ABOUT THE CANAL.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 183, 31 March 1914, Page 4

ABOUT THE CANAL.

Waikato and Manukau.

An Upper Waikato View

The Project Warmly Supported.

Id ita last issue the Ngaruawahia "Advosate" says:— "Jn view of the tact that a special meeting of the Chamber of Commerce is to be held for the purpose of discussing the pros and cons of the Waikatc-Waiuku canal question, the time is opportune for a few general remarks on the proposed scheme. In the fust place, beiore the residents of this district can be expected to take any great interest in the proposed canal, it must be shown to them that such a work would be of sufficient service to them to repay any expense likely to be incurred. While not being prepared to dogmaHse, on the face of things it s a ems that the suggested waterway would handsomely repay the outlay necessary for its corstruction. In this connection, for argument sake, the probable cost may be stated at £40,000. Interest and sinking fund for this amount would have to be paid by the users of the waterway. It must not be thought, however, that this amount would be in addition to what is now paid in freight charges on the railway, for it is an accepted axiom that water carriage is much cheaper than overland. In the present instance, the reduction would probably amount to fifty per cent. The only considerable expense in water carriage is the wharfage dues and handling the goods on shore. But in this case there would be no «uch charges. Farmers from as far as Cambridge and for fifty miles up the Waipa could load their produce on the barges, and it need not again be bandied until being put on board the steamers at Onehunga, and it is only a mattter of time when another canal will be made from Onehunga to Auckland. This would mean that barges could be towed for] one hundred miles on the Waikato and for fifty miles on the Waipa by an oil launch, and pick up produce from farmers living on both banks of these rivers (up to eight or ten miles inland in some cases) and never be re-handled until being transhipped to the ocean going liners, direct for the Home markets. The coal from the Waipa mines could easily be shot straight into barges and delivered at Auckland or to the steamers for shipment elsewhere. And the barges need not come back empty. Goods of all descriptions which now come by rail could be brought by water, and delivered to the business people at a much cheaper rate than now obtains on the tailway. If the proposed freezing works are built near the Waikato, the frozen meat could be taken downstream and put directly into cold storage on the Home toats. The

saving in working expenses would be enormous. In this connection, it ii taken lor granted that when a freezing works is cstabli.hed in the Waikato, the duplication of the railway line fiom Frankton to Auckland will be necessary; but if the canal wss built, it would relieve the Main Trunk line of congestion and do a*ay with the need for a costly duplication of the line. It has be?n said that in view of the fact that there is only one b'jat trading on the Waipa at pment, there would not he sufficient support from this direction to warrant the expense of constructing the canal. There is. however, absolutely no parallel between what is, and what will be if the waters of the Waikato End Onehunga or Auckland harbour are connected. As already stated, the principal expense of water carriage is the wharfage, barbcur dues atd having to transfer gooJs to and from the railway trucks before they reach their destination. Under present conditions, if a farmer were to put hi 3 produce on a barge for transport 10 Auckland, it wouiJ have to be taken from that barge again and be railed for tha remainder of the journey. With this handicap absolutely done away with, there is uo question vhatevar that water rarriage would be by far the cheapest, snd in time the guarantors of the proposed waterway would not enly have cleared off the cost of construction by tolls levied on tonnage passing through the canal; but would actually be drawing a revenue! At the present tima many farmers living on the banks cf tha Waipa and Waikato rivers have to bring their produce six, eight, and ten miles to a railway station What an impetus a much more emvenient mode of transit would give to farming for a distance of about cne hundred and fifty miles on either side of our rivers' banks! It is said that the Waikato is not sufficiently navigable for such traffic; tut this statement is wide of the mark. It would be found (as in the ca;e of other sand river beds) that a paddle steamer or two would clear away the sand and wash it into the current before it could build up sufficiently to form a sand bank. The loose sand would then be washed duwn to the sea, an i thus the river would be actually deepened! In any case, flat bottomed barges do not draw much water, and they are all that would be required, except a few <mall launches for towing purposes. And to Ngaruawahia in particular a Waikato-Waiuku canal would be of immense importance. Geographically speaking Ngaruawahia is in such a central position that it would be the chief river port (as it was forty yeara ago; and the population would increase by several hundreds. The welfare of the dist'ict is based on the prosperity of the producers, and the impetus given to farming over the area indicated would be reflected in the substantial advancement of the town. As intimated at the outset of this article there is no intention of being dogmatic on the question; but the possibilities of the suggested Waikato-Waiuku canal for the good of Ngaruawahia and district are worth enquiring into. It is to be hoped that the Chamber of Commerce will eo thoroughly into the matter, with a perfectly op«n mind, and if the project bids fair to be of great value to the Waikato district, they might well suppott other bodies interested in forwarding the project."'