Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, JULY 15, 1920. LEVIN-GREATFORD DEVIATION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2150, 15 July 1920, Page 2

Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, JULY 15, 1920. LEVIN-GREATFORD DEVIATION.

THE Palmers! on Timas is not going to allow the Pn I mors I on deviation to be shelved- Like a good fighter, our contemporary does no) look upon a .set-back as defeat. The Times returns to the attack after declaring that “deviations were off,” Our contemporary says: “As far aV we can see, those, who advocate the Levin-Greati'ord deviation have only two arguments. They do not claim* that it will perve a large population or open up a great productive territory. They say: (1) That it will relieve the congestion at: Palmerston North, (2) that it will shorten the distance between Wellington and Auckland by a few miles. The first contention is‘a great compliment to Palmerston North, because it is a tacit admission that it is one of the most important railway centres in the Dominion; the second is an argument that can he used in regard to large numbers of places in New Zealand where railways are taken •along routes that will best serve the needs of the population. ... .

The public have a right to demand that new construction be undertaken on coinmcn-sense v lines —that railways shall be carried where the most people will be benefited and the least number inconvenienced. Tested with Unit acid, the Levin-Greal-Tord deviation won't pan out two ounces to the ton. As for the advocates of ‘keeping the railway in the Square/ they arc confessedly and honestly self-interested and parochial. We do not blame them for raising their voices. Bui, looking at. the whole thing from the viewpoint of a newspaper which desires to regard the matter from a national as well as a local aspect, wc think Parliament would lie well advised to follow the lead of the railway exports and make a deviation at Palmerston, bearing in mind that the problem is not one of handling the main trunk and intcr-dislrict traffic to-day or to-morrow, but at the no distant date when it will be doubled and trebled in, the process of'the natural development of this great little country.”