THE RAILWAY LINE.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 25, 1 February 1879, Page 2

THE RAILWAY LINE.

-.*•• ••___; ; 'TO-TKB' :^Djt-r08., r f ..-r.y^.. Sfrß,— lt "is most" r&freshirig; to find that our West Coast Railway lavement- Has had the effect of&timngiup .pur friends located along the Coast t_j_suc.^ an extent. Mr John G-owor started the ball rolling ; '.'Synbticd '6t m.jt'3n jin Jjh9. .County ,Cj)un3H,* w*htch f - no^ doubt will receive due attention when that worthy body njeetv This motion wa*j ioU. lowed up by a' strong letter m the Foxton piper io- which MiuQ:..th_r,eat^nqd £o annihilate 'a*certatn Cjoliath by quoting a few items of truth— -a somewhat scarce, and precious a commodity C6f :_* commerce ri^tniw* depraved tiraa3^aod-b£ the, vi»yy'*w^:.j!*& do, unless xandom-state-ments CimDcrs*'w'n*^ of this country* 'as truth. TRh : io?£Hch\x will be a tough matter tojaccgnaßU?^, :> |rext coms3 hiß letter— an,d . perhaps leaclafc^-in the Advocate of $iq 2Sfch instant (a^ all QVQ9ta frq one hai. QTidsfttty \t&s Mt^kW

