The Globe. THURSDAY A GUST 22 1878.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1410, 22 August 1878, Page 2

The Globe. THURSDAY A GUST 22 1878.

It was of course not to be expected that the route for the extension of the railway to the West Coast should bo discussed calmly by the Dunedin journals. For unreasonable selfishness and utter disregard of tho interests of the colony at laro'e, Otngo has acquired an evil fame in X'ew Zealand, -which it is impossible to say i'i undeserved. That fame is.amply justified by the arguments uscdvin the present instance for the connection of the West Coast with tho East by a lino from Hokitika to tho South, via tho I jia&et ¥m It would ijideod to ty'

credible that any reasonable individual would support this line who had an intimate knowledge of the Coast country. The Dunedin papers, having apparently no such knowledge, make light of difficulties which, when they come to be examined by engineers, will without the least doubt damn the project once and for over. A handful of people in Hokitika do indeed support the line, but the ground of their support is evident enough. Stated in plain language, their motive is simply jealousy of Greymouth on the one hand, and the hope of enlisting tho powerful sympathy of Messrs Stout andMacandrew on the other. It is argued in Dunedin that the proposed lino would open up a vast tract of country in Otago itself, the produce from which would immediately render it self - supporting. On the other hand, it is argued that the lino from Amberley would only open up a limited area of good land. From these two hypotheses tho deduction is drawn that, if the latter line is to bo constructed at all, it should be constructed by a company under tho District Hailways Act, whereas the former should be made by the colony out of tho borrowed money. To the mind not imbued with the Otagan doctrine it would seem that tho legitimate inference to bo drawn from tho premisses above stated is precisely the converso of that which tho Dunedin press draws. If the intra-Otago line would bo so very remunerative, it is very singular that, with the boasted wealth of that part of the colony, no company has yet stepped into the field to take tho construction of tho railway in hand. We are deeply impressed with tho enterprising spirit which permeates tho peoplo of the South, and we question whether any other instance can bo cited in which thoy have refused to make mouey by an investment certain to be highly remunerative. Yet this is what, according to the local press, Otago people are doing in the present case. Such a wonderful example of self-abnegation is without parallel in colonial history. On the other hand, in the case of the .Northern line, it is not on the immediately remunerative character of the sections adjacent to Amberley that the main contention is based. The whole question turns upon the readiest and cheapest means of connecting the East Coast with the roal sourco of production in the West —that is tho coalfields. Whatever side-issues may be raised, it is quite certain that that is tho real point to bo kept in mind, and we are quite willing to follow tho lead of the Otago papers, and relegate the opening up of intermediate country to the District Railways Act. Looking then at this, the main object of the railway, it is impossible to believe that there can really bo an honest difference of opinion on the matter. By tho Northern route the East Coast railway system would be joined by an almost direct line: by the Southern, an enormous distance will have to be traversed before a centre of population is reached, where there is likely to bo a demand for coals. As to the interests of travellers by rail, after the main trunk line is extended to Marlborough, the West Coast settler desirous of running up to Wellington will, if the Otago route is decided on, have to go by rail twothirds round the island before he reaches Picton, the port at which he will take ship to cross the Straits. On the other hand Otago will gain no advantage by the construction of tho Southern line, so far as traffic with Greymouth is concerned, which she would not gain by the Northern. Possibly in time to come it may be advantageous to have the two lines, but at present only one is practicable, and that one must be along the route which will bring the Greymouth coal most cheaply and directly into the colonial markets. A railway into South Westland with a view to agricultural settlement is now, and will be for fifty years hence, simply an absurdity, and if the Haast Pass scheme is attempted, either to please Otago or Westland, or both, the political railway so constructed will be the very worst and most ruinous job of all the political jobs which havo boon carried out since a Government was established in New Zealand. It is inconceivable that thoy who talk bo airily of running a line southward from Hokitika havo really any idea of the kind of country their line would have to traverse, the enormous outlay which would be required for construction, and the immense cost of maintenance. The Otago papers —some of them at least—speak of tho West Coast rivers as though thoy were a mere nothing. Such statements merely expose the ignorance of the writers. Mr. Martin Kennedy estimates tho cost of this lino at three million pounds, as contrasted with £460,000 for tho line to Amberley. Those who know the country between Totara and tho Haast Pass will not bo disposed to think Mr. Kennedy's estimate excessive. To those who have seen Cook's River, tho Okarito, Paringa, Waiho, Waikupukupa, Karaugarua, and numerous other intervening rivers in flood, the project of a railway along the coast line will appear downright madness. At such times thoy spread over the whole country, bringing down huge masses of timber. Unless the colony determined to establish a whole series of Chanoy's comers, extending over many miles of country, this line would not bo undertaken. Supposing an attempt was made to rest the line at an elevation upon piers, the work would be more expensive, and the result equally To drive piles in the beds of these rivers, which are full of bouldors weighing many tons, would be impossible. To sink cylinders would in many cases be impossible, because the river beds frequently change, and in numerous places'tho bed rock would only bo reached at a great depth. Then - again there are tho bluffs, which come ; sheer down to tho water, to bo rounded or tunnelled, involving irnmeuso expense in either case. Supposing an attempt is made to run the line a little way inland, the difficulties are in no way lessened. In that caso the line would for long distances bo a continuous chain of bridges across tho river gorges, and tunnels through tho intervening spurs. Even whore thero is flat, swamps are found which aro apparently bottomless, as in the country south of the Haast River, where a solid railway formation will never be formed, and the lino wouhl have to rest upon pile-work of some species. Such aro a few of the obstacles to realising tho wild dream of tho Otagans. Jt must ha vewomboi-od that tho project

is one devised and boldly advocated, so far, entirely without reference to engineers. Tho route has never been examined with a view to tho formation of a railway, or even of a road along the whole length. If wo were quite certain that the Government engineers would not havo the nature of their report prescribed to them beforehand in the office of tho Minister of Public Works, if there were oven a prospect of obtaining a report comparing tho two linos by an engneer whoso instructions or chancos of retaining position did not demand that he should have a bias at the outset of more than two to one in favour of the Southern route, we should be quite contented to leave the matter to the decision of any engineer. Even if instructions are given beforehand, there is very little fear but that, howover good-willed the engineers may bo, their reputation will necessitate tho emphatic condemnation of the line from Hokitika to the Haast Pass.