TAUPO RAILWAY

Hokitika Guardian, 25 July 1929, Page 6

TAUPO RAILWAY

SENSATIONAL INCIDENT IN THE

HOUSE

WELLINGTON,- July 23

Giving his reasons for stopping the Rotoiiua-Taupo railway,; Syr Joseph Ward made the sensational statement in the House of Representatives tonight that lie believed that railway to be a political line, and by way of supporting this assertion he read a letter, apparently taken from the file. The Prime Alinister began by calling the attention of the House and the country to the fact that the Royal 'Uommission which Investigated the possibilities of this line did not recommend its construction. He said he was not aware whether members of the House knew of this report which stated that under present and probable conditions there seemed no likelihood of the line earning sufficient revenue to meet expenditure and -interest. Air Party (Auckland Central) asked if the Prime Alinister knew of the Royal Commission’s report before the general election.

Sir Joseph Ward replied that lie did not, because he nad not read the report at that time. He said it should oe borne in mind that one of the commissioners who signed the report gave a qualified signature, and that fact should be taken in conjunction with the report. The ' fact was that the Commission’s report did not confirm what it was set up to confirm, one member having repudiated the report. “I was curious,” continued Sir Joseph, “to £ec how"this i line was started, and;!'looked it tfKjnk it was a political railway,/-TKvsi'dtter wliicir l shall reacPis one fofi the things which, made [me ,- I!Ef6RM‘.SI;bMiTER’S letter.

Sir Joseph then read the following letter:

“Broadlands, AVaiotapu, ’ wetober 25th. 1927 •The Hon J. G. Coates,, Wellington: . “Dear Sir—Again there is nothing on the estimates for our railway. What uecomes of your promise made to our deputation at TaupoT 1 may tell you Itlljit relying on your word I entered/ Mfi; a new scheme of improvements, ujH :|>n; which I have expended an addGi : u|wfai £3OOO. All this will have to Tp;if!b|rti<joned, for it is impossible tor' !■ carry ]■ of), means of access. I that I did 4||ji| rVii?^fl^j||pfil6 , Unt oi work in launcn-? Party. From its in-5] ' tlStl'ibn/.ii'iitil illy leaving Aucklands|&L Vw»§s-|)V, in 1908 every meeting of /b]i ■' and general committees ivasMi&ll* in my office, and I can truly say that had it not been for tne n mendous amount*, of.. work done and enthusiasm put in by ni/self and about others there would be£tto Reform Party< to-day.”

Mr -Liiiigstone AYaimarino) interjected : It is a pity he didn’t die in ins youth. (Labour laughter). •!.; L *■ '’Continuing,’‘"Sil' Jtiseph read' on as follows “No- Gdv’crnftient ■' ‘could have dohe ess for this area. However, you have achieved one Toil have got rid of me, and my persistence, I, am dope, it is’ Hie eikl 'of,, a .great enthusiasm, out it-is not really in the interest of the country that enthusiasm should be . crushed. ~ , f * j,n j ' faithfully, ! ‘ ' “is:' e'., yaile.'.” l

: A’ MSPASS'IpXATE, DECISION'. j Sir Joseph said the file showed that tlie question of the Rotorua-Ta upo railway, had exercised the mind of more than one Reform Minister, but finally the present leader of the Opposition settled it, and he settled it after receipt of tnat letter. The Prime Miniser quoted figures to show that it had been estimated that tho line would earn only sufficient to cave a balance of £9OOO to meet interest charges, which would total afyout £3o,oo'j: V;' | ‘Mr Coates': J)id you go ‘into. ’ the figures?', T ‘ Sir Joseph Ward': Yes, I went into the figures, ijhd I "couldn't see how fit was ever going to pay. I couldn’t fpr the lift of me see how.’you were'going to rely upon any freight coining from that ‘ timber. . ... 1 Mr Parry: Didn’t a couple of your Ministers think the land’round there was all right? .’ , i Sir Joseph said he didn’t know about that, hut the Government had been forced to the conclusion that it could not see its way to allow the line to continue, although reached that conclusion with some regret, because the previous Government and private persons had spent some money. A sum of £BOO,OOO was involved, and the Government came to its decision quite dispassionately. The line would have been adjacent to Rotorua, where large sums were spent in making visitors comfortable','" and the risk of interference with regmar traffic to Rotorua could not he allowed. ■ .

G(WERNAIENT’S RESPONSIBILITY. Air Parry asicod whether Hie Prime Minister thought that Parliament might have been consulted. Sir. Joseph: Oh, no. The Government must accept the responsibility. Air Parry: In the circumstances? Sir Joseph: The Govetrnment wouldn’t he worth its salt if it didn’t fake the responsibility. Had the House been sitting it might have been different, but to defer a decision till the meeting of Parliament would have meant delay, and it applied to all things would mean deferring decisions

from one year’s end till the nejct. All the time expense would be going on. Sir Joseph said that another thing which influenced the Government was that one gentleman who was a hig holder of land in the district had sold a big part of his land, but kept some, and was a very active agitator to have the railway started. Mr Coates: The land was sold before the railway was started. Sir Joseph: I am informed otherwise, hut I accept your assurance. -