THE DEVIATION PICNIC.

Wairarapa Age, 10 March 1922, Page 4

THE DEVIATION PICNIC.

] Mr (Coleman Phillips seems to raised a Wtffnet’s nest with the expe- , dition which he and Mr J. T. Bicknell arranged a fortnight ago to the proposed outlet of the projected tunnel of the contemplated deviation of the Rimutaka railway through Wainui-j--n’.ata. The outing was stigmatised by some members of the Masterton Chamber of Commerce as a ll picnic,” and was treated rather lightly by that 1 ody, which, by the way, was unable to avail itself of the invitation to be represented. The fact that it was invited will probably come as a surprise to the Greytown Borough Council, which apparently was not. At Wednesday night’s, meeting the Mayor (Mr W. A. Hutton) mentioned the matter and spo&e rather warmly of the tact that Greytown and Carterton had not been invited. It was suggested that this was because the promoters of the expedition were trying to work some point at the expense of the larger centres in the Wairarapa. But the day when that would be permitted has surely gone past. Most people agree that something ought to be done as soon as possible to improve the railway, though there are not many who believe that anything will be done within measurable time. Whether it is done soon or late, it must be the right thing, the thing that will result in the greatest benefit to the whole district. That can only be decided by engineers, business men and representatives of local bodies in conference, and it is ridiculous to suppose that the decision can be influenced in the remotest manner by the fact that a couple of dozen business men from Wellington on a certain day in February, 1922, visited a certain spot by the side , of the Wairarapa Lake and exclaimed rbout the delightful scenery. But Mr Coleman Phillips's “picnic” has dene good if it only brought those business ■ "mcn.to the Wairarapa and allowed

them to sec a portion of its wonderfully fertile lands and the delight«:ui grounds of the Tauherenikau racecourse. We can be suse that some cf them will bring their wives to the next race meeting, whether they come the Wainui-o-mata or the Tauherenikau route or by the existing SumhUt and Cross Creek line.