Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, TUESDAY, DEC. 30, 1930. THE RAILWAY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17453, 30 December 1930, Page 6

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, TUESDAY, DEC. 30, 1930. THE RAILWAY

The protests against the stoppage of railway construction on the, GisborncWaikokopu section of the East Coast Main Trunk lino, forwarded from this district by the Chamber of Commerce and the railway delegation, have met with courteous but decidedly nonrommital acknowledgement. The matter cannot be allowed to rest there, and so soon as the holidays arc over the citizens of Gisborne and settlers of the district should be called together to register their indignation against the gross injustice that is being done to the district and the flagrant breach of faith that has taken place. It would be well to acquaint the returning Prime Minister (Mr. Forbes) by Wireless of the district’s resentment and urge him to give-con-sideration to the excluded evidence from the district before permitting the work to be suspended. Certainly a deputation should be sent to Wellington at the. earliest moment after the Prime Minister’s arrival to lay before him facts and figures in contravention of the absurd estimates of certain Government officials on which the Cabinet based its unfair decision. ' The head of the Government cannot bo too strongly reminded of the pledges that have been given to the district by successive Prime Ministers and Ministers for Railways. First, there was the pronouncement ' of Richard Beddon who declared that it was high time this groat district should be linked up with the railway system of the Dominion, and at whose instance the designation of the railway was changed to the “ East Coast Main Trunk line.” Mr! Beddon had a knowledge of the Dominion not excelled by that of any other Prime Minister who has succeeded him. He knew the extent and the value of the great area in flic eastern wing of the North Island to be served by the railway, and lie had no qualms as to whether it would pay. He regarded it, as a developmental work, essential to the progress of the Dominion. ,A similar view was held by Mr. Beddon’s one-time colleague. Sir Joseph Ward, upon whose judgment tli(> energetic programme of construction which is /low being interrupted was undertaken. Sir Joseph’s decision was supported by certain ol his colleagues, who have now determined to revoke it, and who have given precedence to railway undertakings ol less importance as national developmental works. Will Mr. Forbes have it, said that beenusc the South Island main trunk line runs through his own constituency, or the liuingaliua railway through that of the leader of the

Labor Party, It is Government caused work on the Last Coast line to be sits' ponded in favor of those two railways? Yet assuredly unless Cabinet’s decision is revoked that is ■the deduction that will be drawn, and .the name of the United Cabinet , will for over be execrated in the district. Attention must also be directed to the shocking waste that will be involved in the abandonment of the like at the present stage. Earthworks, partly completed, will be liable to be swept away; machinery, which lias been put into position at great expense, will either have to rust away or its removal will involve considerable cost; in fact, the whole ,o£ the prosent bousing and

organisation represents a, huge,capital outlay that is going to be sacrificed unless the ill-considered decision of the Government,is^reversed. .Then, as we have previously pointed out, there is the fate of the 700 workers engaged in construction; and their families, to be considered. Borne may be transferred to other .jobs; some may be offered work on-the new farm settlements, but a considerable number are bound to be .left stranded and thrown upon the .charity of the Unemployment board or the local authorities of the district. Ju any case expense is involved that those people cannot, afford, for beyond the transport expenses the Public Works ■ Department may allow there is considerable cost in puljing up stakes, and establishing a new 'home for a family. Over, and Above these considerations, however, is the injury 'done to a great district by denial of railway facilities that other parts of the -Dominion have enjoyed for many years, l and to the upkeep of some of which this East Coast community has been called upon to contribute bv way of taxation. The need of the moment for New Zealand is to develop the national estate and create more ’■productive.' wealth, and denial of rduway facilities to a great area that includes- Some of the. richest lands in the'. .Dominion 'is certainly Hot a national policy to be pursued by a Cloyornment that aims at calling itself progressive. r If in the interests of economy it was necessary to curtail public Works expenditure there are other works not nearly so, capable of promoting development of the national resources which should have been suspended. The proper course, if the Government found itself in difficulties in regard to the.economic situation of the Dominion, was to have called Parliament.'together'. Parliament ■ only a few weeks previously passed the Public Works Estimates, which gave authority for construction of this line, and to Parliament should have been left the decision whether that authority should be revoked. . Had flint course been pursued the people of this district; might have had opportunity of presenting the ease for the line—an opportunity, which in spite of promises was denied them by«tho Cabinet. To Mr. Forbes this, position in all, its aspect s must be put-as strongly as possible. His ' natural inclination, no doubt, Will be ’to support his colleagues, to whom lie had delegated authority to act in his absence, but if lie is a reasonable mail With any sense of fair play, and if, as his great Liberal predecessors did, he possesses vision and enterprise, and can see beyond the boundaries of his own constituency, then, perhaps, we may gain a revocation of this order which came so suddenly, like a thunderbolt, on the district.