The Guardian (And Evening star,with which is in-Corporate the west coast Times.) MONDAY, AUGUST 6th. 1923 SUCCESS.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 August 1923, Page 2

The Guardian (And Evening star,with which is inCorporate the west coast Times.) MONDAY, AUGUST 6th. 1923 SUCCESS.

“When tm> shore is won at last, Who will count the billow* pn*t ?’’ I When we have reached that haven | where we would lx, the voyage, he it m fair or stormy, swift or tardy, is soon “ forgotten in the joy that the perils | are past, tho danger is o’er, and in I the long Inst the ship is moored safely within the harbor. It was with iecl--5 ing* akin to those of the weary oversea | voyager, that the happy excursionists “ travelling East and West on Saturday 1 to a common meeting ground at Otiiu, | spent the day. The period of long i postponement and pcreptnnl procrastij nation was forgotten in the jubilations j which the celebrations moused. It was a representative gathering—all parts of the Coast greeting Canterbury friends and North Island visitors in hearty, happy holiday mood. The Government was not an ungenerous host, and hospitality was extended to all. I The occasion was indeed a red letter day i'or the (’oast. But nil the T)oI minion is to participate in the fruits of t,he great work successfully completI od, and successfully opened on Sntnr--1 day. The Prime Minister remarked I that the Arthur’s Pass tunnel is not only the longest in the Australasian colonies, but also within tho British Empire. New Zealand therefore has something of outstanding importance in the world’s great railway achievements—the seventh longest tunnel in the world itself. Tourists, engineers and scientists will come from all tho ends of the earth see this great work which pierced the everlasting Southern Alps, hitherto the barrier to the legitimate expansion of tne Coast. In-ter-eommunieation is the great aid to progress and prosperity. That agency has been denied the Coast hitherto, for transport for bulk commodities was restricted to round about ocean traffic. Now the portal to the each is opened commerce must grow, in dustry expand, settlement increase, and production be more prolific. In a word a great success must attend the ’ trade and traffic resulting from tho Coast being linked permanently with the South Island railway system. Many j of the speakers on Saturday tributed those whose brains and hands had made the success possible—the engineers and the workmen. The precision of the work of the engineers is beyond all praise, seeing that such mathematical ■accuracy resulted in the final completion of the work. Tho excellence of the. workmanship is testified to by the stability of the tunnel works, and the faithfulness of the performance is further justified by tho immunity from von- serious accident under which the gigantic work was performed. Acknowledgment- should

i.c made also to the Governments, pre-s-.'i.l and -past associated with the pushing through of the Midland Railway. These "ho had the courage to begin and carry on, and those with the enterprise to finish the job, deserve praiso and thanks. Lastly, the Coast people must he for ever grateful to those (and in paiticular our Canterbury friends) who co-operated with Westland at the various stages of the agitation to keep ttie work steadily advancing. Now that it is completed aiul opened, wo join with the Minister of Public Works in hoping it will lie a success, and if liis ideas are carried into effect, namely to utilise tho railway for tho benefit of the traffic it can enter for, Mr Coates along with others in tho Dominion will he pleasantly surprised at the results. The railway is in operation, and worked intelligently it should he. all that is expected of it as a boon and a blessing to the Const ; but the Government must think of the Coast as a whole, and not as a divided territory. The inaugural time-table is inadequate and inconvenient. That must needs bo amended materially it it is to be of practitid help to tho railway system. But that is another phase of the matter which will lie discussed later. For the present all who helped to achieve the success attained on Saturday deserve the thanks and grateful gratitude of t'lio Const - and that wo express freely and sincerely.