WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 19 August 1929, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS

SOUTH ISLAND TRUNK RAILWAY

; AN INDEPENDENT OPINION. ' I .

'(Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, August 16.'. A recognised land authority, whose business has taken him over all parts of the Marlborough Province at fairly frequent intervals during the last, fifteen or sixteen years, and Who professes to have no party prejudices, is jv strong advocate for the speedy completion—of the South Island Trunk Railway in order that the country lying ‘ between North Canterbury , and Elenlieim may be brought into. full (fruition. There , seems to be a grave, peril, he states, of the fate of this work- being determined by the squabbling between the contending parties in the House of Representatives instead of by the deliberate judgment of practical men acquainted with the districts immediately concerned. Of the economic soundness of the undertaking . he has -no shadow of doubt. “ Take for instance,”, he says, “the sheep transport. ' It is estimated that 60,000 sheep’travel pnually from the Marlborpugh-Kaikputa districts to Christchurch. That nfimber crossed the Conway in eight' months last', year. These sheep are mostly', ewps, and based on Addington market >. rates ■would be worth fully 30s a head.’ By the time they have travelled to the Christchurch market, in addition-to losses on the road, their vnlue is little more-than- 20s a head. ' Fiiftiher..thnn' this i.such low-conditioned-,’ewes. ■ are likely to- produce no. jfnpre/ttKqn.vtwothirds percentage pf lambs which >voiiJd make, thrirty-three • per . cpnb'pf the% a dead loss.” that the completion of the trunk-rail-way would save the farmers of Marlborough in this respect qn an average, at ieast £30,000 to ' £40,000 V:-year..y.

; MEATbAND^P|X^^# :^^ , . And /it hausts \:.<s barley ypravihde-' ii J(. qLirialy as a ' ‘ * and;' yetrii ‘con'tain's.,s'|nip Jjjl tlf^n^t 1 herds of ■ HerefordS l in- thb >Romi}jfqnt; The completion 7 ' of :■'the'^^ilwfly r ,^bii)^l immediateiy^P^HWTs^^ihr^.-'i'v.^fr trade 'bPt-yeenf dington 3 j?) To'Vthp ■. ,'existihg bet)vveen-:.th^ South'. Island stock market.;,: Th'q; c the value of “ stpre'” cattle and “fat” cattle; offered \ at ’isr/mofe, than'one‘half,arid if ! bnly '2OOO of:-'§666; “fats” were railed, annually'', from Marlborough, whence none are'sent at present, it would mean more bhan £lO a head to the gr&ner.V l '* The Marlborough farmers have no market , for winter fattened stock and they will have no suitable one until the means of communication are vastly improved. . With its, early • limestone country, its mild winter end its wonderful :>capacity for; growing lucerne the ‘ province is exceptionally adapted for the winter and early spring production of. lamb and i mutton. ;In the ab-> sence of adequate means of transport, however, no advantage caii. be taken of these unique conditions. Then again; in- Canterbury ;in‘ wj'ht'er;«;arid\ .early spring there frequently : is .a grent s’cair-; city .of stock feed' with, ’a'‘ resultant lqss.of ewes and lambs'. Thbhsands of tons olf lucerne hiiy cbuld .be produced in -Marlborough at ‘a cost qf Tittle more than £3 a ton, And, in'seasotia city Canterbury: farmers 'ivould,'pay-up; to £6 a ton • for this fbdden These r statements all are backed up by farmers <in the Province. . : .'

;. LUpERNE AND SETTLEMENT. . . Turning to other matters bearing upon the railway competition .our.'authority—who, by thfe way/is. not personI aily interested in -the affairs' ’ of. the province—touches briefly on' their significance. “There are- small farms m the' Ward district,” he x declares,“where with' the assistance of lucerne, up to eighteen cows are being n ‘ dairied ’ on a little over twenty acres. ‘ This: class Of farming could be largely■: increased with the southern outlet opened to the daiifymehS Some-of 'the finest limestone deposits '.in. the Dominion' are' located in the •-•‘Ward district find with the completed lime could ibe. taken doWn the ■ coast . to the salvation of a lot of country that is how 'deteriorate ing.: Between the Ure-.. arid Clarence rivers, a span of some thirty-five miles, there are ' properties held by ten or twelve occupants which could be cut up into a hundred holdings for closer Settlement. ‘ ’ !

/, TJiis is r the estimate of a practical farmer who has known the country in-

timately for over forty years. It rollers, of course, to one section of the province and not to the whole area. As for the cost of the railway, that is

a: matter for the engineer and the poli-

ticians section. An experienced contractor, however, has stated that the ■estimate.of £32,000 a mile is ludicrous. jfcj,e'would like to have the job between Wharanui and Oaro, a section of nearly fifty miles, at £20,000.a mile. The

last, twenty miles, he says, would cost a little more, but nothing like the figure stated by the opponents of the line.” This is a view of the proposed completion of the South Island Trunk Kailway which so far seems to have re-, ceived scarcely its full deserts.