THE MOUNTAIN LINE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1817, 1 August 1913, Page 7

THE MOUNTAIN LINE.

OVER RIMUTAKA.

BAR TO COUNTRY'S PROGRESS..

WANTED-A CHANGE.

Yesterday afternoon, a strong deputation, headed by Sir Walter Buchanan, member for. Wairarapa, met the Minister for Public Works (Hon. M r . Fraser), to ■urge immediate steps in respect to the deviation of the Eimutaka railway route. Sir Walter Buchanan was accompanied by the following delegates;—Tho Mayor of Wellington (Mr. J. P. Luke), representing tho' Wellington City Council; Messrs; E. Fletcher (chairman)/ Hildreth, Jones, and Watson, representing tho Wellington Harbour, Board; Mr. Morrison, Mastorton County; Mr. Jos. Dawson, Eketahuna County; Mr. G. : H. Inness, Castle Point (jQiinty; Mr. Bunny, Wriirarapa South, Featherston County; tho Mayor of Masterton (Mr. Coradirie), representing tho Masteuton, Borough Council; Mr. J. J. Knight, representing the Eketahuna Borough. Council, Ekotahuna Chamber of Commerce, and Eketahuna Fanners' Union; Messrs. W. Benton, M. B. Tait, and A. Donald, representing Featherston Town Board; Messrs. C. E. Daniell, J. C. Cooper, A. T. Spain, 11. H. Donald, nnd A. Henderson, Masterton Chamber of Comnierco; 'Messrs. 'A. E. Mabin (president), Jones, Duthie, and Macintosh. Wellington Chamber'of Commerce; Messrs. H. Morrison and D. M'Gregor, Masterton A. and P. Association and Masterton Fanners' Union; Messrs. Bunny and Eagle, South) Wairarapa, A. and P. Association; Mr. K. G. Barton, Whakataki Farmers' Union;- and Messrs. J. M'Donald (chairman), D. M'lntyro (secretary), C. C. Smith, nnd H. Houlbrooke, Master-ton-Waipukurau Railway League,

Sir Walter Buchanan, Sir Walter Buchanan spoke first. He Mentioned that the deputation, represented all the local bodies and inhabitants concerned, and they were attending in order to urge the' needs of the district for improved railway communication. Ho did iiot propose to go into any statistics as to the number of inhabitants or the traffic on the railway, as they were well known, but he would say that before the railway was joined the returns in the Blue Books would show that tho WairaTapa was the best single line of railway, as tho percentago paid on capital. The district had enormously improved since that 'time, and he was satislied that if any change was made it .would be an. improvement.

Mayor of Wellington. The Mayor of Wellington stated that, as business men they knew that they .were coming to a Minister who was thoroughly practical. . They did not'expect to. be told that' day that a sum would be put on the Estimates this year to carry out the work, or the Minister was going to set aside a sum of money for tho construction of the , new railway; but. ' tlfey were attending with the . lull interests of the' city at stake, knowing the reciuirements as to feeding the city, and recognising that, there ■ was much on tho Wadrarapa route which was at present unproductive. •Ha regretted that Mr. Froser had not asked him (tlio Mayor) to accompany him when ho went up the Wairara'pa some time ago "to spy out the land." Ho would have gone with pleasure; and, as the Mayor of Wellington, he would then (liavo been fortified' with material which .would liavo justified'.him in dealing with tho .ijuestion, better., thai}' pow. (Hear, ; hoar.) ' Places'lii this''Back 'country no doubt needed opening out, ami roads should bo constructed, but while tlris was neccssary there was also a positive nwl.to buikl up., communities, and' Wellington , should bo brought into easier communication witlt the oountry behind it. When they went to the top of tho hills and looked at the circumscribed area of the city, and thobglit of tho number of people who had to live on tho city's • enterprise, it seemed to •be the duty of tho Government to regard the geograplii- ' call disabilities of the place, and to do its best to remove obstacles. The first obstacle to remove was the penalty they had to faco with .in going over a hill 1100 feet. Engineers told them they could, go round in another direction. They, wore told that, a.5 l'ogarded, the cost, they ' would ■ have to wait ulitil the Balkan peace to bo signed .so that they could get money cheaper, but if 'the. Government would only make the necessary 'arrangements for s the railway it could he earned on under the Finance Act or by a group of people associating themselves together, the Government giving tho guarantee. If 'the deviation could bo constructed—and he believed Mr. Fnasnr would see it done during his term of office out of the machinery which the Government possessed at tho present time —the East Coiust railway could be dealt with under tho Land Settlement Aot, anil could eventually be tatan over by the Gov- . ernment.

