THE PUBLIC'S MONEY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1409, 9 April 1912, Page 4

THE PUBLIC'S MONEY.

AND HOW IT GOES,

rather striking example,

(By Telegraph.— Special Correspondent.) t Auckland, April 8. . North Auckland railway works, which are now in progress, have lately been examined by an Auckland resident, «ho lnis, in a letter to Jlr. G. L. Peacocko (chairman of tho Auckland Mailways League), severely criticised the routa adopted by tho late Goveriuueut, Tlio gist oi his letter is as follows "Now that the new Minister lor Publie \\ orks has been chosen, it behoves the Railway j„caguo to get to work oh tho now iainous; iuupara ime X O . 1 deviation, via iiickerstalle, lor, in my opinion, and in tno opinion of 91) p er mU , ut lll(J people w;liu know sometuing aljout this section, it is one of the greatest blunders ever loisted oil tho people ot' New iitaland. Had tho line gono on the original route there is not tho slightest doubt that it would by now bo very near M'Carroll'a Gap, but in tho present stato of ullairs it will take from five to eeveii years to get there.

"On March 7, in company with one o£ the old i-ettlcrs, 1 traversed the vitolo line from Young's Point, and, in vy opinion, public money is being absolutely buried with no liopo of return. O.'i tho other hand, tho north will bo penalised tor ever to the tune of something like .£:!50,OUl), while tho journey will he about an hour longer. Veil may the oM f.t-t----tlers who, lor twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty years have put up with gre-it hardships, bewail the faint hope of seeing a railway completed in their timo when they look on the works now in hand. 1 believe if every stick. was left on '.his job, and the original route adopted, c-veu now the country would have a lino with reasonable curves and grades, over which a train could travel at a decent speed, and still lie <£'200,000 in pockct. "Most of the cuttings wero pnrtinlly filled at the time of my visit, tno sid"U having slipped. Tho Bickerstafl'o country is nothing more or less than a mow ing mass of silt, yet that is vliat they are trying to tunnel through. ' One tunnel three-quarters of a mile long passes through a 6lip about fifty acres in. extent, and anyone can seo that the whole hill has simply slithered towards the river. Tho face of this tunnel is somo 70 to 80 feet deep, and they were filling it in with boulders brought all the way from Kaipara Heads. Imagine the cost of this tunnel alone. Even if tlvey over do finish it—which I very much' doubt it will be liable to move en lti.isse with tlie hill. What is this section going to «n?, st for u P ke ?P if it is put through ? Ihen there is the Otamatea Bridge, which, when "finished, will completely stop two navigable rivers, and will penalise tho present users of those rivers above the bridge. I could go on indefinitely, but this is enough to draw your attention to a stato of affairs which should not be, and I am sure, if you can do anything to rectify this huge mistake, the people of New Zealand will bo grateful to tho benefactor who, by his efforts, will 6ave them both a largo amount of money, and many weary hours' travelling." In an interview, Mr. G. 1,. Peacock# points out that ail the above objections wero raised before tho deviation of tlie line was decided ltpon by .tho Hon. R. Mackenzie. /'Regarding the Bickersiaffo section, from all I can learn unofficialI.y, added' Mr. Peacocke, ''great difficulties have been-met with in (he tunnelling work on tho Bickerstaffe sißo of the Otamatea, owing to the unstable nature of tho ground on this section. Tho predictions as to tho serious difficulties that would Ih> met with from the peculiar character of the country, which has evidently been on the move in huge masses in tho past, are apparently being verified. It is said that the floor of a tunnel on this section has had to bo excavated to a depth of over 35 feet to 'enable solid foundations to be put down to support the line of rails. If this be a fact, it is apparent that the extra cost per mile of tliis section will be very great, and will unfairly handicap tho North Auckland railway in its ability to pay interest nn tho cost of construction. Besides this extra cost in money tho completion of tho lino will lie delayed for ail indefinite period, and tho benefits of (lie railway to tho settlers, and its possible rev-enue-earning position postponed imnere&> sarilv. What the new Minister for Public Works will do to deal with the position I cannot say, but it seems to me as if tho matter ought to bo officially investigated, nnd tho actual stato of affairs ascertained. I should be very glad to learn that tilings are not in tho mess dej. cribed by my indignant correspondent."