THE PELORUS GUARDIAN FRIDAY, AUGUST, 15 1890 Main Trunk Railway.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 1, Issue 58, 15 August 1890, Page 2

THE PELORUS GUARDIAN FRIDAY, AUGUST, 15 1890 Main Trunk Railway.

We are pleased to see that some of our ■representatives have not overlooked the fact, and still recognise there is a portion of New Zealand called Marlborough that was not fairly in the swim when the big crumbs were served out under the Public Works policy. Mr George Fisher, when speaking in the Want-of-Confidence debate, says “ In regard to the railways, I shall run foul of my honourable friends from Canterbury, but I do say, in the interests of the Colony, if the railways are to yield the magnificent returns prognosticated by Sir Julius Vogel in his statesmanlike speech of 1870, the South Island Trunk line should have been continued from the Red Post upwards to Picton, instead of being carried across to Westland, and, as Sir Julius Vogel conceived it, with a three-hour ferry-service from Wellington wharf to Uioton wharf. I hope, if this country ever becomes possessed of the necessary capital, it will complete the Southern Trunk line to Picton. That would be a statesmanlike public work, and I hope, even if it is ten or twenty years hence, this Parliament will insist upon the completion of that line. Then, a person might take a railway ticket at Auckland to carry him to Invercargill, and then we might truly say we had a trunk railway system in the country.” Again, in this quotation history repeats itself for nearly twenty years ago a resident of this district pointed out through a letter in the Evening Post the same advantages might be obtained, but we recommend the Government to carefully inspect the piece of country from Ohau Bay, North of Terawhiti, and see what facilities there are for connecting that bay by rail with Wellington. The advantages are, That it is the nearest point between Queen Charlotte’s Sound and the North Island, all the rough water from Cape Terawhiti through the Rim Rip, Sinclair’s Head and at Wellington Heads, would be avoided, while the passage could nearly always be made with what sailors call a “ soldiers’ wind,” even an ordinary south-east gale would not preyent a steamer crossing the Straits on that course, and, for passenger traffic, the trip with a smart channel boat would mean but little over two hours between Picton and Wellington, and nothing to prevent the journey being made twice a day. Picton must eventually be, from its beautiful harbour and geographical position, the northern terminus to the Main Trunk line from Canterbury, and eventually we shall see it connected with the West Coast railway from Nelson, thus giving everyone from all parts of the Island every facility for communication with Wellington, the capital of New Zealand.