PLEA MADE FOR RAILWAY

Taranaki Daily News, 20 September 1929, Page 11

PLEA MADE FOR RAILWAY

DEFENCE OF PUMICE LANDS ROTORUA-TAUPO CONSTRUCTION. CLOSE SETTLEMENT SUITABLE. By TetlegraP’h-—Press Association. Wellington. Sept. 19. Further evidence in support of the petition of Ernest Edward Vaile and others, asking for the resumption of work on the Rotorua-Taupo railway, was heard before the M to Z Public Petitions Committee to-day. Concluding his own evidence, Mr. Vaile invited the committee to visit the district so that they could see its possibilities. The chairman, Mr. T. W. McDonald, expressed thanks- and said he would look into the legality of such a procedure. Mr. Vaile submitted a written offer of his land at Waitapu at its present value. He detailed the extent' of the areas in forest and anticipated that, about. 30 years after planting, there would be a production of 750,000,000 feet of timber per annum, or double the cutting of all .tne mills in New Zealand to-day. If it were desired to resume agriculture .on;,.the land it would have benefited by the forest growth on it. He confirmed, the statements of other witnesses that, the land could be brought in quickly and was suitable for close settlement and small holdings. “We court an. inquiry into the productiveness of this land,” said Mr. Vaile. “We : have. everything to gain and nothing, to lose by the fullest inquiries, but we do object to people coming from a totally different country and condemning it. We want experienced men .from the Waikato, who have had experience in that land, to come and have a look at the of which I am speaking. An area of 1000 'acres in this country supports a larger and more vigorous population and holds more wealth than 10.000 acres of blue papa country.” Mr. Vaile said the climate was most' invigbratin<r and offered tourist possibilities an<J a change for people living on the sea coast. Favourable reports had been made on the sulphur and oil deposits in the district, and there was no reason why the railway should not be paid for by an assessment on the land that would he served and on the timber that would be released. Some years ago people had agreed to such an assessment, but the offer had been turned down, practically without consideration. They would sooner have the present road than a bitumen one, along which it would be impossible to drive stock. A road would cost' as much as a railway. The commission adjourned until next Tuesday. ALLEGATION OF BIAS MADE. BREEZY SCENE IN "COMMISSION. Wellington, Last Night. The methods adopted by the chairman of the M to Z Committee, Mr. T. W. McDonald, in cross-questioning the principal witness in support of the TaupoRotorua railway petition, were criticised by members of the committee in the course of a breezy interlude which took place to-day. It was alleged that the chairman showed a political bias and that the inquiry was not being conducted on strictly impartial lines. This was denied by the chairman. Mr. Vaile had offered 10,000 acres of land to the Government, and pointed out that this was qualified by the condition that he should have the right to sell to any other person until the-Gov-ernment had actually paid a deposit. “This is a worthless thing,” said Mr. McDonald. Witness: It is an offer. Mr. McDonald: Conditional on the railway going through ? Witness: Certainly. ? Mr .McDonald: Yet you say you don’t want to get anything out of it. You must know that the railway is going through before you will agree to sell to the Government. Should the prayer of the petition be granted you’ll sell -to the Government 1 Witness: Yes. Otherwise there is no call for it. , . Mr. McDonald: I submit that this is an attempt on your part, to get the Government to construct this line. Mr. H. S. S. Kyle said it showed that he was satisfied with the value, of the railway. He did not see why the chairman should give his personal opinion. They were there to hear the evidence. Mr. R. Semple said the chairman was showing a bad example to the committee. The investigation should be as broad as possible and without feeling or prejudice. • The chairman: I am not! Mr. Semple: I want to say you are. You have practically demonstrated a political bias and I object to it. The chairman said that Mr. Semple had shown a bias on the previous day and it was his bounden duty to get all the facts. Mr. A. M. Samuel also alleged bias and said the committee should sit in a judicial capacity and not pass an opinion on the statements until afterwards. Mr. McDonald said hie only object was to get at the bottom of the railway proposal.