure, of evidence and arguments heard before, but these arc marshalled and expressed in a way which reveals their force as it has not appeared hitherto. If Parliament ignores these considerations, it will have to answer to a community which, on all the evidence available, endorses what the board has said. A minority dissents, but it would not be advisable for Parliament to listen to this minority, nor is it likely to do so.