MOTORS V. RAILWAYS.

Waikato Times, Volume 98, Issue 15294, 24 July 1923, Page 6

MOTORS V. RAILWAYS.

(To Hie Editor.) c ir ,—Tin- Minister for Public Works, Uon.'.l. O. Coates, in his reply to those advocating motor lorry traffic as opposed to transport by railway, made one or two very telling points in favour of national development by making "•roator use of our railways. Mr Coates concluded his reply as follows:—"It

, is simply an enormous waste to allow [ roads to be destroyed for the sake of . a slightly cheaper carriage rate by . motor lorry while the road lasts. When ; the cost of repairing and replacing the I roads destroyed by motor transport is , considered, it will be found that a . great deal of the supposed cheapness . exists only In the Imagination." At . Wanganui, during a meeting of the ; ; Waitotara County Council, strong com- . ment was made concerning the damage done to the ?oads by heavy motor traffic, and it was resolved to urge the Government to limit the loads travelling over country roads. One speaker contended "that heavy traffic should be forced off the roads and be placed on the railways, which werrajiuilt to carry it. Instead of that t™ roads were carrying most of the traffic, with the result that there was hardly a good road in the country. Every -county council in New Zealand should put the matter strongly before the Government. Unless something was done the roads would disappear altogether." A county council in the Wellington Province came to the conclusion that some people were saving a few pounds on railway freights by using motorlorries, but that it would cost the ratepayers hundreds of pounds to put jthe roads in good repair after they had been broken up by heavy motor- - lorry traffic. A great deal of the propaganda for the greater use of motorlorries is instigated by dealers in those ! expensive articles. The troubles in ! rcgard to the costly repairs to roads do not concern the lorry dealers. At a meeting in Auckland quite recently, Mr J. W. Wiseman stated that many large distributors in the United Kingdom were discarding motor vehicles and substituting horse-drawn vehicles. Mr J. A. Graham, at the same meeting, said a similar movement was taking place in the United States, pa-ticu-larly in regard to short-distance haulage. Many motor tractors, he remarked, were being replaced by horses owing to the former proving too expensive." This should- be good reading for farmers, coachbuilders, blacksmiths and saddlers. The increasing use of horse-drawn vehicles would be •the means of retaining a great deal of ' money in New Zealand which would (otherwise be sent overseas. Horse- : breeding would again assume a prominent place -on our farms, and a. much-needed impetus would be given to country town industries. Owing to the heavy motor traffic some distracts in the Waikato have had their metalled roads ruined, but the interest and sinking fund for the loans expended on these roads are still in -excellent order and the annual rate is still being collected for the roads "gone west." The repair bill also amounts to a nice tidy •sum per year. Referring to the wonjderful value of railways to mankind, .Elbert Hubbard, the great American ;writer, said: "Men are changed only as you change their surroundings. i Transportation changes environment, •and the railways are the most import- | ant thing in the world to-day—barring I nothing."—l am, etc., GEO. PARR, Hamilton.