Kawhia Harbour Railway.

Kawhia Settler and Raglan Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 396, 22 January 1909, Page 2

Kawhia Harbour Railway.

Mr A. W. Babbage writes in las week’s Auckland Weekly News :—“ Io the Auckland Weekly News of Decern ber 31 you have a short article (with quotations from the Wellington Post) ou tbe route of tbe proposed Kawhia railway, and I was sorry tn see tbe question was raised as to which route would suit Auckland or Wellington best. Kawhia Harbour is the natural port of ail tbe centre of the North Is land, lying to the westward of Lake Taupo, and tbe point that should be kept in view is to get the shortest and quickest route into that district, and so laud goods there as cheaply as possible; and it will be time enough to see whe thee Auckland or Wellington wi'l get 'he trade when the line is made. It should be to tbe interests of both cities to get the line made as soon as p ssible, and it would be far cheaper to land goods from either Wellington or Auckland through Kawhia Harbour than to send them by the Main Trunk line. Also, if we t>ke it that goods are to be sent from Auckland and Wellington by water, via Kawhia, into the district named, it does not materially matter to either which way tbe line goes—it simply means tapping the dis trials to the north or south, as the case may be. We, in Kawbia, are qube prepared to leave lhe question of route to the surveyors and engineers as long as the main point is kept in view, viz , that Kawhia is the natural port tor the centre of the island, and the line be made accordingly. The idea <,f taking the line round by Rtglau is out of tbe question *, it would mean sacrificing the natural ad vantages of Kawbia Harbour to satisfy a district.