The Patea Mail. Established 1875. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1882. THE NORTH ISLAND RAILWAY.

Patea Mail, 13 October 1882, Page 2

The Patea Mail. Established 1875. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1882. THE NORTH ISLAND RAILWAY.

—: * It is tolerably certain that, no matter what obstacles or delay may interpose after the deliberate sanction lately given by Parliament to the proposal, the railway line through the North Island will, ere long, be really constructed. Nor can there be much question as to the course which it will take. The important towns to be connected along the West Coast are so much more numerous, and the existing traffic so much more valuable, that there can be little doubt as to the superiority of that route, to a line either through the east or the centre of the Island. Such being the case, it becomes a matter of great importance to all those who have any stake in the Paten district, to consider what the practical effect of the proposed railway line will be on their own property and their personal prosperity. Fortunately for us, systems of railway communication are now so complete in both the Home Country and the Australasian Colonies, that we need experience no great difficulty in making approximately accurate estimates of our financial weather forecasts, and thus can the better guide ourselves in making our future business arrangements.

Judging then by the experiences both in England and the Colonies, it seems certain that on the completion of any important railway line, the town situated as the terminus at either end reaps large advantage. It is not merely that both passenger and goods traffic are facilitated, they are also created. Journeys which people would otherwise have never thought of are undertaken, and business speculations embarked in, which otherwise from the length of time required to carry them into effect, would never have been begun. Then, besides the two termini of the line—in our case the cities of Auckland and Wellington—there are other very small places now nearly unknown, which are sure to become greatly enlarged and much more important than at present. These are usually at the halt-way stopping places, or at the point s of junction of branch lines, or of roads to the more important towns. Thus for instance in England, Wolverton and Crewe on the North Western line, Swindon on the Great Western, and Rcdhill on the London and South Coast line, have all risen from insignificant hamlets to thriving towns of many thousand inhabitants. On the other hand it must be admitted that several places left ont in the cold by passing lines only a few miles off are seriously injured, and in some, where the traffic was largely dependant on coaches, the grass may be seen growing in the main streets. The general effects in the colonies have been of a similar character. In Victoria, Ehnca, and Woononga, on the Murray, the former the terminus the Northern, and the-I- I^ . 0 ter " minus of tK- line from jucjootifne have profited very largely in population and trade, and the holders of landed property have made fortunes in consequence. But what are the results as regards the majority of middle class towns, such as Patea for instance, through which the railway merely passes ? Experience leaves us very little uncertainty The farmers and other producers at once benefit in purse and bank hook. They reap a double advantage; they get a larger market, cheaper carriage, and higher prices for their produce, and their provisions and stores cost them less from the cheapness of railway as compared with road carriage. They also get the convenience of easy access, either for business or pleasure, at any time to the chief city of the district. But with the local traders the advantages of a passing railway are not at once equally apparent. In every case which wo can call to mind, the benefits which the business men of such towns as we refer to, expect have been quite exaggerated. Their customers do not stay at home so much as they used to do, and large consumers sometimes gel into a habit of buying direct from the large importers in big cities. For some time, therefore, such towns as ours usually suffer but in due course the evil becomes remedied in the natural way. Competition brings down profits to such prices as local men will buy at; and meantime the farmers and squatters have been becoming wealthier and in a better position to contribute to the general prosperity. That- such will be the more striking results of a railway

line passing through Patea is more than probable. In the long run, such a line will be a vast benefit to all classes of community-; ■ but to the local business men, not at once. The true remedy to avoid this, is to sot to work to improve the harbour, acd so-secure to Patea the title to be regarded as a distributing centre for goods biought by water. We shall then convert the town into a sort of terminus for the railway on both sides, and reap the attendant advantages. .