THE Kawhia Settler. FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1905. THE PROSPECTS OF A RAILWAY.

Kawhia Settler and Raglan Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 211, 2 June 1905, Page 2

THE Kawhia Settler. FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1905. THE PROSPECTS OF A RAILWAY.

The meeting held last week showed that all persons who have considered the matter of railway communiostion with the West Coast are of opinion that no other place has the advantages that Kawhia has. The depth of water from the Heads to half a mile past the township averages forty feet at the least, and at no place.iu the channel is it under 28-feet at low water. Nor is this channel a narrow one, but is utilisable for a distance of three to six chains in width. The bar is considered the best on the West Coast, and should some of the largest vessels trading to New Zealand not be able to quite safely negotiate it, the shelter under Albatroes Point is well known to all navigators of this coa&t as second to none with the wind in at least three quarters, whilst it seldom blows in the fourth, in which case the bay on the other side of this point is sufficient shelter. The actual distance from the Main Trunk Line at the nearest point is about 20 miles, but even if this were not considered the best route which aver way was chosen would open up a large extent of land, and by connecting with the main line cause an immediate accession of production. The land all round the harbour for a .distance of a hundred miles in almost any direction is fit for dairying and pasturage, and some of it is not even second to Taranaki. Some of the Kioobaka, Kiritebere, Te Awaroa, Marakopa, and Oparau lands are ex cessively rich and although nut all equally so, toe good land is more than a moiety. A railway laid from the Upper Waikato to Kiwhia Harbor would prove a most handsome investment far New Zealand and would produce an increase of revenue to the State, and more especially to this part of the colony, as it would ciuse it to treble and quadruple its industries witbin two years from the turning of the last sod, whilst in twenty years it would be one of the most populous and prosperous parts of New Zealand. Good climate and good land only want population to make the happy possessors an enviable community* and such would Kawhia and the surrounding district be were the means ot getting the country opened up provided in the shape of a railway.