MR POLSON, M.P.
M, All I .BOROUGH ’ S QU ESTION S
,(,By Telegraph—Per Press Association 1
BLENHEIM, May 14
Unusual public interest was displayed in to-night’s address by Mr W. J. Poison, President of the Farmers’ Union, in view of his reported statements at Invercargill and elsewhere in reference to the prosecution of the South Island Main Trunk Railway. Mr Poison was reported as stating that the line would cost fiL teen millions to complete, and that as the Dominion’s annual railway loss was two millions, and the line could never pay, it should be stopped:
As the estimate for the cost of the railway is not fifteen, but two and a half millions, the Marlbourough people headed by the local Farmers’ Union, demanded an explanation, which Mr, Poison gave to-night. A big crowd was present, and Mr W. T. Churchward had been appointed by the Progress League, with the sanction of the Farmers’ Union, to address certain questions to Mr Poison. The speaker claimed that he had been misreported in the south, and that what he said was that fifteen millions was being spent, not on the South Island Main Trunk, or on the South Island, but on the whole of the New Zealand Railways. He added that if it could be shown that the line would not result in a serious loss, he would be the first to help to secure it. However, this did not apply to the Nelson line. The position there was different. That line could never pay,, he was afraid, and in any the country there had been so shatteied by the earthquake that a thorough investigation was essential. The meeting ended very curiously. A motion of thanks to Mr Poison was put and carried, and Mr Poison moved the customary vote to the chairman. The chairman thereupon declared the meeting closed, hut Mr Churchward rose, and he asked leave to address certain questions to Mr Poison.
The Mayor, who presided, said that Mr Pol,son had informed him that his visit was purely and simply on Farmers’ Union matters, and he would answer no questions on political subjects.
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Hokitika Guardian, 15 May 1930, Page 6
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354MR POLSON, M.P. Hokitika Guardian, 15 May 1930, Page 6
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