OPUNAKE-MOTUROA RAILWAY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 209, 5 April 1913, Page 6

OPUNAKE-MOTUROA RAILWAY.

TO BE CONSTRUCTED. BY STATE OR LOCAL ENTERPRISE. The settlers between Opunake and New Plymouth lost no opportunity yesterday of impressing on the Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Works the necessity . for the . construction of the Opwiake : !Mot'uroa railway, and were more tlian satisfied with their reception by- the Ministers, and the assurance giVen that they were convinced that the line must be constructed, either by the Government, or, if that were financially unfeasible soon, by the settlers themselves. AT RAHOTU.

At Eahotu, Mr. Gibson presented the case clearly and concisely. The principal industry—the dairy industry, he said, demanded transport atrall seasons of the year. They had one of the first requirements, the, necessary corollary of a railway, reasonably good roads; so they would be able to supply traffic for, the line. The cost of the roading had been borne by the district, the settlers having made the roads out of loans, besides paying towards the construction of the Dominion railways. He referred to the Commission's report, and said the settlers'here would be satisfied with a light railway, not necessarily one costing £7ooo' or £BOOO, as estimated by the Commission. Since the previous depu- j tatiqn on this matter the cost of haulage on roads had been increased from 30s per ton to 35s per ton, or Is Id per lon ■mile. 1 This prevented the settlers using manures as f ulry ■as was required., On •behalf of the settlers he submitted the' following alternative requests: (1) That the Government be asked to authorise and construct a light railway from Opunake> to Moturoa; (2) that if the Government cannot see its way to authorise and conaWuet'thß line'sn the ordinary' course, the, settlers will rate their "ffl !l guarailteo "the '■•flrivevrtihenfl 1, agairtst loss; (3) that if the Government cannpt'constTiiet' the line' at all, a Local Rail vfa^''Bill lie promoted for the pose (of boaVds'to* eon- • stru(|t'fkii'MyS;'-f4) : if'nphe'6l ; thef-ab'*V'e :| proposals are •Govern'' ment£ tSa* r they ; assi^t'tlie'We'sl!eriTTH , Pa'-' jiaki [District in promoting -a" private A'ct> ; auth&rising the "settteTsrrta ::nnd«rtake the Railway. These, he said, were busi-ness-tike propositions^brflittwl,.by business [men to business men, and "deserved a" straight and._candi(i^..answer, He streamed the immediate and pressing need);of fcbfc tAMay^";^,3^jbvay,.iu;.five; ''oir'tok years' time would not suffice. '"' ! Mi| M; "Fleming, of Pungarehu, said that [this country needed good farming and heavy manuring. , Th,e, Commission 'had recommended the line from Moturoa to Tfe Roti, via Opuna.ke, ..and ; be urged that Jtljis-.jxqrk should„be.stated' h'pnV the pfyw Ply.n]o»itb .end without, delay. Mr. Fleming said the, position had been aceeiituated here by_tlip_facturies changing fjtom butter to cheese, increasing the outwiaxd freights by about 250 per cent. Another seTiMis-'flkneot was that even by ' improving herds the farmers could not keep,up their milk output--"Manure- was "required, but..it could not be obtained., owing to excessive 'cartages charges and 'Waint of proper means of conveyance. •'Wer<i it possibli* !; t)o"''g6'' iti' for prober manuring they could increase production byi i 0 per cent ' ,; ; : "THE "WAY TO TALK."

..- Tlie Hon. W. Eraser, replying, said he was prepared to.admit that better mca,ns ,ot,communication were necessary, and a liglit. railway would lie the most economical. Light "railways would probably be ji\orc generally adopted now in the dominion. He wasglad to hear that the.settlers themselves iweve,- prepared t<>' ~b\rild, the line*-if : 'authority were given. ..jhatj was the-'wav- to'talk, and people who (talked that why deserved assistance.They were speaking to very sympathetic ears.!. Light railways would not mean express trains. The speed would' be onlv ten or twelve miles an hour, (A voiee: It will do u-0 The, Premier said a very good ease had been' made out. The position had been changed since yesterday. Then, in the districts they visited, the question wns one bf rival routes, but here the people • simply asked for the railway, lie was satisfied that if the line were built it ■would pay. (Applause.) F>ut could the Government build it? He could not say. But the Government would not take up -: a dog-in-the-manger attitude. Tf they icoiild not build the line they would not ; ;prevent the local bodies from building it. reserving the right of the State to rei .-sitihe it at-any time at a price not ex- :■ -ceeding the actual, cost.

