UNINFORMED CRITICISM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2676, 28 June 1905, Page 11

UNINFORMED CRITICISM.

The frequent references which, .in the course of the Premier's recent visit to Otago, were made to the j urgency of -the necessity for the provision of means of railway communication with the great interior of the provincial districL have excited the attention of the Hawke's Bay Herald. Our contemporary is concerned Jest a too-ready compliance on Mr Seddon's part with the demands for railway construction in this portion of New Zealand may produce an >un justifiable expenditure of public funds; and it is especially apprehensive lest the colony may be induced to throw away any more money upon the -Otago Central line. We should be fully disposed to agree with theHawke's Bay Herald that an expenditure upon the construction of that railway would be a wicked waste o*f money- if the country through which the line is bsing, and is to be, carried ■were of such a description as has been j painted to' our-iontemporary. But itwould" be difficult to parallel the! grotesque misrepresentation of the; character of" the" land in Central' Otagc that is supplied in the follow- j ing extract from the columns of the Herald: —

"We gather frcm a recent article by a wcill-hvicrni^d writer that the Otago Central line commences at Wingatui on the Southern Main Trunk line, and, running. ncrth-\ve;t. immediately enters a sparsely-settled ,pasfcorai conairy, -which grows more ruofij'Pd an the line 'nentitrates inland." until -at ' "Wedderburn the railway station is 1770£t abovs the sea, and' the mountains rising en each side of the line are deenly covered tvita snow for months j together in the winter time, and tho country, at its best, can only be very thinly populated. Beyond Wodderburn the line is to cross a high, rugged plateau, constantly ewept by fierce icy winds, a.nd will descend into tha narrow, deep valley of 'the Manuherilria, down which it windsto'the rugged canyons of fchs Clutha, up ! •which 'it -is to be carried to its final ter- \ minus at' the southorn end of Lake | Wanaka. Ii; is triiie that at certain points'| along the route alluvial mining is carried j en; i but the population engaged in this \ industry is very small, and is decreasing eteatUly year by year. Wool, rabbits, and j fruit are the principal .agricultural products of the district; but 'tho land suitable for fruit' is exceedingly limited in area, and can bo made really productive by exj'«nsive irrigation works. The amount of level or arable land on the whole route of the line would " not' make more than half a dozen moderatesized farms, and in mosi cases it consists of small, isolated terraces on the banks of turbulent, streams. Speaking broadly, the Lulk of the land on the route of the Otago Central consists of steep and rugged mountains, rieing from 4003 ft to 6000 ft in height-; so it will bo teen that under the most favourable circumstances the railway can i.ever .serve a large population, or increase settlement, or help agricultural, mineral, a«d manufacturing industries." The suggestion thai - after passing throughthe Taieri Gorge,~tlie railway 1 continues through more and^more rugged country, with mountains rising up on each side of the line, and- no doubt overshadowing the trains as they convey a few awestricken tourists towards Wanaka, while the scattered and hairy inhabitants, clad in rabbitskins, clamber •down from the snowy fastnesses to gaze open-mouthed at the spectacle, will. -appeal forcibly to the sense of humour of Otago people. Its lndicrousness will be especially appreciated when it is remembered that- almost all the flat lands in Hawke's Bay could be stowed away on one of the four great plains of Central Ofcago. A serious and independent observer" has, however, .enly tostand at the Dunedin Railway Station and seethe heavy goods traffic coming from and going to Central Otago in order to realise that \hc line opens up -valuable tracts of land. Were the country such as the Hawke's' Bay Herald depicts, no Government under the sun- would dare -to construct a railway through it ; but a complete answer to our contemporary is contained in the fact that the Otago Central line, though it has not yet reached what has all along been recognised as its paying point, already furnishes a remunerative service. The "high, rugged plateau constantly swept by fierce, icy winds," beyond Wedderburn, is we need hardly say. merely a product of the imagination. Vvaipiata, Eanfurly,'and Wedderburn are all on the Maniototo Plain, which is crossed by the line, and beyond Wedderburn the line runs down across one end of the great Ida Valley, another plain where the acres of flat land may be counted in thousands. Beyond this, agaiir, is the Poolburn Gorge, where there are. a viaduct and two small tunnels, after which the railway runs ©ut d-fwn the fertile Manuherikia Valley. When the Hawke's "Bay Herald describes the railway as wind* fr-2 " t-3 tha ru^scd c?.uyoi.3 cf th?

Clutlia, up which it will be carried to its final terminus at the southern end of Lake Wanaka/' it is apparently unaware of the existence of the wide spreading plains 01 the Upper Clutha. Valley, along which there will, when the work is constructed, be a practically level run of 40 miles in a straight line. Nor does our contemporary mention the rich' valleys at the head of the Wanaka and Hawea Lakes. The statement that the land suitable for fruit culture is exceedingly limited is absurdly erroneous. There is no excuse for ignorance on this point, for the published reports of the Government, experts have shown that, as a matter of fact, there are 'tens of thousands of acres adapted for fruit-growing in Central Otago. It must be admitted that irrigation is necessary in many parts of the districts ; but the water supply is one of the best in the world for the purpose, and while irrigation may be I costly in the aggregate it should not, when the vast areas of land to be served are considered, prove expensive to individual settlers. The railway, we may: remind the Hawke's Bay Herald, is only just- reaching the fruit-growing zone. In the meantime wool, rabbits, and fruit are hardly " the principal products of the- district," nor is. the country wrapped in perpetual winter, as is evidently supposed. The summer of Central Otagpislong enough and hot enough, indeed, to ripen grapes in Hie open air, and the degree oi heat in the Molyneux Valley in Jurmary or' February would astonish most northern settlers if they experienced it. Perhaps the molt extravagant blunder to which the Herald has committed itself consists in the statement that the amount of level or arable land on. the whole route of the Central line would not make more than half a dozen moderate-sized farms, and that in most cases it consists of/small isolated terraces on the banks of -turbulent streams. Gladbrook Farm, at Middleiharch, would alone ; inafSe--, a -.dozen moderate-sized farnis^and-'ihe 1 "fertile Strath Taieri Plain,:, the- -great, wide Maniototo Plain, 'the Ida Valley, the Maimherikia Valley, and the valley of the Upper Clutha "are capable of very extensive settlement. It is no exaggeration to say that the Oi. ago Central I railway, which opens up absolutely the largest and richest estate of Crown lands in the colony, will yet serve one of the largest populations in New Zealand, # and that the development of the great interior, proceeding slowly and sui'oly as it i?, will in time to come provide the I colony with an asset of immense value.