SOUTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK LINE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 185, 1 May 1920, Page 7

SOUTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK LINE

(To the E(li':>r.'i '• j Sir,-In vour issue "ff 21st instant I ■ read with interest a letter on (hp South , Island Main Trunk-line from Mr. Will Lawson, The people of Marlborough aro to lie congratulated on tho effort they ' avo making to secure justice to their . province, and also on their cnoice ot an : organiser. During niv business expert- | enco I have become fairly well acquainted. with Marlhorbiigh. I realise., to soma ~; extent its-possibilities and needs, and ; would lie the last to oppose tiny schema .j that would help in its development. Mr. Lawson misinterpretes my meaning when ; he savs that I "expressed the opinion j that tho Marlborough people have ttruct ,-j a wrong note in making the early com- j pletion of tho South Island uLain I runs.- ; line one of the planks of their policy of progress/'. What I snul was, that a i niistake was being .made by many, v who : made *ho completion of this lino ilie . fust and most important plank of the j P The bulk of- Marlborough's produce j goes to Wellington;' Auckland, and the j West Coast; very little, if any, goes ; south, except somo sheep, which, I un- j derstand, become ultimately prime Un- . torbury mutton. Under these circum-\ : stances it sebms obvious that a schema of port development at Picton, and pro- i vision -of adequate shipping serf ices, j should lio Marlborough's first >onsidera- ; Next in order, I would place rail con- ; nectior. with the West Const. / During : the past few years, Marlborough has j suffered from a shortage of .-oal,; which ■'< at times has threatened to hold uptho:,-, whole industrial life of the province. , i This shortage has 'been general i hrougliout tho Dominion, but had Marlborough : had connection by rail with the coast ■. supplies of coal 'would have been avail- ■; able which, under other cireamstances, | would have gone elsewhere. Such a rail- j way would enablo produce to be sent , to th&r coast when weather conditions j were wifnvourable to shipping, and would also 'enable Marlborough to hold trada j which might possibly go to Canterbury - when that province, val! c uiu ' cet . ,< \"- ■ with the coast. During a .reccnt visit ; I gathered that Marlborough s immediate , needs include: • 4 t t Better communication with oilier 0 Rail conncction with West Coast. | 5! Development of hydro-powor. . 4. Completion of 35ast Coast railway... • ; And I would place them in order of ; urgency as above. I-'was asked to give . my candid opinion as an outsider of the j requirements of the province, and I gne j it for what it is worth, not in a carpin*. I spirit, but as 0110 who has great rcgaiu for the province and its people,, ana : realises that .prosperity and progress ra. , Marlborough must.of necessity be reflect- -.; [This letter has 'been slightly curtailed j owing to pressure oil oiir spaec.—wntor ■ Tns Dominion.] ''