RAILWAY EXTENSION TO ROXBURGH.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13268, 27 April 1905, Page 6

RAILWAY EXTENSION TO ROXBURGH.

Mr I. W. Raymond, of Invercnrgill, 1 returns this morning in a letter we * publish elsewhere to the discussion of the merits of the rival routes that have been surveyed in contemplation of 11 the extension of railway communication to Roxburgh. He accuses lis of twisting 1 figures in order to make it appear that c , the Lawrence route can bo mors 1 economically constructed. We have, in 1 fact, simply used the figures that have 1 Iteeii contained in official documents. c If Mr Raymond seeks to'convey the im- ' pression that the cost of the construe- c tion of the line from Heriot to Edie- c vale per mile would lie as great as the ® cost per mile of an extension from lidievale to Roxburgh, it is lie who is 1 disingenuous. In allowing £30,000 for the construction of the lino to Edievale we have carefully avoided " straining at figures." The estimate is undoubtedly ] a liberal one. The public has not yet ( learnt what the actual expenditure was, ■ but it knows that the official calculation , of the cost was under £25,000, and the papers that have been presented to Parliament liave shown that the expenditure upon the line in the years , 1901-2 to 190.14 was £13,131, while tho appropriation that Was obtained for the past financial year, in which the work was completed, was £8000. The allowance of £30,000 wo made for the work provided, therefore, very generously for contingencies. Mr Raymond's suggestion that the relative figures for the construction of the Roxburgh extension aro affected by the adoption, since the estimates of cost were first made, of a' different method of constructing public works need not be seriously discussed. Obviously, the estimate of the cost by the Moa Flat route would bo affected by this circumstance equally with tho estimate of tho cost of the l construction of tho Lawrenco extension. But Mr Raymond misrepresents tho Ministor of Public AYorks seriously, .and places tho whole matter in an entirely false light before the public, in his quotations of scraps, of oilieial utterances aiid documents of . 1000 and 1901. He takes an extract from, a remark made by Mr Hall-Jones in Parliament in 1900, which seemed to indicate that the Pitbiio Works Department had decided that the extension of the Heriot' line to Roxburgh was preferable to the Lawrence extension. We aro disposed to think, in face of the evidence respecting the determination of the Department as disclosed in successive Public Works Statements, that the extract in question, though transcribed correctly from Hansard, does not cloarly express the Minister's meaning. We lay no stress, however, on that point, which is not very material'. But , Mr Raymond is gbilty of a gross attempt , to deceive the public when he> implies L that the Minister's remark in 1901 that , "it would be advisable to adhere to the 0 , route originally surveyed," which lie L tags on to the other extract, had referl ence to tliirHeriot extension to Rox- , burgh. Mi- Raymond himself cannot be ( ignorant of tho fact that the reference is to an entirely different matter. But that the public, which lias not access to official documents so readily as he prof bably has, iiiay ndfc be deluded ill the i matter, we propose to quote from the 1 Public Works Statements; And, though , Mr Raymond regards' the Statement of t 181)7 as • belonging to tho period of ( ancient history, We intend to rely upon it again as one of our authorities, 3 though for a different purpose from that' for which wo quoted from it in our issito 2 of the 20tli inst. In the document ill j. question the Minister, after pointing out j that the Lawrence extension to Roxj burgh possessed' advantages over the Heriot extension, went On to say: x The district immediately beyond the present terminus of the Heriot railway regards 5 itself as entitled to better railway facilities S for the transport of its produce. During u the recess plans and specifications will be : prepared for an extensfoii xjf' this railway r | for a distance of six miles and a-quarter ■ bevQiid Heriot, to a place locally known as j Edies, and, as. the construction of this " line would satve'a very considerable area f I of agricultural land, and, .would

afford reasonable "communication to tho uppor • cnd. of tho CrOokston. and lienpcr districts, and as tho cost of tho extension is eitinktcd to bo uiulor £25,G00, tho (iuesfidn of putting the work, m luiid will bo wirthy: of consideration when funds aro availablo for tho purpose. ,

This" extract is of some importance, because it 9hows, tho genesis of the official project for the extension of the Heridt'raihvay., Thete wasi 110 suggeswill bo seen,'of a continuation of the lino to Roxburgh: the terminus was to- be at Kdios. And that this was tho view taken by the Department is shown by the public documents of 'succeeding years. In: IS9B tho reference in the Public Works Statement to the imatter was brief: " Subjcct to a suitable area of land in tho district being •"obtained for settlement, it is proposed , to make a start with the section of tho Heriot railway extending as far as Edies, six miles and a-quarter past Heriot. The formation ou tho section - will be of an easy/and inexpensive - character, and the line, when completed, is expected to yield 'satisfactory results." A year later the official declaration was to the effect that no steps had been taken because tho land for settlement had not been acquired, and the necessary Railways. Authorisation Bill had not been ; passed. In 1900 the Minister announced that upon one point the Government had changed its mind. . It was -then considered advisable to proceed with the work without insisting on the condition that a suitable area of land for settlement should first bo acquired in the district, And then in 1901 we have this statement: Work on tho extension of tho Heriot line towards Edies was put in hand shortly before the close of the financial year. Some little timo was lost through tho severity of tho weather in the winter, and tho work has also been delayed by a difference of opinion amongst the local residents as to the route which the line should take, which has rendered it advisable to restrict operations to'the portion of the section about which there is no division of opinion. It will probably bb to the best interests of the district to adhere to the route originally surveyed, and to make tho terminus of tho line at Edievale, as originally. It is perfectly obvious that the few words which Mr Raymond lias dragged from their context, with the object of showing that in 1901 Mr Hall-Jones had resolved to adhere to the Heriot.extension as the route to Roxburgh, had reference in reality to the route surveyed from Hel'iot to Edies as distinguished from .that- from Heriot to Moa Elat, Nor was there ever any warrant for supposing that tho extension to Edievalo was to .be regarded as part of\ a lino that should eventually be carried to Roxburgh. "Upon this point the evidence of ill' Blow, Under-secretary for Public Works, given in 1901, is sufficiently conclusive. " I am not aware," he said, " that the construction of the lino to Edies mis intended to settle the route to Roxburgh. If Parliament ever sees lit to authorise a line to Roxburgh it will probably be found that a different route altogether will be desirable in'tlie interests of all." We need not, however, pursue this matter further at the present stage. Mr Raymond has, we should think, so discredited bis own case by the manner in which lie has mangled official documents to suit-his.purposo that he, too, will probably be content to let the discussion drop for the present. The supporters of the, Heriot extension, as a class, will at anyrate desire that its claims. should be publicly advocated by someone who is moro careful in the use he makes of authorities than Mr Raymond has shown himself to be.