The Feilding Star. TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1884. The Oroua Valley Route

Feilding Star, Volume VI, Issue 12, 8 July 1884, Page 2

The Feilding Star. TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1884. The Oroua Valley Route

♦ In reply to a question, put to Mr Aekwright at Stanway Road, as to whether he would favor the central line of railway being brought to join at Marton, or whether he would support the Oroua Valley route, he said, in unmistakeable terms, that he would prefer the junction to be at or near Marton or Greatford stations. He had seen the reports on the other alternate routes, and he considered this the best. The Oroua Valley route he condemned as impracticable, and therefore he would oppose it. Seeing that Mr Rochfort's report of his exploration has not yet been made public, and that Mr Arkwright has neither seen it privately or been over the countiy himself, we think he has arrived at a somewhat hasty conclusion. It would have been much better if he had openly said that he would advocate the decision of the Government being arrived at after the merits of the several lines had been freely discussed and stated by competent engineers, and let the Oroua Valley route be condemned by the proper judges- -We are also sorry to notice tlfat'Mr Arkwrigh"? has - 'altered or modified his views on the Education Act in order to catch the vote of one particular religious body. The same line of change has also been followed by Mr Bruce. The results will be the same in both .cases, and a number of the supporters of both gentlemen, who are electors resident in the Kiwitea and Makino, will now vote for MiStevens, who has stated that he will give these districts a fair chance of having those sections of the electorate opened up by the Central Railway, and who will support the present Education Act in its entirety. While on this subject we may state that we have made a careful analysis ef the Rangitike electoral roll and have arrived at the conclusion that if all three candidates go to the poll the result will be nearly as follows : — Stevens, 425 ; Arkwright, 400 ; Bruce, 285. If the last named gentleman were to retire the totals would be increased, but the positions on the list would not be affected.