COMING TO TERMS.

Patea Mail, 31 March 1881, Page 2

COMING TO TERMS.

Every elector is interested in arriving at facts. The Mail desires to support Major Atkinson as being the strongest man for the district, but to do it by letting him know clearly how much he has failed in the past, in order that he may be stimulated to make up lost ground in the future. If he cannot be convinced that he has failed to secure a “ fair share of everything ” to Patea district, nor convinced that we are justified in thinking so, then there will be nothing for it but to turn to some other candidate, as it would be wasting our opportunities to repeat the experience of the last eight years. The district cannot afford to bo again left so much behind. It cannot afford to have its trading facilities choked between two cunning neighbors, and to see our own member playing into the hands of one of them without knowing it.

The position is seriously this. The northern railway is open to Ngaire, and all the rails yet laid are within Taranaki County except the last six miles at Ngaire, which come within the County boundary of Patea. These six miles are all the finished railway we have got through our member’s exertions during eight years, so that he has not been able to get and finish for us an average of one mile for each year he has represented us. Then of what use are these precious six miles to us ? They are in the bush, not yet connected with the settled district ; and when they are connected they will have the effect, not of developing the Patea district, but of throwing back its prosperity by choking its harbor trade. The southern line has been pushed to Waverley by Wangauni influence, with the same object of draining our harbor trade before our member has time to put us on equality with outside competition. Give all these centres

of trade fair play, and the Patea district will hold its own. What we object to is political nursing and coddling, by means of unequal gifts and endowments, Nearly forty miles of railway are finished and working in the New Plymouth district. Bix miles arc also working in the Patea district, these being the last six miles to Ngaire. Thus it appears that Taranaki district has over six times as ranch finished railway as Patea district. Will the Major admit, or will ho not, that Taranaki has had the first and longest pull ? Is this what he calls more than our fair share ? Nor do we regard the six miles at Ngaire as a Patea district work, for the object of spending our railway money at tbc Taranaki end is to enable New Plymouth to tap our trade for its new harbor. We are actually being made to pay for that, in spite of ourselves. Put the matter thus: Hawera wanted to reach the sea : the nearest route by one-half was to Patea harbor; and if Major Atkinson desired to develop the Patea district on its merits, why not first make a line by the shortest route through the thickest settlement to Patea harbor? No ; he has preferred to spend our railway money in the Taranaki bush, to provide an outlet more than twice as remote from Hawera. If he was really working for our interests, has he taken the right course ? If he was working for New Plymouth interests, lias he not succeeded by handing over our railvray money to New Plymouth ?

It is desirable to come to an understanding with our member on the following points. On this railway question the grievances are (1) that the northern railway is the only part which our member has helped to make ; (2) that any railway money we have had prior to last session has been spent on that northern line ; (3) that he made no serious effort before last session to apply the Patea money to build a railway within the Patea settled district; (4) that he helped to take away the proceeds of our halfmile belt of railway reserve and expended them in extending the Taranaki line: (5) that the effect of this misappropriation will be that the Patea harbor district will be drained of its northern trade, until equal railway facilities are provided, and that the money taken from our railway reserve will be the very means of doing it; (6) that the effect of postponing the Patea railway till the last is to enable Wanganui, like Taranaki, to push its line just far enough into our district to drain our trade, but not far enough to benefit the Patea harbor. Thus our railway endowment is gone, and we find in its place a competing railway at each end of our district, but no railway in the middle. These are the results of his representation. It would be monstrous to accuse a member of aiming at these results. But they are the results we have to put up with ; and it is these very results which show, as he says, that we have had more than our share of everything. Lately we have had some show of local benefit, and for this our member has not been sufficiently thanked either by this journal or by constituents. He has endeavoured to repair his previous slackness by energy displayed very late in the day. He secured a contract for a railway wharf and half a mile of line at Patea harbor, just a few hours before the vote of the previous session would expire by lapse of time. The money for finishing the railway through this district had been voted more than once, but was not expended for want of political pressure. Some pressure was applied by our member when he saw the last chance was slipping away ; and though it was a very late effort, and devoid of a beneficial purpose, yet it was intended for our benefit sooner or later, and is to be valued accordingly. He also sent a number of unemployed to this district, and by them the railway formation was almostcompleted to Manutahi. That work is being followed up by a contract just let for the station formation at Kakaramea and at the so-called Junction Station near Chapman’s farm. The value of this contract is over £3,000. There is an implied intention to turn that money

to account by connecting with the main line at an early date. To say the date will be early would be rash, but it ought to bo early, for there is now considerable capital lying dead in this unfinished bit of line between Manutahi and the harbor. Let us hope our member will find little difficulty in persuading Parliament to complete two short links in the Coast line, treating the middle link to Manutahi as all bnfc finished. There will be two links of 9 and 11 miles wanting, and it may be easier to get these voted than to persuade the House to fill up one long gap.