SOUTHLAND LEAGUE

Otago Witness, Issue 3149, 22 July 1914, Page 61

SOUTHLAND LEAGUE

CORRECT RAILWAY FOLICY. (From Our Own Correspondent'.) INVERCARGILL, July 17. With a view to obtaining a statement as ’ to what the intentions of tao Southland j League’ are in respect to railways, a re- | porter waited on Mr W. D. Hunt, the presi- ! dent, yesterday, and in reply to the inquiry that gentleman made the following statement : “My idea is that the league should com- ! mit itself to nothing in connection with railways until the council is elected in October. That will be a permanent council, and a great many of the men on the present council will not be on it. For instance, there are at present about 24 Invercargill men on the council, only four of | whom have been appointed as the representatives of local bodies. When the ejection of the permanent council takes place not more than another four Invercargill men will be elected, which means that 16 of the present members will retire. It ia therefore no use trying to set out a railway policy in the meantime. As to what the • permanent railway policy of the league will , be, that, of course, will have to bo determined’ by the council. -My idea is this: 1 Fust, a railway committee should be appointed ; that committee should have on it the representatives of the branches in every \ district where railway matters are a live ’> question, and districts where railway matters j are not a live question should not have re- \ pyesentatives on the committee. The committee should then get a map of South- t | land, and lay down on it the I railways that seem to be wanted. They should then make a motor tour of I the whole of the districts' it was proposed to serve and make themselves thoroughly y acquainted with those districts. They should endeavour to plan the railways to meet the requirements of the whole ol i Southland for many years to come, and try to keep tho building in conformity with a genera! plan. Small branch lines should be avoided, and wherever it is possible to serve a district by a ma : n line branch lines should not be advocated. From the country’s point of view small , lines arc more expensive to work, and from the point of view of the district it is far bettor to have a main line three or four miles away, with four or five trains > day than to have a branch lino, in the backyard with a train twice a week, so that if a district could see its way to get a station on a main line within three or four miles they should concentrate all their- efforts .on that • line and getting a first-class road to the station, instead of agitating to get a branch line put in, which would only give them trains at long intervals.” '