RAILWAY PROJECTS.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4082, 21 June 1900, Page 4

RAILWAY PROJECTS.

It.ayas quite to be ■ expected that the movement iii favour of the more rapid completion' of ■ the North Island. Trunk RailwayiviAjld: reawaken -the various agitationk ,ih different parts nf- the- colony for;.llie ' improvement, : and extension,\of.' their railway systems. -No snr-. prise is 'therefore expressed at finding dormant'Tail-way leagues’ everywhere galvanisW; 'abtrvity.'"! At .Gisborne, in the Nortl;,ms at Dunedin, itt the'South, meetings, have- been held- and - resolutions ha ve s heon'o passed” calling upon' Parliament to-sanction the' construction of railways, f . Presently, no - doubt t ■ we, shall hear of [Nelson^' Westland and .Canterbury 'raising a united 1 cry for, tfie more vigorous; (prosecution- >of. .the Midland - Railway- wtfrkS. ; * •'Nearer • at hand we find- ant hgtlatioh ‘has ’been set on foot for' U&' J foM'bc€ion ’ of'/CHnstchurch and: Blenheipii'ihy.-'iCfiit*-, At,-the recent a-n- ------• nuali meeting- of the ! Marlborough 'Land ; and ; - the subject received report presented by the president, -Mr: Redwood Coulter. .-After alluding to the importance'-of ” the "connecting, link hp- . twertV‘'Auckland and Wellington being ; completed witbi tha utmost ' possible despatch ;.Mr 'Goulter -. expressed the -opin--ion tha.(;thO-tlrae had now arrived when a. most "vigorous -effort should he made by.. tfae..people, ; nfoMarlborougli- to have .“tardy-justice secured to-it in the matter of railway communication-with other parts ofi the' South Island,” -The president •’expressed l ; astonishment that the people, pf'Wellington' had never fully realised' the'* importance of the Christ-clmrch-Bjenlmim ,connection being pushed on, „Sd! that ,thc"lines,; might he completed .as; nearly as; possible" about the same'time,'a'Mr.-Coulter quoted tne favourable opinion expressed by the Premier some two years.agoa.s .to., the. necessity for'cbihplete railway communication , being-effected: between Christchurch and PictOhvancDtHife .time had now come, he said, Whefl Mr Beddon ' should be reminded; of, fact. •, The - Marlborough; League - hopes very shortly; to-ibe-'ln - possessioif of ah estimate'of the"'cost of constructing this railway?"’ based " upon . the .ney surveys. Mr H.V Dobson, ; assistant engineer, has. it Is stated,: completed the. survey: of the line from Starhorougli to the Kahautara has joined yon- .to Messrs Dobson and Sonls/isurvey,.persecuted, many.- vears ago, of the -'Section' - between' ;the-Kahautara and <Waiaa^Riversf : ft''distance; of twen-ty-six’ railbs-/ *The Waiau is .about ten milesVfrom, the, town, of McKenzie, and thereafter is tthirty-five miles from Waipara.- .-When ( the' railway' is completed from Blenheim to.' Seddon, and from Waipara.to McKenzie-—-■ the two sections at, precept/under .construction —y there will remain; ) ah6nt!»lo'4 miles to be done. An additional argument-put forward in favodr’ of’■this'''work" being pushed pn .with'-greater speed was fbat the. Assets Board has decided to cut up its valuable runs jn' tHe'Awatcre district, which will mean the closer settlement of 100.000 ’acres'within easy reach of the Seddon railway station. The- meeting decided that? the various'local bodies of -the ’tHstflet',should be.,asked to appoint 'delegates to- join in c a-deputation to Abe Government' 'during' the coming session, and'that'a circular,urging the immediate construction of the line, should bo drawn up -and sent to members of the,' House. - The financial difficulties., with' which the question 'of ‘railway extension is necessarily hedged round were briefly referred to by the president, who

assorted thafc the colony's position was such that a five, million loan could bo faced with fi'il justification. It is doubtful, however, wbetlmr this view will bo shared by a majority in the new Parliament; but in the? meantime the people of Marlborough cannot be blamed if they present their ease to.the Government will) all the energy and force of argument of which they arc Capable, Assuming Girt case, and rapidity ofeomniunieatior is the chief argument for t lie ma hi re of the North Island Trunk line, then on national grounds the Christch.\irch-Blcnheim connection should also be placed on the list of urgent railway works.