THE OTIRA TUNNEL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12571, 7 March 1919, Page 6

THE OTIRA TUNNEL.

* "' ». v ' CANTERBURY WANTS IT FINISHED. DEPUTATION TO HON 4, A, HAH AN. SOME COGENT ARGUMENTS. j A representative deputation, consisting of Mr G- Witty, M.P., Dr Thacker, M.P., the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr H. Holland), Mr H. J. Marriner (Chamber of Oommoroo) and Mr P. 11. Olinxio (Progress League), waited upon the Hon J. A. Hunnn this morning in (connection with the. Otira tunnel. Mr L. M. Isitt introduced the deputation, and in doing so said they desired to urge upon Mr Hanau, as a member of the Government, to do everything in his power to expedite the completion ot the tunnel. They recognised that it was,-not in his Department. The completion of tho work meant tho .prevention of waste and it would encourngo development. They were pretty well at the. end of their patience, and wore tired of being put off with vogue generalities. Pour men, were employed on railway work in tho North Island to - ono in the South Island. Mr Holland said that they certainly , had tho people of the West Coast.and Canterbury behind them. Instead of the work being pushed on, fewer men were employed there now than was tho case ,a year ago. _ It was a serious motter that no decision had been arrived at -vet as to the power for the tunnel and where it was to come from. It would expedite matters if this was put uy hand .at once. The figures were glaring, and showed the injustice that had been dome to Canterbury. The fob lowing table showed the distribution of expenditure on railway construction >Vr Island. Island.

■,„' , £1,455,800 £BII,OOO ■„ There was thus a inagin of £644,800 hv favour of the North Island. In war expenditure some millions h*d been spent in the North .'lsland while pract icnlly nothing had been spent in the Mouth. The South had don© its duty in providing its fair share of tho money, but had been entirely overlooked in tho matter’ of advantages. In 1918 the ■total numbeF of public works men on ■ ■the railways was 989, of whom 720 "ere in tho. North Island and 269 in the South. In 1919 the total number was 1316r—North Island 1064, South Island 253 only. In January, 1918, 107 men were engaged on the Otira tunnel, and in 1919 133. Thus while in the South there was a decrease, in 1919 lit-the North there was an increase of! 344. Four mines operating in the Reefton, district, which were at present putting out 1000 tons per weak, could increase their output threefold if the tunnel was through. Mr Holland commented upon the “ rubbishy ” coal that bad to be used just for want of a little railway avssistance. Hp felt that the (Ipvernment: was not too earnest in jiushing this lino. ; Mr Marriner. said they had been urging the : Government for a considerable time to finish the line, even from an economical point of view. A sum of £40,000 and £50 K OOO was being lost annually through the Ijue being incomplete. If they put on ryvotlier fifty men the work would soon ■He-done and tho West and East Coasts would bb linked up. To ,say the least, Hm Government seemed very lax. '■' Mr. Glimie said the railway was one of-'national importance, and the Government; should put on as many men as they possibly’could to complete it. ■jDr Thacker said there was one paint he ; wanted to stress., and that was tihj of the men. _ Another point was that on the West Coast they depended on bar harbours for their oversea • commodities and the export of produce. ■ If the tunnel was through t.lio Coast could send to Canterbury timber and coal,. and Canterbury could send to. the Coast commercial commodities. It was their duty on this sifle ip try and push tlie tunnel t-hrough; 'They, wanted the line elec,trilied..v. It was no use a Minister saying ho could not get these things done, -'-•“ it was all rot.” They, wanted Mr JTanan to be fully cognisant of the facts, and wanted all the Ministers to '■ cut in ” on the matter. Mr Witty said they had oome to tho point now that if Canterbury did not fight the province was going to he left behind:.lt .was the Canterbury people’s own fault. They had got to kick and stop this sort of thing, which to his ihmd was, the most ridiculous thing on earth. A million of money tied up in. that tunnel could not be utilised. The men at Otira should bo paid better than those at any other place he know of. Why should! not two big places like Canterbury and Westland he‘joined together? ; Not a thing was. done yet. Tho tunnel could be finished if:-it was ready to electrify. j Dr Thacker: Thirty-fiyo more men could finish the tunnel ,in sis months. Why! nob, finish it and have the pans ready? It was a disgrace that nothing was done. He referred to the manner the Government were “ fooling with the railways.” They had a right to see that their own district was properly looked after; it had been neglected. They wanted justice. It did not matter how much was paid to the men, it p;duld be having money. i. -Mr Isitt said that the deputation was only arranged that morning; if they had had three or four days’ time it 'could have been made an enormously influential one. It was a simple fact that public feeling was becoming exasperated at the slowness of the Government. ■ • > Hero it was remarked that a suggestion had been made that the Canterbury members form a solid phalanx and put up a protest in the House by obstruction. Tn.his reply Mr Hanan said the deputation had certainly expressed themselves very forcibly- Judging by the heat imported into their remarks tlie speakers were under the impression that an injustice had been done by the Government of the day. He was naturally anxious with them to see this work brought to a completion. He ■was very sorry if the cry was put up of North Island versus South. He wanted to say that, judging from the views expressed by Sir William Fraser, he ..knew- ho was very anxious to do justice to all. Ho had a very high opinion of, the sense of fairness'of the Minister of Public Works. He did not think he wouold show favour. (Hear, hear.) The question was, Could he get the labour? Mr Marriner; I will get fifty men to go up to-morrow if you’ll give los per uay. .Mr Hanan: From Sir William Fraser’s statement he was unable to get - suitable labour for this class of work.' • Mr Isitt ; He couldn’t get it at 11/; per day. Mr.Witty; I wouldn’t work there for a quid a day. Mr Hanan continued that when a comparison was made of tho money spent in the North Island, it was not stated as to what was the nature of the work. While he was a strong South Islander ho was prepared to assist the reasonable claims of the North, Island. He spoke of the unity of tho Canterbury members and their real for their province. It was-very seldom that five or six men could hold Up the House. He hoped there would be ho necessity for the Canterbury fcembers to take a bold and reckless course. The war had caused conditions to be abnormal, but now that tlie men were coining back they could find employment for many r«’i public works. He knew that, the Minister

£ £ , mi-ia , , 857,000 306,000 =1912-13 . , 319,000 252,000 -= 1916-17 , . 227,000 85,000 v 1917-18 214,000 74,000 1918-19 (estimates) 308,800 94,000