NEW RAILWAY WILL OPEN LARGE AREA, DECLARES M.P.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18544, 18 August 1928, Page 4

NEW RAILWAY WILL OPEN LARGE AREA, DECLARES M.P.

ROTORUA-TAUPO LINE DISCUSSED IN HOUSE.

(Special to the “ Star. ”) WELLINGTON, August IS. “If a million and a quarter acres of pumice lands in the Rotorua district are successfully opened up a new province will be added to New Zeafand, and that is possible only by means of a railway,” said Mr Hockly (Rotorua) in a vigorous defence and advocacy of the Rotorua Taupo railway during the financial debate. The Government, he said, had been criticised from two angles, and in a most illogical fashion- On the one band they were condemned for not opening up more land for settlement, and on the other they were taken to task for doing something that would lead to a great increase of settlement. There was only one area in New Zealand that lent itself to a comprehensive land settlement scheme, the great Taupo region It was estimated that the railway would serve from 1,250,000 to 2,000,000 acres.

The first step towards opening it up was unquestionably the building of a railway. Experts were agreed on that It had been shown that the area could not be successfully attacked without a railwa) 7 . Cheap carriage was possible only by means of railway facilities, and cheap manures were essential if it was to be brought into successful cultivation. Round about Rotorua there was some wonderful country. Lessons of the past should not be overlooked. The Main Trunk line had been built primarily to connect two terminals. That line had been pushed through a wilderness in which.a white man had scarce set a foot. What was the result? Settlers built homes and brought thousands of acres under cultivation. Millions of feet of timber were taken out and a vast area of land previously idle had been converted into one of the most prosperous belts in New Zealand. “What vista? of revenue this line must open up,” declared Mr liockly, pausing for breath in the midst of his eulogy. The Prime Minister: The mouth of the Minister of Finance must be watering already.

The Labour member for Raglan (Mr W. L. Martin) took a very different view. The country, he said, was faced with a heavy loss on the railways, and it seemed that further losses were to be sustained, but to the amusement of his fellow members he showed equal enthusiasm over the construction of the Pokeno-Paeroa railway and the duplication of the Auckland-Frankton line.