The Fielding Star. TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 1883. The Wellington-Manawatu Railway.

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 95, 24 April 1883, Page 2

The Fielding Star. TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 1883. The Wellington-Manawatu Railway.

The energy and capacity displayed by the direct orv of the. WellingtonRaihvay Company must be a source of "-ratification to fhiirehold'TS. The work they have alrea !y c< mpletod speaks volumes in favor of their determination tc push onto a successful termination their great under taking. To us, living- in the centre of a, district on which will depend a grear deal the successor otherwise of the specu'ation, the progress of the railway to Wellington possesses more interest than »ould be generally supnosed from the apparently cool manner with which the subject is treated. This probably arises from the reliance naturally placed by ilie exporters of grain and timber on the port of Wanganul, to permit of. the loading- of vessels to carry away their produce By the opening of the WollipgfonManawatu Railway they will then have the choice of two rival routes, each of which will, no doubt, make strenuous efforts to attract the trade. Our own opinion has always been that for the Australian, trade Wanganui offers the greatest advantages to the shipper ; and, if the present river works now in course of completion on that river are even half as beneficial as ig anticipated, there is not, the slightest chance of her losing that trade. On the other h-\v.>), it is highly probable thuit Well'i^tom may make some present sacrifices to at tract trade to her port. One of the first advantages they can declare will be the depth of water in the harbor, which will admit ot vessels of any size loading alongside the wharF. Instead ol sawmillers having, as at present, to undertake the whole risk of forwarding timber to foreign markets, the Wellington shipowners will most probably buy the timber at once on their own account, and ship, as markets op<m in various parts of New Zealand and Australia. The market for timber to be consumed in Wellington alone will also be a good one, if present prognostications of the increase of population in '.he city and suburbs are to be believed, and there appears no reason to doubt them. Hundreds of new houses will be annually required to meet the wants of an increasing population. One thing- the directors must keep steadily in view, and that is, not to part with a single foot of any land they may have acquired for the company. We notice in a recent application made by the Harbor Board to the Government for grants, Sir William Fitzhekbert suggested that the space reserved by the Government for the railway terminus on the reclaimed land was much larger than could be required, being, in fact, larger than was required for the great railway termini in London. He also advise. l the Board to seek power for reclaming the fore shore, from the end of the Wellington-Manawatu Railway Grant to the Korokoro stream, this being* exceptionally valuable as a reclamation in view of future extension for buildings and wharfage. If the Government or the directors of the Weliington-AJanawatu .Railway are weak enough to believe this sort of twaddle we shall be surprised. It is qu ; te evident, that Sir William knows nothing whatever about the space required for a railway terminus in London or anywhere else. It has long been a notorions fact that the error made in the past by all railway companies has been to cramp themselves at their termini, and that thousands of pounds have had to be spent in partially redeeming- the Original error by purchasing land already built over by business place's attracted by the conveniences afforded by being near t.jo .said termini. It would be ab^iiid in the Government' or ihe director-^ to have in some future time to ' buy lack at ;-.n enor nous a.ivance, '

what is now their own property. We ufi considerably .surprised at seeiujr thii Evening Post express a wish hat any part of the foreshore from thn Welliniiton-Mnnawatu Haihvav Grant, ! should be despoiled. Settlers alongside the proposed line Ircm Welling" - ; ton to New Plymouth should oppose ; tooth and nail any proposition that i< likely t j interfere with i he trad'- 1 i.i which they arc interested, by re- j striding: tho space of the terminus. j We doubt not the Wellington mom- , bers nro now sorry that when they ■ assisted to rob Mnnawatu bv making an endowment of some of the best (>t its land to the Wangaimi Harbor JJonril, that they did not have a '• slice of the puddin»" for the Wellington Harbor iJonrd.