The Facts and Figures. Mr. C. E. Daniell (Masterton) was the next speaker. Ho said that the deputation desired to again bring under Mr. Eraser's notice the business of dtovoloping the East Coast lan<ls of the province. In answer, to a lileo deputation last year, Mr. Eraser had visited a part of tho district. llis itinerary took him through the best metalled portions of the district; uiid (being- favoured with remarkably fino weather) it was then hard to realise tho normal conditions under which settlers" lire. Pongaroa, 'thirty-eight miles from a railway, which was tho extreme end of the trip, was a point' where roads converged (on- paper). The land to the ca.it, jisjrth-oast, land south-Hast (which, for lack of tinia, Mr. Eraser did not sco) was rich pastoral country. Tho settlers, (tout out from markets, were compelled to leave what they had liopod to make their homes. Tho 0110 motalled road to the district went over a lofty mountain range. Some fifteen years ago local bodies «nd .settlers proposed to build first a tramway, which was blocked, tho Government not deeming that dctiirable. Then, surveys of possible railway routes were made, and later a Government engineer reported on a route as indicated on map. Various couiiter-proposals as to route resulted in that railway being neglected, whilst tho millions of railway loan moneys were spent on works winch could not "possibly show returns such as were assured in this case." Recent successful motor traction on good roads had encouraged somo to believe that this was a caso whore motor-wagons could do the work needed. They submitted that tho excessive cost of ■road metal (about lis, per yard), together with the pecuWar natural formation of tho country, would hero mako motor traction fail; suitable as it undoubtedly was to many places and conditions. As the result of Mr. 1 Eraser's own observation, ho had promised that his. chief engineer should go over tho ground and report. They (the deputation) suggested that the only scheme practicable must bo a railway, and genoral development should bo aimed at rather than tho interest of any particular town or district. It must bo Tecognised that tho land was not ns flat. There were natural obstacles blocking access to points which it was desirable to serve.. On the other hand, thero were several main valleys, any of which it might l)o practicable to traverse. Was u railway, in tho opinion of the Government, and their responsible advisers, the right method of serving particular country? To answer t.ho question, would the Government appoint a commission this year (of say competent persons) to advise on tho location of the Rimutaka deviation? Of the Riinutaka problem they had reports from Public Works ofli? cers, which showed that it was 7$ miles longer than was necessary. It climbed double the height it needed to. In tho cost of working a saving that might now be fairly assumed at .£20,000 per year ■would be made; and, in addition, the wearing parts of stock at present lasted only one-fourth the time that they would under the improved conditions. Tho Government engineers stated that 235 trains could do haulage at a cost of what now required 910 trains at a cost of -E")200. Many suggestions had been made as to route, as: Petono to Pigeon Bush,

30$ miles, reducing the distanco Wellington to Woodside, now 30 miles, to lliii, saving miles (but requiring long tunnels); Upper Hutt to Woodside, via Featherston, 231 miles, saving (i» miles; mul Upper Hutt to Woodside, via Tau.herenikau Valley, 22i miles, taving miles, 'l'ho grades availablo in the new proposal were at .most 1 ill 70, against tlio present 1 in 3G, and tlio L'cll incline of 1 in 15.

The Finance of It.' , As to the money aspect, ho (Mr. Daniell) would remind tlio Minister that between 1901 and I'JU the Government borrowed mid spent on railways a sum ot' .£12,39!),000, of which over ,£3,000,000 was spent on open lines, and X 9,139,000 oil 515 miles of railway, wh'ch averaged -t1G,769 per mile. What had lliey got for it? In .some parts tlio train went on alternate days, on tho lino of 3J miles north of Auckland tlio train left on three days a week, mid on tlio.Lawrence lino there was only ouo train a week.

