THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Monday, February 8, 1909. THE MIDLAND RAILWAY.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12459, 8 February 1909, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Monday, February 8, 1909. THE MIDLAND RAILWAY.

The party who accompanied the Hon Mr McKenzie, Minister of Public AVorks, on his visit of inspection to the railway works at Manu on Friday, were much impressed by the energy with which the extension of the '.line -is now being pushed on. It was seen by. the a^nount of clearing and other preliminary work accomplished, that by the time the Manu section is ready for. traffic, the next orie.to ihe Hope Junction will be well under way. The railway is now getting into- the more difficult stages of its construction. The country so far traversed has. presented- few difficulties to impede rapid progress. A new phase of the work is now being entered upon,- however, and one that is vastly more interesting from the point of view of the engineer and the casual observer. The rails have now to be carried across : gullies ■" and streams, and. through tolerable hills. One»of- the worst samples -of. the latter was seenat the, Hope river, where a cutting which .will be forty-six feet deep by twenty-two* chains in length, has been commenced.. This cutting will be the key to the position as far as ithis point, for its completion • will mean the: virtual completion . of the Jine to the end of the Hope section,' the wofKs of .formation' and rail laying being. pushed on apace meanwhile. Jt is anticipated ithatiibhe cutting, will' consume another eighteen months,, arid trains. -should therefore be running -tocthe Hope in , something under.' two. years'. There .is now a larger number of men employed on -the line than has been employed previously, arid further drafts are being despatch^ ed to the rail head as opportunity offers, so that it is evident that the Departfno.nt is' 1 sincere in -its >desire to facilitate the' construction as far as' possible. It is in regard' to railway matters more than anything else probably, that' Nelson can find cause for congratulation in the appointment of Mr McKenzie to the principal port-/ folio, he holds in the Cabinet. '/His particular qualifications for .the office have been so often detailed; and are so obyious to those acquainted- with him, that it is unnecessary, to refer again to them. But more important even thau'.his intimate knowledge of railway construction is to those to whom the progress of the Nelson railway is a. matter \of yital importance, is his knowledge of the absolute . necessity that, calls for the rapid construction of the line,. and his profoxind belief in the productivity of the country it . trayerses,"~once given adequate nieansiof communication. These are considerations which auger that whatever has. been the case in the past,: there .will in the future be no urinecesjsary delay in lightening the load of the'" settlers by : the advent of cx r peditiqus, cheap, • and ■ reliable facilities, for the conveyance of their produce to. a port of shipment, and of stock and stores to, their holdings. Ever since the commencement of the line 'it has been clearly realised that until it was constructed as far as the •Hope Junction ■ its. benefits must be limited to the district through/ which it passed, on. account of the lack of a good road for general traffic connecting it with the country further back. Splendid land in' the Murchison. ,dis- ; trict has been- awaiting- the extension of , the railway to add riot only to the prosperity of that district, but to the general prosperity .of the whole community. '•■ In a petition to the Government some years' agoi,' many of the ■ local bodies of the province urged; besides -its .vital; neecssity in the ex-, pansion of the agricultural and pastoral industries and' the settlement of large areas, that riot only the land was -to be considered, "for. there is wealth in the forests and there is wealth beneath the surface. Gold is foimd over a wide area in this" district, and other metals also exist. The Upper and Central' Buller " districts are described asijarge bituminous coal 1 fields, and samples of coal from, the Owen, from Longford and Glehroy, 'taken froni'Outcrops have been analysed at the request of the Nelson Chamber of Commerce, and have been proved to be of high class quality. With the existence, of bituminous coal •within eighty miles of -Nelson, and alongside . the. line must run, there is no question but .profitable employment . will be> f ound-- for the railway in the carriage of that coal alone ; "but in addition to that there must be considerable work ;in the railage of •timber; if the line is built before the bush is destroyed, while the needs of a large local agricultural population and their, exportation of produce will alone give profitable work for the railway, to say nothing of .through pas-' 1 sengers and; through freights. 3 ' It' l ■wasyfurther represented that, dairy; factories would be established at once in.the: Central Buller district but for ittie; cost and difficulties iricidentai/ to' : marketing; but with "railway extoni.sion..a smiKng . country, eminently suitable in many places for close ; settlement/; would soon ; be profitably occupied by men and women, who would ;help to lighten the burdens of State, and render. material aid in advancing the -prosperity of New Zealand. These anticipations are , now ; within the-possibility of early Realisation, and there is already evidence that the prospect';' of improved communication with the city has caused the launching of various enterprises at Murchison, notable among them being the establishment of a dairy factory. We are sure that the settlers there are - fully justified in the san-' guine view they are taking, and that no effort will now be spared to redeem as speedily as possible the pledge given to Nelson long years ago.