DECENTRALISATION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1136, 25 May 1911, Page 7

DECENTRALISATION.

NEW OUTLETS FOR N.S_ WALES

By Telegraph—Press Association-OaDyricM Sydney, ,May 21. The Eoynl Commission on Decentralisation lias presented its report. It recommends thai I'ort Stephens, North of Sydney, and Jervis liny, south of Sydney, bo opened up for oversea shipping. In order to make these ports elTcctivo ns a decent ralisalion factor, it is suggested that there should he curried out exfrnsivo cnK-.-country railways connecting these places. The Commission also recommends tho linking-up of the New South AVnlc.s and Victorian railway systems at Tocumwal, and at Mnlwala, in the Rivcrina. This would probably divert the grain and, wool traffic to Melbourne. Tho connection of Broken Hill and Condobolin by railway is also another recommendation. THE FETISH OF SYDNEY. nOW FARMERS HAVE BEEN HANDICAPPED, i Tho New' South Wales railways have been made .with one fatally clear and deliberate pill-pose, tho expansion of Sydney to the largest possible proportions. Along the whole'coast of the State the railway emerges on the sea at only one other point. Sydney Harbour lias been at once the pride and the bane of .New South Wales. To serve tho interests of tho capital and its harbour the welfare of the'interior of the State has been persistently sacrificed. All possible traffic has been diverted to Sydney, while such useful harbours as Twofold Bay, Jervis Bay, Port, Stephens, and Colt's Harbour have been wilfully neglected. It is not as though Sydney Harbour were well placed for the handling of the 'seaborne trado of the State. Magnificent and almost incomparablo though its facilities are, it remains an inlet in the midst of mountains. The gradients approaching it involve costly haulage, and a long distanco-has to bo traversed beforo tho fertile areas of New South Wales aro reached. The Royal Commission on decentralisation was appointed in June of last year, the commissioners being Mr. C. N. J, Oliver (ex-Chief Commissioner for Railways), Mr. R. Hickson (president of the Sydney Harbour Trust), and Mr. O'Mallcy Wood. In the course o4' tho inquiry every port of any importance put forward a claim for consideration ns a natural outlet for a very large district, and the commission has had no easy task in dealing with a somewhat delicate situation. Alternative Ports. Outside Sydney there are a few ports which stand out conspicuously as deepsea ports.- On the- north arc Port Stephens and Newcastle, ■ and on the south Jervis Bay, Twofold Bay, and Port Kcmbln. Cod's Harbour, on tho north, has also had.much to say for itself. It has long been a matter of 'surprise that Port Stephens, with its fine entrauco and deep water, has not been-more fully utilised. Its proximity to Newcastle and Sydney has, however, been a source of weakness. Mr. Do Burgh, of tho Government engineering < staff, in his evidence, strongly advocated the construction of a lino of railway from, say, Maitlaud to i'he port, so as to relieve Newcastle of the pressure that, as the coal-mining industry expands, is likely to bo felt.

In tho south it was shown that Port Kombla. was, likely to become a great shipping centre, particularly for coal. Tho advantages of Jervis Bay aro obvious, and tho proposal of tho Federal •Government to have the bay connected by railway with the Federal capital enhances the value of the place. The Commonwealth has already secured n suitable site for a port at the bay, but there aro no engineering, difficulties in the direction of providing another port on the bay, should that be deemed advisable. , : . .It '.I .1 Gaps in the Railways.

By past New South Wales Governments the" liivcrina railways wore deliberately left unconnected with the Murray River, and the ono little private line that jutted up from'it, into New South Walesa differential rales were arranged to divert consignment's from tho river route to South Australia, and the 200-mile-or less railway-route ts Melbourne, over the weary four or five hundred miles to Sydney— unprofitably for tho ■ railway ■ accounts, but greatly to the profit' of Sydney agenl? and merchants. Tho peoplo of Murwillumbah (over 600 uliles from Sydney by rond and less than 100 fi>oin Brisbane) were told n year' or two ogo that they should got 20 miles of railway bridging the gap to the. Queensland border after the 450 miles of gap towards Sydney had been bridged. And a recent request for a twelre-mile junction in Rive'rina between Finley and Tocumwal— which would give tho wheat-growers of Southern Riverina a 150-iuilo route to tho sea instead .of a -150-milo one—was met with flat refusal by tho late Minister for Works on the ground that "this link would enable the traffic to go away from lines that were constructed to enable tlio producers to reach tho Sydney market."

SOCIETY SLANDER CASE. « ' SIR A. WEST WINS HIS APPEAL. By Tdlccraph-I}res3 Associatton-Oopyriebl ! "'•' ' '" London, May 23. . Tho appeal by Sir Algernon Vest against the verdict for JC1250 damages in the slander case brought by his daughter-in-law, Mrs.. Horaec West, tho ground for action being an. alleged statement by Sir Algernon that it was' Mrs. West's extravaganco that "had caused tho separation between her and her husband, was allowed, the Court holding ilia I; there was ric. evidence that the. slanderous statements had been made. ' 1 •' ' • '' ' . Mrs. Horace West', in January last, was awarded .£1250 damages in the action for slander she brought against Sir Algernon West, her father-in-law. The case was tried before Mr. Justice Darling and a 'special jury in the King's Bench Division. ■ The action was brought because it was alleged Sir Algernon West made. statements to his friends (hat the separation of Mrs. Horace West from her husband, which had taken place in WOB, was duo to the extravagance of Mrs. West, whereas Mrs. West stated that tho separation was in fact duo-to her husband's misconduct. Owing to the alleged statements of Sir Algernon Wast, Mrs; Westsaid she had. lost the tocicty and hospitality of her friends and lias not received invitations to' Court functions to which she lvns accustomed..