Mr. J. C. Cooper—The Slock Aspect. Mr. J. C, Cooper (Masterton) contended that almost all the country in this district was suitable for settlement, somo of it for dairy-farming, nnd most lor sheepfanning, but being so remote from railways, tho loss on driven stock was enormous. As manager of the freezing works, ho gave his men instructions to allow four or five pounds a bead for loss in weight. They got some of their best wethers from tlio district, which, for sheep-raising purposes, was tho finest in New Zealand. For want of access, however, it was greatly handicapped, and so far as tho fat lamb trado is concerned it was an industry which it was impossible to carry on becausothey could not get-the railway to bring tho goods to the freezing works. It had been pointecl out that a good motor road would meet the requirements, but that''was not so. In the huge tract of country—there was no similar block of country in New Zealand—the Government had proclaimed somo 40,000 acres,' so they would bo enhancing its value from a settler's point of view. His freezing works were' G2 niilos 'from tlio railway and though they sent their goods by special train they lind difficulty in getting it to Wellington finder seven or eight hours, whilst similar . complaints were made ns to the delay in tho, carriage of goods from Wellington there. Ho urged tho necessity for a survey to bo maclo immediately, so that when the Minister for Public Works came on another visit ho would liavo something definite to work upon. They had promites from Mr. Fraser's predecessor (Mr. Hnll-Joues) and also from Mr. Mackenzie to hove the survey made, and tliey had a just olaim, both the country ami the settlers deserved it, the latter having put up with hardships for many years, always expecting relief. Sir Joseph Ward, w;hen interviewed, had stated that tlio Government could not make more railways, <mkl yet six weeks later his Government had authorised the construction of the line from Napier to Gisbornc, v which was not of the same importance as' the one that tliey were asking for that afternoon.

The Other Speakers. Mr. D. M'lntyro produced «. letter which he had received from a previous Miuister for Public Works iu favour of the'scheme, nn'd claimed that it was timo something definite was done. Tliey would leave the choice of route entirely to the Government.

Mr; C. C. Smith pointed out that tho settlers were greatly hampered through being without proper railway facilities, being unable to get it for dairying and mixed farming. This was one of tho most important branch lines ever advocated, anil would pay from the start. Previous Governments had boon sympathetic to the scheme, but the deputation looked to this Government for , more than sympathy. They hoped for a report and survey. Mr. E. Fletcher added that the Harbour Board was in accord in the views expressed as any development of the district would be to the mutual advantage of all concerned.

Mr. A. E. Mabin also said that tho Wellington Chamber of Commerce heartily supported the. proposal. From "a city point ot view it wa3 not £o much «i question of opening up tho backblocks, but one of, opening up the city. . . Mr. 'Benton "(Featherston) urged . that' when tho deviation was made it was important that the wants of South Wairarapa should bo considered. N .

THE MINISTER.

"IN THOROUGH SYMPATHY." Tlie Hon. W. Fraser, on rising to Teply, said that ho would first like to explain to the Mayor of Wellington that he (tlio speaker) was the guest of certain peoplo when he went to the Wairarapa and as a guest he could not invite other guests to go. 110 recognised-that this was a representative deputation. They had explained their views in a straightforward manner, and he did not think they were immoderate. Ho knew Now Zealand well and lie did not think that he had seen a better tract of country for growing stock than this. That being so, thero was no doubt that in order to make the best of the country, tho one thing absolutely essential was improved communication. They needed better roads, and tliey needed a railway. He could not promise to bavo "a survey made before the Houso roso as this was the busiest timo for all their chiof engineers. He intended when Parliament roso to go over some more of the country, nn'd he believed that Mr. Holmes would then be able to form soiuo general idea so as to instruct surveyors to mako a flying survey. In regard to tho Eimutaka deviation, lie recognised that whon they had the money it was a work which should be undertaken, as it would be one that wouldpay. He believed l that the traffic at prejpnt was being carried at a. loss. They had a line there at present ("unfortunately") and other districts would not think it fair that "Wnirarapcu should have improved means of access while tliey had none at all. Ho was in thorough sympathy with tlio objects of the deputation, and thought that this was a work ghich should bo done as raon as the Government could take it in hand. Ho hoped during his term of office to do something to initiate tho scheme which the deputation had formulated. It would not bo the will that was wanting, but the' moans to carry it out. '