WANTED-A POLICY AND A CAMPAIGN.

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 128, 2 June 1919, Page 6

WANTED-A POLICY AND A CAMPAIGN.

The retiring General Manager of Railways, Mr. B. H. Hiley, has done a public service by proclaiming to Ministers, within hearing of the public, the vital requirements of the New Zealand Railways. The need of the 1914. five-year programme of railway works is cumulative in character, and tho disadvantages of its non-performance aro also cumulative, and may bo said to be mountingup, with compound interest, at such a rate that the sum total will be oppressive unless it is speedily liquidated. Indeed, tho railways are so starved -that they may presently become a retarding, force, instead of a developmental force,' in the productivity of the country. For that result -the politicians are primarily responsible; but as Parliaments alter, while officials remain, it is the railways permanent staff firstly, and the long-suf-fering public secondly, that will have to bear the consequences. Perhaps there is still time for this Parliament to bestir itself before it places its members' individual fates in, the . hands of their masters. Coming from the general to the particular, Mr. Hiley made some statements particularly valuable to Wellington. This city is cut off from the Wairarapa by a mountain range, and from the Manawatu by two hills, both of which are formidable .obstacles. We have always regarded the railway crossings of these hills and this range as weak* points, which as time went on would reach the stage of impossibility; in fact, that stage was, for practical purposes, reached long ago on the Wairarapa incline, but judgment was postponed by a transfer of traffic to the Manawatu line. Now, however, according to Mr. Hiley, the end is jn sight. He stated on Friday evening that "the WellingtonJohnsonvillo - Paekakariki (Manawatu) line 'could not remain any longer with its present means as a portion of the mam line." For Wellington, .this statement is very important. It means crippling congestion on both of the City's railway outlets. How, Mr. Hiley proposes to deal with the Johnsonville hill and the Paekakariki hill ho does not say; but as a railwayman he puts the position plainly and decisively. The Wairarapa line simply fails to carry the traffic it should carry; and how the Manawatu line carries the other line's cast-offs, serves (indifferently) its own suburbs, and acts as part of the North Island .Main Trunk Railway as well, is increasingly a mystery. If through traffic and suburban traffic lire to be properly provided for, present obstacles on both lines will have to be removed'; extended suburban duplication will have to be carried ont; and, according to Mr. Hiley, electrification—already instituted in Melbourne—will have to come to the rescue of the suburban traffic. The urgent need for getting away from the grades of 1 in 14 on the Wairarapa incline carries with it the equally urgent need of duplicating the railway to Uppar Hutt. This'latter is a fairly straightforward job, and should be pushed on at once. As to the incline, Mr. Hiley.urges on the Government a -fresh survey of alternative routes, to be followed by prompt decision and speedy action. Such a policy would moot the case for Wellington, tho Hutt, and Wairarapa, and for Hawkes Bayyso far as the latter is affected. Concerning the Manawatu lino a policy is still to be" framed. If it includes a low-lovel tunnel from somewhere near Ngahauranga to Tawa Flat, the case for electrification is clinched. In any event, the Government should at once secure the data on which to base a policy, and it should be a policy for active purposes, not one for political window-dressing. Presently the Conference convened by the Wellington Central Chamber of Commerce will be discussing railways and roads over .or through theso natural obstacles. We hope that the Conference will be fully representative of local bodies and local authorities. If fo, it may be able to institute not only a policy hut a campaign ; the latter being essential in view of the proximity of tho General Elections. The duty rests on all our public men to help to unite tho local bodies of the whole district on a transport platform, tho advocacy of which should not be left to chance, but should be the special duty of a Standing Committee, broadly representative, and competent to carry on an active and continuous campaign. If the approaching Conference is a good starting-point for such a movemeat, lot it come. If not, then the Wol.

lington City Council, acting on principles of progress enunciated during the municipal elections, should take the initiative by approaching tho suburban local bodies, also those beyond the mountains, for the purpose of ovolvini» a common agreement and co-operative-action. The thing can bo done if publio men .will show vision, energy, and crit- V