POLICY UNFAIR, SAYS MR COATES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18804, 5 July 1929, Page 11

POLICY UNFAIR, SAYS MR COATES.

CRITICISES STOPPAGE OF RAILWAY WORKS IN NORTH ISLAND. MINISTER DEFENDS SOUTHERN EXPENDITURE. (Special to the “Star.”) WELLINGTON, July 5. Expressing the opinion that the time had arrived for a complete overhaul of the railway construction policy, the leader of the Opposition (Mr Coates) attacked the Government in the House on its action in stopping the RotoruaTaupo railway and the Palmerston North deviation. Mr Coates also made reference to a rumour that the Government did not intend to proceed with the outlet for the northern line at Auckland. He said that it was unfair that these railway works in the North Island should be stopped so that the money saved might be diverted to the South Island main trunk line. “Quite Right, Too.” A member on the Government side of the House shouted “Quite right, too,” when Mr Coates mentioned the stopping of the Taupo and Palmerston North lines. “Do you think so?” queried Mr Coates. Mr M’Dougall (Mataura) : You know it, too. Mr Coates: Is it in the best interests of the Dominion to destroy policy points which have been laid down, even allowing that there may be a political consideration ? It has been said that £BOOO to £9OOO a year will be saved on the Palmerston deviation, but I want to remind members that no work was more carefully considered before it was started. This line may be stopped, but there are still fourteen level crossings in the town of Palmerston North, which mean a delay of half an hour to all trains passing through, and that delay must be taken into consideration against actual monetary savings. Mr Coates said that it had been rumoured that the Auckland city terminal was not going to be provided with the proposed new northern outlet, and why ? A very much better reason would have to be given for the stoppage of that work than had been given for the non-completion of the Palmerston North work. The Government had stated that it was necessary to stop the Taupo and Palmerston lines, because they were not economic propositions, and the Prime Minister had been reported as saying, that he would save £850,000 by stopping those works, adding that the money could be spent on the South Island Trunk. The Prime Minister: That is not true. I never said it. I said it would save £1,200,000. Mr Coates: Thank you. That suits my purpose better r but it is not a question of spending that money on the South Island Main Trunk or any other line. What we should do is to spend the money where we get the best result. Mr Fletcher (Grey Lynn) : At Kirikopuni, for instance. That cost £BO,OOO a mile. Rotorua-Taupo. Mr Coates invited Mr Fletcher to spend a week with him inspecting the surrounding country, exploring its possibilities. Defending the late Government’s policy in regard to the RotoruaTaupo line, Mr Coates quoted many figures. He asserted that half a million acres of pumice land were available for development. How best could that development be effected? By road or rail transport? That was the essential question. He worked out his figures to show that farmers using fertiliser would have to pay 5s 9d per acre more for road transport than they would for transport by rail. Sir Joseph seemed to overlook the fact that the Taupo line was never suggested for passenger traffic, which would be only a minor item; it was a development line pure and simple, for the purpose of allowing settlers to get fertilisers and goods for Is 8d a ton as against £2 a ton by lorry, on the basis of 40 miles and 3cwt of fertiliser per acre. Mr Poison (Stratford) : You would* want 300 tons per acre on that land. I know it. I’ve been over the route. The Leader of the Opposition, turning to the completion of the South Island Main Trunk, said that it was not a question of North Island v. South Island, so far as railway construction policy was concerned, but rather one of the economic value of the mon>es expended. Personally he thought that the midland line should stop dead r once till the Government had ascertr ed the effect and possibility of ea movements. As far as the Sol. Island Main Trunk was concerned he would urge that it be approached from an economic point of view. The time had come when the whole railway policy should be gone into. The Government should also look at the East Coast railwav and consider what should be done as far as that was concerned. Coates Policy Changed. The Hon W. A. Veitch, Minister of Transport, replied to the criticism of the Government’s railway proposals The Leader of the Opposition, he said, was complaining bitterly of the closing down of certain railway works and demanded an economic investigation before any more were undertaken, but Mr Coates in his railway improvement pro gramme proposed to spend £lO 000,000 or> existing lines and extensions. Now

he could be congratulated on a complete change of front by his adoption of a policy of great caution. In four years under the previous administra tion the railway revenue decreased by yet in the face of this the capital of the railways was increased nearly £10,000,000. Having rushed ahead with that policy for a good many years the Leader of the Opposition favoured stopping short to count the cost. It was rather too late to make that suggestion. The train mileage of the railways increased in the same four shears by 1.750,000, though this was difficult

to justify in face of the decreased business and its cost must have been not much below £1,000,000 annually. Having expended large sums on heavier locomotives and improved grades the country was entitled to expect that business would have been done on a lower train mileage. It would be inter esting to know also whether the chairman of the Railways Board had recommended the construction of the Rotorua-Taupo line because the same gentleman had recently declared that no railway in New Zealand would ever pay. There had been a general rise in the operative costs until the balance went over to the wrong side. It was wrong to the present losses on uncompleted sections of the South Island Main Trunk to the total of probable losses on its completion. The linking up of its sections would largely increase the traffic on the existing lines and would >in that way eliminate the loss. The portion to be completed would carry a great deal of business between two important centres of population and would serve a very large area of •valuable country, the development of which would undoubtedly bring a great deal of business to the whole railway system. Mr Coates: What? The country is of more scenic value. Valuable Country. The Minister repeated that the line would serve valuable country and by expenditure on feeder roads a great deal of land capable of subdivision would be brought into settlement, thus bringing a good dividend to the railway. Mr Coates: What about the Canter bury and Marlborough Progress Leagues’ opinions? Mr Veitch: I am expressing my own view’s, and I don’t think any Government would be wise to make or decide not to make any railway on account of political pressure. Mr Coates: Purely on % economic grounds ? Mr Veitch: On economic grounds in the interests of the whole country. Mr Coates: You stand to that? Mr Veitch We will not ask the Leader of the Opposition to accept responsibility for what we do. AN AUCKLAND VIEW. (Special to the “Star.”) AUCKLAND, July 5. An editorial in to-day’s Auckland 44 Star ” says:— “We regret to have to say that the attempt made in the House yesterday by Mr Veitch to justify the Government’s determination to complete the South Island main line was painful, both in its inadequacy and the slur it cast on a distinguished professional man. Mr Veitch said straight out that Mr F. J. Jones had written his criticism of the project for political reasons, though the only evidence he adduced, if it can be dignified by the name, was that Mr Coates had given Mr Jones a good pension some time before his time was up. Surely there is a better case for the line than such an unworthy charge! But Mr Veitch went further He said that Mr Jones’s statements were quite wrong, and that he had no scientific knowledge of railway questions. “What does Mr Veitch mean? Mr Jones was Chief Engineer of our railways and chairman of the Board of Management. He has also been president of the New Zealand Institute of Civil Engineers. Does Mr Veitch say seriously that such a man has no scientific knowledge of railways? As Mr Coates remarked, Mr Veitch did not really touch Mr Jones’s figures. He simply ignored them; and, indeed, he spoke as if he were defending a cause in which he did not believe. This will not do at all. The Government must answer Mr Jones and other critics The member for Egmont has made the sen sible suggestion that there should be a special investigation of the whole question in all its bearings, and the Govern- , ment should accept this at once as a way out of the position that everv week is becoming more impossible.”