AT AYAREA. ' 'llr. James Burgess headed the railway 'deputation. He said that each mile of tliq proposed railway woud serve 70(10 ajcres. It would probably cost £4llOO a mile. 'This, at SVS.. per eeut.."would mean the payment of interest of £220 a mile. Kven if no revenue were earned at all. 'the capital liability would be 12s (id an acre, and the annual liability only S'/jd an acre. In his own case the freight on his produce outwards, the manures inwards, and his travelling expenses amounted to 10s 2d an acre. That was, of course, above the average, which would be about half that amount. Itailway freight would reduce that charge td'about Is 3d. Besides this great saving, every mile of railway would save the ratepayers CIOO a mile in road maintenance. Tie mentioned that owing to the excessive cost of cartage, basic slag, costing C 3 lis a ton at Wellington, cost C 7 or :CS lauded on the farms here. This hampered farming. -Unless a railway could be obtained the district must borrow heavily for road-reconstruction, an expensive and temporary expedient. The only real solution of the problem was to put the traffic on to steel rails. 0 K ATO'S CONTRIBUTION. At Okalo. Mr. W. J. Cray reiterated some of il'.e arguments already adduced, pointing to the unavailing struggle of the set tiers to work out their own salvation bv road traction. But the roads could not. carry the fust-increasing cargoes inward and outward, and a raii- ■ wav was a necessity.

AT OAKURA. "A NEGLECTED DISTRICT."

The deputation at Oaknra, headed by Mr. G. A. Adlam, complained that the) district could make no headway against the disabilities caused by lack of proper communication with the port. The upkeep of the main road was so expensive that freeholders had a heavy rent to pay in rates, while on top of that their expenses in exporting produce and importing heavy goods, such and other farming necessities, were enormous. The upkeep of the road had reached the sum of over £2OO per mile, and was steadily increasing year by year. There were no funds for improving the sideroads, so that settlers living back 'from the main road were in as bad a plight I as those living in the most remote backblocks of tho province. The lands in the district were going back in productiveness, because the settlers could not afford to : work and manure them ■ as should be done. Horse-waggons had been tried qn the road, but were found too expensive and destructive to the road. Motor-waggons had a similar experience, and finally traction engines proved even more destructive to the road and more expensjye as freight-carriers. The county had wisely debarred all such means of 'transit,, in order to keep up even this , miserable but only means of communieatiofl—our road. Thus they were in dire itrouble. They could not afford to farm their lands properly, and they had great difficujty in sending their products tomarß<?t. ; A'railway of some sort was' :an>-absolute necessity to save this part of the country from reverting to the wilderness, and a railway would pay the Government handsomely if built now. The settlers were prepared to submit to the proposals made at Rnhotu. Mr. Adlam paid this was one of the oldest.settlements in the Dominion, and the_ fathers 6f most of the present inhabitants had shed their blood in defence of the country; yet the district had been neglected by Government after Government 1 , and its people had struggled] against difficulties which had been re-j .inoved from the path of the newest kfjttlara in some of the most remote and ' unc.u|tivatea paths: of the Dominion. ~:Mr;: <Massey,- replying, assured the jTieopli? -that under the new Government any;; JWongs to ue righted would be !riglit|d,' : and if there were any matters Jq'M reformed they would be reformed. He phi'd a tribute to the prosperity of 'Tawnala, and to the evidences everywHerjs'fti' *"«* industry of its peoplje. 1 Its people were evidently determined to get this railway, and people with [that spirit'usually managed to get whatjthey wantea*."" '"" '•"'

U A» jleputation from the' Western Taraiia'fd I'Railwav League waited upon the Minister for" Public Works at New Plymouth last night. ' ■ - 1 : Mrl A. H. Johnstone, as Chairman of ;{he:'Qbin'nftt!te'e:, said that in view of the 'HiTftpftthoMcliniiture of the replies given 'kiVthe Minister to previous deputations ntftiU day on the subject, it was not tiroi posed' to indict another soeceh on him. The reputation was merelv -desirous of [thanking Mr. Fraser for the manner in | which he had received them. The deputation then withdrew.