HON. W. A. VEITCH

Hokitika Guardian, 31 January 1930, Page 3

HON. W. A. VEITCH

VISIT OF MINISTER OF MINES. RAILWAY EXTENSION DEPUTATION. The Hon W. A. Veiteli,'Minister of Mines accompanied by Mrs Veiteli, and iiis private secretary, Mr Sherwood, and iUr J. O’Buen member for Westland, arrived from Grey mouth last evening. Later, a deputation waited on the Minister' at Keller’s Hotel, consisting of the Mayor (Mr G.. A. perry), County Chairman (Mr B. Ward), Hon H. L. Michel, Messrs J. A. Murdoch, Win- Wilson, D. J. Evans and H. G. Coles. . ■ The Mayor extended a cordial welcome to Mr Veiteli, expressing the hope that his visit would be an enjoyable and successful one and assuring him of a very hearty welcome to the district. The County Chairman associated himself with the Mayor in the welcome to this part of Westland. He assured the Minister that all country residents were pleased to hear that he was coining to the district, and he hoped his stay would he a very pleasant one. Mr J. O’Brien, M.P. added his quota to the welcome and assured the Minister that the people appreciated this his second visit since assuming office. They would also like to have visits from the Hon Ministers of Lands and Public Works.

Hon H. L. Michel also joined in the welcome'. They all knew of the

interest the Minister had in the mining industry. When the Australian mining chaos came to an end there would be very keen competition in the local coal industry. Referring to the district he expressed the view that m future development rests the advancement of South Westland. Hon Mr Veitch thanked the speakers for their cordial welcome. This vas his second visit to the district as Minister of Mines, though he had the Measure'of visiting'the district on nany occasions in earlier, years. He vas glad to find the goodwill existing in the blending of town and country aS emphasised by the deputation that evening. In , reference to tne desire to see other Ministers visit the district he assured them of the keen interest in the welfare of the district by both of them. Referring to South Westland the Minister said it contained a vast source of wealth that was undeveloped, while in addition n had a wealth of scenic beauty. He recognised the necessity to Concentrate attention on the vast potential wealth that is unexplored in South West.antl. lie saw no reason why the vVesi Uoast of the Soutli Island should not ue a very prosperous district, having such valuable land, timber and tourist attractions. He thought the future prospertiy would be beyond that of the •most optimistic of. them all. He. thankee,.;them for thejr Welcome again and iioned they would always pull togethe: «nd never be afraid to trust the future. He assured them of his continued interest and goodwill to the people of the ■district,-and he assured them that the ! Government was prepared and read} to treat them as generously as an} other part of New Zealand. ■•Mr O’Brien then referred to the deputation present who wished to •cling under the attention of the Minister the request tor the extension oi the railway from Ross into South Westland. The .possibilities of the district were- very great. Twenty years had gone since the railway asked for had been authorised. There were millions of feet of timber awaiting a railway to enable it to be transported. Hound Oknrito there were ToOO million feet alone.

Mr B. Yv aid referred to the resolutions passed at the public meeting asking for an extension of the railway below Ross. The possibilites of South Westland were very great, hour-fifths of the commercial timber of New Zealand is standing on the West Coast and four-fifths of the timber on the West Coast stands south of Teremakau river. That is one reason why the railway should be made, to assist in the transport of the timber. White pine is a very valuable timber to-day and is in great demand. In South Westland there was an inexhaustible stock of white pine waiting for the woodman, while the woodman is walking the streets looking for work. Outside the timber industry there is a great future for the flax industry. At the present time South Westland is thinly populated and the holders of land are in possession of large areas, but he thought this was quite right in view of the difficulties they had of getting their products to market. He bad pleasure in handing over a copy of the resolution passed at the public meeting. In conclusion he thought it would be a good business proposition for the Government and he asked for a favourable recommendation to their request.

