STRONG PROTEST AT WORK STOPPAGE

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19270, 6 January 1931, Page 8

STRONG PROTEST AT WORK STOPPAGE

GISBORNE-NAPIER LINE CENTRE OF INTEREST. Per Press Association. GISBORNE. January 5. 1 The largest, most representative and most enthusiastic meeting of residents of Gisborne and Poverty Bay ever held here took place this evening to protest against the Government’s decision to cease work on the GisborneWaikokopu section of the GisborneNapier railway. There was an attendance of over eight hundred and large numbers were unable to gain admission to the hall. The speakers were of all shades of public opinion and the Government’s action was unanimously condemned. The speakers were: The Mayor of Gisborne (Mr D. W. Coleman), Labour candidate at the next election; Mr W. D. Lysnar, M.P.: Mr C. Bickford, Labour secretary: Mr G. Smith, ex-Liberal candidate; Mr W. L. Clayton, exUnited candidate: Mr T. Corson, exchairman of the Reform Party in Gisborne; Mr If. de Lautour, Reform candidate at the next election; Colonel Gambrill, R.S.A.; Messrs F. Stafford and V. Barker, prominent farmers; Mr Jennings, of the railway construction works; and Mr A. Wade, a member of the Harbour Board. The meeting was held to strengthen the hands of the delegation who are to interview the Hons E. A. Ransom, W. B. Taverner and W. A. Veitch on the subject at Wellington on Wednesday morning, and at the conclusion the following resolution was passed unanimously amid enthusiastic applause : “ This meeting of citizens of Gisborne and residents of Poverty Bay protests against the stoppage of the railway to Gisborne, as it is against the interests not only of this district but of the Dominion as a whole, and the meeting accords wholehearted support to the delegation in their representations to Cabinet." Gap of Less than. Twenty Miles. The Mayor, Air D. W. Coleman, who presided, expressed gratification at such a Targe attendance of the public, who recognised that Poverty Bay and Gisborne were suffering under a severe injustice. Of the total length of about 133 miles between Napier and Gisborne there remained less than twenty miles at the Gisborne end to be constructed to give access to Gisborne and to connect the rich district of Poverty Bay with the railway system of the North Island. For nearly forty years railway access had been promised Gisborne. It no\(r was thirty-one years since the first sod was turned by the late Sir Joseph Ward, who then expressed a hope that Gisborne’s isolation soon would be over. “A Wicked Wrong.” Mr Lysnar dealt with the subject from a Dominion viewpoint. He said he was at a total loss to know any ground for stopping the line. It was a wicked wrong to the district and the Dominion as a whole and was a very grave mistake. The district was the largest, most populated and contained more stock than any other district in New Zealand without rail connection. Gisborne was entitled to the railway, and he believed that when the Government attempted to stop the line the remainder of the Dominion would be fair-minded enough to support the continuation. The stoppage was either for financial or political reasons. The Acting-Prime Minister, however, had promised to find other work for the men employed, hence apparently it was not stopped for financial reasons He greatly regretted that railway construction had been made a political question, a position he strongly opposed in the House. The evidence produced by Government officials showed clearly that they had made no examination, but based their figures on the Tauranga line. The speaker was in the committee-room at the House when an accountant told the committee that too much importance should not be attach-

ed to the estimates, a 4? they were based on the earnings of the Tauranga line. That, said Mr Lysnar, was an unreasonable basis of comparison, as the Tauranga line went through a district carrying only about 100,000 sheep, but the Gisborne line traversed a country carrying three million or four million sheep, besides a vastly greater population. Those figures were compiled by the previous Government, and the speaker was not aware that the present Government had any other figures. He had asked in the House that evidence be taken in support of the line. The reply had been that no evidence could be heard, but that before definite steps were taken an opportunity for evidence would be afforded. No such opportunity had been granted. South Island Main Trunk. Mr Vincent Barker, in his remarks referred to the danger to people travelling by road and said that if they took a 3'early toll of accidents people in other parts of the Dominion would stand up in horror. It made them wender what was at the back of it all. From L\’ttelton to Wellington was one c c the best ferry steamer services in the world, and the Union Steam Ship Company intended to put on a 7000 ten steamer which would enter into competition with the South Island main trunk line. Which would be better for the public, a fast luxurious steamer or the South Island main trunk service? The Government must be made to realise that the last had not been heard of the matter if rail connection erased between Gisborne and Waikokopu. The motion was then carried amid prolonged applause.