THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1921. THE “KEY” RAILWAY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4316, 12 September 1921, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1921. THE “KEY” RAILWAY.

Included in the report of the remarks of Sir Wm. Herries at Tauranga in regard to the East Coast railway, as published in the daily papers, is a passage of exceptional interest tothe residents of the fertile plains and valley lying between'Paeroa and Pokeno. The paragraph reads as follows:

The ministei’ said he agreed that the completion of the earthworks to Waihi was mpst important, but there was another important matter from the colonial point of view that should not be overlooked by the Tauranga Railway League, and that was the Paeroa-Pokeno line. He regarded that line as one of the key positions of the East Coast railway.

Sir William gave the Tauranga people a pertinent hint that they must not be parochial, and the same lesson may well be taken to heart in this district also. The Paeroa-Pokeno railway, besides shortening the distance to Auckland by some forty-odd miles, would stave off the evil day when the duplication of the line from Frankton to Auckland become imperative.. The ex Minister of Railways is evidently fully cognisant of the fact that whereas a second line from Frankton to Auckland would not open up a single extra acre of land for development, would' not cause another pound of butter or another ton of coal to be produced, the Paeroa—Pokeno line would tap an immense area of the most fertile land in the Dominion, now relying on precarious river services and long-dis-tance roads, in bad order, for the exportation of produce and the importation of manufactures. The various organisations in this district might well form a separate organisation, allied to the Auckland Railways League, for the purpose of joining hands with the Bay of Plenty. Their united efforts would be productive of better results than have been achieved hitherto. Sir William has given us “the straight tip”; let us take it.