■ait t__:_ooterii»-of the.other.) Tae. Advo-.. cate certaiixly deaarre* " same me isure cf praise for giving its opinions" at last, in-a-n_oa...unm'ntdkeable manner, and has now BUJCdißaea^, m throwing overboard it'a not long.ago' "Peildrag -fHends," iSr the- mutual '- benefit pf.those residing m Bulls, Sanson, and' C_rharvoii. So far'' so" good. Mr. Oowcr begins h\iyAdoqcatf pestle ; by .drawing attention to the deierthiuei eff >vt n-jw-being m4de"by'' the "Palmereton and 1 Feilding . people to hare the Railwtty-breught to Pal- ' merston rather the (Jt>yernmeßt haii decided to'~ring it— viz.yFoxtion. "Mtfy I aik when the Q^yernment decided to make the terminus at Foxton, and what meaaa- we*& Saed*. if 'a.nyjitci-lJfingAabo.uti. euch decision? Perhapi Mr. CK -will enlighten, the pnblic by giving-dcfeaiU ; I confeas.l; c^hnot^owing to absence behind »th^. Beenes.^^'tEte/.. raeh goes ph'to'3ay''thaqi-_ the Gbverfmeht'wrU make thejhne-' tolfdxt6n, : the protsbteS ; -of» theiSandchi and-Foifcbn line will be able to float their shares. No doubt of it. Query— Why sKould any Q-o- - Ternmont. ste|>/v^Hlly..a^ide ,to benefit - priTate apecukt'ionsLn' cither railways' of 'land. wmle___cTir_^ter^rxmeitt has an 'estate of-'its' own .to open up, sell, and ultimately settle ? This the pre^J2 ,^xeronie't^.;haxe;miyiew by'the construction of the line via Fitzherbert and'Pahnerston. Heathen proceeds to quote Mr. T Halcombe's "figtitga; at - the Tate Palmerston meeting, and attempfca-^without any.jpjcjpf to «hoir : that.they are wrong,. and wlndis u^*ffi^*pcgtipu'of h^Tetlterhy'takmg the line right thrbtigfi a 3p,000-acfc swamp^ or, at another way^put:.of. the "difficulty, forces the prpgofe^iine . right und^err the ranges.. There iB no necessity for such extreme measures on-: his. part, for it is well knowt^^.at^^„ exists. a ..good mracfcica^le, rbadwf'VigTK.'Kmws^thVdism^ 30,066-aere 6wa)^. " But^pposing there ; -was no road•wiy tnrou|h'^it, 1 Mrr&bwer Should kpow.far better than^itiy resident m the Manawatu that all Bwnmpi"«afe : dram'abie •wh^eh' , a i g6od fall is obtainable, as is th"e~ca3e m thi9 instance L'arid, mpreoTer, that swkmp land whenf once dridned is of the; most valuable description;. : -Perhaps, ! for general informa-tion,--Mjf.'i.Gti MiUJust ;.say. Khati hp values the Larkworthy Swamp at per acre, or wuttfc.TAlue J^qUglas & : Gd: pjace-.tipcsn their di-aujed ewamps? 'Suppose we _ begin by saying, m hia absence, £5 per acre. This will represent £150,000 as the value of the ewamp r when drainedV-as-it -surely-would be by byj Jfchei Jaiiwa^ constructijm. This, Mr. Editor, is no mean item for any Government tojhay_e;in yieyr fwhile -conte^nplating the construction .of a. new line This is the tort •of- thing Mr.' Q-. pleases to call . "dog-in-the-manger "'conduct on the part')2"»£he^llpj^jSlanawatu.re3idents;wKire honestly Btriving to •__.- open'; up- such fine country. We^a^ ffien twitted with being afraid lest Btd~To"r' Sahson-' may grow too fast,~br~tKat Foxton may yet become" the Teritabl»:capital -of T_lanawatu. A\yay with such norisensft! "We arp not envious while noting the .prosperity of any o^our neighbors, but rejoice" mit rather ; nor are we afraid thatjany of them' will leave Feilding or P— lmeraton behind m the great race for. suptemacy,. although we have been' sa beavily handicapped m that race 'since its commencements' The question ris/aaked by Mr. Q-. why. the Government cannot make the biie from ' Carnarvon to AGrcatford? "1 cannot jpretend to say why this should be, As! htff§ nerer inquired ; but I should suppose that ~tjlis. 'GoTernmKQt -will first of all turn itTatitention,'aa v iH duty bound, to the fact that.it Jbtas. A very large extent of valuable laifi to/open up on tbe' south side cf the river, whwhicertainly Bhould _be the firit claim on' the public f un^s "of tho country. It would" seem a most'unr'ghteoiw un^fejtingjf ia_tti_ioflo'pcnmg>u.p its own land,, that the *pnj>lic..fund.s jr were expended up^^uiipebing :u|rTaAdistrictA4'n --which there 'k no ."Government land to sell, while thousands of acres -id iand remains' on the - .proposed-.ltailway ' route, the r proceeds of whiclL/yitiULwltH^^ whole yoi .the Tin the construction of;the ; ii_e from 'Piako to PalWerston. I ;c.in truly ;ft.-iy. that every, settler m tneLfTppor District wisfie^ Buccess r to the, Fpxjbpn anl Sandon BaUwiysscb-lirie^ as origSialiy. plafc^d /before tbe'jmblic; but now that it is taking the Bhape- if Ithreftt'eniiig to '■ cUvert ; oiir traffic,^ and it promoters trYing to hoodwink the' Gor^mment, I wef ,wfll 'take. the• notes, of warning bo feelingly published byLMr. Gofr^rjAVld^' wind uj. by ;.a : . few of rtie; finishing Bcntent**e"Ji of. liis u letter-—in wh^hjligfsaysrTT?" Fellow jßufforers,. eympathisers, and friends, sign our" petitton(for we hjiye ono) i«*nd-show yourselves, settlers of iaettle and ' uprightnßs^ | and while, you w^ulcl ekA tiAe a."sirigle"load"'of sand from eft jthe prosp^E,itx.of the sQUth'of Yetneith'w , wtU , 'y6u-_ll6w''yo'di'ri prtvi^ leges and proper flo^'o^^rospeViW tw^be jnfr Mr,; G. re-' concile therfollowing sentence with- we bulk of hia letter :— " Our districtchaslrgiygn up v asking and we are .now_-a;t wf-rk helping ourselves—preparing'*to r ; ' construe'!? our own lire*,", .K*sii«K ; i*-tbe'"^_e;'%6itls.it not seem feryf^^^tb »tfcniptto boiwce the GoTer_ient into iiiak ing Baid linSr,"that appear fo ]5$ Snder j^ shaFehpldera. We are' perfectly content to allow the Go-; vernmept-to? decide -the- question; of .the West <^«t.Line^'ptwely on (ts merits and m accordance .with the memorahdun^ received by us a few days ago, Lwell' Enowing thatTtr^;~firguttfent is in-faypr *;*qf~Fitzf beM'ert. jottte.i- We^ are really^ pleasedCtb; find that our sly .opponeritsibftherto have, now mustered courage enough to 'discuss >uch: mighty .mitters ikt'.-a ■dulyXorganised public meeting (a« we have always done). If they bidf. begun ;Buch an^iable-d6ing.s.in' time8 r pnat;.i^ieyr might .have fouhd-them-pel^*;.^-^ dpferent 'positio&^Yini'rs^ _:*c^ A