THE Kawhia Settler FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1908 KAWHIA A PORT FOR WAIKATO.

Kawhia Settler and Raglan Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 378, 4 September 1908, Page 2

THE Kawhia Settler FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1908 KAWHIA A PORT FOR WAIKATO.

In our issue of the 21et ultimo, we quoted in full sn able leading article that appeared in the Waikato Times. In (hie article the Times dwelt at length, and with knowledge of the subject, on the advantages that would accrue, uot merely to Hamilton and Katvbia, but to the whole of this part of >be N. Island if the port of Kawhia were conrected by rail with the Main Trunk. It advocated in short that Kawhia should bo made the port for Waikato. Viewing thia subject through Hamilton spectacles the Times na’uruliy advocated that the liue from here should connect at Hamilton—to this wo will refer later. The abovementioned leader appears to have given umbrage to anr Raglan friends, or rather to the Raglan Chronicle, an the following extract from the Chronicle's leader of August 28th will sbuw:

“In the matter of settlement' population, products and the extent of conn try a railway would open up, Raglan’s claims are such a long way ahead of those ot Kawhia that it is surprising to find a Waikato journal which ,is usually wellinformed advocating the desirability of connection between Hamilton and Kawhia while Raglan is altogether disregarded, and this in face of a fact which must be obvious to anyone with the faintest conception of the geography of the country, namely, that with very little extra mileage a liue to servo one place equally with tbo other is quite practicable. The member for Waikato hue a knowledge of the subject which the Timos would do well to acquire before it eMays to further load is readers to regard railway connection with Kawhia as the one thing to be desired now that the Main Trunk Line is complete.” This rends as if the Chronicle were trying to build up a case for Raglan by belittling this district—a method, we venture to think, by which they wil) n t score many points, and one that will not commend itself to the general I üblic, or even the supporters of the Raglan Chronicle. When approaching Parliament to ask for a I .rge expenditure of public money the reasons (bat justify I be request should be clearly rot forth, soruo endeavour .hould be made tu show that tbe outlay proposed and asked for will bo re

productive. Before dealing with the

comments of the Chronicle some preliminary remarks will be necessary to make widely known bow this matter '» regarded here. The ‘basic* reasons -bat have prompted all the agitation >f tbe Kawbia Harbour Railway League are: Ist—That in this nd the’adjoining districts east and south east from here are hundreds of tii< Uganda of acres of land capable of bein: brought to a high state of produc’ivenesa; 2nd— of «h--produce of a vast area at tide laud cannot be properly and economically exported through present channels; 3rd—-That in Kawhia Harbour there is a really good outlet close to thia land direct to all the markets of the world. Tbe natural corollary is of course a railway to bring about (be proper developement of both land and port. The League in their advocacy for a railway carefully kept away from the subject of routes—they felt that when that question came up for consideration by trained and competent is tn the proper route to insures payable line, and one that must be regarded as of national importance, will be so obvious,that free from“politica! pulls” it can hardly be laid out in other than the right direction. As for our port, it is eecqnd to none on the West TJoast of this island, having 26 to 28 Teot on the bar at high water and an easy and sheltered entrance. Vessels like the s.s. Corinna, of 1500 tons, can enter at any state of tbe tide. In time a railway would make freezing works here possible and tbe large ocean steamers that now lie off Waitara could, if drawing too much to safely cross tbe bar, find good anchorage under lee of Albatross Point, and be quickly and safely tendered without any delay at low water as, for instance, is tbe case at Waitara. Then take one item of export that mast come this way (bat in itself would justify building a connecting line with the Main Trunk—the white pine forest of Waimarino. A miller, and a competent man, estimates that in that 30 miles square of bash £40,000,000 .will have to be expended in labour alone to convert the standing bush into sawn timber. The chief market for this timber ie Sydney,& Kawhia is a days steam closer to Sydney than Auckland. /Space does not allow us to dwell on tbe many items that can be reasonably reckoned onto make good the League’s contention, that the line that connects Kawhia with the Main Trunk will io itself be one of the most profitable lines in the Dominion. That the proposed line should connect at Hamilton undoubtedly has many advantages that we are not blind to, but it appears to us that first and foremost tbe line we require is one that will tap that part of the Waikato that Auckland cannot economically cater for. As to Raglan’s contention-—well we can hardly treat it seriously. Raglan should realise that much of their County that lies East of their dividing raogojis now in touch with the Main Trunk and will always, under any circumstances, look to Auckland for an outlet. The country West of the range is in touch with Baglan

Harbour ; by utilizing their Harbour they wil! be able, we hope before long, to forward so much of their butter and wool as is produced on tbe Western slope, to Kawhia, to be from here shipped quickly and cheaply direct to ihe great home markets.