WELLINGTON-WAIPUKURAU-EAST COAST RAILWAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1749, 14 May 1913, Page 3

WELLINGTON-WAIPUKURAU-EAST COAST RAILWAY.

Sir,—Allow me to direct the attention of the members of the Wellington suburbs and Lower and Upper Wairarapa lof.ll bodies to the latent move of I lie Masterton Chamber of ('nnunerce in misleading Hie Welling!. hi Chamber of Cumineree in the matter of the ila>-t Coa-I trunk line to Waipukurau, thereby IkitardMiig the propo.-al .1 have made for the past-, twenl.v years tor doubling (ingrowth ol Wellington, by deviating Iho T.'imulabi lint; via I lie WuiiiuwwuoUt. or tiullcra'a yall«i\ aM WA'iiii« .up. rhc mag-

nilieent si ret dv of dairying country in the Lower and tipper Wairarapa \ alley. I regard Ihe small section ot I lie - ' lerlou Chamber of Commerce muni n» "the three tailors- of Tooly Street, who presumed to speak for the people ot Inland. l!ul now that tho nieiuLers ol U ' Petono and Lower Dm! Borough Council.-, tlio Foalherston, Cnsllepoiut, am Ala.-torton counties, the I'eatlierston anil Martinborouprh Town .Boards, tin; town and Carterton Borough < """f-" 1 ,, ' etc., clo.-to whom this article is elnrU} addressed—seo what the Ma.-terion Chamber of Commerce is doing, they will themselves lift the matter to ils proper I' l|UM! in the eves of Wellington citizens generally. and insist upon their exclusion J rum the Ma-teriou movement, seeing llicj will be almost completely shut out from anv benefit fi'jm the proposal. Everything stated in your contemporary yciteriiay is but a repelition ol my oiignial statements made to the Wairarapa and Lower, Hutt people during the past twenty years and I am exceedingly surprised at Messrs. Mabin and D. J. Aailiau not acknowledging their indebtedness. Perhaps Mr. Mabin may bo unaware ol what has uccurml, but Mr. Katlian cannot so plwid. Wluit thoy liavo put forward is not for the advaiitage ot /Wellington at all. In fact, it is distincuj against Wellington's prosperity, seeing that one great principal to be aimed at is tlio bringing tlio produce of the province into the city upon the level, not over the hills, which only increases freightage, and tends to drive trade to Napier and Auckland. Therefore, tho Einiutaka railwa> must bo deviated by tunnelling, just as the West. Coa-t line, will have to bo tunnelled out. The second great principle to be aimed at is, not to attempt to ' play Hamlet without the Prince." Starting the line to Yvaipukurau from Maslertou leaves out a million acres of the Lower ami Upper Wairarapa Valley, which two i. districts will supply the chief portion of I the dairv lands although tlio whole stretch of country will eventually bo used for

dairy purposes. The Alaiteriou Chamber appears to rest itself upon one rock. That the lino nt route must ho left to the engineers. In the interests of Wellington city I absolutely repudiate any sticli iumulation. The engineers must make the line according to the true wants of the "Wellington province, which iloinaiuls that the v.'holo of tlio East Coast runs shall be subdivided by a line- Mjmi-distant between the prosent central line and the sea. Let all} person draw such a lino for himself, and then bastardise it by a lino from llasterton to AVaipukurau. The. latter line is an' absolute absurdity, and will open ui> very little country ior a trunk lino ol

route. ' . I know that times are bad m Wellington, and something has to be <lone for tho true progress of the city, but deviating tlio Kimutaka lino via Woodville will lie of no advantage, compared with the two tunnels tlu'.rug:i the \Wiinui-o-niaUi to th 3 Wairarapa I.ake (which the engineers say is the best lino for a railway), and the East Coast trunk lino made through the •Teat runs. A survev of this deviation was made in IS9S by Sir AY. Hall-Jones at my request. The construction of the tunnel will cost 100,01)0 moro than the deviation via Woodside; but the running time on tho levci will bo less. Now. what: is JilOO.OOl) compared with tho subdivision ol' a million acres close to tlio city? Messrs. Daniel?', Maliin, and i»athan have, I regret to say, not sunicicntly studied the subject, neither arc they acting in the best interests of \\ellingtou city. Tho East (.'oast trunk-line must not start from ilastcrton, but irom

a spot between Pctane and Belmont. As io iiuance, the local bodies I Jiavc named all have known for years that directly the repealed District Railways Act is again placed itpon the btatutc Book, and thev are allowed to strike a rate for this East Coast line and Kimutaka deviation, that I and others arc ready to take the poll. the two iml ? lions of money required, and construct the line, handing it over to the State, if the Si ate is foolish enough to take it, and so place its neck further under tho Labour heel. (I contend that all our railways should be placed in the hands of private companies, as that is the only way to break down tlio incidence cf one railway workers' organisation, thereby always keeping some of the public services open). I have told the Hon. Mr. Mossey of the great, desirability of again bringing in tho District lJailwavs Act, and I believe his Government is considering tho matter._ Meantime, I can onlv urge, upon Wellington citizens the maxim: (1) That tho great East Coast trunk line must not start from Masterton, but from Petonc-Uelmont; (2) that the interests of Wellington are higher than the expert opinion of any engineer. I compliment the V. ellingtnn Chamber of Commerce upon, at last, waking up to the fact that it has a vast area of excellent land near its doors to bring under "higher than sheep" culture. Sheep, so far, havo broken in the country excellently well, but they must give place to dairying now, with all that it implies, ill closer settlement and increased wealth, upon much of this East Coast, land. When completed/ Wellington will then have three Main 1 runk lines, viz.: West Coast, Central, and East Coast. With them, it will be able to command its fair share of North Island trade, but the increase of settlement near its own doors will be its chief asset. For twenty years T have advocated this for tho genoral advantage, but Masterton has tried to deflect the proposal for its own special advantage. I feel sure that the local bodies I havo named will all resent .that action.—l am, etc., COLEMAN PHILLIPS. Ifrieslnnd, Lodeo. Carterton, May 9, 1913.