THE OPUNAKE RAILWAY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 52, 23 August 1911, Page 7

THE OPUNAKE RAILWAY

REKKIiKXCE IN' PARLIAMENT. The other day in (.lie House, Mr. 1 Pearee said the reply to his question with respect to tlie Opunake branch railway was most unsatisfactory. The reply stated that reports had been made on the proposed railway in I!J<)5 and l!) 07, and 110 further report was required. They knew what grave rriis--1 takes had been made in New Zealand 1 in regard to the routes of railways, and they had the Rimutaka incline discussion in the House at least once a month. He had read the reports of the engineers made in 1904 and 1907, and some statements they contained were quite erroneous. The latest report recommended that the line should go from Opunake to Te Roti, and concluded by saying that if there were to be any deviation from thijt route, it should be in the direction of taking the line towards Eltjiam, because" it would theji lead 1 towards tfr? Mare&t port for the shiprfent of gfoduced in the district. During the recess he had obtained from one of the grading stiff the tonnage and destination of the pfjo- ) !^ <I ''^"i i l )^*{r,3m a " the dairy factories • Tsnajmki W.est of tlie .present i, k Wpy- 't'hevo u'eve thirty two dairy s factories Jrt that a»ea,' and in',-I'olo the 'tdthl amount of dairy 'produce shipped was 7776, tons: ' Of that amount 0780 t9 l'?M Wa #) B ' ,t b y to. Patea, 770 tons ■ QjiJy was 'Sou,t ; hyrail'to New Plymouth, Jnd 1228. tonV' \tient. by toad to New Plymouth via Rahotij." Some ef that Vojild not goj by rail in;-any' case. That showed that the produce of that district, was shipped by Patea to Wellington; and if, the line were to be of any 'advantage to the! district, it must go in .the direction, of 'the pprt from which the produce j was, shipped. Not only that, but if the line were ijot deviated ftitther South than the routes suggested by the engineers, it Would not be of benefit in freeing the roads of the present excessive traffic. At present the settlers wero put to enormous cost to I maintain -the roads. In Hawera county tlie road rate was 1 1 / ad in the £, and with land selling at £SO an acre—whieh was a common price in that districtthat came to <3s 3d per acre per annum for road rate alone. He maintained that it was time not only that the routes were enquired into, but that the railway was built, because there was no doubt that the railway would easily pay 10 per cent, on the cest of construction and working. If the Government would not build the line, but give the local bodies or private bodies power to do so, they would build the railway in a very short space of time, because that would relieve the district from the enormous amount now paid by way of rates, and the railway would pay a good rate of interest on the cost of construction. The point he wished to emphasise was that the Government took the stand that it was not worth while to enquire as to what was the best route. In any • commercial undertaking, such as the 1 construction of a tramway or anvthing of that kind, there was always enquiry as to the probable traffic, and where it would pay the best; but when the Go- ® vernment decided upon a route they de-1 cided without any reason that was ap- J parent, or without enquiry from people who know the district. That was why railways had been put in many cases'in New Zealand where they would not pay. In this instance he wanted an independent enquiry to ascertain where the greatest amount of traffic was, and what route would benefit the district most. I At present the Taranaki members were trying to get the line made in a different route. For his part, all he wanted was a proper enquiry in which evidence would be taken from the people of the district interested. The result of 6uch an inquiry, decided on the evidence lie would loyally support, whichever' route was recommended by the commissioners.