The Waipa Post. THURSDAY JUNE 9, 1921. Published on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. WAIKATO TO WEST COAST.

Waipa Post, Volume XIX, Issue 1103, 9 June 1921, Page 4

The Waipa Post. THURSDAY JUNE 9, 1921. Published on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. WAIKATO TO WEST COAST.

RECENT announcements that Australian enterprise is prepared to undertake the finance and construction of railways between Waikato and the West Coast may, to the casual observer, suggest that everything is in readiness for the work to proceed; but'those who have studied the merest fragments of local body procedure will realise that much more lemains to be done before the proposal comes forward with legal authority. The Local Railways Act is designed to apply the 'principles of responsible local government to railway construction, but it does not give unlimited license to any district to rush willy-nilly into any scheme or undertaking. The\|aw very properly provides against a host of varying conditions in different localities, and the ultimate object is some unification of what to-day) are purely local railways. This fact seems to have been overlooked in the desire for publicity of the present railway proposals, and much as everyone desires an (improvement in the means of communication, it is necessary at once to realise that it is yet too early to consider engineering or technical questions. The district remains to be constituted before any construction work can be even considered, let alone announced. A provisional committee cannot possibly commit a board which is not yet elected to an accepted policy; it has neither the powers of finance nor the authority of control to accept or reject a proffered contract. Even the board itself must obtain official sanction before it may contemplate the raising of a necessary loan, and then, in turn, a ratepayers' noil must finally authorise the pledging ol the security which is inseparable from the system of money-raising. Moreover, another important detail awaits the Board; it is the engineering approval of the plans to which the railway is to be constructed, and as the Government has not yet indicated an acceptance of the break of gauge the light narrow lines remain to-day a very uncertain dream of the future. It is at once apparent, therefore, that the recent announcements are extremely premature. The district has to be made operative; a properly-constitut-ed board has to be elected; Government consent ito borrowing has to be obtained; the ratepayers have to give consent at a loan authority poll; and an order-in-council has to be issued sanctioning the building of the railway in accordance with the plans proposed. The Waikato-to-West Coast railway may be operting in two and a half years' time, but there are more than engineering and technical points to be overcome. i

It would appear that a policy which is full of dangerous possibilities is involved—that of placing finance and construction under one body of control. It my be at once conceded that an Australian firm with capital to invest could find numerous avenues for investment nearer home, and if it comes to New Zealand it will do so only becuse the avenue offering is a particularly remunerative one. It may be conceded too, that consulting engineers are more anxious to secure construction than to .safeguard the interests of taxpayers. The latter is essentially a responsibility on the •Board, which has to bear in mind that capital expenditure will be repaid over a number of years, and that the money has to come out of the pockets of the people. If we assume that the Australian firm is identified with the concern which made overtures to the Te Awamutu-Putaruru Railway Railway Board, or that its methods are the same, -then the district will pay dearly for its railway. The firm will.advance the money at the current interest rates but—and this is the disadvantage—it must itself control the expenditure. Competition or

price-cutting is at once eliminated, since the firm advancng the money can be the only tenderer. This or any„other district needs to consider carefully before it rushes into such a scheme of easy finance: it is attractive but ultimately burdensome. The country needs improved communication, and railways are certainly necessary, but in the desire for them it is unwise to impose a heavy liability on the future or to be over-enthu-siastic about 'announcements which are hastily made and to a certain extent unreliable.