NORTH ISLAND TRUNK RAILWAY.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4307, 16 March 1901, Page 4

NORTH ISLAND TRUNK RAILWAY.

From time to time we obtain glimpses of what progress is being made with the North Island Main Trunk Railway. Reckoning from the clcso of last session, the Ministry has determined that its completion shall bo accomplished within four years. The Premier has intimated that although the. work of construction is not proceeding as rapidly as those interested would wish, yet thel Government is resolved not to disappoint Wellington and Auckland in the matter. It is certain that the people in the Northern city are not inclined to accept passively tho assurances of the Government. No opportunity is lost by the newspapers of Auckland to keep the agitation at fever heat for the rapid completion of the line. Whenever any public man of prominence visits the North, he is at once taken in hand uy the newspapers and induced to give hjs .views on thei North Island Main Trunk Railway. Tho object is evidently to still further excite the people and to urge them to he continuous, if not -also obstreperous, in their demands. It is the! conviction of Aucklanders that tho Southern colonists do not recognise that the want of proper means of communication is causing Auckland to stand apart from the rest of the colonv, just as if she were a separate island. This conviction is so strong with the Auckland people that the trunk railway is regarded as a kind of fetish.

The latest victim of Auckland’s importunity is the Hon. W. Rolleston. Auckland’s isolation was brought under his notice, and he graciously bestowed his condolences and sympathy. The exmember for Riccarton told how many velars ago the Ministry, which included himself and Sir Frederick Whitaker, made the first provision for the construction of the main trunk lino through from Wellington; but other times saw other men, and the main trunk line was neglected. Mr Rolleston expressed his astonishment that the establishment of this main line as a. means of communicating with and opening up the wealth of the interior of the North Island had not been understood as it should he. Of course, Auckland stood alone. Indeed, the Northern city with its many natural beauties, and wonders at Rotorua and in the vicinity of Te Aroha, was practically unknown; while, notwithstanding its magnificent harbour, the Queeen of the North has been as solitary as an island in the Southern Seias.

A vein of sarcasm tinged the utterances of the veteran politician, mixed with a hardly veiled feeling of contempt for that pettishness which is always manifested by those who seek sympathy for blundering conduct affecting themselves and injuring others. Mr Rolleston pointed cut that the Auckland people wore to blame for the loss they had caused themselves and the colony because of their bickering and want of unity of purpose and action. Twenty years ago the main trunk line was initiated. It was then regarded as a necessity. When the population of the country was only a third of its present number, a railway to traversal the North Island was agreed upon as a work of colonial magnitude and importance. A line which was, as Mr Rolleston says, “nationally, politically, commercially and socially” necessary to the prosperity of the colony ought to have been built years ago. But the Auckland people quarrelled over the route. Politicians, ever eager to find excuses for not spending money, took advantage of the wrangling and deferred the construction of the main trunk line till Auckland came to itself. New the Aucklanders are contrite. They see how they have blundered, and they are seeking for consolation and sympathy. Mr Rolleston pitied their distress, and applauded their now united front and their energetic efforts to seek the completion of a. great national undertakihg. Since the! people of Auckland came to he -of one mind as to the route, the Minister for Public Works has pushed forward the work and has set a time limit'to its completion. Aucklanders are, however, peevish of delay, and a t wet season and the scarcity of labour fill them with apprehension. While Auckland, too, was engaged in disputations as to route, public men in the southern portion of the North Island earnestly sought its development, with the result that the Wellington province and this city have progressed amazingly. What is required is that our merchants, public men and public organisations should keep thoroughly wideawake, so that Wellington may reap its full share of advantage from the approaching completion of the great arterial railway.