Mr Wm. .Wilson (Manager of Hokitika Savings Bank) strongly supported the request of the public meeting. He knew the value of South Westland. In his earlier days he had been a surveyor and had walked over the whole of the district, and knew what the district contained. He was now Manager of the Savings Bank, and as an instance of the progress of the district stated that while in 1913 the deposits amounted to £53,000 they today stood at £129,000. As early as 1872 a sub-committee was set up to urge the making of a railway to Boss. He had the authority of the local Postmaster to state that there was a marked increase in the quantity of mails going south. He also pointed out that this railway will eventually be an arterial railway, connect-

ing up with Otago by way of the Haast Pass. That of course would not come for some time. Every mile that the railway was extended South will be revenue producing, and he took this opportunity of. pointing out that all railways in Westland have, always paid well. Fie supplied a map of the South Island showing the sawmills, pointing out that only where there were railways did the sawmills appear. A quantity of interesting statistics were quoted (and later at the request of the Minister, Mr Wilson agreed to provide a copy thereof for liis information). Mr Wilson concluded by stating the pleasure it gave him in recommending the project to the careful consideration of the Government. •Mr J. A. Murdoch said he thought the case for the petitioner was a very strong one. He had been pleased ,to bear the references made by the Minister to the late R. J. Seddon. The work they were advocating is only a fraction of what many years ago had been called Macandrew’s dream. The late Mr /Seddon, referring to this project had expressed the hope that what was Macandrew’s dream would be Seddon’s reality. That reference alone renders unnecessary any apology

i'or bringing this before the Minister. They came before the Minister as responsible residents of the district, maicing their appeal. As business men they were unitedly agitating for the pushing on of the railway. They had a readily saleable community awaiting the provision of transport. The timber was there and ready, but was a wasting asset. He strongly commended the facts presented by the other speakers. He declared the grounds for their advocacy 'of the line are sound and the Government would be warranted in pushing on with the work of construction. He took the opportunity to ask Mr Veitch, during his visit to South Westland to visit the Five Mile beach claim. Concluding, he said he Was confident that an m-

vtjsfJ.lgntioii by Government officers would prove the truth of the statements made that evening.

Hon H. L. Michel said every argument against the railway was inged against the Hokitika-Grey railway. II constructed it would give a great impetus to the district. He recognised he difficulties of the Government, but he thought that the district deserved favourable consideration to the request made. He"asked that they be given a vision, something to look forward to ,n the early future. Mr D. J. Evans said the district ad received great assistance from the Prime Minister. They owed it to S r •Joseph Ward, for the starting of the Arthur’s Pass tunnel. Tt had been hanging lire for some months but he made a master stroke in letting the tunnel contract. The traffic was estimated at 1000 tons, and now it was over 2000 tons daily. Sir Joseph was Prime Minister when the Ross extension was authorised, Mr R. McKenzie being Minister of Public Works. At that critical time there was a change of Government and the work was not started. They now asked- for the authorisation to be re-enacted. The Ross oil way was a great feeder to the earning capacity of the railway, ami Jie extension south will add to the

earning capacity as every nine was nade. Knowing as he did of the resources of tbe southern district, he was ertain that the sooner the railway has made the better jt will be for the vVest Coast and New Zealand as a whole.

Hon W. Veitch, replying, said he felt it was a case of common sense dominating the position. If he were the owner of the property of South Westland lie would consider himself a very favoured person who with a little industry could make himself a very wealthy man. He was only one Minister, and his views were personal ones. He certainly would take their representations to the Prime Minister and ask aim to take them to Cabinet. He asicjd for Mr Wilson’s figures and would use them to further the request. The policy of the Government is to proceed with the existing main lines and nofio commence branch lines. He took it that this proposal was for a South Westland main line. The Government felt it was wiser to concentrate on valuable development work than to waste money on petty schemes. The policy is not to relieve unemployment, it is the abolition of unemployment, and a comprehensive scheme of land settlement, and to carry out their declared policy' at the last general election. Referring to the timber in ,_>outh Westland he said he had been through South Westland and had seen some of the timber. He would lay it down as a. principle that it would he better to utilise that timber to advantage, and develop our assets. He complimened them on the thorough way in which they had made their representations and he would be pleased to bring them before the Prime Minister and ask for the consideration of Cabinet. Mr Ward thanked the Minister for his reception of the deputation and the business concluded.