THE TANEATUA RAILWAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21239, 20 July 1932, Page 14

THE TANEATUA RAILWAY.

Sir, —Railway or sea freight is .the question oS the moment, and upon the shareholdeis of the Rangitaiki Plains Dairy Company, Limited, has been placed the responsibility of deciding whether the company's freight shall, upon the termination of the present contract with the Northern Steamship Company, Limited, be transported by rail or sea. Coincident with this decision lies the very vital question o! whether the Taneatua railway shall continue operating through the Whakatane County or not, and this is the real question which the suppliers are asked to decide. There can be no doubt that the Railway Board is definite in its decision to close the railway if tha support of the Rangitaiki Plains Dairy Company is not forthcoming, and whatever suppliers may think of the recent visit of the board and the utterances of some of the members, the matter which affects the locality most, and which should be the main and only issue to be considered in the casting of votes, is, can we afford to lose the railway, and what value do we obtain from its operations in the way of transport for our pigs and fat stock, and cheap freights on fertilisers ? The railway is a means of access to our district, and has a very distinct bearing upon the value of all farming lands. This could be very difficult to estimate in pounds, shillings and pence. 1 Most of those who are asked to decide this momentous question can remember the effect of the opening of the railway to our country. The marked and immediate rise in values of fat stock of all descriptions, the assistance to the pig industry, which has risen to such important proportions, and the immense assistance rendered to land development by the cheap transport of fertilisers. They must also remember the immediate and substantial drop in sea freights which coincided with the railway's opening. All benefits must bo directly ascribed to the railway, which by sense of habit we have become accustomed to, and perhaps may only rate at its true value when lost. Many other arguments, of perhaps minor importance, may be advanced in favour of keoping our railway, and not least of these is the fact that its closing would throw additional freight transport upon our roads, where maintenance is at present a heavy enough burden upon the ratepayers. To bring this argument nearer home, the heavily-laden lorries of the Rangitaiki Dairy Company carrying butter and supplies to and from the port of Whakatane to the factory, is a severe tax upon the road concerned. This is well known to the County Council, and its road staff. Woighing all the pros and cons of this very vital question, suppliers should earnestly consider the future and their own welfare, and should not allow personal feeling toward the Railways Board and their utterances to weigh in coming to such a momentous decision. What has been dosoribed as the threat of closing our ports has in reality no substance in fact, nor could be carried into effect without the consent of the Government. It must be patent to all that such a step is entirely outside the .authority and jurisdiction of the Railway Board. J. G. CLIFF-MCCUX,Ioch. j