North Island Trunk Railway

Feilding Star, Volume VI, Issue 56, 21 October 1884, Page 3

North Island Trunk Railway

• One of the witnesses who gave evidence before the North Island Trunk Railway Committee rather Met. the eat out of the bag." Som.i time ago, it may be remembered, a document got up in the form ot a parliamentary paper, purporting to be a collection of reports on the rival routes, in which the Stratford line waa held upas much superior to the other, was largely circulated, a copy being sent to every member of the House. The witness in question — Mr A.J. Rawson, surveyor, of New Plymouth, formerly in the Government employ — seems to have got iuto a veritable Palace of Truth. Directly he faced the Committee he at once blurted out that he was the author of the document in question, having been employed by tho Taranaki Vigilance Committee to write it. It was after he left the Governm-nt service. In the same spirit of candor ho went, oh to state the names of tbe Committee; adding that Mr Samuel, the. .member tor New Plymouth, brought down the plan and had it photo-lithographed at the Government printing office. He believed it was" at the cost of the ; Vigilance Committee, but was rather hazy on this point. He admitted that he had only been about five miles along; tbe central route from Marton, and only about fifty miles along the Stratford route from the northern end. Being asked by Mr Fulton if he submitted the report he wrote for tbe Vigilance Committee as a reliable document, based on his own information, he said; .*' No ; 1 was working in the interests of my employers at the time. and it : would' not bo considered a breach of confidence to state that in writing that report I did so in tbe interests of Taranaki. The report has. nothing co do with the previous report which I wrote when in the (-Qmploy. of the Government" Being ask&Hf' be would then endorse the statements mado in bis report, ho replied, -"T would not say that"; andrihen added : M have a considerable personal knowledge of it from having been up and down the coast, and I may say that that plan (distributed with the report) would bear looking into far more than those who runit'dbwn think that it will. It has always been an interesting subject to, me, and I have talked to great many people on it. Of courao, a'man is writing for his employers he makes out the best case he can. Attftesame time, it was an attempt on myjiart to get as near the truth £9 possible, : and yet not hide my empftvers', light under a bushel, as wgref..'r..- ■ '„-.