Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE WEDNESDAY, APRIL- 24, 1912. RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12745, 24 April 1912, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE WEDNESDAY, APRIL- 24, 1912. RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

Tli© interview accorded our representative yesterday by. Mr B. D: Day, of Taurangia, in the course of which that gentleman gave some indication of. the -progress that is beginning, to be made &y the Bay. of (Plenty, districts, was most, irtterestirig and" surely 'tionveys to tlie people of tliis district some sense of the' importance of Gisborne being brought 1 into touch at as early a date as, possible, with this extensive and' .'rapidly • • ad-. vahcing : 'territory. We have always re-< gai'ded the- Bay of Plenty as a district .of fereat- potentiality... There are extensiveregions »f great fertility all along the, cdasti-and for many miles inland. Ther quality of ; the butter ond • ■ cheese, the: riUi'ze and .other' prodntts turned ' 6nt; frohi Opotiki ahd Whakatahe' has longv 'demonstrated the fatness of the soil,.and u .though ;it has • popularly supposed t that jpaptaia Copk , wastas imuch; atf fault lin i.ccjnterring . the j, title , .of ; . the : Bay .of jPlenty upon this long stretch of country 1 : |as he was in making his misnomer -"Poverty Bay," the developments now taking place go to prove' tne soundness (of his judgment .in, regard to the norjtherii ax ea: T*lie" opening of the Native tlands iii .the hinterland tdNVards the j Ur,§wera ' wuiitry, / the drainage of thei ivKst '-Whalciataiie 5 .swamp, and other; jineasures now in progress for the ppenjing qf rich lands to settlement must ,rei'siiit iii a large popui^tibn finding haSita-. .tion in this pdrtioii';of> the'Dominipiij oixd •iiv a yastly v lhcre^ased output of, produce., [T'h6 late x>liiiistei> f<jr' Pu,blic Work-^ (the ! Hon. .['R. '•'• AJlcKenzie) yony eacn occasion (that he travelle4.,th'roUgh.fr6iri the Bay , Plenty to, Gisborne .'expressed him•seif* : in , terms of ,ihe higliest satisfaction, at the prospects of th*Q railway througl^ the cbim'try, declaring; flia,^ there >ycvs* tiip.paH, of * Ne\v ; . Zealaiiii niore favorably' isituate.d, tor development,, b*y rail, . ahd,^ fthik cpihipn hks lpeen qoiifi^med by others' (Wjio^know tKe/cpui'iti.'y . y \yell-'.;., Gi-sboriie s. iinterfes^.in vi^w. o*^ the .' pro^p'p.cts ot. ;settle%eiit_.iit ; the nortjh witl^ii- tlie next' decade, niust be to get i j\ t^.. touch .with' ! this hew afield as speeduy as" possible.' .Trade connections, . if established now, will be lasting and lucrative, and will result in a great deal of commerce flowing towards tliis East Coast 'centre, but if through the apathy of our ' local; settlers and merchants the current of; trade is established in a northerly, direction Gisborne may find it difficult to: build up relationships with tlie neigh-j boring districts The people. *of .Auck-; land have for : some time past been fully alive to the possibilities pf ,the of Plenty. Tlie ihJsislent clainor that proceeded for several (^ears tp jtiavo t^ East Coast Main Trunk "Line started\from the Waihi end was not without reason, and Aucklanders have now the satisfaction of seeing the railway proceeding apace in three sections — from Waihi to Athenree, from Tauranga eastwards to To Puke, and from Tauranga westwards to the Wairoa river. For these three sections a sum of £45,000 was voted last year, and is' now being spent. It is faiTly evident that, under existing conditions, by the time the line from Gisborne gets down through the difficult country back of Motu into Opotiki, the Auckland railway will., have advanced right through the Bay of Plenty tp Opotiki, gathering tip, trade for., Auckland merchants and manufacturers every mile it, advances. That is very weJL from the J^uckland point of- view, but' Gis'-; borne's proximity to Opotiki and Whakrir tane. gives it claims upon that; territory,^ and we consider a strong effort should be made to build up trade >connectionp from this end. That can prily be donp by railway communication between Gisborne and Motu being expedited, and what is required is that a start should be made with the railway *. from / . the Opotil^i end, working towards Gishprne, so that with the least possible, vdelay this very difficult piece of construction may be got through, and the railway between the two neighboring districts be set in operation. Once that is doiie there will considerable traffic in. passengers, goods and stock and a lucrative revenue built-up for the, railway. Similarly, as the Gisborne' southwards line, we would be pleased to see a commencement made with construction at Wairoa, working northwards. The new Minister for Public Works fully realises the importance of expediting the completion of this great Main Trunk Railway, and will, we believe, urge his colleagues and Parliament to give adequate grants for the line. If construction? proceeds vigorously at the points suggested, the gaps between the railheads will be rapidly reduced and the people will have the gratification of seeing the chain of communication that.' is to make tine future 'of the East Coast one of abounding prosjierity linked up, section by section, and 1 tlie through railway gradually made an accomplished fact. ■ f ■