NEW RAILWAY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 131, 24 November 1911, Page 4

NEW RAILWAY.

TE KOURA TO STRATFORD. WORK STARTS AT NORTHERN END. PRIME MIXISTER THINS FIRST SOD. Taumarunui, November 22. The first sod of the To Koura, or northern, portion of the Stratford main trunk railway was turned by the Prime Minister this afternoon in the presence of over 1500 people, who travelled from Te Kuiti, Kawhia a".d Taumarumu to witness the ceremony. Sir Joseph Ward took t'h-ii opportunity of making the gratifying announcement that eventually I a line from Kawhia to unmeet with the! Main Trunk at Te Kuiti must, he built as a feeder, tapping »oiiie highly productive country. The Stratford-Ongarue railway, still with an uncompleted portion of over fifty miles, was one? regarded as a necessary portion of the Main Trunk line, but the central route 1 advocates eventually carried the day, and a more direct course between north and south resulted. But New Plymouth is 173 miles away from Taumarunui by raid under the present conditions, the journey having to lie taken via Marton Junction. The completion of the Stratford main trunk line will bring it within 113 miles of the busy King Country centre, and it will tap a rich agricultural district throughout the major portion of the route.

Special trains from Te Kuiti and Taumarunui took the spectators to the new junction point, eight miles north of Taumarunui, early in the afternoon. Sir Joseph and Lady Ward, with Miss Eileen Ward, had a cordial reception from the settlers, who had gone to the trouble of erecting a marquee to entertain them in. They presented Lady Ward with a lovely bouquet. t The Prime Minister received from the Ohura Valley settlers a silver spade, which he used vigorously on the soft pumice soil at the junction site. He reminded his hearers that nobody had yet discovered how to make railways in a new country without borrowing, and there were some people who, after they had voted for the making of roads and bridges and loans for 'settlers, workers and public bodies, went round the country denouncing the Government for piling up the national debt. They tried to persuade the people that the more railways in the country, the more spent on public works, the worse for New Zealand. But the railways were a magnificent asset, which had not cost the taxpayers a penny for years. The Government would go on making railways for the next fifteen or twenty years. To-day the only important charge the Government's opponents could bring against it was that it borrowed too fast, though the same people supported all the loans. Wherever there were settlers there was naturally a, strong demand for the means of transportation. The provision of those facilities, coupled with the means of communication,, such as telephones, at a cheap cost, he placed in the forefront of the country's policy. (Applause.) Suggesting that a line through the Waitewhenua Valley to Kawhia must eventually be made, the Prime Minister said it would tap coal deposits and save a rise of 1200 feet from the sea to Poroaturua tunnel.

Particular of the work he had inaugurated were given by Sir Joseph, who said that the opening Of the through trunk line had given such an impetus to the trade of the interior, had led to so great an increase of business and had been the means of opening up so much land in the Ohura and elsewhere, that it was not at all surprising that a strong demand had been made .for work to be put in hand at the Main Trunk end of tho Stratford Main Trunk connection. Different points of junction had from time to time been considertd. A junction several miles to the north of Ongarue had been suggisted, and the claims of Ougaruc its* If had been strongly supported, but it had finally been decided to make tlie junction where his hearers were standing, namely, about two miles south of Te Kourn and five miles south of Taringaniutu, or between seven and eight miles north of Taumai'imui. This point of junction shortened the line by at least six miles, and was estimated to save about £OO,OOO. The shortening of the line and the dellection of it southwards! would have the effect of shortening the through distance from all places on the Stratford connection to Taumarunui and all places southward thereof by twelve and a half miles, which would mean reducing fares and freights, as well

as reduced time spent in travelling. Since the first authorisation of the line £375,000 had been spent on the Stratford Main Trunk .line, all of it, of course, at the Stratford end at present, but a commencement was now to Us made at the Main Trunk end. At the Stratford end twenty-three miles were already open for traffic, a further section would be completed by the end of the year, and verv shortly the whole of the first section between Stratford .and Whangamomona, a ilistuaice of forty miles, would be ready for traffic. At the northern end the works on the first section would be fairly heavy, as a tunnel nearly a mile long was required to pierce the main dividing range. It was likely to be two or three years before the section to Matiere was ready for ■traffic, but no time would be lost in putting the work in hand or carrying it to completion. To complete tho whole line to Stratford would be a very large undertaking, involving an expenditure of approximately £OOO,OOO and would take several years. ' "Is lit not a fact that 80 per cent, of the settlers of Taumarunui electorate have been placed on the land owing to the action of the Liberal Government?" asked Mr. Jennings, the local member "Of course it is," came the response from the gathering and Mr. Jeniiin.-is \va* assured that the electors did not torget what the party h e supports had done. —Wellington Times special