SOUTHERN MAIN TRUNK

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 279, 18 April 1911, Page 2

SOUTHERN MAIN TRUNK

SPEECH BY HON. R. McKENZIE. By Telegraph,—Press Association. Blenheim, Saturday Night. A ceremony of interest not only to Marlborough but to the Dominion as a whole, took place at Ward, the township of the Flaxbourne settlement, to-day, when the Seddon-Ward section of the South Island Main Trunk railway, comprising 14 miles 44 chains, was declared open for traffic by the Minister for Public Works. The Hon. R. McKenzie, addressing the people, said the section of line from Seddon had cost £138,000, or nearly £IO,OOO a mile. He claimed that money was* spent on the Main Trunk line as quickly as Parliament granted it. Estates should be cut up before railways were made, He instanced the case of the North Island, where 42 people who wanted the line owned 630,000 acres, which was valued at £3,000,000. The Government was not going to build railways for those 42 people. The more estates that were cut ' up the better. The Government were as anxious as settlers to get railways through, but they must build the most necessary lines first. The Midland line to Arthur's Pass would probably be completed in 18 months, and if the same amount of money were voted then as at present a larger allocation would be made for the Main Trunk line. He estimated that the line would be completed in ten years at a cost of £IOO,OOO per annum. Mr. McKenzie stated that 35 miles of railway would be opened for traffic this week. After the line had been declared open the Ministerial party and a large number of settlers were entertained at luncheon by Marlborough local bodies, headed by the Land and Railway League and the Chamber of Commerce. • Flaxbourne looks in good heart, and compares more than favorably with Stirborough, which has suffered from drought, and, as a result, bears a parched appearance.