CAPTAIN MACKENZIE'S "MOST DESIRABLE LINE."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9511, 20 August 1892, Page 6 (Supplement)

CAPTAIN MACKENZIE'S "MOST DESIRABLE LINE."

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —As Captain- Mackenzie has not answered my questions, it behoves mo to supply the information necessary for the public enlightenment. The proposed Tapanui railway extension does run through private property all the way to Roxburgh. First, there is the huge Moa Flat estate—a block of 50.000 acres, extending from the Pomahaka river to the Molyneux in one direction, and from a little beyond Rae's Junction to within a few miles of Roxburgh in the other. This block is the property of Mr Joseph Clark, of Tasmania. The surveyed line enters his estate just beyond Heriot township,. and continues through it for a distance of from 20 to 25 miles, extending into Moa Flat beyond Ettrick. Thence it passes through other private properties into the township of Roxburgh, j There is not a patch of Crown land fit lor j settlement all the way. It is highly improbable that Parliament will ever sanction the construction of a railway which would be of little benefit to the State. If Mr Clark wants the line, let him build it himself. It will pay him well to do so ; but it will not pay tho country to expend L 125,000 for the improvement of his freehold. This has always been the stumbling-block. When I was in the House I repeatedly tried to get the lino extended to Culvert creek — about four miles beyond Heriot—for the benefit of the Crookston settlers, but with every Government the private ownership of this vast estate constituted an insuperable bar to my proposals.

If the Tapanui people want the line they should first endeavour to obtain the resumption of the Moa Flat estate under the Laud for Settlement Act now passing through the House, and then, perhaps, the railway might follow. It is all good land, admirably suited for close settlement, and its resumption would benefit Tapanui more than many railways. As to the line beyond Roxburgh, I think Captain Mackenzie must know that it follows the rocky gorge of the Molyneux from Coal Creek to Alexandra. It cannot be taken over j the mountains, and 30 miles of a tunnel is too much to ask for. I know lam far within tho mark when I say that there are not 10 acres of level land all the way. Now, how does Captain Mackenzie explain his assertion that this lino is "from every point of view the most desirable " ? Desirable from Mr Clark's point of view, no doubt, but from no other. So far as Roxburgh is concerned, the nearest, the best, and most practicable route, and tho most advantageous from a public point of view, would be the extension of the Lawrence line, as adopted by the Provincial Council in 1873. It presents no great engineering difficulties, if carried along the eastern bank of tho Molyneux, and would open some fairly good Crown lands for settlement. —I am, &c, IVTaotara, August 17. Vincent Ptke.

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