The Sun WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 1919. THE ARTHUR'S PASS TUNNEL.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume VI, Issue 1578, 5 March 1919, Page 6

The Sun WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 1919. THE ARTHUR'S PASS TUNNEL.

The tardy progress of the Arthur's Pass tunnel is the despair of everyone interested in the advancement of Canterbury, and our readers will share the dissatisfaction expressed by members of the Tunnel League yesterday at the incapacity of the Government to hasten completion of the work. In August last the mountain was pierced, and during the past six months a handful of men have been engaged on widening and lining. So far as we can ascertain, the Government has arrived at no decision concerning the alternative schemes proposed by Mr Parry for providing the electric power necessary to operate the tunnel section of 'the railway, nor has any order been placed for the electric locomotives or the power plant. These things cannot be made and shipped in a day, and unless some pressure is brought to bear on the Government to proceed with more expedition there seems little prospect of railway communication with the West Coast for some years to come. Meanwhile, the interest bill mounts at the rate of £IOOO a week and upwards. Sir "William Fraser obstinately refuses to pay the current rate of wages, and it is not surprising that with local bodies and private employers offering 13/- a day he cannot get men to go to Otira and work for 11/-. Still, even if he had to pay several shillings a day extra to hasten the time when the trains will run, the 1 saving in interest on locked-up capital would still leave the Government ; thousands of pounds to the good. We suspect, however, that Sir William is | anticipating considerable delay in regard to installation of the electric 1 plant, and is not bothering very much about the actual completion of the tunnel itself. The onus, therefore, rests on the Tunnel League and the Canterbury members of Parliament to extract from the reluctant Minister some precise information regarding the orders for the electrical equipment, and give him no rest till the details are forthcoming.