RAETIHI RAILWAY.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14065, 20 August 1913, Page 8

RAETIHI RAILWAY.

SUBJECT OF DISCUSSION. j WORKING MEN ’8 CON JTI A CTt!. j In the' House of -Rcprcscntativcis,. hist I week, the lion. Air Fraser, Minister for Public -Works, made reply to Mr R. W. | Smith’s (ii.P.. for..Waimariuo)'reference, lo i a rfimour that all workmen had been (lisj missed fybra' the .Ractihi railway -workings. ’ The Minister denied the statement; aiid moreover, stated that- suitable men arc j teiUg.engaged, .and also, that small eon-H-acts, suitable, for working men, will die advertised shortly. A ' Air R. Vv. 'Smith (Waimariiio) desired ! to thank the Minister for Public Works , Tp»* life;reply: to question No. 23, -afthough | it. was ratlicr vague, in lliat. it. niekoiy j pointed out that provision was bring made j to ‘advertise several small contracts o'Udtti ly-' It was eiglitaen inontJis. since, the. first ! ao;l .of the Raetihi-Ohakuiic branch raiij way .was turned, wjien a. definite ..promise was made that-by the. end of last year I thc Tirst section of the line would’ be ope.-,; for rseivicc. Hon. Mr Fraser: When?.'..' . Mr, li.. W. Smith said 'the .promise .was made when the’ Jii-st sod was turned,, lit Ohaknue. lion. Air Fraser; Uy me? Air 11. W. Smith: No; but the l.lien Minister for Public Works. lint, id' course, he took it tliat it was .the ■intention... of the Government—as ; people have been led to believe—to fulfil the pro- • in isos, of their predecessors. . In.this case they had not come “up to the mark’ ; but he reminded the present Minister that the promise had been made, and'that the podpic of ihc district were very (lisiip: . pointed, to find it- had not been carried out. was. placed on the Public I A\ orks tbtiraatos of 1911 for this line, j but only ct IU3 odd was spent. The Estimates of -1912 contained a vote of irl 0.00,0 for the -same work, but again very little,' was spent; all that had beep done towards tjie. construction was the stumping and clearing of- a few miles of flic line. . Gif course it would bo urged, as an excuse, that the sun-fey had been completed only a short while, and that it was not safe' to go mi with the ■formation ■ until the ■survey of the-whole route had been completed; but surely it would have boon injiially wise and ns safe to have gone on with the construction' of the railway as it was to go on with the clearing and stumping. The chief reason for deciding tb build this, and making it an urgent uraU ter, was Hu; fact.that a very Fargo volume ol timber traffic was to be expected on the line when .completed, as there' wore a number of sawmills working along the unite, the timber from, ’which, was then and is still, being carted over the main road, ■ involving the tearing of the road to pieces. It was only with great difficuity tliat the coaches and other vehicles cou.tl run to Raetihi from the Alain Trunk line, over a. road'which at one time was in, excellent ‘condition—made at great expense— but which Was now in need of rc•nctalliiig from end to end. In addition to that, the settlers there have had. to pay a higher price for The carriage of their goods in and out. and quite a number of them were unable to reach the station at all. If there was any doubt about this being a good proposition, they v.ould have.no complaint at ad, -but'.there was no doubt whatever of it being the best feeder the Alain Trunk would have between Auckland and Wellington, tie had pointed out, when.speaking earlier in. the afternoon, that quite-a lot of timber in that district was being sacrificed, on account of it haying lo be carted instead of being sent through to the Alain Tntnk'by. mil. The ratepayers, years, ago, showed their confidence in this proposition .m----offering to. rate I liemse'ivcs to construct the line, but unfortunately they were not allowed to do so, and year after year seemed to be rolling by, and practically nothing was. done. He sincerely hoped that the contracts spoken of by_the Minister, as being ready to let, would be let at an, earlv date. He trusted, too, -that' not only a*few contracts would be put, in hand',' 'but the whoFc of the. work, and that whatever hvas done would be commenced from the Alain. Trunk end of the Hue, so that the line, as it was completed, would be available for use by those living along that portion.