PRAISE FOR WORKMEN

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19364, 30 June 1937, Page 6

PRAISE FOR WORKMEN

MOHAKA CEREMONY HELD “BUI’. HEM I’LE’S MECHANO” TENTATIVE SERVICES (Special to the Herald.) WAIROA, this day. The highest possible praise for the workmen associated with the fabrication of the Mohaka viaduct on the occasion of the opening ceremony today was given in addresses by the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. R. Semple, and the Minister of Railways, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, who were the principle speakers at the function. Both Ministers declared that the Mohaka viaduct was one of the first and probably the most striking of the tangible signs of a new spirit of progress manifested throughot the country and of the outstanding skill and energy of New Zealand engineers and workmen.

“The test of citizenship,” said Mr. Semple, “is the service one renders to the community and I can assure those who were engaged on this job that as long as I have anything to do with the management of public works there will be a place lor them in our organisation because they have shown that young New Zealanders can rival the engineers and workmen of other countries in the carrying out of work of a highly technical character.” Speakers at the Ceremony

Speakers at the function included the two Ministers, Messrs. Semple and Sullivan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon. W. E. Barnard, the member for Wairau, Mr. E. P. Meachen. who was co-opted by Mr. Semple to assist him with the public works, the chairman of the Wairoa County Council, Mr. A. G. Nolan, the Mayor of Wairoa, Mr. H. L. Harker, the acting chairman of the Hawke’s Bay County Council. Mr. C. C. Smith, and the Mayor of Napier, Mr. C. O. Morse.

All paid tribute to the Minister of Public Works and his organisation and prophesied a substantial advance in the district’s production and in the general standard of human amenities as a result of the completion of the Napicr-Wairoa section of the line.

The Minister of Public Works gave a tentative forecast of services on the line, indicating that the railway would be used to give a 14-hour service between Gisborne and Wellington, a distance of 1128 miles, and daily goods services between Gisborne and Napier when the line was completed and in the meantime between Wairoa and Napier. Night trains also would run on the district railway and would rival the timetables on the Main Trunk line between Wellington and Auckland and furnish sleeping accommodation for travellers. Final Rivet Secured The driving of the last spike in the line and the securing of the final rivet on what Mr. Barnard referred to in the local nomenclature >as “Bob Semple’s meehano set” was carried out by the Minister of Public Works to the accompaniment of the clicking of ordinary cameras and the whirl of newsreel cameras. The cheers for the Ministerial party and the singing of the National Anthem concluded the function, which occupied an hour and a-quarter.

At 12.15 p.m. the Ministerial party moved away from Mohaka. There was an alteration in the arrangements. The Ministers inspected the camp and had short discussions with the engineers and workmen and then Mr. Semple and his party parted company with Mr. Sullivan and the railway group, instead of going on to Wairoa. While Mr. Semple and his party returned to Napier by motor car, Mr. Sullivan and bis group of officials proceeded to Wairoa by rail car, where arrangements had been made to greet them on behalf of the town of Wairoa. FARES AND FREIGHTS j\ lINI STB IV S ST AT EM EN T An important statement regarding fares and freight charges on the Napier- Wairoa-Waikokopu railway was made in Napier yesterday by the Minister of Railways, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, who participated in to-day’s ceremony marking the official opening of the Mohaka viaduct.

“The most important development in railway progress at the present time, following the highly successful opening of the new Wellington station, is the commencement of traffic conveyance on the Napier-Wairoa-Wai-kokopu railway section of the East Coast line,” said Mr. Sullivan . Last Spike “Until August traflic will be worked by the Public Works Department, when the section between Napier and Putorino will be taken over by the working railways. In the same month the Public Works Department anticipates being able to commence working traflic on the Putorino-Wairoa-Waikokopu section, and it expects to hand this line over to the Railway Department in December of this year.

"In order that residents of the districts concerned may reap the full benefits naturally accruing from railway access at the earliest possible opportunity, I have arranged that through rates for fares and freights will be charged, and with this policy ( my colleagues in the Cabinet are in complete agreement. This course has not always been followed. The Government has decided that in future, from the time through traffic can be worked between lines under construction and existing lines, the whole distance shall be treated as one unit so far as fares and freights are concerned. Obvious Advantage “The advantage of this course is obvious, and it will give the full benefit of low railway transport rates for the longer distances on fertilisers, livestock and other requirements and products of producers and consumers in the new country opened up, right from the inception of through railway connection between their district and the country already served by the railways. “1 feel sure that this decision will be welcomed by all concerned in the development of the areas tapped by the new lines and will ensure flic most rapid progress in bringing new country under cultivation, and facilitating the general interchange of products and commodities to the most desirable extent.”