The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 1919. PUBLIC WORKS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16502, 1 August 1919, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 1919. PUBLIC WORKS.

The Minister of Public ATorks is conferring with his engineers on tiie subject of tiie Estimates io be la id before Parliament during the coming- session. This means that the Estimates and tiie programme for the coming summer are in course of preparation. Now therefore is the iime to press upon the Minister’s attention whatever public works are regarded as of urgent importance. In Taranaki there are three works of outstanding importance—the StratfordMain Trunk railway, the Opunake railway, and the Alain, North Road. Of course there are many minor works of local importance, but these three concern a great number of people, and two of them may be said to be national works. The Stratford-Main Trunk railway is comparable with the Canterbury-West Coast line and should rank with it us among the most important railway undertakings in the Dominion. Increased activity is being shown at the eastern end, but not much is being done at this end. We doubt indeed whether anything more is being clone than merely putting (he finishing touches on the Ko-huratahi-Tahora section, which is almost ready to hand over to the Railway Department'. Beyond Tahora the line will deviate from (he original route, but whether Ihe new route has been definitely located and surveyed we cannot sav. The Minister should be urged to,push on with the survey as rapidly as possible and have the working plans prepared so that actual construction may be put in baud during the coming summer. AVith regard to the

Opunake lino, Sir William Fraser has already given instructions for, available men to be put on the southern portion, from Te Roti to Man ala and Opunake, and it is his intention to again recommend Cabinet to include the Opunakc'New Plymouth section in the Railways Authorisation Act during the coming session. Six years ago both Mr. Massey and Sir William Fraser acknowledged the importance of this line, which it was shown would pay well from the day it was completed. The need for it is greater to-day and the certainty of its being a payable line is also greater, there is the possibility that Cabinet will not adopt Sir William Fraser’s recommendation unless this is supported by local representations. A long line of Ministers of Public Works have admitted the great importance of the Main Norik Road to connect the Taranaki and Auckland provinces, yet we doubt whether there is a similar work in the whole Dominion which has received worse treatment than this. It is a melancholy fact, reflecting on many Governments, that alter a lapse of nearly eighty years since the foundation of the settlements of Auckland and New Plymouth there is no metalled road connecting them. There are portions of the route where there is no metal available, but on the other hand for many miles the road passes through country which abounds in mclai. All that is wanted is the money, the men, and (lie machinery to crush the metal and lay it on the road. When the Minister of Public Works went over the road some time ago he promised to send a metal dumping wagon and have .something done to the worst parts of the road. He was us good as his word, hut it was too late in the season and the result was disappointing, and the wagon has now been shifted to another part of the district. What is now required is that preparation shall be made for carrying on the work as soon ns the weather admits of its being done economically. Here again, however, the spur of local representations should lie applied while, the Public Works programme is in course of preparation. It is of little use going to the Minister after he has the season’s work mapped out. The urgency of this and the two railway undertakings wo have mentioned should he brought to the Minister’s notice at once so that he may include them in his programme.